Daffodils Near Mounds, Greene County

Daffodils Near Mounds

9X12, Oil on Panel

SOLD

 

 

One of my favorites from the entire project!

4 Peppers and a Bowl

4 Peppers and a Bowl

11X14, Oil on Canvas

Available

Another old one.  Simple but fun little still life.

Red Oak and Fossils

Red Oak and Fossils

10X12, Oil on Wood

Available

 

Here's another transfer from my other blog.  I hope to get all of the content moved over to here soon so I can shut that one down.

I enjoy painting leaves. They are, however, more difficult than they look. These particular leaves started curling shortly after I began the painting. By the time I was done, the color had faded from nice red to the much more dull orange and the one on the right had curled almost double upon itself.

Mary Lake Carmelite Monastery, Pulaski County

Mary Lake Carmelite Monastery

16X20, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Several years ago, a friend suggested I paint this location in southern Pulaski County.  I had taken reference photos of it not too long afterwards but it took me this long to get around to painting it! 

White River Bridge at Clarendon, Monroe County

White River Bridge at Clarendon

6X11, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Some time ago I was invited to paint in Clarendon by the wife of the mayor.  She told me this bridge was about to be replaced and that it was quite a local landmark.  When I was there, I kind of honed in on the county courthouse to paint, to the disappointment of the mayor's wife I think.  I took pictures of this bridge and finally got around to painting it.  I really like this odd size for these Delta scenes and I'm making several more in similar aspect ratios for a camping/painting trip to the southeast corner of the state I hope to take soon.

First Light at Gunner Pool, Stone County

First Light at Gunner Pool

8X10, Oil on Panel

My first new county of 2013!  1 down, 19 to go.

Gunner Pool is in the Ozark National Forest near Blanchard Springs Caverns.  It was a crisp fall morning when we got there that turned into a warm day.  

 

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Spadra Creek Bridge, Clarksville

Spadra Creek Bridge

8X10, Oil on Panel

Available

Spadra Creek cuts through the center of the town of Clarksville.  On both sides of the creek are walking and biking trails including some mountain biking single track.  It's very impressive that such a small town has devoted as much time and effort as this to a multi-use trail system!

Featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

I was fortunate enough to be featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper over the weekend. This paper has circulation over the whole state so it was a pretty major bit of promotion for me! The article is available online here: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2012/sep/02/maumelle-man-values-combination-engineering-art/

Rowdy Beaver, Fayetteville, Washington County

Rowdy Beaver

8X10, Oil on Panel

Available

I believe this building houses a business called the Rowdy Beaver.  At least that's what Google Maps seems to show it's name to be.  None of my pictures showed the business name and when  I lived in Fayetteville there were no businesses in this building.  For those who know Fayetteville, this building is behind the old Depot off of Dickson Street which would also make a fine painting.  And then, of course, there's Old Main on the U of A campus.  I definitely need to do a painting of Old Main.  

Cafe, Sheridan, Grant County

Cafe, Sheridan

8X10, Oil on Panel

Available

Last summer when I went down to Pine Bluff, I made a stop in Sheridan in neighboring Grant County for some picture taking.  I was walking down this side street when I smelled the aromatic fragrance of the tree seen here.  I turned around and took a picture of the tree and the street.  Now, almost a year later, I got around to painting it!

With this painting, I have now completed 38 counties.  This makes me officially over halfway done!

Louisiana Purchase Memorial, Lee County

Louisiana Purchase Memorial

8X10, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Been a while since I've posted anything!!  I have been working quite a bit and have several things that need to be posted.  This is stone marker is located in the Louisiana Purchase State Park at the corner of Lee, Phillips and Monroe Counties.  It marks the location where surveyors began the process of determining exactly what Thomas Jefferson had purchased from France.  An interested individual could get here by way of a nice boardwalk through the swamp.  Since I was looking pretty much into Lee County from Monroe County, I decided to count this one to Lee County.

North Fork Saline River, Saline County

North Fork Saline River

11X14, Oil on Panel

Available

Low Slung, Poinsett County

Low Slung

8X10, Oil on Panel

Available

Here's a rare totally alla prima piece I did a while back.  Poinsett County is in the Delta so it's flat, flat, flat.  That makes for good big sky paintings.  Last night I attended the opening of a show at Cantrell Gallery called "Structures" by Daniel Coston.  Dan currently lives in Fayetteville which is in the northwest corner in the Ozarks but he is a product of the Delta and paints a lot of scenes from the flatland.  He prefers a long, low aspect ratio for many of his Delta pieces.  Great show and a really nice guy.

Toney Bend, between Buffalo Point and Rush, Marion County

Toney Bend, Buffalo National River

20X24, Oil on Panel

Available

Here at Toney Bend, the river loops back on itself and starts on a 7 mile circle around that closes on the other side of this mountain.  If you were to climb up this terraced slope, you would find your way blocked again by the river at the bottom of the other side.  Someday in the far future, the river will break down this mountain and meet itself.  At the apex of the 7 mile circle is Rush Landing.

For the past several months, I've been using Flake White almost exclusively.  I had realized from the very beginning that flake can do some marvelous things but that it has some distinct disadvantages.  I think I'm finaly beginning to get a handle on the strengths and weaknesses of both flake and titanium such that I can leverage the strengths of both in the same painting.

Blue Hill, Pulaski County

Blue Hill

11X14, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Lately, I have been having a lot of trouble with my camera overemphasizing blues in my paintings.  No such problem here.  I am also very pleased to say that I was able to use more than 1 blue in this painting!  In fact, all 3 of my major blues are here: cobalt, ultramarine, and prussian.

Arkansas River Bridge, Ozark, Franklin Co.

Arkansas River Bridge, Ozark

12X16, Oil on Panel

SOLD

This picture is darker than the real painting.  I had a great deal of difficulty getting a good picture that didn't exaggerate some colors.  This is the best of my wife's efforts and a good deal better than mine.  I may try to take it again and replace this at some point.  This is from the south side of the Arkansas River looking back towards the town of Ozark.

Dying Light at Rush, Marion Co.

Dying Light at Rush

12X16, Oil on Panel

Available

This is based on a plein air I did during the summer at Rush on the Buffalo River.  I had lots of trouble with the color when I was there but I thought the concept and scene were very worthy.

Rush is so named because it was once a mining town.  Zinc was the primary resource extracted there.  While most of the boom town that sprung up practically overnight here is gone, a few structures remain.  The national park service is not actively preserving these structures, however.  There is a trail that runs around one of the old talus piles and if one does not know what they are looking at, they would probably never realize what it was.  Truly a testament to the transient nature of human culture and civilization.  Mother Earth can very quickly cover over our clever industriousness.

Capital Avenue, Little Rock

Capital Ave.

12X16, Oil on Panel

Available

This view looks down Capital Avenue in Little Rock from the front of the capital grounds.

I have begun very early work on a solo show that will take place next year but I'll talk about that more at a later date.

Ola, Yell County

Ola

9X12, Oil on Panel

SOLD

Ola is a tiny town the sits between the Arkansas River Valley and the Ouachita Mountains.  This is not the most memorable view in Ola but I felt like doing some rural decay.

Dickey Stephens Park, North Little Rock

Dickey Stephens Park

17" Home Plate

The above painting is available for online auction from now until October 27, 2010 at http://jimelder.org/auction/item.php?id=60.  Dickey Stephens Park is the home of the Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball team.  The Jim Elder Home Plate Heroes fund provides money to organizations aimed at providing opportunities to local underprivileged youth.  Other paintings being auctioned can be seen here:  http://jimelder.org/auction/