"Night of the Living Birch"

 

I love they way some folks illuminate the trees on their property. I makes for some dramatic viewing. Here's one I found in the neighborhood. The light pollution in the background added to the unique scene. 

"Swinging in the Snow"

I was hiking in this mini-nature park after a snowfall this week. I had seen pretty much everything and there was nothing inspiring around. Just before I headed back to the car I decided, what the heck, why not walk around the play area and check out the shadows. Glad I did. There were several scenes that caught my eye. This is one of them. 

 

"Monteith Branch"

 

This gorgeous building is a branch of the Detroit Public Library and is a couple miles from where I live. I've admired it every time I drive by it and decided it ended painting. I purposely left out a good deal of the surrounding trees to focus the attention on the building itself. Maybe down the road I'll ad some trees. 

"Eggplant"

 

Eggplants are one of the weirdest looking vegetables around. The contrast between the skin and the insides is pretty dramatic. But it sure is a versatile vegetable. Love it! 

"Blood Oranges"

 

Haven't done a Veg-A-Sketch in a while. These are a couple blood oranges I picked up at the market. I remember the first time I saw one was when I was hitchhiking around Europe back in my college days. We bought a couple of these which were grown in Israel. I was absolutely astounded by the color. Now they're grown here in the U.S. and they're not that big of a deal anymore. But I still think they look pretty cool!

"St. Paul's on the Lake"

 

This is the church I attended growing up. It's in the Neo-Gothic style and is a striking church for sure. It features red brick which have an orangish glow when lit up at night. I decided to take a hike around my old stomping grounds and it certainly brought back some memories. 

"Lakeshore Luminescence"

 

Saw this gathering of small trees during a walk along the lake at night. I loved the fact that some of the branches had a lilac color that contrasted with the whitish ones. And the sky and lake were pitch black, which formed a perfect, and eerie backdrop. 

"Some Enchanted Backyard"

 

Over the Holidays I noticed this unusual sight. Someone had lit up their small gathering of trees in their backyard. It had an enchanted, fairy tale look to it. In the background, thanks to light pollution from the city, the sky glowed a beautiful indigo blue. 

"The Kondak Barn"

 

This is my niece and nephew's barn in Upstate New York. I rarely paint from other people's photos, but since I don't know when I'll be visiting them, I thought I'd make an exception. Paul sent me a number of pix and I chose this angle. In the original photo, solar panels are being installed on the roof, which didn't exactly add to the charm of the scene. So here it is, sans panels. 

"Weltaflex"

 

I certainly had never heard of a Weltaflex until I saw it on eBay. It seems like a pretty rare find. So I just knew I had to paint it and bought one. The background is a sweater of mine. I think the bold colors offset the camera nicely. 

"Sunflower Variation"

 

I'd never sen a pink sunflower before I saw this one at the Lancaster Farmer's Market this fall. It had the most beautiful reddish pink color that just doesn't translate well. I played around in PhotoShop and this is the closest I can get to showing what the painting looks like. I also painting it on a larger canvas, which helped me paint in a looser style. I'll have to do this more often. 

"The Lollipop Guild"

 

This is just part of the over-the-top Christmas display I spotted on an evening walk. The whole front yard was strewn with all sorts of decorations. I thought it would make for an interesting painting. Once all the decorations are down, I'm going to have to look harder for nighttime subjects to commit to canvas. 

"Gala Garage"

 

Since Christmas I've been taking after dinner walks around the neighborhood. It suddenly dawned on my that some of these scenes might make interesting subjects for paintings--especially with all the Christmas lights up. I really should have started a month and a half ago. Anyway, this is the first nighttime painting I've ever done. The very idea poses interesting challenges which I think I'm figuring out. 

"SnoSketch No. 3"

 

Another one I found after a snowstorm. It has an abstract quality I thought was pretty interesting. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

"Meteor"

 

With a name like Meteor, I thought this camera should have a spacey background. So I did a search and found one that inspired me. I decided to skip the shading to make it look like the camera was floating out in space. 

"Jefferson Chalmers Bank"

 

Another in my new series of abandoned bank buildings in Detroit. 

"SnoSketch No. 2"

 

Here's the second in my new series of SnoSketches. It turned out rather abstract. One of the beauties of photographing plants and flowers after a snowstorm. Can't wait to get out into one of the MetroParks after a big snow! 

"Wheat's Up"

 

Found this beautiful wheat field driving around Lancaster with my cousin. It almost has an abstract quality to it and I think it makes for an interesting painting 

"Rabbit Run" SnoSketch No. 1

 

This is a scene from my front yard on Christmas morning after a night's snowfall. Fresh rabbit tracks. Later in the day I went for a walk around the neighborhood and took a bunch of reference photos. I just loved the way the snow reduced everything to its basic elements. So I decided I'm going to do a series of what I'm calling SnoSketches. Look for them in the near future. 

"Gerbera, Baby!"

 

My wife brought home a bunch of Gerbera Daisies and they were so brightly colored, they just begged to be painted. I took a bunch of shots of them at all different angles. But I think the simplicity of this composition worked out best. 

"Old Stone Bridge. Abridged."

 

Saw this enchanting scene hiking in Lancaster County this fall. It was so serene and colorful I just had to paint it. Not sure if my feeble attempt does it justice, but you get the idea. 

"Ciroflex"

 

This camera was totally B&W so I needed a colorful background to set it off. And what could be brighter than a Hawaiian shirt? This is one of my favorites--amazingly comfortable and as bright as they come. And it didn't even need ironing! 

"Eastlawn Bank"

 

In Detroit, there were a ton of local banks--seemingly one for every neighborhood. This was most likely due to the lack of central banking. Fortunately, a good deal of these building are still standing. Mainly because the neighborhoods are run down and there doesn't seem to be any use for them. Some have been repurposed and are now liquor stores. Is I decided to start documenting them while they still exist. Look for a whole series of them in the future.