"Quiet Stream"

20 x 16

This is from a photo of a stream in North Carolina. The stream runs through a field near Camp Ridgecrest. I took some photos while Kendall ran. What is it about streams? Kids love them. Kids paly in them all the time. I remember as a kid going to North Carolina for Christmas. We stayed at a cabin that had a small stream running near it. By the time the week was over me and my 3 brothers had all fallen into the stream at least once. And I remember it was really cold. So I am still drawn to streams and water.

Thanks for looking.

"In a Florida Jungle"

20 x 16

"Stopping by the Woods on the way to Orlando"

Whose woods are these

I think I know

His house is in

Orlando though.

My little truck

Must think it queer,

To stop without

A gas pump near.

I cut the motor

And open the door

And view with my camera

The woods before.

The only sound

The silent love

Of light wind

In the trees above.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep.

My apologies to Robert Frost. This is why I am a painter and not a poet. But these woods are much the same as Robert Frost's woods. There just isn't any snow and there is no horse anymore. But I have tried to capture that same idea of woods being lovely, dark and deep. I hope I succeeded.

Thanks for looking.

"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.

"Mountain Above Ridgecrest"

5 x 7 (plein air)

From Royal Gorge looking east above Ridgecrest. Went with Zack, who took his guitar and went to a deck that overlooks what my kids call Royal Gorge. Had to work fast because the sun was setting. Great colors in the sky and the distant mountains. Hope I did it justice.

Thanks for looking.

"Bridge to West Palm Beach"



6 x 8

I am back from a vacation to South Florida. These were painted from the bike trail on Palm Beach. I took my daughter, Kendall, every morning to the trail that is on the intercoastal side on Palm Beach so she could run in the shade of the tall hedges between the mansions and the water. She is a serious runner on her high school cross country team. Palm Beach in the summer is a hot place, so you look for shade and run early. The trail is a beautiful and peaceful place. It is very well maintained almost like a nice golf course. In morning you hear the sound the gas powered lawn equipment. You don't get to see much of any of the houses unless you can find an empty spot in the hedges. The people on the trail are generally older and nicely dressed and more than a couple women smelled of expensive perfume. Everyone was very friendly. Kendall's workouts lasted just about an hour, so these got done quickly.

"Across to WPB"


5 x 7

These were a great way to start the day. I wish I had had more time, but I was glad to be able to wear the Dad hat, and coach hat, for maybe the last time after ten years of helping kids run during summer vacation. Kendall is a senior this year and over the last ten years I have gotten up with Stephen and Zack and Kendall, and helped make sure they did their summer training. If you think that is crazy, then you are probably right. Having been a runner myself, I know how tough it is to get this done, even when you are not on vacation. And the fact is, looking back on all those years of riding bikes and searching for trails, and early morning wake ups, and after run coffee and donuts and conversations, I would definitely do it again.

Thanks for looking.

"Swimming Dock / Ridgecrest"


5 x 7

At Camp Ridgecrest near Balck Mountain, N.C. This is a big hunk of poured concrete. They have changed the swimming area over the years and I think they call this the old swim dock.

Thanks for looking.

"Cherokee 3"


11 x 14

This is from Camp Crestridge in Ridgecrest, N. C.. This year was my girls tenth year at the camp and they had the honor of being in the Cherokee 1 Cabin which houses the oldest girls at camp. After many many years they are apparently tearing down these cabins to rebuild new ones. There is a tremendous amount of history in these cabins. By tradition the girls sign their names on just about everything you could write on. They find names of cousins, friends, and even mothers that were signed over the years. As an artist I love this deep but plain blue that the cabins are painted with. I have done some other pieces from Crestridge and Ridgecrest and I will post them over the coming weeks.

Thanks for looking.

"St. Marks Blue"


5 x 7

This sky was painted using a new white. Of course any house painter knows there are multiple varieties of white. Its the same with oil paints except we are not talking about different shades of white, rather it is the material the white is made with. I can make my own shades of white without any problem. This white is called Flake White and the principle difference is that it uses lead in the formula. Obviously, this is not something with which you want to be casual. I have only used in this painting. I really like the luminous quality that you can get with it. However I have been freaked out by the paint. There are just to many times that I end up looking in the mirror in my studio and realize I have a paintbrush in my mouth. You know like chewing on a pencil. So anyway, no matter how nice the color is, I'm pretty sure this is my last tube. I have lost enough brain cells already.

"Shrimper at Dock"


5 x 7


A shrimp boat at the dock in Appalachicola. There is a marina on the north side of Appalachicola. There are about twenty boats that are usually tied up there. I always like to go there and take a bunch of photos. It looks like a really difficult life, but that's probably what one of those shrimpers would say if they saw me sitting at my desk doing what I do.

