"Ford Piquette Plant"

Like a lot of industrial sites in Detroit, this building sat neglected and abandoned for years and years. I'm not sure if the Ford Motor Company owned it, but it's been beautifully restored. It's one of the first factories Henry Ford built, before he came up with the idea of the assembly line. I believe Model A's were built here. If you're ever in the area, the tours of this beautiful factory are well worth your time. The docents are quite knowledgable. Our was a former Ford engineer who was also a car collector. In fact, a couple of his vehicles were on display. And the building is now being used for weddings and other festive occasions 

"Straits of Belle Isle"

Another late winter scene from Belle Isle. For those who don't live in the area, there are no actual straits of Belle Isle." It's just that's what it looked like. 

"Wittnette"

Who knew there were this many camera companies in America? This has to be one of the more obscure ones. And it's pretty unusual looking as well 

"Fruit Salad: Before"

I've been doing a series of still lifes. And I think they look fairly true to life. But when I started painting this one, I was in a loose kind of mood. I just love the look of blood oranges, but after I mixed the paint for it, I thought, "What the heck" and just let my brushes take me where they wanted to go. 

"La Fiesta"

This camera had such a 1960's look to it, I had to find the perfect background for it. And while a camera is interesting by itself, you can't just do plain backgrounds. I found this colorful beach blanket hidden away in our basement. I think it sets the camera off nicely. 

"Belle Isle Solitude"

Went for a hike on a Sunday afternoon after a pretty good snowfall. we had the whole trail to ourselves. It ws fun exploring a part of the island where we used to cross country ski in the winter. I thought this scene made a nice composition. 

"My Polish Roots"

I thought it would be an interesting challenge to do a painting of some root vegetables. And with my Polish heritage, what better veggies than some beets, onions and a spud?  I put them on a white tablecloth and voila! I think it turned out okay. 

"Mrs. Cohen's"

Oner of my favorite stops in Greenfield Village. This millenary shop is not only charming, but the folks who work there paint an incredible picture of what the shop, and the city was like back in the day. This is the latest installment in my series of sights in the village. Look for more once the weather gets better. 

"Another Bull's-Eye"

This was the second painting I did of this camera. I gave the first one to its owner. When I was almost done, I just wasn't happy with the background. So I loosened up a bit and gave it a 60s, hippy music poster look to it. I think it matches the feel of the camera. Pretty darn retro. 

"Brownie Points"

A friend lent me this camera to paint. I tried to figure out what a suitable background would be. It had to be something 1960ish. As luck would have it, we had an old tablecloth from that era that had never been used. Perfect! Then I looked through my younger daughter's extensive collection of sunglasses. Voila! These looked like something out of an Audrey Hepburn movie. And this is the end result. 

"Sears Tower"

My first SLR camera was a Sears, made by Ricoh. I had no idea that they had been selling cameras with their name on it for this long. Here is a model from probably the 1940s. It was let to my by a friend's daughter who has quite a collection of vintage cameras. 

"Now & Then"

This is the second in a series of fruits/vegetables and the products they become. It involved some painstaking details, and I think it turned out okay. The reflections really make the scene lifelike. Not sure what the next one is going to be. I'm definitely open to suggestions. 

"A River of Notes"

This piece was accepted into a local art show. Here's the story behind he title. Bess Bonnier, a well-known jazz pianist friend of mine once described the playing of Kirk Lightest as "A river of notes." It beautifully describes his sound. With that in mind, I put some of his music on and began painting. This is what I came up with. 

"Argh, Argus"

The Argus Camera Company was based In Ann Arbor, Michigan and made some pretty decent cameras over the years. I went on line and for the first time ever, bought something on eBay. I bought this handsome model just to paint. I'm not even sure if it works or not. But I think I only paid something like $35 for it. I'll have to start hitting garage sales for some more cameras.