Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Slave Cabin



I have finally finished the slave cabin model for the Sumter County Museum in Sumter South Carolina. The real cabin exists on their property, but is in the middle of a hunting preserve and is fairly rundown, not to mention the presence of snakes and wild boars.



The model is in 1:24 scale, where a 1/2 inch equals a foot. The building is 16' wide x 16+ ' high x 48' long, so the model is 8" x 8" x 24".



It is made so the roof can come off to show the interior, which includes beadboard and random width boards, and a double fireplace as this is a duplex.





I also made little hinges of metal and fishing line, that has been rusted with a patina chemical. All the doors and shutters open and close.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Wood Thrush

I've been working on a couple of models for a nature center. Here is the woodthrush. Next will be a New England Cottontail Rabbit.






Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Sugarloaf & Sunderland from Mount Toby Tower



Not much to look at yet, but here is the beginning of the next 60" x 20" panorama painting. This one probably won't include any birds, but who knows for sure at this point.



The Heart's on Fire auction last night went fairly well. Lots of bargains were had. My little painting, "5&10&2A" went for the full value.... thanks to all the bidders, especially JD. My paintings are in especially fine company with your collection.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Artspace Greenfield Hearts on Fire Auction


I am donating this oil on birch called 5 & 10 & 2A to the Artspace Greenfield Hearts on Fire Auction this coming Monday February 9 at the Hope & Olive Restaurant. It depicts the intersections of these routes (Main & Federal Streets) in Greenfield, MA


I made this painting last year as part of a continuing series of night images of Greenfield and surrounding towns. The outside of the frame is 14 3/4" x 17" and the painting is 8 1/4" x 10 1/4". It's a bit retro with it's painterly realism, but I've always enjoyed making these. and I think this is a particularly nice little study.


This is a detail of the street lights. The value will be placed at $300. About $100 of that is the custom designed and unique frame I built for it. Anyway, bid high and bid often, email one to Mary Kay Hoffman if you'd like. Thanks, they are a very worthwhile organization.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Woodpeckers Over Graves Street


oil on canvas 60" x 20"

next is Robin over Greenfield

Saturday, January 31, 2009

nearly there... nearly there....


I finally found some time to work on this painting. I had to stop in early December as I became very busy in the shop and out. Christmas framing was fairly steady. The crunch came with a large order from the Clark for 25 frames for the Toulous Lautrec exhibit, which we just finished hanging last Thursday, and the book mounts for Holy Cross, which I installed the second week in January. So I am back in the studio. It didn't take long to get some wind behind me. Yesterday and today I made some real miles. I can't wait to be done with this thing.... what was I thinking?




Wednesday, December 03, 2008

update 6 and tempus fugit


Yes, I've been slowly plugging away at the painting, although reality caught up and I became very busy in the shop and out. I am working on an exhibit of Transcendentalist Books for the Cantor Gallery at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. The collection has come from the Sant Bani School in Sanbornton, NH. Here is a PDF from their site discussing some of the books and the thinking of the transcendentalists. The exhibit follows an interesting meandering brook that leads from Thoreau's dictionary to Elvis Presley's copy of Kahil Gibran's The Prophet. I went out there to measure and handle the books for custom Plexiglas mounts fabricated to hold them safely open to specific pages.


I've also been working a piece for Jane Lund's annual invitational exhibit at the Northampton Center for the Arts. This years theme is Let's Play, Artist's Look at Toys. I went through three iterations before settling into re-working a clock from the past I was never too satisfied with.



The yellow feather is the second hand and as such moves fairly quickly. The minute hand is the maple seed and the hour hand is a sable paint brush. The airplane is made of old barn board. When I was a kid, we used to take apart the old buildings of an abandoned farm behind my neighborhood. We'd spend all day straightening bent nails with a rock and then build things with the wood. Besides building forts, we made a few fairly large airplanes, some with 10 foot wingspans that we would then throw off a 3o foot cliff in the woods..... great fun.



Behind the second hand it says Tempus Fugit (written backwards of course) and behind the shell is a penny.


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