"Foggy Morning"

10 x 12

From a trip to Atlanta in the morning. A Georgia field with fog and plowed furrows. This is what it would be like to live in a cloud. Doesn't seem too bad does it? As I am 'approaching advanced age', (this is a social security term, not mine) my vision is suffering and everything seems to be in a cloud. Especially that up close stuff. That part of my eye just does not work anymore. So with painting I am battling between far vision and up close vision. Sometimes this is helpful. One of the things you do when you paint is to squint at the image. This simplifies the values and the colors. Now all I do is pull off my glasses and I don't have to squint. It stinks to get old!

"Ron's Flag"



7 x 5 (Plein air)

An image from the lake painted during the Memorial Day weekend. Ron is the next door neighbor. I thought this would be good for July 4th weekend as well. I am in North Carolina this weekend picking up the girls from camp and visiting my son who is a counselor at the boys camp next door. The mountains of North Carolina are a fantastic place. I love the views. I love the stream that runs next to the roadway. The sound and the cool water and the rapids. Those are things you just don't get in Florida. Today we drove up from Atlanta through Gainesville, Georgia and into North Carolina at Franklin. We hiked to Glenn Falls near Highlands. It's a really pretty spot with a waterfall that drops about 5o feet. You can actually hike up and under the falls. After my son did it I decided I had to give it a try. Here you are squatting under a ledge that makes a cave about ten feet deep. As you squat under there you realize there is a solid rock above you that is about 5o feet thick. If you just happened to be under that ledge when God decided it was time for gravity to do its job, you would just be 'squish'. Luckily, God was not ready for me yet.

Here's a painting from last year in North Carolina. We hiked up Rattlesnake Summit and watched July 4th fireworks in the town of Black Mountain. It was as good as it sounds. I did the painting from a photo taken while on the summit.

"Dusk from Rattlesnake"



5 x 7

Have a Happy July 4th weekend!

"South Georgia County Road"

16 x 20

This is from a trip I took looking for images in the South Georgia farmland just north of Tallahassee. It is beautiful country. Call me crazy (or lazy) but I like that car level shot. It can be taken right out of the front windshield. I close the aperture on the camera and shoot with a large depth of field. Of course I don't do that all the time, but I have a whole folder in my photo database that I have labeled "car shots". After all isn't this the only view that most of us have of the countryside?

I have always been a looker while traveling. My kids, on the other hand, have used all that privileged time traveling to watch movies on the vcr in our high top van. That was before they had all those portable tvs on the back on the headrest of every seat. But I have to admit there is no quieter way to travel with children. And we had a bunch. The funny thing is I have recently seen movies that I know every line of dialog and have never seen the movie. "The Goofy Movie" and "Three Ninjas" are two examples. I was watching "The Goofy Movie" recently and realized I had imaged a completely different movie. But that's what the Dad gets to do. He is driving and watching the scenery and thinking 'that would make a beautiful painting'.

If you are taking a family vacation this summer and you are traveling through some pretty country think about MAKING your children put down their Ipod or movie or cell phone or game or whatever and taking a look at what is outside. At least for a little while.

Happy Travels.

"Rainbow"

5 x 7 (plein air)

Remember all those drawings you did in kindergarden with the rainbow. It's just something that you don't see painted, except by children. I guess the thinking is it's a trite subject. That's what I was thinking as I was sitting out on the dock looking across the lake at a nice rainbow forming in a passing rain shower. So that is just a perfect thing to try and paint. How do you make it look like a rainbow without making it look like a rainbow. Not sure if I did that but it was sure fun to paint. It was also quick. The thing about rainbows is they don't last very long. I probably could have concentrated more on the different colors but the bright yellow was the overpowering color and if I tried to put in all of the colors and the perfect arch . . . well it would have looked like a rainbow.

"Hope and her Sister"

5 x 7 (Plein air)

Did this down at Lake Ella on Saturday. I had just finished a larger painting and I had to go pick up my daughters from the ACT test and did this one as a sketch in about 20 minutes. Probably could do a better job on the size of the children but they would not hold still. Now there's a suprise.

