Old Sheldon Church - plein air set up

You can see that I am just beginning here but I loved this place so much that I wanted to post it. This brick church was burned by the British in the late 1700's, rebuilt and then burned again during the civil war - the south is full of history for sure. The light changed drastically every few minutes between the columns but I got a good start (way beyond this) so, hopefully, you will see the final product here soon. The mosquitos were fierce, a thousand times worse than New England - I sprayed everything but can see how they might be a problem painting outside down here (at least away from the coast).

boats on a marsh study - 10x8"

This is a study from my trip to Cape Cod last fall...........have not felt like posting updates of larger things and realized that I hadn't posted this one in all of the confusion of moving. This week has been busy because I had to buy a new car. I realized that I had spent a fortune last year on my 2001 Rav 4 when I added up my expenses for taxes and wasn't willing to spend another dime. I was also becoming stressed just waiting for something major to happen - the car had 215,000 miles on it. So........I bit the bullet and am now the proud owner of a 2012 Prius!!!! It is so damn quiet, kind of spooky but it's beautiful.

storm approach - 14x11" (first day)

I have been doing a bunch of plein air stuff that I have not wished to post but I used a couple of them to begin this one. Unfortunately, I had a bit of drama today..........my cat caught and wounded a baby bird and its parents are furious and seem to be blaming me. I am afraid to move the baby (which is under my porch) because I have always heard that the parents will reject a baby that has been handled by a human. Both parents have staked out my side door and fly right at me when I use the door. The cat doesn't seem fazed in the least but I feel terribly guilty and have apologized to the parents numerous times this afternoon.

off Machete Flats - 10x8" (plein air)

This is a quick plein air from a pull-off spot that has the awesome name of "Machete Flats." I am really trying to learn the colors of the marsh and this was done from about 2 til 4 in the afternoon...... the tide was coming in fast and the light changed very fast.

the shrimper (nearly done) - 16x12"

I have nearly completed this picture and am pleased with it. Fishing boats have always been my favorite type of boat and there are certainly lots of them here - shrimpers rather than New England's lobster boats.

a finish and a start

Finished the Crab House and began a 16x12" shrimp boat. There are shrimp boats everywhere here; little inlets and docks seem to dot every marsh.

crab house #2 - 12" square

Thought I would be finished with this by now but I had two plein air wipe offs in the past two days - I really get discouraged when that happens. I think of my conversation with my accountant as I tried to explain to him how impossible it is to calculate the precise amount of oil paint that goes in to an "average" painting......and I totally forgot about the amount of paint that goes into things that don't turn out at all. Boy, some people think in ways that are totally different than the way I think.

crab house - 12" square

Kind of a glary photo but since this is just the beginning of this painting, I wasn't too worried. I met with my new accountant yesterday and delivered my very complex (at least for me) batch of papers and forms.......it ended up taking longer than I thought. It also made me realize getting a bit more organized about this stuff would be a good move for me. This painting is of the Charleston Crab House (which will be more obvious soon).

pigeon point plein air - 10x8"

I tested out the new double basket I had installed on the back of my bike and went to the boat landing near my house..........the baskets worked quite well but I still have to carry my supplies in a backpack. On the way home, the painting suffered no damage at all and, as I get better at navigating, I plan on going over the bridge (nearly hit a parking meter last week). For some reason, there was a lot of smoke in the air this morning and the light seemed much warmer than normal for early morning.