Canvas reproductions and Sunday's 1-4 PM at Stony Point

Yesterday, Thursday was a bit odd, I had to do sales tax - which is not the creative side of the brain. Plus I am also setting up to revamp some canvas reproductions at the gallery refereed to as Reborn Originals made from high quality digital captures of mostly my original paintings. Our new enhanced surface treatment gives the touch and feel illusion of an original canvas. 

The overhead lighting in my new setup works well to do the treatment. So, with taxes, a small to do list time slipped away to do any serious beyond arranging paint and  tinkering. My day went to enhancing, wall tags and hanging a few art works. 

This is what I know, I like my new setup, I have visual control over the whole gallery - important since I am alone most of the time. 

Today, the center 's traffic picks up for the weekend shoppers - my new canvas will be ready to go, and so will promoting the Sunday event, the Center Court Studio and new email flyer (below) will be popping up everywhere. We should be in good shape by the end of the month.

The question is, What Swan makes the cut!

 

The return of a daily painter & New Center Court Studio

After a long dry spell as a daily painter, I am returning to my easel full-time - only now it's in a gallery setting. Perhaps, the way it's suppose to be. Starting this week I will be working daily on a new series titled Swan Songs.  Only kidding! 

Right now painting is done in a alcove at the French doors (which open) to the court yard.... very cool indeed! The light is good on sunny days. I absolutely loved watching and hearing the  children is the Pop Jet Fountain on the green while painting last week. However, too small, plus we have shorter dark days coming our way fast - the fountain will be winterize shortly for Holidays. 

WINTER STUDIO

So, I need a winter studio with controlled lighting and space to move around. The center court gallery where we had small solo exhibits fits the bill.  

It would place in me center stage so visitors can either watch and chat or view the gallery exhibit  without interfering with the studio process.

With that in mind

Monday was my so called day off - I got busy on the Center Court "Studio". 

First project  

I went into my art storage and pulled all my 8x10 canvases. There were 181 left - many were early works and plien air done over the  last 16 years. Later years the 8x10's were made from roll cutoffs - no point wasting good canvas. Once my larger paintings entered the picture, they were rarely shown, if at all. 

You might ask why?  

The center court has something left over from the old days when the gallery housed Hollister Co, hidden by black drapery perfect for displaying my Tiny Bits

Thank you Hollister for leaving this BIT behind when you left.

 BEFORE

 

 AT DAY'S END

TINY BITS never looked better!!

The Tiny Bits are important to this new studio idea. They're small original paintings - an affordable way for someone to buy their first original, give one as a gift, or simply take home something they discovered while watching me paint.

An then.... Yesterday with Blake's help

The center court was cleared of the big center table - LED lighting was changed out for 5000 daylight bulbs, my easel and glass top work were moved in.  

Only needs a new carpet to stand on and it's ready to go tomorrow.

In celebration of my new painting dig and new series -  My first subject will be SWANS - I wasn't kidding about Swan Songs. 

 This kind in the pond

OR another kind of Swan 

Natalie Portman in Black Swan — one of my favorite movies.

 End of day tomorrow should tell...

A week in review | Moments Alone - canvas 1506.cel

Wow! This has been a perfect week at the easel painting Moments Alone. Some cool visitors, a few sales and a couple of new paintings to share. 

Moments Alone describes where I am most of the time at the gallery. It would be nice if my two little side kicks Riley and Scarlet were hanging out with me too. They are cooped up in the apartment all day. I do have to figure out how to give them more play time. Stony Point is dog friendly with a wonderful dog park for them. 

Getting back to the painting, for the most part Moments Alone worked, however,  the lower section was reworked numerous times yesterday. Eight day paintings never was my strong point as an artist. At days end I signed it on the bottom left side, framed it along with a typical wall TEST.... this chapter is closed.  

 DAY 1506-1 BLANK CANVAS

 

REFERENCE 

DAY 1506-2

 DAY 1506-3

 DAY 1506-4

DAY 1506-4.5

 DAY 1506-5

DAY 1506-6

DAY 1506-7

 

DAY 1506-8

 DAY - 1506-9 FRAMED

On the wall - ROOM TEST

Like I said, it was a good week at Dream Big. I'll continue to paint daily for a while BECAUSE.... I have boxes of linen canvas, plus two very large canvases to make use of. The energy is there, so maybe a new series called "Swan Songs" might be fun to explore. 

Later

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - Canvas1506 - day 4 & 5

It's been a busy week at the gallery and time constraints forced me to combing two days into one post. 

