"Fruit Tart"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 5" x 5"

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.
The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore
The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and
vowed he'd steal no more.

It was hardly a summer's day here in Baltimore today. Those foolish enough to have been lolled into thinking that frost was a thing of the past and have planted tender annuals are busy lighting smudge pots or kicking themselves. I entertained the idea of planting the herb garden last week but thankfully thought the better of it. After the worst winter in 200 years we all want to put that behind us but Mother Nature has a way of reminding us who's boss. I decided to have some fun swishing paint today and get away from the Opti-visor for a while. Enjoy!

"Big Yawn"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 5" x 7"

My wife isn't the only one who objects to the ghoulish nocturnal creative hours I keep. J.J. plainly feels that my time would be much better spent in bed, with the electric blanket on high and him under my arm under the covers. Clever cat that he is, I may adopt his suggestion in short order. Just when I got use to spring, winter has come back to Baltimore and there is a real chill in the air tonight. I'm sure I will miss this weather during the dog days of summer but now - not so much. It could be that J.J. is merely bored with my artistic pursuits. Hopefully he will perk up when he sees himself starring in the blog tomorrow.

"Two Fox Hounds"

Oil on linen mounted on panel 8" x 10"

"Oyster with Three Lemons"

Oil on canvas textured ampersand panel 6" x 6"

"Harvey"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 8"

To those patient people still checking in daily, who thought perhaps I was stuck in some Northern European country waiting for the volcanic ash to settle, I apologize for not posting more often. I was traveling earlier this week, although thankfully not abroad. I was in Boston on a three day culinary tour. Talk about food that is delicious and bad for you! Scup's in the Harbor, Craigie on Main, Gibbet Hill Farm, Neptune Oyster House and Barbara Lynch's new restaurant Menton were a feast for the eyes and the soul. You will be seeing some food art in the near future. In the meantime here is a fun painting of my friend's Basset Hound - Harvey.

"Lobster with drawn butter"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 8" x 10"

Alice Thompson's Calypso Moon Artist Challenge this month has us painting delicious food that is bad for us. She was very specific that it not be healthy food. Beyond that, the world was our oyster. To that end, I choose lobster with drawn butter. Without chemicals my cholesterol would be sky high and I probably should stay away from anything drenched in butter, but I can't help myself. My doctor gave me a choice a few years ago. He said "We can do this with diet and exercise or I can write you a prescription". Tough choice - Duh! Gooey desserts have never held much fascination for me. I grew up with a diabetic mother and two diabetic sisters and sugar-free jello was often the Dessert du Jour in our house. I never got use to eating sweets. Oh, I'll indulge in a hot fudge sundae now and then but I would really rather have a nice hunk of Roquefort than a piece of cake any day. Besides, lobsters are as much fun to paint as they are to eat. How we suffer for our art!

"Sammy in the Sunshine"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 6"

Sammy has probably been thinking 'Hey, what am I chopped liver,?" since, hitherto, he has not been represented on this blog. J.J., Ella, and even little Shirley have all made it to stardom, but not Sam. It's not that I didn't think him worthy -far from it. Painting a black cat presents an artist with an interesting challenge. More often than not they are just a big black blob with piercing green eyes. Sitting in the sun changed that perspective and all his subtle coloration came to the fore and he positively glowed. Like Sammy says - "I gotta be me."

"Vezzie"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 6"

I've been painting a lot of fur lately so I thought I'd have a go at some feathers for a change. My friend Deb gave me a very faded photo of her long departed yellow nape Amazon parrot Vezzie a while back to see what I could do with it. It was one of those old Polaroid photos which had faded and color shifted. After some internet research, I think (at least I hope) I came close to her original coloration. I really liked the contrast of the greens and the reds. Why Vezzie you ask? According to Deb - "She was named after a heroine in a Victorian novel by Trollope. That character had broken her hip and walked with a limp. She was so vain that she refused to walk in public after that and was carried everywhere in a sedan chair, Of course, pet parrots don't walk or fly - they're carried everywhere. And, pet parrots can be incredibly vain - my beautiful Vezzie certainly was. So, that's where her name came from. She was also wicked smart. She could break out of her cage, in-spite of the fact that it takes several actions taken at the same time to get the cage open. She was a really good talker and could imitate me perfectly. She was my special bud."