Rush Hour

14x11 oil on panel
nfs - yet
This is a similar scene to one that is available at Artworks Gallery. I love the bustle that goes on behind the scenes in a fine restaurant. Elegant and quiet without, and all energy and seeming chaos backstage.

C'est Bon?

24x18 oil on panel

I tried to do some more small scenes from the party, but could not get going on them. I think this was calling to me - something lighter and brighter. This is the restaurant "Ventana" at the "Le Cordon Bleu" Texas Culinary Academy here in Austin. Its tres bien!

Into the Ballroom

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

Fire Light

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

I am leaving off with Florida for the moment. I've still been working on the wedding commission and am really pleased with the paintings so far. The elegance of the affair made me want to paint some more classy figures in intimate settings. I really have so many ideas that its hard to figure out WHAT to paint next, but variety is the spice of life! And I do not want to get famous for doing just one thing....and then never being able to deviate. :-)

I have to mention Edward Gordon and give him a nod for his influence on my composition here. He paints a lot of figurative pieces but what I really like is the sense of mood he creates and the feeling of just having turned a corner and happening upon something. So, though my photo might not show it so well, the woman's leg is just touching her companion's, who is hidden by the door frame.

Big Al -2

7x5 oil on panel, nfs
This one is for Big Al himself... a kind of payment for posing for me, though he didn't know he was going to be a subject in paintings.
Have I mentioned how much I love my job??

Big Al

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal

Big Al owns a really nice nursery near my folks home in FL and they do most all their garden shopping there. He starts all his own plants, and Anna liked seeing the monkey which was very near this stack of "flats" under a shed.

This was a real joy to paint and I included a close up to show some of my brushwork in detail. As you can see, I gesture a lot with the brush and with color. No details, no real information, but I always hear that people see a likeness in even my sketchiest work. I think so long as I have the gesture; capturing the way people carry themselves or hold their heads, etc. then the person rings true.

Siesta Time

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

This was so much fun to paint. I think I really love light and bright colors - I will have to go back through my work and see if there is any kind of theme there (even in the cafe/interior scenes?). I know I am not one to paint with washes and lose edges that way. I really like thick opaque paints. And painting the sand and the shadows on it, and her flesh and shirt, etc. was a real joy.
I wish my photos did my paintings justice - I finished this late though and all my good light is gone.

Time to Shower

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal

Another lovely day on the beach; heading in for a refreshing shower and a glass of wine over dinner; to return to the beach for sunset.