Landscapes : Large  Oil Paintings

(Includes the large Swamp Painting -  Click here for all Swamp Paintings)

Quick Notes on the Origins of Some Paintings

• The Swamp Paintings: Most were painted 2009-2010 and first shown at Portlock Galleries in Chesapeake, VA.

• Self Portrait as a Landscape: This is an imaginary landscape and the symbolism is designed around my ideas about knowledge and being.  The central building  is the primary interest base.  The smaller buildings are secondary interest. (The initial idea was about how Southern landscapes are dotted with family homes and smaller next generation houses,)  The dead orchard. . . The main highway and the road less taken. The fires that are burning off bad ideas.  The reflective silos are like memory banks or the heads on a VCR, remember them?

• View of Zoo: The Lafayette River as seen from the 26th/27th Street Bridge in Norfolk, Virginia.  

  It was a calm, balmy summer afternoon and I was driving home with my sweet dog Charlie. As I was crossing the Lafayette Bridge I saw a wonderful scene of sunlight and cloud formations. I quickly parked my car, leashed the dog and headed on foot back onto the bridge. Charlie wasn't happy about the height, the water or the closeness of the passing traffic but she steeled her nerves and faithfully walked close to me. 
  
  
  When we reached the apex, I started taking photographs. Some were locking onto the silver-edged clouds and others onto the water and surrounding landscapes. As I photographed, I noticed some children run out of a house and over to a small rowboat. They launched the boat and rowed out to the center of the river. I wished I had a better lens. Then, in a quick, overhead toss they cast a net into the water. Immediately they drew the net in and rowed back to the shore. I knew the story, their Mom had just gone to the store, she told then she would be right back and for them not to get in trouble. They worked fast, so she would never know. 
  
  
  As Charlie and I walked back to the car, I knew that there would be a memento to those children in the painting. Their adventure is represented by a small dot  just left of center. 
  
  
  You do a lot of thinking when you are painting. Comparing values, asking why "this scene," wondering how things work. During this painting I realized that on those still, warm summer days the clouds rise from the river and just hang there over the river's course. The distant bank I s the bay. And Charlie, she just enjoyed being in the studio while I worked. 

• Suburban Scene: Morning in Winona Neighborhood, Norfolk, VA.  The cat is a memory image that was added in.  The memory is of my cat rushing out the door as I drove up the drive way.  It was her first attempt at rushing outside.

• West of Suffolk

• HIghway Homes: Square

• Highway Homes: After Storm

• Toledo Wash: Gold Toledo Wash Painting are on the Eastern Shore and I gave them the name because the drama of the landscapes and sky reminded me of the El Greco's Toledo paintings.

• Toledo Wash: Night

• Chuckatuck: Grassy Path I  These paintings are based on a leisurely trip down the Chuckatuck Creek, launching 

  from the Lone Star Park and running between Chesapeake and Suffolk, Virginia

• Chuckatuck: Grassy Path II

• Chuckatuck: Fallen Giant

• Chuckatuck: Grassy Square

• Chuckatuck: Lake &  Trees

• Lake Wright

• South Carolina Boundary: This is a memory painting of my grandfather's farm house between Marion and Mullins, SC.  The dogs were added  from a photo taken near Elizabeth City, NC.  The dogs reminded me of the country/farm dogs that greeted visitors and threatened passer-bys. They were the early warning system for farm families.

• Low Country, NC Bridge

• Lake Smith: Reflections:  Was in a corporate collection, but went into receivership of Chase-Manhattan. I would like to know of  the new owner and to acquire a digital picture. This is a stunning painting with an equally stunning history.  It  was selected in a competition for a condominium collection but later traded for another "calmer" painting. A resident of the condominium was convinced (a completely unfounded assumption) that there were demons swimming in the water.

• Clouds, Clouds, Clouds: A progressive vertical triptych

• Lafayette Bridge

• Greenbrier Orchard: After I painted this landscape, I returned to site. It was so sad, the entire area had been

  developed and the orchard was gone -- as were many other beautiful trees.  I am for progress, but sometimes

  the blind  and thoughtless actions of the developers destroy the unique and beautiful character of a place

  resulting in bland, sameness of anywhere.