ELECTR-O-PURA

OK, by the time I get to the third study of the day, I'm ready for something a little different. Don't call it abstract, because I'm too feeble-minded. We went for a drive in the kuntry (King William County) Saturday. Came back with no photos nor sketches but visions in my head. [What is this, the Night before Christmas?] I often like to work from memory. Just have some colors and shapes in my head that I'd like to put on paper. This is one of those - inspired by fields along the Pamunkey River.

I WAS LISTENING TO...
ELECTR-O-PURA by Yo La Tengo.
This is a tough listen. I guess I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is a good place to start with this band - and that's the first Yo La Tengo record I heard. But once you get the hang of it, ELECTR-O-PURA is a great album. The sounds they produce as a trio - well, with some overdubbing, or course....

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Amnesiac

This is a ripoff of a painting I did a couple of months ago (my apologies to the one who purchased that piece). Sometimes when I'm not too sure about myself, I do a small piece similar to something I've done before - to get back into that comfort zone. Unfortunately, it usually comes out wrong and reinforces the self-doubt. But this time it turned out nicely, particularly the sky. The subject is a soybean field up the road, but it sorta looks like Africa, doesn't it?

I WAS LISTENING TO...
Amnesiac by Radiohead.
Nothing like some Radiohead to reinforce one's paranoia and sense of alienation - I mean, if one is inclined toward such conditions. This is a fine album and probably too much overlooked. Wet your feet with "I Might Be Wrong," then move on to "Knives Out" and "Life in a Glasshouse." If you can stomach those, you just might like the whole thing. [Note to Coldplay fans: Listen to this band to hear the real thing.]

To purchase the painting, go to my web site and/or email me.

Get Behind Me Satan

Here we're looking across a harvested field toward pasture up on a hill. I was down in Broaddus Flats in eastern Hanover County. I'm most interested in the clouds in this one. Sometimes in the morning as the fog burns off, the clouds look rusty. Perhaps it is a reflection of the dirt on the land.

I WAS LISTENING TO...
Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes.
I was late getting on this bandwagon - this is the only work by them I own. It's a pretty good record, and I respect Jack White's guitar playing, but I'm not so sure that they're "all that." And I guess they are no more.

To purchase the painting, go to my web site and/or email me.

All Things Must Pass

I did this one from a photo I took in the fall of the marsh you drive through on U.S. 360, passing from Tappahannock into Richmond County. We all know that autumn is the most colorful season, but check out the marsh grass next October. Some is still green, and some is turning to to brown, and most is somewhere in between. This was in the morning, on my return from dropping my daughter off at "Sugar and Spice" daycare.

I WAS LISTENING TO...
All Things Must Pass (sides 1 and 2, approximately) by George Harrison.
Decided I needed to hear something uplifting, and this is a great album for that. Then again, one of my favorites is "Beware of Darkness." Is there a trend developing here?

To purchase the painting, go to my web site and/or email me.

Five Leaves Left

Here's another of the Rappahannock at Ware's Wharf. I was standing at the public boat landing looking back up the river. I like the color of the beach - it's not that pearly-white, sun-washed sand you get in the Travel section. Plus the shadows appealed to me. This study is one of two I did this morning.

I WAS LISTENING TO...
Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake.
Such a sad, sad album, but I sense a little hope in there somewhere - then again, if you know about Nick's end.... This is a great Monday morning record, and I like the whole thing: it's his best, to my thinking, but he didn't give us too many to choose from.

To purchase the painting, go to my web site and/or email me.

I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

This is a study of the Rappahannock River, looking across the marsh near Ware's Wharf. One challenge with water is getting the complexity of colors - the water itself, what's below the surface, and the light reflected on the surface. I was striving for dirty - not muddy, but that water that leaves a little residue on your skin when you get out.

I WAS LISTENING TO...
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight by Richard and Linda Thompson.
Wonderfully bleak. My favorites include "The Calvary Cross," "Withered and Died," and "Has He Got a Friend for Me."

To purchase the painting, go to my web site and/or email me.