DOORS

 

One thing that I loved about Hong Kong was the constant contrast between the old and the new. While I did enjoy the modern city, I preferred to wander through quiet woodland, over grassy hills and through abandoned villages. Fortunately I did quite a lot of studies of these places while I was there as most of them have either been developed or have returned to nature. I still make it a point to visit some of the old places that are still accessible whenever I visit Hong Kong and am always rewarded by a wealth of subjects. These old doors were found in a village not far from where I lived on Lamma Island. A few studies of these and other doors were done at that time and I might return to this subject one day. Size of the painting is 24 x 36 in (61 x 92cm), acrylic on board.

EVENING AT THE LAKE VII

 

After another excursion down to the nearby lake, I came back with this painting. Initially I was focused on the heronry situated on the larger island in the middle of the lake.  I wanted to paint some of the nests and the comings and goings of the herons. As night fell and the heat of the day dissipated, mist began to form so I started to include this into my painting. Since the mist was drifting just above the surface of the water, it conveniently formed a line across the middle and worked well to separate the island from its reflection. The evening sky that day was magnificent! Size is about 9 x 12 inches (23 x 30cm), oil on canvas.

EVENING REFLECTIONS

 

This is another watercolor that I did when I visited the Adirondacks in upstate New York. It was a quiet evening while we waited for the sun to set but the colors were simply amazing! This scene somehow seem to epitomize the whole trip for me. There were many such memorable landscapes similar to this one, fortunately I visited during some wonderful weather although the blackflies were a little troublesome! Still, it was well worth it though and I came home with a lot of new work and some great references for future paintings. This one is about 15 x 11 in (38 x 28 cm).

ROOF VENT, PART 2

 

After working on the painting for a further few days, I put it aside for a while then came back with a fresh eye to take another look at it. There were a few areas that I continued to darken such as the brick wall at the bottom. I think at this stage, I am almost finished. I'll leave it in the studio then pull it out in a week or so then see how I feel about it, perhaps I will do a little more -  one can never tell. If so I'll repost a updated photo. Size is 15 x 11 in ( 380 x 280 cm), acrylic on Grumbacher paper.

ROOF VENT, PART 1

 

With this work, I am getting closer to finishing a series of paintings that I started when we were in Baltimore. This one, like all the others, was seen along one of the streets on our almost daily walks around the inner harbour. Initially, this large vent caught my eye as a powerful motif standing against a lighter sky. When I looked closer, I was delighted to discover how it and the roof had weathered over the years. Apart from the subtle greens which was all that was left of the initial paint, there were many textures and streaks of rust which I knew I would enjoy recreating in a painting. Here I am about half way through the process but there is still a lot more to come....

EAGLE OWL AT DUSK

 

Yet another of my older paintings. In this one, I wanted to contrast the softness of the owl's feathers with the hard textures of the rocks. This is just how I saw it and while I didn't have a sketchbook handy, I retained the image and composition in my mind long enough to create a small study when I got back home. The painting grew from there.... Size is about 20 x 16 inches (510 x 410 cm), oil on canvas.

COMMON SNIPE

 

It has been very cold with quite a lot of snow lately and over in the nearby wetland area, I saw two Common Snipe. That sighting brought to memory a painting I did some time ago of a single bird in a snowy landscape much in the same way as I saw the recent snipe. This oil is about 15 x 30 inches (38 x 76cm).