Cow #1 - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      A painterly cow portrait to go with my rooster a couple weeks back. Cow portraits have been popular for a several years, so I thought I'd try one. Not bad, but I don't think I'll make a career of it.

Carricknahowley - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints also available

      I'm very happy with this one. It's just loose enough; it's Ireland; the sky isn't completely terrible. I actually found the location through a YouTube clip from a BBC show called Awash With Colour wherein Dermot Cavanagh teaches a celebrity to paint a particular scene in Ireland. In one episode Cavanagh and the celebrity of the week (I don't remember who it was now.) painted this location from a different perspective. I found the location and several photos of it through Google Maps.

Smiling 65 Galaxie 500 - ink+watercolor

mixed, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      My mom had a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 when I was little. It wasn't a red convertible like this one. It was a sensible white four-door hardtop bought just before I was born. My dad drove a little two-door Ford Falcon with an engine that barely fit in the engine compartment. 
      It may sound strange but I'll always associate the grille of the 65 Galaxie with my mom's big, bright smile. I guess it's a mental association akin to pareidolia in which our brains automatically search for pattern and familiarity in an otherwise random jumble of stimuli. It's part of what makes us see familiar shapes in clouds or faces in the burn pattern of toast. I suppose a lot of people see faces in cars - some cars more than others; it's probably the genesis of the Cars animated movies. Maybe everybody thinks of their mom when they see a particular car. I consider myself blessed to get to see mine smiling at me when I see this one.

St. Paul's - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x15"

      This was an attempt at a very loose rendering of St. Paul's in London. It has it's merits. But it could be better. It's from a very old black-and-white photo from the '50s.

Sunday Best - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x15"

      Now that Horror Month is over let's head back to church. This one was done from an old black-and-white photo. Family photos were taken very seriously at one time. I'm sure this family is wearing their finest clothes to show off one of their prized possessions, their new automobile. I'm pretty happy with this one, though I'd like to have been a little looser.