Crucifix, Maple Wood

1. I carved this crucifix many years ago. It was carved from Maple wood.
2. I glued five pieces of maple lumber until I had one large block of wood.
3. Without a drawing or model I simply carved from the "picture" in my mind.
4. After the main corpus was done I now had the problem of making the arms and fitting them so that they flowed correctly from the deltoid muscles in one smooth motion.
5. I cut the edges of the corpus clean and flat then made the arms in wax as a model.
6. Drilling holes in the body larger than then the peg of wood which extended on the end of the finished arms.
7. I knew that I had to have play in affixing the arms to the corpus. Once I knew how it would fit I filled the hole with newspaper and Elmer's Glue then held the arms with bungee cords until the glue dried. I made sure the end of the arms where they joined were left unfinished so as to carve and sand them so they  would flow together.

I carved this crucifix many years ago. It stands around three feet tall and is made from maple wood. I've never carved anything before and I was very excited about the final results. I would never have attempted to undertake such a challenge however it was a commissioned piece and I had to follow through. I was paid the agreed price of $800, however it took me eight months to finish it.
I began by gluing five pieces of maple wood purchased from the lumber yard which gave me a simple large block of wood and went from there. Except for the "picture" in my mind I did not do any preliminary drawings or planing.

Boar's Head, Monhegan Island, Maine

Boar's Head, Monhegan Island, Maine

This 24x36 oils was inspired from a trip to Acadia. The sun was just setting and it's warm light was hitting just small portions of the breaking waves.
I had the sun in the painting for a few months then decided to take it out as it was a distraction from the focal point, which I felt was the breaking wave in the foreground.
The painting is oil on linen canvas.

Here's an example where a watercolor went wrong in areas. I use Casein to fix up areas that really went wrong. Sometimes the entire painting or almost the entire painting is done over with casein and/or tempera. In this case only Casein was used

This is the second painting of the inside of John's Garage.
John and Barbara Schwarz were brother and sister. Neither ever married and they lived and worked the farm until they were forced to move because of their failing health. Both are gone now and while they were living I was always welcome to paint anywhere on "their place" as they called it. One day I walked into John's Garage, really a work place and was taken back by all the yellow tabacco cans. He rolled his own cigarettes. They were Top Tobacco Cans. This is a painting of his workbench.

I came upon these two young lovers in Parque Juarez in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Apparently I startled them as they quickly broke their intimate embrace. I told them I was an artist and asked them to redo the pose. As you can see the young man was somewhat willing so I took what I could get. I did a quick drawing while they agreed to pose and then went home and did this oil painting. Aside from the figures the painting was done with a palette knife.

Another Cedar Key painting. Beautiful day and a perfect spot to paint from.
The painting was done on a 16x20 Arches cold press watercolor block.

This watercolor was done from the bridge that one has to cross in order to get on Cedar Key, Florida. It's really old time Florida in every way especially the architecture.

Watercolor, Gouache, Casein on 300 lb.watercolor paper. The sky is pure watercolor but the sea is a combination of all three.
I choose 300 lb. rough paper in order to dry brush the reflected lights on the darker water.

24x30 oil on masonite

The men and horses were photographed on a ranch. I had the costumes and all the correct gear. The back round was from Brice Canyon in Utah.
It's an oil on canvas. 24x36.
The fellow with the red capote had all kinds of fronteer wear and I posed him many times. The figure on the right was a former rodeo bull rider who owned a horse farm in upstate N.Y.

30x36 oil on masonite.
The blues are not that blue in the original. No one will ever convince me that digital is as good as slide film. The computer in the camera sees a color and sometimes really goes after it. But you get the idea anyway.

Rocks and Sea off Cape Elizabeth, Maine

16x20 oil on masonite

Crescent Beach, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

The two playing with the yellow bucket are my grand children, Aidan and Lucas

Here's a watercolor I did on a cloudy day at Lobster Cove on Monhegan Island. It was a demonstration for my students at the time. While I was painting an artist walked down the cove and began a painting right in front of me. There she is in the center of the painting. It turned out to be a good thing as it gave some idea of the size of the cove.

Rocks And Sea at Prouts Neck

I found these rocks just as you see them at Prouts Neck. Yes, the same Prouts Neck where Winslow Homer had his studio.
I made up the sea around the rocks as the ocean was very calm on that particular day.
It's a rather large painting at 24x36 oil on linen stretched canvas.