Baby Buggy 5x7 Watercolor

How do you drive a baby buggy? Tickle her feet.

Another opportune moment as I was walking through a park.

Red Umbrella 11x14 Acrylic

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Another concert in the park. I seem to find a lot of subject matter at these events. But it's a good place for a people painter. Some people actually go to listen to the music. I go to watch people.

Hallie 9x12 Oil

This is a painting I did of Hallie when she was little. She hated posing back then. But she was a good sport and didn't complain. Not for sale.

Wooded Path 11x14 Acrylic

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Half mile or so from my home, there's a footbridge that crosses an arm of the Mississippi River onto an island that once held many factories during WWII. All that is left of these buildings are a few foundations covered by undergrowth. Many paths like this one wind around the narrow island.

Taking A Break 9x12 Acrylic

Ballet dancers don't sit around like ordinary humans. They sit in ways that stretch and bend the body that would require medical attention for the rest of us. Katherine is the same model as in 'Ballet Teacher.'

Thayer's Angel 6x7 Charcoal

One of my favorite paintings is 'Angel' by Abbott Henderson Thayer. He used his daughter as a model. He hung some feathery wings up on a wall and had her stand in front of them. I have always been mesmerized by her portrait. I'm paying a poor homage to this work.

Blue Balloon 9x12 Acrylic

Early one Sunday morning at a marathon race, activities and people were everywhere, but all this little boy was concentrating on was his balloon.

Downtown Shoppers 11x14 Acrylic

This is just up the street from where 'Lunch In The District' was located. You can see some umbrellas in the distance. 

Red Beret 5x7 Acrylic

This young lady was leaning against a tree at an art festival. I took her picture, then asked if I may do a painting of her. She said sure, but her eyes said ' I've got mace and I'm not afraid to use it.' That's OK, it must be strange to approached in this manner.

Boating Party 11x14 Acrylic

Taken from a photo of a boat out floating in the middle of the Mississippi River. They were listening to a concert going on in a park. I don't remember who was playing. Jazz I think. Some unusual cropping going on here. Probably a compositional no-no, but I did it anyway. 

End Of Winter 11x14 Acrylic

This is a view out my studio window. I really had fun painting this one. I just turned myself loose and went at it.

Kite Flyers 11x14 Acrylic

This is my cousin and his daughter flying a kite on their farm. I was up on a deck and was able to get a good view.

Daydreamer 11x14 Acrylic

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It's good to be in the right place at the right time. This is why I always have a camera handy. There is a park in downtown Davenport, Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River where people hang out and get lost in the moment and in their own thoughts.

Out Beyond Utica Ridge 11x14 Acrylic

In the eastern part of Iowa, bluffs rise up from the Mississippi River and turn into rolling hills and then stretch out to the flat farmlands. Utica Ridge Road runs through these rolling hills. I sat up on the side of a lonely dirt road and painted this sketch. In the time I was painting, 45 minutes or so, three cars stopped to make sure everything was all right. I like this part of the country, I think it is the same everywhere, people care about one another. It is a real neighbor helping neighbor mentality out here.

Lady In Red 5x7 Acrylic

Lunch In The District 16x20 Acrylic

There is an area in downtown Rock Island, Illinois known as The District with shops, galleries and bistros like this one. I like to walk down here at noon in the summer when the weather is nice. There are always painting subjects everywhere you look.

Covered Bridge 16x20 Oil

Reached way back and yanked out an old one. Back in high school when I was working in oil. Please don't ask how long ago that was. Remember Laugh-in and Gunsmoke on TV, and not the reruns either. This was painted entirely with a palette knife. I came across it this afternoon stashed away behind a desk. Not for sale.

Brothers 12x16 Acrylic

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I posted this painting back in December as a work in progress and then forgot to post the finished work. Well, better late than never.

The Stars Look Down 24x30 Acrylic

I've always wanted to do a painting of a night scene looking into a lighted window. A heck of a challenge. The stars make us feel insignificant, but I think the stars are insignificant compared to a single life. This old house is directly across the street from my house. I may repaint the figure in the window, I'm not sure yet. If I do, I'll repost it. As hard as I tried, it didn't photograph as well as the original painting looks. 

Freedom From Fear 40x40 Water Soluable Oil

This is a painting from a few years back, much larger than my daily paintings. Not for sale.

Portrait Of My Mother 9x12 Watercolor

My mother is 89 years old now. I think it is fascinating that when she was born, World War I was still raging. When she was a little girl, she saw Charles Lindburg. Later in life, she saw John F. Kennedy. And still later, shook hands with President Clinton. She remembers the Great Depression. She remembers exactly where she was when she heard the news about both Pearl Harbor and 9/11. She raised three sons and buried one, the worst thing that could happen to a parent. I think our country should honor our elders more. They are a wealth of history. Not for sale.

Cork This! 8x10 Acrylic

I was at an Irish Festival listening to an Irish band. My mothers' maiden name is Ryan. My great aunt died on the boat trip over here from Ireland and was buried at sea. This lady had on this sweatshirt that said Cork This!, refering to County Cork, I assume, but I couldn't resist but get a picture. 

Ballet Teacher 4.5x7 Acrylic

Ziegfeld Girl No. 6 Acrylic 5x7

Painted on Multimedia Artboard, this Ziegfeld Girl is smaller than the others, which were painted on canvas. These are extremely good practice in portrait painting.

Beachsitter 5x7 Acrylic

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This is painted on Multimedia Artboard. I like this surface. I use the smoother side because the brush moves more quickly over it. On the right in the 'about me' section, I indicated that this blog is a search for me, and it certainly is. Doing art, after all, is a kind of baring of your soul. But I know the search in my personal art is to portray the pschological aspects of life using the physical form. This has always been my interest in making art and looking at art.

Ziegfeld Girl No.2 Acrylic 11x14

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Ziegfeld Girl No.1 Acrylic 11x14

SOLD


I love portraits. The landscape of the face fascinates me. Here is a woman whose only history I know is a photograph, but she lived, grew up, loved and had all the heartaches we all experience. I wonder what her life was like.

Charity Cat 5x7 Watercolor

It's Charity's world and I'm just living in it. When she gets this wild look in her eyes, I know she's going to be in my lap in a second. And it doesn't matter what I have on my lap at the time, even a palatte full of paint won't stop her. Then it's off to the bathtub to wash paint off her paws. She just loves that. I have the scars to prove it.

This is watercolor on bristol board. I couldn't resist the way the camera distorted everything when I took the picture looking straight down on Charity, so I decided to exploit it. There are water bottles and paintings in the room I use as a studio.

Lincoln 5x8 Charcoal

I love Lincoln. Not the Lincoln on the penny and the five dollar bill, but Lincoln the human being. In a life time full of suffering, he had the sense of humor to laugh whenever he could, often at himself. When you look up 'life ain't fair' in the dictionary. that's where Lincoln's picture ought to be.

Girl With Camera 9x12 Acrylic

I like these monotone paintings. They remind me of some of the illustrations inside the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. Sometimes monotone drawings and paintings appeared to illustrate stories in place of full color illustrations. I always thought they held a certain charm.