Monday August 10, 2026:  The gallery is closed on Mondays, later that afternoon I came in, turned on the music and went to work.

 End of day canvas yesterday - 1506-3 

At days end the upper right hand sky concerned me big time. 

 Canvas 1506-4

The horizon line established, along with a few quick marks outline my original plan from the inception of Moments Alone - plus a few vertical marks for beach strollers set the scale for the final painting. 

I'm not happy with the Sky yet. I closed up the bare canvas around the sun - normally left towards the end. However, I needed to establish the glow pattern. After noodling in the clouds for quite a while  I dropped back to the lower section to get some fresh oxygen. 

  Canvas 1506-5

A little fresh air around the splash fountain I jumped back in. My focus is water and beach, working out the oceans rhythm, movement and colors.  This went very fast.

The figures set the scale 

 

Tuesday August 11, 2026:  

 

I'm into the 5th session and seriously concerned this painting will land into THE OVER COOKED category. 

I have the beach blocked in - lost one set of beach figures on left side.  Still not happy with the upper right dark cloud formation. The sky above was a bright tonal creamy blue - thinking I definitely need more of it showing.

And Then 

One thing led to another and suddenly the sky was expanded and the big black cloud reshaped - one more thing! My last move of the day was to reestablish the sun peeking through again. 

 

It still needs another pass tomorrow when it dries. 

   

1506-5 at days end

 

It was a long day - feeling better about the progress made, I called it a day....  

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - 1506-3

Sunday 9, 2026: Yesterday was a busy day at the gallery. Mike showed up a few minutes after I did to join me painting.  Mike brought in a new Painting - had to take a few pictures.  

 

Mike Haubenstock - with Morning Breath 36x30 oil and cold wax on Linen - soon to be on the DBA gallery walls 

AND THEN

My new collector, Louise and family showed up to pick up her new Enhanced Reborn born painting of Hard Right to go in her new living room.

 

Thank you Louise - I hope Hard Right makes each day a bit happier in your new adventure as a Virginian. 

Absolutely a great way to start the day off.  Time to paint!

 End of day canvas yesterday  - 1506-2  

Canvas 1506-3

I started  below the bottom cloud formation to the the horizon

 

I ran out of steam on the top right cloud - can't say I'm happy about it.  I needed a change and quickly returned to the horizon  to complete the first pass. 

 1506-3 at days end 

The lower section needs a little love - perhaps tomorrow.... 

Mike worked to my left on his painting he started a few weeks back. I was pretty involved with mine as I only had a short time to work on mine and unfortunately no pictures to share. 

Mike is sitting in front his in-progress  44x40 oil and cold wax on linen painting

However, he got to chat with visitors make a few new friends and  work on his  painting. Mike is an avid painter and world traveler with his wife Susie.... The good life!

All clean up and ready for Day 4 

 

Monday's the gallery is closed - I don't like breaks that can turn into days in my world, the energy can be diluted along with the magic. Looking forward to the next session - painting is not work! 

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - Canvas1506 - day 2

 Day two - was about pulling together a reference to get the ball rolling - it took some time, eventually I went into my trip photos and came across this sunrise shot off the coast of Nags Head, North Carolina.  I especially like the atmospheric value and the sun just creeping through the cloud cover. I'll change the bottom and add a few beach lovers walking along the waters edge. 

I also turned the all most square canvas to landscape.  And, came up with a title.

Moments Alone

 

 

 A quick outline using Alizarin Orange (Williamsburg) with Gamblin Neo Megilp Medium

  

I'm starting in the lower middle to establish a break-line for my eventual horizon. The lower section will fall in place once the sky is completed

 

 Work table is a bit tight but workable. By days end my color pallet is in place  - a critical fist step. I can come back to the same mix each day.  

 

End of Day  - A title Moments Alone and my color palette established - critical first step. 

 

left - right detail

  

 

All  cleaned up and ready for Sunday painting with visiting SIP artist Mike Haubenstock -  I also have a new collector picking up a Enhanced Reborn Original of Hard Right.

 

Until tomorrow   

 

A weeks worth of paint and canvas - Day one

Today is the day to find out! 

Most days have a lot of interruption, I thought "A weeks worth of paint and canvas" was a good way to step back in as a daily painter. Here goes...

