WET PAINT
MOTTO FOR 2011
Life is full of magic . . . find some
Friday, January 27, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
I love NY. A couple of years ago I would have scoffed if someone said that. But in the last three years I've been to New York City three times. It is really a great place. Always interesting and different. My last visit was a couple of months ago. My son, Micah, ran the New York City Marathon. Julee and I went along to be the cheering squad. We had a great time. While there I took some photos with the idea of doing some paintings. I figured that there were probably a lot of people who would like a painting from New York. I also figured it would fun to do something different. This is from a photo taken at Battery Park on the south end of Manhattan. Trying to do a painting of the Statute of Liberty without beating you over the head.
Thanks for Looking.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
The medical update: My body has apparently healed itself, or at least it is giving it a good try. The mri WAS conclusive (contrary to radiologist's report). I did have a disc problem and C7 impingement on the on the left side. The neurosurgeon showed me the mri and spot he found. He said sometimes the body just absorbs the disc material or the nerve gets use to the pinch. I never had any neck pain. It was always numbness in the hand and arm. Since it's getting better there is no reason for him to do anything. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
Me: Can I ride my mountain bike?
Dr.: You mean you ride a mountain bike on the road around the neighborhood?
Me: No, I ride through the woods as fast as I can go racing against other 50 year olds who are just as crazy as me.
Dr.: Do you wear a helmet?
Me: Oh yeah.
Dr.: Well I don't think you should live in glass bubble. [He then said some other stuff, but I don't really remember specifics, kind of blah, blah, blah . . you are an attorney and I didn't tell you to do it]
What did I learn?
1. An MRI is kind of spooky. It is just one more reason not to be fat. I remember walking out of the room and seeing the next patient. An overweight African-American women with a very big chest and a look of apprehension on her face. She'd probably been there before.
2. There are not enough doctors in this world. Come on. You shouldn't have to wait so dang long for a receptionist, a phone call, an appointment, a callback, a waiting room, an evaluation, etc. etc. etc. . . .
3. Doctors do good work. I'll just leave it at that. They are quirky. They are all different. But they all seem to be trying to help people feel better.
4. It's really hard to say that the doctor never asked you how you got hurt. You have to answer that question about 20 times. Bottom line: If you got hurt on the job and didn't tell the doctor it's not because they didn't ask. (Well at least at TNC.)
5. It's hell getting old.
6. The painting above makes me think I'd rather be riding down 98 to a day at the beach, or fishing, or painting, or taking photos, or sailing, or eating fried shrimp in Apalachicola. Life is full of magic . . . find some.
Thanks for looking.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
This photo is me and my son, Zack, putting it in for the first sail. It performed well, and looks like it will be a lot fun.
Here's Zack single-handing the boat in very light wind. She is definitely fast.
So, the new year and resolutions?
That's a good question. I'll have to think about it.
Oh yeah, for those of you who are following this blog. The MRI was inconclusive and the numbness in the left hand has gotten better but not great. I'm seeing a specialist next week and we'll see what he says.
In the meantime just following the instructions at the front of this blog.
"Life is full of magic . . . find some."
Thanks for looking.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Monday, August 08, 2011
This is another painting from the Artport Show. I have had a great response to the show. And this weekend I got a nice article in the Tallahassee Democrat. (Special thanks to Amanda and Randi for their work on the show and the article). Here's the written part of the article and there is a link below to the newspaper's online version.
He mostly used watercolors during that time, but eventually started working with oils. "I wanted to be able to paint bigger," Andrews explains. "When you paint with watercolor, it has to go behind glass, so you're limited in how big you can paint. Plus there's so much color and vibrancy that I can't get with watercolor. I paint almost exclusively in oil now."
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=steve+andrews+tallahassee+poetry&pbx=1&oq=steve+andrews+tallahassee+poetry&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=13520l17024l0l17287l18l16l0l0l0l1l1099l6653l0.2.3.3.1.0.1.3l13l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=e7a0bbe362cc4009&biw=1111&bih=627
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I have a show at the Tallahassee Airport that starts this week and runs through the end of September. The title of the show is “Vanishing Landscapes” which is kind of a theme for me. That was the title I gave the Cultural Resource Commission back a year and a half ago when I applied for the show. It really turned out to be more about St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. All of the paintings are either painted at St. Marks or are from photographs and studies done at St. Marks. Because the space is in the main concourse I needed big pieces to get the attention of passers-by. So there are a bunch of big pieces. I am also putting together a map of St. Marks with dots that indicate the inspiration for the image. I am putting all of this together and now I have separate section of my website with all of the paintings and prices.
I dropped off the pieces this morning and returned this evening to take at look at the show. Here is a photo. I like it. It's great space.
One of the problems with this venue is that it is logistically almost impossible to set up a traditional ‘opening night’. That’s good and bad. Every artist has dreams of having an opening, (preferably at a famous SoHo Gallery) and every piece is sold that night!! Cha-ching, cha-ching. But really, let’s be realistic that ain’t happening. (Although I will do a super big discount on the lot.) So there won’t be opening. But I’m always available to meet someone out there and talk about my art. So email me, or put comment at the bottom or on the website and we’ll set up a private opening. Bottom line: I paint because I want to paint. I like to create. I like to try to communicate something to someone else through paint -- something of the place, of the time of day, of the experience of being there. One crucial part of that equation is that someone else has to see it besides me. So having a show answers that part of the process. Go take a look. Most of the pieces were created within the last year and half. I love St. Marks. I hope you feel that love.
Thanks for looking.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The last shuttle is coming home this week. It is the end of an era. Growing up in Titusville I am very familiar with space exploration and the space industry. As a kid I use to watch the Saturn Five rockets that transported the Apollo program into space and onto the Moon. Now those things were really big fireworks! You could feel them take off. When there was launch during school we would line up on the hill at Whispering Hills Elementary School facing east and watch the rocket head up through the sky. When the Apollo program was really going there would be wall to wall Winnebago’s done at the river waiting for the launch. Our little league fields were right down on the river so after games we would walk around between all the RV’s.
Between undergrad and law school I got a job at the Cape. I actually worked on the first space shuttle. My Uncle worked for NASA and helped me get a job with McDonald Douglass putting tiles on the shuttle. I worked on the rear upper elevon. I was a thermal protection mechanic. It was really interesting work. And it paid a lot more than the average summer job. Plus there was tons of overtime. For a while we were doing twelve hour days. That was tough. I don’t know how you could do that for longer than a couple of weeks.
I remember the Challenger disaster. I was driving home from work for lunch listening to the launch on NPR. My oldest son was only about 10 days old. When a got home my Mom was there with my wife and we turned on the TV and watched the coverage.
This painting is of the shuttle on the number 39 B. That’s the pad that is closest to Playlinda Beach which is the Titusville beach. That’s the south side of Canaveral National Seashore. You have the natural beauty of unspoiled and undeveloped land and the magic of the newest most modern technology. So in this painting I was trying to show the new technology against beauty of the land. Hope I got there.
Thanks for looking.