Little Landscapes

Acrylic study 0

Acrylic Study 1

Acrylic Study 2

Acrylic Study 3

This weekend I painted some little landscapes. I intended these to be studies for larger paintings later on. Typically, I use watercolor, but after re-organizing my studio, I thought I would play with my acrylics. I am not sure I really like using them. I think it takes a lot of practice, or something, to get them just right.

Acrylic Study 4

Acrylic Study 5

I think my next medium to try is Gouache, but I love the spontaneity of the monotypes the best.

Intrigued

I have always been intrigued by water. While calm and serene, reflecting beautiful skies, it can rise and swell into an angry roar. I am fascinated by the mood of water. This summer, I had a new affair with two (new to me) watersheds. I am determined to visit and paint these places over and over.

First, I visited the McCormick Farm in Raphine, Va. which is now a preserved area, a working farm open to the public, now owned by Virginia Tech. While it is rich in historical content, it is also rich in beauty. The pond there captured my attention for the majority of the time I was there. I have to paint it...again...to get it just right. Here are my first few studies of the McCormick pond.

McCormick Farm #1 Watercolor (C)

McCormick Farm #2 oil (C)

The second place I was mystified by, was when my friend Angie took me to her place on the New River. I was so excited. While we spent the time toasting the end of our summer break and floating down the river on intertubes, I longed to paint it after feasting my eyes on all the colors as they rippled across the mountains and water cast by the changing clouds and light. It's Angie's little slice of heaven and she is generous to share it, as well as her friendship. Soon, I will be posting my studies from there.

Reflecting...

Fall Trees by the Creek oil on canvas (C) gls

Well, school has begun...the crickets are churping, the cicada are getting quiet, the fish are swimming slower in the pond, the end of summer flowers are blooming, and I smell fall, even if it is close to 90!

Guided By the Light

Yesterday photograph (C) gls

Landscape of Time photograph (C) gls

(won 2nd place at the League of Roanoke Artists Juried show 2009)

Spirit Door photograph (C) gls

The Other Side photograph (C) gls

Square Dance photograph (C) gls

Last weekend was the second annual Plein Aire Paint Out for Art for the Earth. This year all proceeds from the art show and sale (featured for the month of October at Art by Night at Gallery 108) will go to the Catawba Sustainability Center. For those of you familiar with a ride over 311 towards the Homeplace Restaurant, it is the large farm just to the right as you come down the mountain. The farm includes 370 acres of beautiful farmland, now owned by Virginia Tech. There are many ideas generating around this property, one idea will be utilizing the land by renting out small gardening spots for local folks to raise crops which in turn are harvested and given to local food banks, etc. The site will also be used educationally in may ways, from visiting local schools to Tech architecture students, to name a couple.

While we were all there to paint, we were over come with the beauty of the farmland, houses, barns and outbuildings. While it was a beautiful day, the wind was quite ferocious, making it tough to control paint, pencil, and paper. I found myself more engaged and taken by walking around the property and investigating the old structures and land. I was intrigued by the smell of the old barns which brought back some of the best memories of my childhood, the days I lived on a Fincastle farm back in the 1960's. I was mesmerized by the shadows and how they landed on the walls and floors inside the buildings. I was excited at all the patterns created by lime stains, cracked concrete, light coming through the old window panes, and the light patterns created inside the old silos. Painting will happen another day since the center is open to the public, and I fully intend to pack my paints and return.

I took two years of photography in college and loved it. I dabble here and there but never show any of it. I think, this time I may show some of my photographs. The images, to me, are hauntingly abstracted forms of farm life and nature. I hope you enjoy them...I'd love to hear what you think!

TA DA.....Check Out This Blog!

YAY! David Eakin has a blog! Check it out!
http://davideakin.blogspot.com/

Lazy Days of Summer

Under a Stormy Sky Monotype (C)

Lazy days of summer. I have been enjoying these lazy days. Rainy or not, hot or not, humid or not. I have been lazy. I just realized it will be time to go back to work on the 12th. Somehow, I think that once I am on a schedule, I can get more done. Why is that?

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth. Bonnie Friedman


Time is just something that we assign. You know, past, present, it's just all arbitrary. Most Native Americans, they don't think of time as linear; in time, out of time, I never have enough time, circular time, the Stevens wheel. All moments are happening all the time. Robin Green and Mitchell Burress, Northern Exposure, Hello, I Love You, 1994

My mind is full of ideas, time to organize and produce. Time to let go of the dogma. Time to stop being lazy and get away from this computer and do something productive.

If you happen to get a little time, please go check out the impressive BIG paintings at Signature 9 Gallery. I went to the opening last Friday night and it was an incredible opening! Fantastic art and artists and an array of unique h'orderves . WOW.

http://www.signature9gallery.com/

Also, I just wanted to let everyone know about the WVTF ART SHOW OPEN HOUSE:
Friday, August 14, 2009
Time: 5-9 p.m.

Jeffrey W. Allison - Art Show juror from Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Live music from Sage Wright, Lydia Bassett, Mike Mitchell, Benedict Goodfriend and Cara Modisett playing classical from 5 - 7 p.m. followed by The Wright Kids playing bluegrass from 7 - 9 p.m.http://www.thewrightkids.com/

Details at http://www.wvtf.org/artshow.php

The piece Mr. Allison selected was my oil based monotype, Bent Mountain Marsh. (SOLD)