"Well Worn Path"

18 x 24

I'm not sure if I have already posted this painting before. I changed it recently adding the path across the field. I thought it needed a lead-in to the painting. This is more of the farmland around this area that I am looking at more and more for painting subjects. I know this barn is kind of smack dab in the middle of this thing, but sometimes you just have to do something different and try and make it work. Conventional painting wisdom would have you put this rusted red roof closer to one side in the magic one third area. So . . . maybe there is a reason for conventional wisdom . . . and maybe not. I recently listened to (yes, I am not a reader, but a listener (unabridged only)) a book about Edward Manet called The Judgment of Paris by Ross King. Really interesting historical book about Manet's rise and the impressionist. At that time everyone was painting really intricate paintings of war scenes and mythological settings and Manet does something different. And it is ridiculed and criticized and nobody wants it, until somebody decides they do want it and suddenly there is a new style of painting.

So therefore be it resolved that Steve Andrews will now only paint . . . . hell I don't know. I think Manet was just trying to make good art. He thought there were too many war paintings. "Yeah, no more war, I'm going to put two guys out in the woods in business suits with two naked ladys. Yeah that will work." (For my wife this is Manet thinking. It's one of his famous paintings.)

So therefore be it resolved that Steve Andrews will just try to make good art and leave it at that.

Thanks for looking.

"Florida Palm"

30 x 24

Florida palm trees against a blue sky.

Thanks for looking.

"Three Fishermen"

5 x 7 (plein air)

Another from Palm Beach. From the beach under the umbrella. There was a grey lavender sky from a storm brewing south of us. These three guys all had white t-shirts on, but they only stood there about two minutes. They caught my eye because of the bright white t-shirts against the storm clouds. Sometimes the painting paints itself.

Thanks for looking.

"House by the Railroad"

5 x 7

Can you imagine how loud it is in the bedroom when a train rolls by at 1 am? And how does someone go about getting a loan to build a house that close to a railroad. Or imagine the day the lawyer knocks on your door and says "you know that easement that was on the deed that you signed. Well that notation "RR". That actually meant railroad, not rest and relax. But the good news is they are building a slick new railroad crossing gate with a fancy bell. Some people are just lucky."

But really, I'm sure you get use to it. There are all kinds of noises in our life that we simply accept and ignore. My parents have a house that sits up on a hill above a beautiful swampy lake and about one quarter mile across the lake is Interstate 95. And you can difinitely hear cars and trucks, every day and every hour, but it is, no kidding, kind of like waves crashing out in the water when you are at the beach. I mean by that, it is soothing and not aggravating.

Now, on the other hand, I remember the first night on the seventh floor of our hotel in mid-town Manhatten. It was loud with horns honking and sirens in the middle of the night. And there was nothing soothing about it at all. But New Yorkers probably don't even hear it.

And so, the owners of "house by the railroad" probably talk about the soothing sound of the 4 am express roaring through the Georgia backwoods.

Thanks for looking.

"Georgia Field"

5 x 7

This is from the postcard series of landscapes of Florida and South Georgia. I have completed about 60 of these so far this year. The plan is to do 40 more and exhibit them at the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival in Thomasville in November. They should all be 5 x 7 and will sale for only $110.00 each. I'm putting some of them in floating frames and I think it will be pretty cool.

This is my sixth year at the show and it is a great event that helps raise money for the Thomasville Cultural Center. They treat the artists very nicely and the people of Thomasville are great supporters of the arts. I really don't consider myself a wildlife artist, but landscape can be wildlife, and they keep asking me to come back even though I rarely paint animals. There are some really talented people at the festival and I always come away motivated to keep getting better. I'll keep posting more of them on the blog.

Thanks for looking.

"Where Water Meets Land"

8 x 10 (plein air)

From the trip to Palm Beach. This is what happens when you sit under an umbrella at the beach looking for something to paint. There is point where you just decide to paint what is right in front of you. And, what is right in front of you is the lapping waves that edge up and recede. Down at Palm Beach there are great colors in the water. If you study it long enough you find colors based on reflections of sky and wave foam and everything else. I think it makes for an interesting painting. It is just an ordinary scene that happens millions and millions of times a day, everywhere sand meets water, and in every situation it is different.

Thanks for looking.