Sand Dollars for Long John Silver

                                           An original mixed-media painting, on gesso primed Masonite
                                           8 X 10",  unframed
                                           $300.00, - ( plus $12.00, pack and ship )


                                                           ( Click on image to enlarge )

     This painting is another from the series that I have talked about in previous posts.
Each of these paintings is built around memories of favorite, story books of childhood,
usually books containing tales of high adventure, which may still stir some nostalgic
recollections in the grown ups who view the paintings.  For this painting, I imagined a
family vacation at the beach, where the parents planed to catch up on their reading,
and the children have also brought along some of their own favorite books to read.
And what could be more appropriate than Robert Louis Stevenson's rousing tale of
a fabulous, buried treasure on a deserted Caribbean island, and the cut-throat pirates
who will stop at nothing to get the gold for themselves.
     The young reader in this case, has not discovered any gold doubloons washed up
by the storms.  So, if a peg-legged old sea-captain, with a parrot on his shoulder,
should come by, the only treasure pieces that the child can offer him are not a pirate's
pieces-of-eight, they are his treasured, sand dollars, freshly gathered from the beach.
 

Someone Left Tom Sawyer On The Beach

                                           An original mixed-media painting, on gesso primed Masonite
                                           8 X 10",  unframed
                                           $300.00, - ( plus $12.00, pack and ship )


                                                           ( Click on image to enlarge )

   
     This painting is another from the series that I referred to in my previous blog, all of
which center about favorite books of boyhood, and the frequent forgetfulness which is
often a part the equation, in children's, easily distracted lives.  In this case, the child has
taken the book farther from home than he has before.  He carried his book to the beach,
but there were many things to see and do on the beach, before settling down to read.
He explored the shore, gathering some of the sun-bleached, sea shells he discovered,
to take home with him when it was time for him to go.  Then he wondered off, following
the calls of sea birds or other children.  But he didn't think about the incoming tide, which
could claim his treasures before he remembers to return.
     We can only hope that all such happy, adventurous lads grow up to enjoy lives with
a love of learning and discovery, before the inevitable tides of time and misfortune come
back again.

Tom Sawyer Is Lying On The Patio

                                           An original mixed-media painting, on canvas panel
                                           9 X 12", unframed
                                           $400.00, - (plus $12.00, pack and ship)
                             

                                                        ( Click on image to enlarge )

     This painting is one from a series I worked on, using some favorite, boyhood books
as subjects, books which contained familiar, tall tales of adventure or classic fantasies,
which can still evoke a bit of nostalgic feelings, in the viewers who are looking at the
paintings.
      I have previously posted another of these paintings in this blog, called Who Left Tom 
Sawyer Outside Last Night?   In the story behind that painting, I imagined a scenario in
which  a child had taken a favorite book outdoors to read, but who then became
distracted by friends and other games, and forgot about the book.  The back-story
behind all of the paintings in the series was much the same.
     In the case of this painting, I imagined that, after a cool night, the morning sunlight
finds the book still lying out on the patio, and the butterfly has found the radiant comfort
of the sun-warmed book to be the perfect place to rest and recharge.
     It was my hope that these paintings would help people reflect a bit and recall some of
their long-past days of innocent childhood, when it seemed the most important thing in life
was the necessity of observing the world around us, in all it's miraculous details, from the
colors of falling leaves to the amazingly delicate structure of a butterfly's wings.



     I still have several other paintings from this series.  I will try to get them photographed
and post them to the blog soon.