NC Painter

Pear with apples

2009-10-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

Pear with apples
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

12x12 " oil on canvas

Dean Snipes' house

2009-09-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

Poplar and 6th

2009-07-25T07:52:00.001-07:00

Poplar and 6th
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

carbon pencil sketch

2009-07-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Reception July 17, 5-8PM

2009-07-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

hwy 21

2009-07-10T17:49:00.001-07:00

hwy 21
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

16x20 oil

barn

2009-07-09T12:27:00.001-07:00

barn
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

15x30 oil

apple and two lemons

2009-06-12T07:21:00.001-07:00

apple and two lemons
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

12x16 oil

3 apples

2009-06-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

3 apples
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

12x16 oil

piano

2009-05-21T16:33:00.001-07:00

piano
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

18x24 o/c

Yellow wall

2009-05-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

Yellow wall
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

12.25x16.25 in oil canvas on board

collander, apple and ink bottle

2009-05-19T05:52:00.001-07:00

collander, apple and ink bottle
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

12x16 oil

Countertop with bananas

2009-05-08T08:56:00.001-07:00

Countertop with bananas
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

16x20 oil on wood

Apple and knife

2009-05-08T08:55:00.001-07:00

Apple and knife
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

9x12 oil

sink 16x20

2009-05-08T08:54:00.001-07:00

sink 16x20
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

Patrick Glover's studio in Concord.

Poplars II

2009-04-24T16:19:00.001-07:00

Poplars II
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

oil on 16x16 in masonite

Poplars

2009-04-22T14:18:00.001-07:00

Poplars
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

9x12 oil

Low spot - Fisher Farm

2009-04-17T07:22:00.001-07:00

Low spot - Fisher Farm
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

11x14 oil. The park was full of painters yesterday.

Front moving in

2009-04-16T07:48:00.001-07:00

Front moving in
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

9x12 oil at Fisher Farm

Spring Trees

2009-04-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

Spring Trees
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

16x16 oil at Fisher Farm today

Stove

2009-03-25T07:00:00.001-07:00

Stove
Originally uploaded by ncpainter

Last light - Fisher Farm

2009-01-15T05:36:00.001-08:00

Ink washes

2009-01-06T06:53:00.000-08:00

Mill House - Concord

2008-12-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

Mansard

2008-12-19T06:10:00.001-08:00

House with mansard roof. It's still raining here so I'm getting used to doing drawings from inside the car. This is one of many Victorian and Edwardian houses that face a tree-lined street in a nearby town. The houses are more visible now that the leaves are off the trees.

(If the image doesn't show, click on 'view original' below)

Belmont neighborhood, Charlotte

2008-12-18T05:01:00.001-08:00

Walnut ink wash. These are good to do from inside the car on a rainy day. The ink is water soluble so spills can be easily cleaned up.

Trees at Fisher Farm

2008-12-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

Two oils done today at the park near Davidson, NC.

House on Hill

2008-11-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

9x12 oil. A different view of Dean Snipes' house, painted yesterday; the weather was as good as it gets. Today it's supposed to rain.

11x14 of Dean's

2008-11-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

11x14 oil. This was done late in the afternoon.

Dean Snipes' house

2008-11-23T06:03:00.001-08:00

These are both 9x12 oils done on Dean's property. The weather was windy and cold on Friday but it was nice out yesterday.

Distant town II

2008-11-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

12x16 oil. This is the third oil sketch done from the NC Research Campus looking back toward town. It was cold and windy yesterday afternoon when it was painted.

Pasture - looking south

2008-11-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

9x12 (23x30cm) Painted at the farm on Friday afternoon. My uncle's calves were trying too chew on the sideview mirrors of my car while I tried to paint.

Brick House - Skybrook

2008-10-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

9x12 oil. They keep building these expensive houses where farms used to be. Most of them don't have any trees around yet but this one did.

Dean's House

2008-10-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

Most NC contra dancers know Dean Snipes - but only a few people know what a great old farmhouse he lives in. I painted this on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this week. It's oil on 18x24 canvas. My thanks to Dean and the blue skies on both days.