Lake Ella is a great place to paint. The people are friendly and interested, but not over interested. They walk around the lake and some make comments as they make laps around the lake. Heres the one done earlier in the morning. It's 11 x 14. We'll call it:

"Church Steeple and Walkers"

11 x 14 (plein air)

"Blue Water"

5 x7 (Plein air)

From last weekend at St. Mark Wildlife Refuge. I took my paints, my camera and my bike. The weather wasn't great. I took off down this dirt road that heads east into the woods. I had my big backpack with about thirty pounds of equipment. The weather was moving in and the humidity was as close to wet as you can get. Yellow flies and horse flies reminded me that I had forgottent he bug spray. This little dirt road is about one foot above the water in the ditches that were only about ten feet from the side of the road. As I booked down the road on my trusty Cannondale F29er Mountain Bike "things" were scurrying into the water. Some of the things - like the six foot gator - didn't scurry they just watched as I pedaled past. Needless to say after about four miles, with thunder rumbling I turned around and headed for the truck. By the time I got back I was covered in sweat.

Sticking to the plan I was able to do number of small pieces and get a lot of good shots. I have a couple of good ideas. The one above was done at about 7 pm with nice golden light. This was my favorite.

"Summer Storm Gathering"

5 x 7 (Plein air)

During our last trip to Lake Weir the summer afternoon storm cycle had started. You have to get going in the morning because you end up getting chased off the lake in the early afternoon. I love the intensity of the lavender sky against the dark olive green of the trees. Its a great match. There is also a bit of drama in painting one of these out under the tin roof at the end of the dock with lightening flashing and thunder rolling. I continually look down at the hairs on my arm to see if they standing straight up. I'm not quite sure what to do if they are standing straight up. Do you run? Or just say a prayer?

"Plein Air at Phipps Park"

5 x 7

I'm calling these postcards. (Yes, I know, plenty of people before me have called them postcards, but I like it. It fits the bill.) They are small and I am getting a lot of good experience by painting a bunch of them. This was done on location in Phipps Park. This is right next to the corner where the port-o-potty sits. Thats what artistic license means. I could have put the potty in, but I thought to myself - I'm not sure someone wants to look a port-o-potty. So I take artistic license and leave the potty out. Your lesson for the day.

"Setting Moon"

11 x 14

Moon setting over Micosukee Greenway during October.

"Special Day"

11 x 14

A painting I did some time ago for my daughter-in-law and son. It is from Bradley's Pond where they were married yesterday. We made prints of this and three other paintings and gave them away as wedding favors. The wedding was wonderful. Beautifully done and organized. They did a special dance with flips and all. My son's younger brothers (twins) were the best men and they did a great toast. Lots of dancing and craziness with the whole Andrews clan. My new daughter was beautiful and the whole thing was just fantastic.

As I was tying my tie in the living room mirror in my rented suite, I looked and thought you look enough to be the father in a wedding, but you don't feel that old. Time flys.

"Thomasville, Sunday Morning"

18 x 24

This is Thomasville, Georgia on 319 coming from Tallahassee. Still working on this one making some changes here the there.

"Old Boat / St. Augustine"

16 x 20

This is an older boat from a photo and a plein air I did in St. Augustine this fall. This boat has great lines and was anchored just down from the Santa Maria Resturant. I got up early the last day I was at the Crescent Beach Paintout. It was pretty early and the sun was coming up and a guy comes out of the door of this boat. He's wearing blue jeans and no shirt. He stretches then walk up to the bow and proceeds to take a leak. I guess he had hard night, or fun night, because it was like the scene in Austin Powers when Austin gets defrosted. I don't think I told this story when I posted the original plein air. But I knew you would appreciate it.

Here's a link to the plein air: http://steveandrewsart.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

"Night on the Water"

16 x 20

This is from a photo I took in St. Augustine at the Crescent Beach Paintout. The wind was blowing strong and the boats came into the river and anchored by the bridge. These kinds of paintings are really difficult to photograph. This one actually has a lot of dark blue, purple in the sky. It is dark. I've gotten a number of positive comments about it as it's hung in the studio.

"Red Canoe Fishing"


4 x 8

"North Florida March"

6 x 8

Another in the theme of what-you-see-this-time-of-year. I love Dogwoods. Most of the trees are pretty bleek looking right now. No green yet. The Live Oaks are losing their leaves. (Yes, my pool is once again getting the you-know-what beat out of it.) And against that backdrop of grey there is the bright color of Redbuds, Dogwoods and others that I only know by sight and not name. I gotta (my wife has made me aware that I say this a lot) get out and take some photos.

"Japanese Magnolia"

6 x 8

This is a great time of year here in Tallahassee. Spring has sprung and the flowering trees are beautiful. I call these Japanese Magnolias but I don't really know if that is accurate or not. I'm not much on the names for these things I paint. I'm more interested in the great angles and colors.

