View from my School

I love everyone's fall photos. Here are a few of mine from my brand new school. I have been waiting for the leaves to turn so I could photograph the extraordinary view from my school's faculty room. These pictures do not do the scene justice, so please click on them for a better view. (I should have uploaded them in the larger format). The leaves are turning a little, but I think they have a way to go. (This has been one of those weird autumns) I may snap a few pictures next week. I would like to do a painting of the view, but I do not feel like dragging my easel, paints, etc. to school on a Saturday. (I'm getting lazy in my old age). There are some dramatic shadows in the morning that I can't quite capture if I paint on location. I used to be a purist when it came to painting a landscape from life. I am warming up to painting from photos because they capture the moment. I drive to work and see such beautiful lighting that can only be caught by camera. (I will justify it because I taught traditional b&w photography for years). I will play with these different images and try to come up with a good composition. I will probably take out the electrical towers and fences, but I think sometimes they can be interesting additions. Your suggestions are welcome! Happy Halloween everyone!

Rex the Gardener (Work in Progress)

I have emerged temporarily to share with you this work in progress. This was commissioned to be a portrait of "Rex" and his grass garden. I was invited to the premises to photograph the wonderful garden. I was given two photos of Rex. I was to place the face from one (in a squatting position) on the body of the other. In the standing photo, the legs were covered by plants and the gentleman's hand was resting on a fence rail. I was to combine the face/figure and magically make it appear as though he were occupying the space in his garden. I am still having difficulty with the hand. I placed it on a shovel handle but I have repainted it several times. It now appears as a blob while I wait to rework it once it is dry. I invited Miss B (my daughter's former first grade teacher) to have a look and let me know how she thinks it's coming along. If any of you wonderful people in Blogville have any suggestions as to what to do, please send me a post. Thank you!

Dublin "Chimbleys"

I found on my school computer a painting inspired by a photo taken from our hotel room in Dublin last summer (2007). I do not normally gravitate toward cityscapes as I am challenged by perspective and drawing straight lines. (At least one of my chimbleys are out of kilter!) I was however inspired by the beautiful soft evening light. This was about 10:00 p.m. on a June evening. My dad bought this painting from the Lancaster gallery where I used to exhibit. (I would have given it to him!) I had giclee prints made for Shazza and Monkeytooth.

Entangled Emergence (Slightly Larger Version)

Hello friends. If you were hoping for something brand new, I am sorry to disappoint you. The good news is that I managed to find a different version of the photo to upload. Believe it or not I tried to upload this painting yesterday and failed. But I try to keep my promises. The photo of this painting still looks dull compared to the original , but I hope you can at least see it better. I am now inspired to paint an entangled Sarah Palin. I know there are no trees on the tundra but I would like to see her tangled up and dangled in front of one of the polar bears she wants to take off the endangered species list. Sorry to bring politics into this, but "tis the season." Have you noticed that I am not particularly fond of Sarah?