I recently found a black and white photo my father had taken when he was in the army at the end of World War II.  It was a street scene in Bari, Italy.  I was intrigued by it. I wanted to paint it, but it wasn’t very clear and I had no idea what the colors were.  I matched their values and gave it my best guess.  It was done with pure emotion–I just squinted my eyes and let the brush paint away.

I’ve been stuck in my house for forty days because of COVID19.  To keep me from going crazy I decided to do a still-life.  I found some things in the house and set them up on a table.  I turned off the light in the room, then lit them with a lamp.  This is what I came up with.  It must have worked–I’ve kept my sanity.

This is a painting of a family hiking in the mountains.  I’ve used a technique called “atmospheric perspective.”  This gives the feeling of looking up at them as they hike.  The one on the far right is painted largest, the one in the middle is smaller than the first, and the last one is the smallest.  This makes the one to the right look closest while the one on the left feels further away.  I’ve also put the one on the right further down on the painting while I’ve painted the others higher up on the canvas.

A few years ago  my wife commented to me that Frida Kahlo and Rembrandt did an annual self-portrait.  She thought I should do the same, so here’s the eighth annual self-portrait.

Michael Robinson holds his daughter in the newborn intensive care unit.  He was never able to hear her cry.  He only held her four times.  Unfortunately, she passed away.  I’ve tried to portray his tender feelings to the newborn daughter who wasn’t going to make it.

After frolicking in the water all day, the sun starts going down leaving a golden glow.  As the swimmers stay in the ocean they become silhouetted against the water and sky.

Len Cheatham followed his dream from age five through college and beyond–to be a cellist. After majoring in cello performance he played in a symphony in North Carolina and is a member of the Hendricks Symphony Orchestra.  He gives cello recitals and plays in “gigs”, like weddings, etc.  I’ve tried to portray him in his element–as someone who is obsessed by the opportunity to play his cello.