Hot Cocoa, Bedtime Stories and Teddy

                                        An original, acrylic painting on a gesso primed, masonite panel
                                        8 x 10", unframed
                                        $300.00, ( plus $10.00, pack and ship )

     Of all the incentives which parents may use to persuade their little children, that it is
time for them to go to bed, these three things must be among the most frequently used
enticements.  They are also three things which may awaken a bit of nostalgia in some
older viewers.

     This is a fairly traditional, little still-life painting.  The composition is static and calm
except for the drama of the sharply angled lighting and shadows.  The painting also
captures the several, different textures of the materials from which the three objects
were made.
                                                       ( click on image to enlarge )

     If my memory serves me correctly, stuffed, toy bears acquired the name Teddy, after
the well publicized incident in which President Teddy Roosevelt spared the life of a small
bear, while on one of his wild-game, hunting trips.

     Since that time, "Teddy" bears have taken on a permanent role in our daily lives
which makes them a part of the human circle of life   Teddy bears are often the first gift
for a baby, and the bear may become a constant  companion for the child, for several
years.  Later on, in the early teen years of puppy love, girls may receive teddy bears
from boys suffering their first crush, and they might dance to songs with lyrics which
request a girl to be a boy's, little, teddy bear.   When the time comes to marry and
raise a family of their own, those young parents pass on the tradition of giving teddy
bears to their children.  And then , much later in life, when elderly ladies are alone,
and in declining health, they often receive teddy bears, as gifts from kindly nieces or
granddaughters, as a thoughtful remembrance.  And finally. after a loved one passes on,
teddy bears often show up as a part of the memorial tributes
     So. our teddy bears have become primary symbols of  our desire to give comfort
and  enduring love, to those we hold dear, throughout our lives.

Tea For Two

                                       An original acrylic painting, on gessoed masonite panel
                                        8 x 10", unframed
                                       $350.00 - ( plus $10.00, pack and ship )

     This painting was awarded the grand prize at the BLICK spring art show 2015
in Kansas City.
                                                         ( click on image to enlarge )

     The two white mice in this painting, which appear to be trying to decide on whether
they would prefer a different flavor of tea than the one in the tin, were not painted from
live models.  Rodents do not rank very high on my scale of preferred pets.   But we
should be thankful to have the white mice, because of their usefulness as the foundation
of medical research.
    I painted the mice for a recent art-workshop, as a demonstration of how to paint
white furred animals, by starting with a dark under-painting, and then building up layers
of lighter value tones, before finally adding the pure white touches.  However, in this
painting, it is the blue and white glazed tea-pot, with its intricate decoration, which
steals the scene, and which proved to be far more time consuming to paint than a couple
of mice, out on a date.