Inside Outbuilding #3

I have really enjoyed painting this new series. Here is another Inside Outbuilding. I know that I am on the right track because when I look at my new paintings I want to go paint.
Inside Outbuilding #3
Acrylic on canvas
30"x44"

ImageKind Print

back to reality and still painting

Inside Outbuilding #2
Acrylic on canvas
24" x 40"

ImageKind Print

See-Saw #3

The last see-saw for now. I am hype to paint some more of these. I am wondering what they would feel like bigger.

See-Saw #3
Acrylic on canvas
10"x20"
$150
ImageKind Print

See-Saw #2

They don't make kids playground equipment like they used to. See-saws teach kids about balance, weight, force, and teamwork. I can't think of anything like that anymore on playgrounds. Believe me, I would know, as a teacher and a parent.
I really enjoyed making these paintings. I have some more lined up to do as soon as I can make the canvases.

See-Saw #2
10" x 20"
Acrylic on canvas
$150

ImageKind Print

See Saw

Remember see-saws? How about carousels, monkey bars shaped like spaceships, or miniature rocking horses mounted on sheet metal? This series of paintings will focus on these childhood images. They will also examine the affects of time and weather on them. I will look at them in a close up manner causing them to become almost abstract. Here is the first one.

See-Saw
10"x10"
$150

ImageKind Print

The Second Window

Looking inside for the last time. After this painting I began to look through the buildings. I considered posting in order but I was eager to post inside Outbuilding so I skipped this one. After this I also began the See - Saw series. I will post this series soon.

This is the second window of the barn with two windows.

Second Window
24" x " 24'
Acrylic on Canvas

ImageKind Print

Inside Outbuilding

This painting titled this series. It also solidified my ideas about what I was trying to show. My paintings since doing this one are more complex than the Two Windows or Window paintings. They show landscapes framed by the buildings in them. They show patterns colors and shadows that rest just this side of abstract. I try to maintain my fidelity to the subject matter while trying to create something beautiful. I also want to acknowledge that I know there is an entire history of painting that I am aware of and that there was a time when the minimalists where thought to have killed it.

Inside Outbuilding
28"x50"

ImageKind Print

Barn with Two Windows

This painting provides some context for my recent series. It is of the barn at Nimrod. Actually, all of the paintings in this series came from that one barn. I like the tension between the heavy roof and the windows that seem too small. I really see this series as a continuation of the landscapes I have done all along, only closer to my subjects.
Barn with Two Windows
48"x36"
ImageKind Print

tip toeing towards abstraction

I did this second painting in the new series while thinking, "How close can I get to abstraction without letting go of the landscape concept?" This painting is simple but I hope interesting. In context it is a barn window but alone it is abstract. I think it works either way.

Window #1
Acrylic on canvas
24" x 24"

ImageKind Print

The breakthrough painting

I have struggled in my paintings to find a way to show the intimate relationship between man made structures and the natural environment. I am fascinated by the way the two types of space affect each other. I have had a break through and have begun a new series. I will continue to do my more traditional landscapes that explore the duality of man interacting with his environment and not always acknowledging his impact. I will also start to explore how nature pushes back against man's structures, often committing slow violence against the offending structures. I have begun a series that shows how outbuildings, which are often created for entirely functional reasons become changed by their environment. Water, bugs, and sunlight decay these buildings over a long period of time and, because they are entirely functional and still fulfill their function are not "kept up" by the people who use them. More on these themes in the coming days.

Double Window
Acrylic on canvas
25" x 40"

ImageKind Print

288 and Patterson

This is likely my most successful painting in my Infrastructure series. It is of the intersection of 288 and Patterson Ave. (Route 6) I bicycle on this road all the time. This farm was obviously bigger at some time in the not so distant past. It looks like they tried to make a go of being a nursery or an open air market before the interstate came through. It sort of hits you over the head with the content but I really appreciated the duality of the scene when I first saw it on my bike and I knew I had to paint it.
288
Acrylic on Canvas
28" x 50"
$ 2500
ImageKind Print

Last Farm in Short Pump

This is a large painting of the last farm in Short Pump. I have started a new series that I will begin posting soon. This one is about 4 foot by 6 foot.

I did two other paintings about this scene but this was the most successful. The birds in the painting are chimney swifts.

Duck Pin Summer - New Painting!

When I was a kid my sister and I would go visit my grandparents every summer for a week or two. Part of the time was spent at my maternal grandmother's then we would go to my paternal grandparents. The highlight of my time with my Mom's mother was duck pin bowling.

Both sets of grandparents bowled duck pin. I remember the feeling of walking into the cool alley after being in 100 degree heat. My sister and I would get our own lane. It was a blast. We would bowl with both sets of grandparents, then go to Ledo's pizza for lunch (the original in Maryland) then go with my paternal grandparent's house.

I don't know where my wife got this duck pin but I have wanted to paint it for a long time.
I have created an account with ImageKind. Now you can buy prints for about $30. I will start adding previous paintings soon. Or, buy the orignal just click the
button.

8" x 8" Acrylic on board $100

I am an Artoholic

Hello, My name is John and I am an artoholic. It has been 47 days since I last painted and longer since I posted to my blog. but, one day at a time right...?

Heaay Ocarina!

Painting of a Mexican flute whistle. I love that this is an object, an animal, and an instrument all at the same time.

It has a life of its own.

Acrylic on Board
6" x 6"
$100

Submarine Tower

Thankfully, I was reminded by my first cousin once removed (or something like that) that this is a painting of a submarine tower and, being from Baltimore, he recognized it as near Rehobeth. It all came back to me instantly after showing him the painting yesterday.
I guess I need to awaken my inner-marine.

Acrylic on board
$100

Chesapeake

Chesapeake $100
8" x 8"
Acrylic on Canvas

I spent a lot of time on the water when I was younger. When I got older I discovered my love for stories. The author John Barth really awakened this love in me and reawkened my love of the water. Some day I hope to have a sail boat and sail the Chesapeake with my family. (I will have to learn how to sail first.)