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.  

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.

                                               

Do The Mermaids Bring The Storms?

                                               An original acrylic painting, on illustration board
                                               20 x 30", unframed, - ( mat size, 26 x 36' )
                                               $2,200.00,  plus $40.00, ( pack and ship )

     The title of this painting is in the form of a question, as it might be asked by a small
child, who has seen and heard many video and literary references to the existence of
of the popular, mythical beings who live in the sea.  People have been creating disastrous
legends and folk tales about encounters with mermaids since men first began to venture
forth on the sea, to fish or to voyage to distant lands in search of valuable trade goods.
And, even as late as the voyages of Columbus, a number of mermaids were reportedly
seen to frequent the waters of the new world.  From Hans Christian Andersen to Walt
Disney, little mermaids have become a staple part of pop culture, thus reinforcing the
tales of ancient mythology, even as we have changed them from nightmare creatures,
luring men to their deaths, into fantasies for children's bedtime stories.

     But some of the old folk tales survive, to be passed down from one generation to
the next, such as the Greek legend of Alexander The Great's sister Thessalonike.
After her death she was believed to have become one of the immortal mermaids who
lived in the Aegean Sea.   Greek fisherman on passing ships were cautioned on how
to respond to her when she called out to them, "Is King Alexander alive?".  The correct
answer to her question, is said to be, "He lives and reigns and conquers the world!"
On hearing this answer, the mermaid calms the waters and bids the ship farewell.
However, if the wrong answer is given, she is said to become enraged, and stirs up
a terrible storm to doom the ship and all aboard.

     This painting is another from the series of fountain paintings which I have referred
to in previous postings, such as Neptune Rising, and A Sunrise Visitor, all of which
have the art objects of a well known shopping district in Kansas City, as reference
subjects on which I have based some new works, from time to time.. In this case,
the fountain features two large, carved, marble, mermaid figures, which are said to be
over three hundred years old, and which are blowing jets of water from their horns.
They were first installed here in 1930, facing each other from opposite ends of a
rectangular pool, and I first became acquainted with them in that configuration back
in the 1940's.  The fountain pool was restyled in 1968, into a larger, modified-trefoil
design, with a circular, fountain spray added to increase the water display.

     I chose to depict the fountain at a time of an approaching storm, with the mermaids
caught in the flickering light from the thickening clouds, with one mermaid in sun and
one in shadow.  And in between the two, old, worn figures is a very young one, asking
the question, "Do the mermaids bring the storms?".

                                                         ( click on image to enlarge )

   

Neptune Rising

                                                         An original acrylic painting, on canvas panel

                                                         24 X 30", unframed

                                                     


     In some of my previous postings, such as Raffaello's Boy, and A Sunrise Visitor,
I have referred to a unique shopping district here, dating back to the early 20th century,
and designed to have the character of a southern, European village.  The original
developer of the area purchased numerous art objects and sculptures to enhance the
architecture, and as I mentioned before, I have sometimes found those well-crafted
artworks useful as subjects for drawing and painting.  This painting, is on a more
generous scale than those I mentioned, and it is also based on another of the fountains
which grace the district.

     I chose to show the fountain at sunset so as to soften the architectural features of
the structures in the background, in order to let viewers concentrate on the fountain
rather than the shops behind it.   That time of evening would also probably be
appropriate, to the Roman mythology, which says Apollo's golden chariot is sinking
beyond the western horizon, and now King Neptune may rise from the sea, pulled
by his troi-ca, while brandishing his trident at all those who would risk embarking
on his stormy realm.

                                                              ( click on image to enlarge )

     As for the sculpture itself, it dates from 1911, and is credited to the Bromsgrove
Guild Of Applied Arts, of Worcestershire England, a company of artists and designers
best known for creating the main gates at Buckingham Palace.
     After arriving here to his new home in the early 1950's, Old King Neptune first arose
from his permanently landlocked, watery pool in Kansas City, in 1953..