All the paintings that were recently at the Cove Gallery show have been returned and are back up for sale at Etsy. You can find my shop here. Please note that all paintings sold through Etsy now come framed and ready to hang, despite the statement to the contrary in the listings.

If you’re a Cape Ann local, you can still see some of my work hanging at Flatrocks Gallery through January 3rd.

…but I’m going to be at Cove Gallery today from noon to 5pm, sitting in the gallery and showing my work. Stop on by and say hi if you can!

Forgotten Industry, 12×16″, oil on canvas panel. Inquire.

Today I set out to do some plein air painting, but was stymied by the fact that the view I wanted to paint was right at the edge of a busy road with no shoulder. So, having to settle for a photo, I meandered around taking reference shots. I decided to go down to the old paint factory on the eastern tip of Gloucester’s Inner Harbor, and just as I was about to leave, Jeff Weaver pulled up to do a sketch of his own. We chatted and I took some reference shots, and Jeff was kind enough to let me stand there and watch him paint. He claimed I was going to get to know all of his secrets, but the only secret I saw was a master draughtsman taking the time to get the drawing right first and correcting anything he noticed was off as he started intermediary steps. While it’s not really a secret, it is the key to good realism painting and something that so few people take the time to do.

In the afternoon, I still had a hankering to get a painting in, so I went to the Cape Ann Tool building, which stands slowly rusting on Pigeon Cove. The painting is above. I would love for that building to be an art space/studio, but I don’t have the funds to make it a reality right now. Maybe I can spearhead an effort to get the building repurposed…although it’s supposed to be converted into condos and a storefront, even though the project proposal claims a completion date of 2006.

Oh, and finally, a shout to Joey Ciaramitaro of Good Morning Gloucester, who posted the show opening notice on his blog today. Thanks Joey! Hopefully your broad reach will help people find our little shindig this Friday night. Come one, come all! Details are here at the Cove Gallery site.

Little Blue Riding Hood, watercolor and ink on paper.

Random sketchbook page, pencil and charcoal on paper.

Take a look at the finished site for the gallery showing my work, Cove Gallery.

Jen and I just got back from New York City where we went on a whirlwind anniversary trip that involved four art museums, dozens of train and subway rides, a nice conversation with a Newark cabbie, two bowls of miso ramen, two tickets to Chicago,(featuring Luke Duke!) and many many books.

The blog has been kind of quiet lately, hasn’t it? I apologize for those of you who look forward to reading it on a (semi) regular basis. It’s been very busy here, and like I said, a lot of the pieces I’m working on haven’t been ones I can show just yet.

I worked with the owner to the gallery I’m showing at, and we’ve put together a nifty little website there. Take a look, browse around, join the mailing list. There will be a very nice shot of the front and inside of the gallery on the front page as soon as her husband gets around to taking it. In other words, please excuse the dust, we’re not quite finished with it yet.

Also, I think I might look to phasing out the Etsy site. I’ve never had a sale there, and with my items starting to go into galleries, the logical thing would seem to be to end that site and direct people here or to the gallery. So, from now on, you’ll see an “inquire” link after paintings that are for sale. E-mail me if you’re interested in a purchase.

Meanwhile, I took our puppy to get her first haircut at the groomer today, and she looks great. While I was there, I painted this piece, Kettle Island and Great Egg Rock, oil on panel, 9×12″. Inquire.

I also have been working on a couple of studio pieces. Here are the work-in-progress shots:

Two Fishermen, work in progress.

Lane House, work in progress.

I just saw this posted on a local blog, Good Morning Gloucester. This is the door to my painting studio.

Sorry the blog has been silent lately. I’ve been working on a bunch of pieces that won’t be for sale until the person who commissioned one gets to choose. As soon as that happens, I’ll have a big update with a bunch of paintings. Meanwhile, I’ve also joined a gallery: Cove Gallery on 21 Walnut Street in Annisquam (part of Gloucester.) Much thanks to Pia Juhl for thinking my work was worthy of the gallery. I’ll be hanging my stuff there this weekend (if the frames arrive in time!)

I’ve also constructed and primed a series of very large canvases for some really big quarry paintings. I can’t wait to get started. Oh, and I drew this in preparation for another painting I have in the works. Thanks to my model Dominique. She’s never been an art model before, and she was great.

Dominique Study, charcoal and chalk on paper.