The Shunting Yard

The Shunting Yard

$100

Oil on Canvas Board

8x10 inches

Spring of 1999

Railroad Avenue, Opelika, Alabama

I used to have a studio on Railroad Avenue in Opelika, Alabama. It was an old store and it sat literally 25 inches from a railroad shunting yard. When the trains were being moved about, the whole studio building shook. The train whistles would invariably shout out as soon as I answered the phone.

Now all this may sound awful if you don't like trains, but I do like them and always have. I like to look at them, ride on them, and paint pictures of them.

For this painting, all I had to do was haul my painting equipment out my front door and about 20 yards down the tracks. Luckily for me while I was painting this landscape, no trains came to pick up the boxcars. It was relatively peaceful.

Southwest Opelika?

Southwest Opelika?

$100

Oil on Linen

8x10 inches

10/04/2006

South Railroad Avenue, Downtown Opelika, Alabama

I used to have a studio on South Railroad Avenue in Opelika, Alabama. The building was very old and built about 30 feet from a railroad shunting yard. If I ever got bored, I could look out my window at the trains. The whole area has lots to offer an artist, so I thought I would revisit it.

At first I had trains on my mind, but I decided to walk a bit and see what else there was. A few doors down from my old studio is a shoe repair shop that I'm sure dates back to the Civil War, complete with shoes from that time. The unique thing about this place (as if it needed anything more distinctive) is that the greater part of the front of the shop is occupied by an enormous cactus plant. It is reminiscent of “The Little Shop of Horrors”. I was all set to tackle that when I looked in the ally beside the shop and saw another enormous cactus. This one was up against an old stucco wall that was half in light and half covered with the shadow of the adjoining building. It looked just like something an artist in Santa Fe would paint.

I set my easel up in the ally and began. If you ever want to appreciate just how fast the sun moves across the sky, paint a picture dominated by a large specific shadow. When I started, the shadow was on the bottom third of the wall and when I finished, it was near the top. Needless to say, I had to use my memory more than I wanted too.

Farm Road

Farm Road

$100

Oil on Linen

8x10 inches

09/27/2007

H & G Horse Quarters, Auburn, Alabama

I try these days to always have my paint box ready to go in case I have extra time or I am finding myself stuck somewhere. On this day, I had to leave the studio early to take the kids to the horse barn for riding lessons.

A farm is a wonderful place for a painter. It has subjects in abundance and the only challenge is deciding what to paint. My time was limited and in my haste, I only brought a few colors, but they would do. The weather was exceptional for Alabama. The sky was vivid blue and huge storm clouds were moving quickly, changing the landscape in minutes from sunny to overcast to raining and back to sunny.

The spot I picked was right out of a “How to Choose the Perfect Landscape Composition” book. It has a nice road with an S-shaped turn, a line of trees, great light, and shadow. I seized upon it, quickly set up, sketched in the basic shapes, and marveled on the fantastic light and shadow shapes. I mixed up the first shadow color and the clouds moved in. There would now be light patterns in the piece and it would also be a nice tonal painting.

As I progressed, I started to see drops of water on the canvas, then more drops, and then a steady rain began. The great thing about oil paint is that oil and water don't mix. You can keep on painting. The rain does, however, make oil paint react in a completely bizarre way. As I was finishing, the clouds moved on, the sun broke out, and the beautiful shadow shapes reappeared. It was all I could do to resist trying to put them in. That's never a good idea when you've reached completion. That landscape would be another painting and it will be brought to canvas on another day.

Azaleas

Azaleas

$100

Oil on Canvas

11 x14 inches

2009

Auburn, Alabama

This painting was done as a sample for my Tuesday afternoon painting class. I try to have a painting done a day or two ahead of the class but that isn’t always the case.

The class was starting at 1 o’clock and it was already past 10:30 and I had no idea what to do. Panic was setting in, so I called a friend for advice. She said “paint flowers, everyone loves flowers”.

I went outside and tore some azaleas from a bush out back and frantically set about painting it. Sometimes those are the best paintings.

Sorry no post yesterday. I was kayaking all day and then when I got home, my work computer had died on me. On the upside... I got a new computer today :)

100 Degrees in the Shade

100 Degrees in the Shade

$100

Oil on Canvas Panel

8 x10 inches

2009

Auburn, Alabama

This painting was done at the farm “ Southern Springs” where my daughter takes riding lessons. As the title tells it was dreadfully hot, not just in the sun but shade too.

I looked all around for something to paint and was getting tired of wiping the sweat from my eyes so I stopped in the back field. I set up the easel and began to pull paints out and noticed that I had no blue. Everything in the picture was a tropical green and as I mix my green from yellow and blue I was stuck. It then struck me that if it was a hot day, make a hot painting. I mixed the orange reds and went at it as a tonal painting. It is one of my favorite ways to paint.

When I was near the end of the painting I heard footsteps behind me or rather hoof steps and there was Savannah on Star, her pony.

It was nice to get back to air conditioning.

Hazy Morning Crops

Hazy Morning Crops

$250

Oil on Canvas

24 x30 inches

2009

Auburn, Alabama

I recently was at an all week “plein air painting festival”. There were about forty painters and each morning they would stamp our canvases and send us to a location to paint.

It was a wonderful experience and the painters ranged from amateur to professional. One of the professionals was a young Russian who could paint large paintings outdoors. It was magical to watch. I was hooked and vowed to try it.

This painting was my first large outdoor painting. I had also wanted to do a “color keyed” landscape for a while. It was hot and I thought a high key yellow green would show the humidity well. I tore into it and soon discovered that larger canvases are really just a mental exercise. Just use a bigger brush and stand back farther.

I hope to do more.