Near Carmel 2016 - Oil on 16 x 20 stretched canvas.

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted any work since last year. I've painted several, just haven't been happy with any of them until this one..  I've got to get back into it..!!

Near Carmel 2016 - The Carmel, Ca area was at one time a beautiful and unspoiled area. It has changed throughout the years in to a busy, heavy traffic laden coastline area. There are still some relatively unspoiled areas such as this. If you go there and look you will find them. Hope you enjoy this oil.

Minnesota Conversation Pit - Oil on 16 X 20 Stretched Canvas

 

A little closer view.

I decided to paint another “Fall Colors” painting more than a month ago and got well on my way when I got an email from an old friend advising me of the passing of another old friend from the 1970s. At that time he and his family lived in Nassau county NY, out on long island. A group of us from a territory management meeting in NYC were invited to their home for an evening of cocktails and dinner. While there I remember sitting in a sunken area of the living area called the “conversation pit”; three steps down to an area of couches, pillows, drinks and good conversation. We all enjoyed a wonderful evening before returning to mid-town Manhattan and more specifically, Craw-daddy’s pub at the Roosevelt for another cocktail or two. We always stayed at the Roosevelt while in New York because of its proximity to the diamond district.

After giving some thought to that evening I decided to put a Minnesota type “Conversation Pit” into the “Fall Colors” painting I’ve been working on here at the house. Since I had already gotten pretty far into the painting, how to do it was the problem; luckily I hadn’t yet done much on the mid or lower sections of the canvas. I had seen something similar to this Adirondack chair arrangement in a photo recently so decided to use that idea and just stuck it in the mid area and put a little light on it. I think it fits nice into the painting and also sort of depicts the laid back relaxing lifestyle of Northern Minnesota living where most people sit face to face and talk to each other rather than use some sort of electronic aid; that is at least in the summer and colorful splendor of fall; winter is something else. I call this one “Minnesota Conversation Pit”. Next I’m going to try a winter landscape, at least that’s the plan.  Your comments are welcome.

Fall colors at Blackberry, MN - Oil on 11 X 14 Canvas Panel

Fall colors at Blackberry, MN - I got motivated to paint something colorful and fall like recently and decided to post it on the first official day of fall.

For those of you who are not familiar with Blackberry, MN, and I'm sure there are many, it's just seven miles east of Grand Rapids, MN on US highway 2 (now you know). It was founded more than 110 years ago by mostly immigrants. My grandfather was one of the town founders. In addition to having the farm at Blackberry he also owned and operated a bar in Bovey, MN where I've heard he kept the local mine workers well oiled for years. I suspect he was also a bootlegger too as his son, my uncle Vic in later years was the local bootlegger. He made wine and had a still, distilled his own booze and sold it to the locals.

Blackberry was a great place for me to grow up because as a child I was never without something interesting to do. Even in the long cold winters there were all kinds of sports, hunting, fishing, trapping, skiing, drawing, lots of local friends and scouting along with school activities. We were always busy with something although it was a relaxed lifestyle. Years later when life for me was very fast paced, officing on 5th Avenue in New York and constantly traveling to make a living, on many occasions my mind would wander back of the peace and serenity of life in rural northern Minnesota. Well, Enough history...


The idea for this painting came from a picture snapped on the property owned by my cousin Mike Andrews or his wife Pat and then posted to their web site
( http://www.mississippilodge.blogspot.com/ ). They have a beautiful log home of about 4500SF overlooking Mississippi Lake with shoreline on both Mississippi Lake and the Mississippi River. If you are interested in looking at the picture go to their web site then scroll down until you come to "fall colors", it’s the first picture. If you compare the painting with the picture you can see that I cropped it slightly and made a couple of other small changes to suit me. I hope Mike and Pat don't mind my using part of their image. The river in the painting is of course the Mississippi. My childhood home is about a half mile from where this picture was taken and just slightly up river. Your comments are welcome.

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Beach Umbrella - Oil on 8 x 10 Canvas Panel

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Beach Umbrella - Your comments are welcome.

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Mid America - Kansas - Oil on 11 x 14 Canvas Panel

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Mid America - Kansas - A new painting from another of my old photographs taken sometime in the 1980s. The location is somewhere near Minneapolis, Kansas according to the back of the original photo. Since my wife and I recently (August 2011) traveled very close to Minneapolis, KS on US Highway 81, I can testify the countryside hasn't changed much; still very peaceful with an air of stability and roots.

Years ago I had a good friend while in the mortgage business here in California who was originally from Minneapolis, KS. We spend many hours (some of those hours over cocktails of course) discussing the stability and fiscal and emotional dependability indigenous to the people of that area that is developed by generations of citizens with strong constitutions and good values. I am guessing it's still true today. There is something about the mid west that I still to this day miss very much. I guess that's why I paint memories from that area often. Your comments are welcome.

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Big Rock Lane - Oil on 8 x 10 Canvas Panel

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Big Rock Lane - I took a picture of this place in I think the mid west many years ago when I used to travel for a living, however now that I think about it possibly it was Oregon or Washington . You get tired of all the traveling after a few years and it all runs together, however you never tire of what is out there to see here in the US. We still like to travel by auto and earlier this year took a sixty five hundred mile driving trip back to the mid west part of the country. It took more than a month to complete and when we finally got back home to California we were tired, but very happy with the whole trip. Your comments are welcome.

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Past Prime - Oil on 9 x 12 Canvas Panel

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Past Prime - It appears that of late I've had and interest in painting water scenes with moody or more thought provoking images. At least I they provoke thought within me which I find important at this time. Possibly, subconsciously I'm moving on to a new painting process as I noticed I'm doing somethings differently, who knows???

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Venice in Fog - Oil on 9 x 12 Canvas Panel

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Venice In Fog - Never having been to northern Italy this is my way of seeing or imagining it. We may get there in the next couple of years, health permitting. Possibly then I'll see how accurate I am.. Who knows? Your comments are welcome.

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At Night - Oil on 8 x 10 Canvas Panel

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At Night - I haven't been active of late. A combination of lost motivations and a little travel to hopefully increase the desire to put brush to canvas again.. I've wanted to do this painting for a long time so finally got around to it, actually I did it several months ago and then finished it today.. Your comments are welcome.

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Sunrise on Field - Oil on 14 x 18 Canvas Panel

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Sunrise on Field – Oil on 14 x 18 Canvas Panel – Another oil painting based on my memories of now almost five decades ago growing up in rural northern Minnesota. Sometimes the sunrises were spectacular as the air was crisp and crystal clear. Moisture or you could call it evening dew had turned to mist and lazily meandered in the fields refracting the morning sunlight into waves of color. I’m sure I’ve taken a little creative license here, but if you think of it, aren’t all old memories composed somewhat of enhancements? Your comments are welcome.

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Five Mallards - Oil on 18 x 24 Stretched Canvas

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Five Mallards - Some of us have memories of times gone by. This one is from growing up in northern Minnesota, the Grand Rapids area, and enjoying the outside activities of which duck hunting was just one. I have several other wild life paintings planned for the future and they will probably be larger scale canvases like this. They take a lot more work and provide the opportunity to be more detailed than smaller canvases will allow. So keep an eye out for them in the future. Your comments are welcome.

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Chapel on the Hill - Oil on 9 x 12 Canvas Panel

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