Meet Buster

Buster

9" x 12" Ampersand Gessobord

Oil with palette knives

Bill asked if I would paint this portrait for some friends of his who recently lost this cute pup. How can you say no to this adorable face? You can't. 

Here is a photo of my set up after my first painting session and before I completed the background.

 

Hannah

"Whatcha Waitin' For?"

(Hannah)

9" x 12"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Tom asked if I would paint a portrait of this beautiful young girl named Hannah. He was her swimming teacher and he wanted to give this painting to her parents as a special gift to remind them of her love for life. He said she often liked to say "Whatcha waitin' for?" and this picture seems to be inviting you to jump in the pool with her. 

New dog portrait : : Katie

Katie

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Cheryl asked if I would paint a portrait of their beloved Katie who passed away recently. She asked if I would add a tennis ball in the picture since Katie was obsessed with them. What a happy dog she was!

New nocturne of The Red Inn

The Red Inn at Twilight

12" x 24"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Those of you who follow my blog regularly know that I have painted this beautiful place in Provincetown many, many times. I think it's about 40+ times now. I've painted it in summer, fall, winter, but never at night. I was anxious to try a twilight version of the inn showing how it's all lit up in the evening with just a hint of a beautiful sunset left over in the sky.

Here is an in progress shot.

Vignette painting of Cap'n Jack's Wharf

Cap'n Jack's Wharf Vignette

Approx 10" x 23"

Oil with palette knives on rough wood board

Here is another painting I just completed of an iconic place in Provincetown on Cape Cod, Cap'n Jack's Wharf. I painted this on a rough wood board that I found at Michael's Arts and Crafts store. I loved that it still has the original tree bark on the top and bottom. I treated the board with a couple of coats of clear gesso to keep the oil paint from soaking into the wood. I left the edges of the painting rough on purpose since I wanted some of the original wood grain to show through.

Here is an in-process shot.

 

New commission: Entering Hull

Entering Hull
16" x 16" x 1.5"
Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Jennifer saw a group of my Entering sign paintings hanging at the Art Gallery at Patriot Place and asked me if I had ever painted Entering Hull. I said I hadn't but that I would gladly paint one for her. So Polo and I took a drive down to the town of Hull (south of Boston) to get a photo of the sign as well as some of the beach she suggested for the background, Gun Rock Beach, where she and her friends like to hang out in the summer.

Here is a photo I took of the painting with just the sign finished. I like the short name and all caps type of this sign. The size of the type for EST and 1644 was also larger than the other ones I've painted, making it a bit easier to paint with my knives.

A new Red Inn interior

Fireside Chat at the Red Inn
Approx 9" x 12"
Oil with palette knives on rough wood panel

I found some rough wood boards with the bark still intact at Michaels Arts and Crafts and it inspired a painting idea. I wanted to retain the wood grain and texture so I treated the surface with a couple of coats of clear gesso. This allowed me to let some of the natural wood grain show in the final painting. 

I chose a cozy interior of the Red Inn's front entry. It has a unique brick fireplace and warm leather furniture. There is usually a large painting or two hanging on the wall room, so I thought I'd paint a teeny tiny version of my Red Inn painting on the wall.

Here is a photo I took after I had competed the fireplace and the windows.

NEW : : large portrait commission

Betsy's Boys

18" x 36"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand cradled board

Betsy asked if I would paint a portrait of her 3 sons and she wanted it large. I hadn't painted a portrait this large before so it was a nice challenge for me. I really like how each boy's personality comes through in this painting, their nice casual poses, and their facial expressions.

Here are a few close ups and process shots I took along the way. I always start with the faces first.

Then I moved on to their clothing. Each jacket was dark so I adjusted the color slightly for each one to distinguish them.

Then I moved on to the background. The rocks were a bit tricky but I tried to make them interesting by introducing a lot of different colors.

Yesterday, the painting was shipped off to its new home in Ohio.

An animal menagerie

Last November I was asked to be part of the holiday show at the Zullo Gallery in Medfield, MA. I wanted to have a cohesive theme so I decided to paint this menagerie of 15 animals.

I was happy to find out that Foxy, Piggy, and Black Lab all found new homes for the holidays.

Here are a few other snaps from the show:

Just steps to the beach

Red Inn Steps To The Beach

12" x 12"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

I am still getting paintings ready for the opening of the Red Inn in April. This is the latest addition to my series of paintings that will be for sale for the 2022 season. The back deck of this beautiful place is just steps to the beach!

Here are a few close ups:

New Pet Portrait: Cassie

Cassie

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

A group of tennis friends commissioned this painting for their friend who lost this cute pup recently. Here is what she had to say to her girlfriends:

"I'm so overwhelmed with the neatest gift. I really don't have the words to even come close to letting you know how much this means to me. It's so very awesome and very special. You are the best girlfriends in the whole wide world. Cassie was an awesome dog and companion for me. So many memories. Thank you for doing this for me. Made me cry, made me smile and made me so thankful for each one of you!"