First day 8/7/2026 (marked on my calendar and digital file made)

Canvas numbered 1507 is a 40x36, almost square blank smooth linen canvas. The first day was about setting up - seeing what was good or needed to be replaced in my tool kit. And, finding the right natural light from the French doors. Most of the day the gallery exterior is in the shade - North light plus the interior LED light is good. My easel is counter balanced, my palette is to my left. 

Gallery Studio Setup 

 

Tomorrow is the tough one - a blank canvas and subject selection.  

  

When the magic leaves

Sunday Morning - August 2, 2026

Reading my journal has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I always intended to go back someday, to read and reflect.

Someday has arrived.

I often wondered if the creative magic would slowly disappear as age and clarity faded. I'm not sure whether that time is here yet—or just around the corner.

At the end of 2024, I pretty much stopped painting to devote myself to Dream Big Artworks, my pet project.

Until...

 A magical workshop.  

It was one of our large-format painting workshops with the group that would eventually become the SIP Weekend Painters. To my surprise, it was the workshop where High Ground was created—one of my absolute favorite paintings, one I held onto until recently.

Because we had three days to paint, my usual demonstration wasn't really a demonstration at all. It became a major painting from blank canvas to completion.

 High Ground | 56x48 oil in linen

October 5, 2016 | Private Collection 

My project today is different.

It's to find good homes for the collection of paintings still in my care before clarity begins to fade.

That realization changed Dream Big Artworks over the last six months. The business model shifted dramatically. It wasn't graceful - more like a tsunami - but the website, the gallery, and the daily emails are finally beginning to tell the right story.

 Today, the focus is simple: 

Art lovers. 

Collectors. 

People who want to live with original art.

After stepping away from painting for so long...

Can you reverse course?

Could I do another painting at the same level or better as High Ground again? 

A trip down memory lane

A big thank you to those making their way through my journal!

My blog was always one of the first things I would do most mornings. Early morning was my favorite time to write—to regroup, if you will.

Like today, at 4:30 a.m., I started clicking on one of the many posts you all have been reading. My random stop landed in the middle of A Day at the Beach, part of an upcoming solo exhibition at the Richard Stravitz Gallery in 2013.

Captivated, I continued on to the next post - a billboard-size Frisbee painting on linen, also destined for the exhibit. As it turned out, Frisbee was the last painting delivered, only a few days before the opening.

Both paintings are still in my collection.

This weekend, one of them will be pulled from storage, dusted off, and hung in the Dream Big Artworks Gallery throughout August.

I always planned to go through my journal. I thoroughly enjoy how you all are leading me back to it.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Later.

What I like about today, my new revised webite is live

Finally, wrong word, it's never finished, it's never perfect. 

Over the last few weeks, the site has been a challenge. The mobile version was nearly unusable, pages weren't lining up properly, and more than once I wondered if I'd ever get to the end of it.

Today, it finally feels right.

 The website without question has been a challenge to maintain over the years - not for the technically challenged. 

My favorite piece is a slider gallery at the bottom and just below a "Collectors Testimonial" section. Because, the gallery and website is now directed at art collectors and art lovers. Art lovers who don't know they can be one yet. 

Every morning at 5:30, another painting quietly arrives in someone's inbox. Not to sell them something, but to remind them that art has a place in everyday life.

Some smile, some delete it, some visit the gallery, and every once in a while, someone discovers a painting they can't stop thinking about.

 The paintings tell their story first. The collectors finish it.

 And today... I like that.

I guess I'm a Lucky artist.

One of the posts people were reading the other day was "Art & Presentation = Money." WOW! That one was right on target.

Over the years, Jenni and I had a lot of fun learning and experimenting at CAC. Those are fond memories, and I have absolutely no regrets.

Today is today.

I no longer have my very cool studio with the huge easel (blog post read today). Another artist has it now, as it should.

I traded it for an art gallery.

 

That gallery now has a new purpose. Yes, it needs to sell a very large collection of my work - and a few other artists' paintings - but perhaps it is also becoming my answer to a question that has been on my mind lately:

What happens to an artist's work after they are gone?

Dream Big Artworks was originally designed to explore that question. Over the past few weeks, I've begun to think the answer may not be found in artists at all, but in the collectors who choose to live with the work. They are the true guardians.

Perhaps, someday, the gallery evolves into something much more than a place to buy paintings. Maybe it becomes a place where past and present artists continue to be discovered, appreciated, and collected. Just because an artist is gone doesn't mean the work is no longer relevant.

Time will tell.

The real question today is different. Do I want to continue making art? Do I want to continue coaching?

I guess I am a lucky artist.

At eighty-five, I still have good choices ahead.

.