First Inning Artworks

For the past several years, I have been asked to donate a painting for an auction for one of the student groups at the University of Alabama. Apparently someone bids on these things because the folks running the auction keep asking. I am honored to be asked. This year it was the Student Executive Council that requested the painting.

Most of the time, I have done something that includes Phifer Hall, the home of the College of Communication and Information Sciences. This year, I decided to do something a bit different and tried my had at Gorgas Hall, once the home of the Gorgas family and now one of the oldest buildings on the campus.

It’s a great building to draw and paint — lots of classic lines and a winding staircase and railing that makes it very interesting. So, too, do the archways that lead into the ground floor of this low country house. I decided on a worm’s eye perspective that makes the building look larger than it really is, but still I think it’s a fairly accurate representation.

Hope it sells and makes the kids a bit of money for whatever fine project they have in mind.

I will be submitting three watercolors to the Dogwood Arts Festival Fine Arts Show tomorrow.

The works are a painting of a barn on our farm, a cantilevered barn like one found in Cades Cover in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and a couple of roses in a vase.

Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about doing this. It has been about 20 years since I entered anything into a show.

Judging for entry into the show takes place on Monday, and I guess I will hear something shortly after that. An opening for the show is scheduled for next Friday, April 4.

Update, April 3: None of these made it into the show. It may be interesting to see what did.

The Little River runs alongside one of the most traveled roads in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and it provides tourists with many scenic views of the interior of the park. I have been there many times and hope to go many more.

The trip that produced this painting of a scene just above the Sinks — a spectacular set of rushing waterfalls and whitewater — was in midwinter, much like the mountains are at the moment. Spring is coming, but the mountains have a stark cold beauty in the winter that is hard to match.

That’s what this painting is about.

Bridge over Little River

15 x 22 watercolor on 140 lb Arches coldpress

Price: $125

I have tried a number of video hosting services — YouTube, Motionbox, etc. — and have found problems with each. A friend yesterday suggested Vimeo, so I established an account and uploaded a video of some Christmas cards that I had done in previous years to the site. Let’s see what kind of quality we get.

The watercolors in this video are some of the Christmas cards that I have painted and sent to friends as of a couple of years ago. I usually pick two or three good scenes and do several copies of each. I wind up sending out 20 to 30 cards a year. Lots of work, but fun, and it keeps me painting. Often, if I have made a significant trip during the year, a scene from that place will show up among the cards. That was certainly the case in 1999 when I traveled with a high school group to New York City for several days. Some of the cards in this video date back to 1997 or so.

The “See Ruby Falls” barns are rightly famous because there were so many of them, and so many — even though faded — can still be seen. But take a drive through just about any rural area of America where 50-year-old farming structures are still standing, and you’ll find that barns pitched more than tourist attractions. A farmer could get a good paint job for the barn by agreeing to tout a product. For the advertiser, it was cheap. A little paint and a few hours of a painter’s time, and the advertiser could have a large billboard that would last a lifetime. You don’t see these too much any more, and the landscape is less interesting without them.

Mail Pouch barn

Price: $75

11 x 14, pen and ink and colored pencil, on Bristol board

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From the sea (previous post below) and back to terra firma. This watercolor uses only two colors: raw sienna and ultramarine blue. It was done as an exercise for a watercolor class I took last fall. I was very familiar with the subject. It’s the barn on the small farm where my wife grew up and where we spend a lot of our time, especially in the summer. I was trying to capture an extremely sunlight side of the barn and contrast it with some of the other things going on around it.

The side of a barn

Price: $75

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This was an experiment that I tried several years ago, and it came out satisfactorily. The point was to show a lot of action and movement and do so with a minimum of different colors. This is for the person who loves the sea (or paintings of the sea), and it’s priced at a bargain rate.

Blue sailor

Watercolor, 15 x 22, 140 lb. coldpress

Price: $125

Questions? Go to our How to order page.

Bidgood Hall is a quiet giant of a building on the west side of the Quad at the University of Alabama. It is part of the business college complex and at any time of the day when the University is in session, it is covered with students. Rarely does it have a peaceful moment, as depicted in this pen and ink drawing.

This minimalist pen and ink drawing attempts to capture the building’s calm strength.

Price: $125

(This is an original piece, not a print.)

Seems like it has been a while since I posted any recently completed landscapes. That’s because it’s been a while since I have completed anything I could post. So here’s something, inspired by a striking photo in this month’s Tennessee Home and Farm magazine. (The featured photos in this publication are eye-catching and usually give me something to think about — if not to paint.)

Tobacco barns different from storage or cattle barns in that they are taller and thinner and their sides open up at different levels to help the tobacco dry or “cure.” These “flaps” give the barns an unusual visual flavor.

About the painting

15 x 22 inches, Watercolor on Arches 140 CP paper.

This painting is not offered for sale since it is a derivative work from someone else’s original work. It is available for a contribution to a charitable organization, however.

One of the most exquisite structures on the beautiful Emory and Henry College campus is Memorial Chapel. The building is striking for the design and height of its steeple. Even more striking is its sanctuary (something I had always meant to paint but never got to it), which is the soul of simplicity and elegance. From 2003 to 2006, I was privileged to be on the faculty of Emory and Henry, a small Methodist College in the mountains of southwest Virginia, about 25 northeast of Bristol. The campus has been on that spot since its founding in 1836. It is one of uncommon beauty, as is the surrounding area. The place inspired many paintings, one of which was put on this site in August. Another three are located just below this entry, and here is a fourth.

10 x 14, Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold press paper

Price: Not for sale

About the painting

This painting is one of a series that I have donated to Emory and Henry College.

(This is an original piece, not a print.)