Goodbye, Lou

2008-10-16T02:52:00.000-07:00

Louis B. Sloan died yesterday morning of a massive heart attack. He attained sainthood long before his death and he was a living legend in Philadelphia art circles. Lou was 76 years old and had been retired from the Pennsylvania Academy for 10 years. He was a beloved teacher and mentor there for over thirty years - and I am one of several who owe my career to him.
Every weekend, and often days during the week, for two years, I drove over to Avenue C in North Philly to pick up Lou and head out painting. During the spring, summer and fall the load was light - just his paintbox, easel (an old Grumbacher in perfect condition) and his gray umbrella, which I dutifully loaded in the back of my car. In the winter there would be a large duffel bag that had his coveralls and boots in it.
We would either head out to rural Bucks County, over to the Brandywine near Chester County or down along the Delaware in South Jersey. In September, Bill Genatto, Lou and I would rent a house in the Catskills and paint for a week as the colors turned.
Occasionally, we'd take the cheap trains from Philly to New York and visit museums. The last show I remember seeing with him was the Eakins show at the Met. Lou was an artistic descendant of Eakins, who taught at the Academy in the years following the civil war.
Lou was one of the few true mentors I've ever had. He gave up everything he knew and never asked for a dime in return - but the best thing about him for me was witnessing the way he went about his life. Despite being one of the most talented painters of his generation he was never boastful and dedicated most of his energy to teaching. He didn't drink or smoke and always maintained a calm, confident attitude. He treated others with respect and kindness. He was balanced, sane and responsible. He was a great friend and teacher and I will miss him.

Chekhov's reminder

2008-10-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

There ought to be behind the door of every happy, contented man some one standing with a hammer continually reminding him with a tap that there are unhappy people; that however happy he may be, life will show him her laws sooner or later, trouble will come for him - disease, poverty, losses, and no one will see or hear, just as now he neither sees nor hears others.

Anton Chekhov

View from UNC Bldg.

2008-09-13T04:58:00.001-07:00

This was painted yesterday afternoon from the corner of the research campus where the UNC building stands. The clearing of the site has opened up long views that are interesting.

16x20 oil on linen mounted to board

Yesterday's painting

2008-08-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

I did this tonal painting late yesterday afternoon at a cotton farm about 25 miles away. The individual who owns it is an NC State agronomics grad. His son went to State as well and the family grows literally thousands of acres of the improved Monsanto cotton that utilizes an integrated system of pest and weed control. Yields are enormous but I think the trade-off is that new seed has to be purchased from Monsanto each season. I don't know it for a fact but it may be that this sort of farming lends itself better to large-scale production than it does to small, marginal farms. It seems like Indian farmers were complaining about the expense of improved varieties for small farms not too long ago. Yet the pressure remains on companies like Monsanto to develop ways of boosting crop production - and human population levels favor larger scale farm producers of everything.

Sid Bartholomew

2008-08-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

I left yesterday morning and drove to Blowing Rock. I managed to get one sketch done of one of my favorite hills along the parkway, then drove over to Blowing Rock Gallery to clean up and talk to Tim and Debbie. Raymond showed up at around five and I had the chance to chat with him a little before people started drifting in. We talked California, mostly. Warren Dennis was one of the earlier arrivals and I found out from him that Sid Bartholomew had committed suicide earlier this summer. He'd been living in LA, where he'd started out years ago as an art director for "Pee Wee's Playhouse".
The news came as a surprise. I didn't know Sid well but we were roughly the same age and went to the same college. I remember the "happenings" he used to stage with other art students. He was a well known personality on campus and everyone thought highly of him. I didn't know what "bi-polar" meant in those days and had know idea that Sid was bi-polar. I just remember him as spirited and energetic. I was happy and proud that he'd achieved success and now I'm saddened by his early death.

Parkway

2008-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's in the sixties this morning in the mountains here. This is a 2007 painting along the parkway near Fancy Gap, Va.

2008-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

The photo below is of sheep grazing near the lighthouse at Cape St. Mary's, Newfoundland. The one at upper right is of Philip Seagull, an artist from St. John. Cape St. Mary's is the area along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula where birders come to observe the gannet rookeries. They call the southern coast the Irish Coast because of the influx of Irish families who came there in the 19th century and settled in outport villages to fish for cod. Today there are severe limits on cod catches due to overfishing and many of the younger people have left to find work on the mainland, leaving behind charming pillbox houses overlooking the north Atlantic.

August 6, 2008

2008-08-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

My 86 year-old father moved to a retirement center located about 4 miles from me. I'm glad to have him here but I know he's a bit lonely. He left his 90 year old girlfriend (Dad's a widower) in Raleigh, where they both lived in an independent living community. He'd been there since the spring of 2002.

If it's true that in our culture we're individually responsible for organizing our own fate, I'm proud of my father's organization skills and achievements. He was president of the civilian student body at Virginia Tech in the forties, served as a supply officer in the Navy during WWII, then finished his MBA at Harvard on the GI bill in 1947. He worked tirelessly and faithfully for a large New England textile company for nearly 35 years, then went on to teach and start his own CPA firm. In 1995, at the age of 74, he lost part of his vision and was finally forced to retire from business for good. But even in retirement he was an active person, helping other retirees with their investments and taxes, organizing and printing a resident directory in his former retirement community and being a good grandfather and terrific example to his grandchildren.

He's confined to a wheelchair now but his mind and memory are still sharp. We're both fairly new to this community. I've been here just a little less than three years and it's one of those small communities where most friendships were forged in elementary school. But we'll be fine. We've been the new family in town most of my life.