Minnestoa Shoreline on Lake Superior......

This is an acrylic painting that was done while sitting on the shore of Lake Superior.  My wife and I use to sit for hours at a time painting that wonderful North Shore.

1986 Woodduck .............

When my wife and I married in 1984, I knew she was a non stop painter.  Mostly she painted portraits at that time.  As a school teacher, I had my summer break each year and by the second summer, she had me painting along with her, in Minnesota.  We lived in a very small rustic cabin along Lake Pokegama, and the boys were probably 7 and 10 in age.  They were out and about and we sat at drawing tables and worked four or five hours day.  We sat in front of a bank of windows overlooking the lake rain or shine.

I painted this Woodduck in oils, just to see if I could pull it off. I had never painted any birds before this one.  I had found a small picture, 4 by 6 inches, to look at from an old National Geographic and I just started painting.  It is in actual size a 16 by 20 inch painting.  I never sold it and I am glad that I didn't. It is one of my favorite ducks and favorite paintings.  Some people get confused about the one leg but it was resting it's other flipper, tucking it under it's wing.

At the time I painted it, an artist, Robert Bateman, a very famous  Canadian wildlife artist, was doing so well in the print business.  He was painting so many different animals and birds. He was an inspiration to me and the background and foreground with plants, remind me that I was studying his  work, as they look like what you see in his paintings. He is 20 years older than be and is still painting today.

I haven't touched a paint brush for a few weeks now but I will be working on a mural with my wife soon as we want to get that accomplished by the end of May.

A painting from my past.

I am very frustrated for not being free enough to get any painting done. I was finishing one to two paintings a week for awhile then it all stopped.
This is a painting I created one summer while I was in Minnesota.  It is acrylic on a smooth panel.  I always thought I would return to it and place an animal in the front right side.  As I have lived with it I really like the vacant feeling and the style of the whole painting.  It is so clean and simple in style and I tend to go to opposite extreme with too much detail. Maybe a chicken or a sheep would work there, huh?
I will continue to share other paintings of my past until I get myself back on  a painting on canvas schedule instead of painting  bathroom walls.

Maine along the Atlantic coast.......

I have not completed this. I wanted to show you where it is at in it's progression. I need to do more painting  until I can look at and not find anything else to correct.  I may let it sit for a few weeks and then return to it.
I have had a lot of distractions that have kept me from painting.  I really want to sit down and do something spontaneously and I have not been able to do that either.  My retirement means I should have moved away from the area as to be able to go into seclusion. Thanks for stopping in and following my creative journey.