Sweet.

Inspired by American Horror Story

Haunted

16" x 20"

Oil with palette knives on board

I thought it would be fun to paint the house on Commercial Street in Provincetown that was used as the backdrop to the Red Tide series of American Horror Story which aired last year. We've passed by this house many times on our way to the Red Inn and always thought it looked haunted. Now we know why. They were prepping it for the filming of the show!

Here are a few process shots.

Larger Seal paint pour

Curious Seal

12" x 12"

Palette knife oil on acrylic pour

I posted earlier about a smaller 6x8 "test run" version of this painting. Click here to see that version. I finally got around to painting the larger version. This was a fun experiment using acrylic paint pour technique to create the ocean background and then painting the seal on top using my palette knives with oils.

Here is a photo showing my process. I had about 7 or 8 different colors of acrylic paint and it was quite messy. I let the paint drip down the sides but kept some of the orange ground color showing which I thought was a nice contrast to the blues.

And here is a video that shows how it turned out. I am quite pleased with the result but not sure if I'd do this again as it was quite a messy endeavor.

If this video does not load, I also posted in on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZuVRmbpTIW/

Entering Falmouth

Entering Falmouth

16" x 16"

Oil with palette knives on Amerpsand Gessobord

Next up in my series of Cape Cod signs in the town of Falmouth. In the background is the famous Nobska Lighthouse.

Thoughts of Summer Fun

Ptown Plunge

9" x 12"

Oil with palette knives on panel

Last summer when we were visiting Provincetown, MA on Cape Cod, we saw this group of kids diving and jumping off the rocks just off MacMillan Pier. They looked like they were having so much fun so I knew I had to take some snaps so I could paint the scene. I used several images and picked the best poses from each one.

Red Boat, Red Sky

Red Boat, Red Sky

8" x 16"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

SOLD

This boat sits just off the coast of The Red Inn in Provincetown, MA. It is an especially beautiful scene when there is a stunning sunset going on behind it.

Entering Sandwich

Entering Sandwich

16 " x 16"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Next up in my Cape Cod towns is Sandwich. The background shows the famous boardwalk across the marsh-another great place to kayak as well.

I am reminded of a photo someone posted online of a police car from this town. They thought it was funny that it said SANDWICH POLICE in large letters on the side. Don't get pulled over during lunch time!

All around the inn

Come On Inn

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

The Red Inn with Peonies

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

The Red Inn with Roses

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

The Red Inn with Moonlight

10" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

It's that time of year again when I start prepping for Red Inn season. I've been on a roll painting pictures of this beautiful place and I can't wait for it to open in April when these painting will be hung up for sale. This place offers an endless amount of painting inspiration from the front door to the back deck. 

Entering Orleans

Entering Orleans

16" x 16"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

I am working my way around Cape Cod with the goal of painting all of the 15 cape town entering signs by the summer. 

Orleans is a fun place to go kayaking on the Town Cove so that's what I chose to be the background scene for this town sign. You can kayak from the Town Cove all the way out to the ocean. The scenery is great along the way and there is a little island in the middle that is perfect for a picnic lunch.

A young virtuoso in the making

Xander at the Piano

12" x 9"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Bill asked me if I would paint this cute image of his nephew Xander at the piano. He took this image over the holidays, you can see Xander's is wearing his Christmas vest. I just loved that his tongue was sticking out, concentrating hard on playing just the right notes for his audience. The ambiance of this beautiful room added to the fun of painting this piece.

Doodle Commission

Hobie

12" x 9"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Amy saw me painting a pet portrait while visiting the Artist's Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place and she got an idea for a Christmas present for her daughter and son in law. 

Meet Hobie. Doesn't he look like such a good boy? Doodles are such fun to paint with palette knives. Their fur lends itself to the textured strokes perfectly. 

Christmas Cat Commission

Abby and Teninty

10" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on cradled board

Cindy asked if I would paint these two cute ginger cats as a Christmas gift for her daughter Amanda. Don't you just love their faces? Such personalities.

Here are couple of progress shots.

Paint pour experiment

Chatham Seal

6" x 8"

Acrylic paint pour and oil with palette knives

SOLD

I tried an experiment with this painting. I used an acrylic paint pour technique to create the water effect of the ocean background and then once that was dry, I painted the seal using oil paints with my palette knives. I plan to do a larger version of this painting but wanted to experiment first at a smaller scale to see how it would work.

Here are a few process shots I took along the way.

My set up.

I elevated the painting on a tissue box so the colors could drip off the sides.

I like the shininess when the paint is still wet!

Once I decided to stop the paint pour for the background ocean (when to stop was the most difficult part), I then scraped away the area where I wanted to paint in the seal with oils.

Here are some fun abstract blobs of color left over.