"Maria"

14 x 18

This is Maria. She is a special girl who is my son, Zack's girlfriend. In January I was burned out on landscapes and decided to do something different. This was from a backlit photo from a track meet. At the time I took the photo she was concentrating on a race that was about to start. I decided she would look better in a dress rather than a track jersey. About half of the people that see it say immediately that it is Maria. The other half say yeah I knew that was Maria, but why did you paint a painting of her. Well she is special.

"Across the Pond"

6 x 8

I like this one. Just a farm pond, but a lot going on.

"Highway 50 Palms"

8 x 10

Where the St. Johns River percolates into a river in Central Florida there are seas of saw grass, and palm trees and islands of oak and cypress. Growing up we probably went to Orlando once a week and we passed over the St. Johns River on the way. I guess I've stared at this scene so many times that I love to paint it. It's miles and miles of the same thing, but its never the same thing.

"Spring Field"

8 x 10

Driving around North Florida and South Georgia this is a common site. Large tracts of land, one day they are fields of one thing and next day they are completely changed. They are a challenge to paint only because you have to do something to make them interesting and you need to come up with some way to convincingly showing depth. There are usually some wayward tire tracks heading out across the freshly plowed field and that makes a great lead-in to the painting. I've got to get better at this because I keep coming back to this subject. I like the image of change but at the same time permanence. "To everything thing . . . turn, turn . . . there is a season . . . turn, turn . . . and someone to paint it . . . ."

Florida Jungle Road

8 x 10

From a photo I took over in Jacksonville at a park on the north side near the ocean. The trick to this kind of painting is figuring out what to leave in and what to leave out. It's a jungle. There's stuff everywhere. If you painted every leaf and tree it would never end and the scene would be overwhelming. Here I just tried to suggest the palm fromes and the palm trees with a hint of a live oak branch making a canopy over the road. I think it works, but I'm bias.

Prayer Garden / Crestridge

11 x 14

This is from a photo I took during one of our trips to Crestridge. My girls love the place and have been going every summer since they were about 8. Crestridge is a girls summer camp in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. It's near Black Mountain, which is near Asheville. This is what they call the Prayer Garden. It's one of those cool, inviting, quiet places at the camp. I like the steps leading up to the garden. They lead your eye into the painting nicely. All the Crestridge fans keep telling me they want this painting.

St. Marks from the Flats

8 x 10

I just keep painting this lighthouse. Why is it that people like paintings of lighthouses? They are symbols we say. They steer us in the right path. This one is particularly difficult to paint sometimes because of the large live oak tree beside it. I'd like to see some old photos of this place when the live oak tree was tiny. Or was it there before the lighthouse? Anyone know?

New Year at the Refuge

9 X 12 (plein air)

Looking west from the refuge at the Indian River. On a beautiful day over new years break in Titusville. As I was painting this a bobcat walked across the sand near the foreground. Cool.

"Night of Nights"

Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

"Farm"


11 x 14

Still here. Yes, it's been awhile. Still here and still painting. I took a break. After Crescent Beach Paintout I did the Plantation Wildlife Show in Thomasville. Things were slow up there. It's the economy stupid. That's what I heard from all of the artists up there. Most of them are people who do it for a living and do a lot of show. They report that most shows are 50% down across the board. Makes you glad you don't do it for a living. Anyway, I felt like I needed a break for the first time in a long while.

It's funny when I meet friends for the first time in a long time they always ask whether I still paint. Sometimes I wonder whether they are saying are you still doing that crazy painting thing. Like have you gotten over that stage yet. Well, I haven't. I'm thinking about doing some new stuff. Maybe some figurative work and portraits. Thats got to improve your painting because you can't fake a portrait or a figure. Trees you can fake. So stay tuned and we'll see.

This is from a trip to North Carolina. Its a car shot. I'm a sucker for a flat field and an old barn.
I loved the light on the side of the houses and blue sky.

"Waiting for a Ride"

11 x 14 Plein air

From the Crescent Beach paintout. Been taking a break lately. Doing some small stuff and getting ready for the Plantation Wildlife Show.

"Santa Maria"

8 x 10 (plein air)

From the Crescent Beach Paintout. This was from Friday when it pretty much rained all day. I did this one from the road. About half way through it started raining and the whole thing and my palette got wet. I didn't think it would do much because the paints are oil paints, but there is an effect. This one was tough because of the weather. I really had a problem with putting too much information in this one. I really should have just concentrated on the sign. I liked the idea of the graphic nature of the backwards sign.

Summer 100 (100 of 100)
"Wet Matanzas"

11 x 14 (plein air)

Painted on Friday at Crescent Beach Paint Out. It was raining and windy (really windy). The only dry place I could find was under the south side of the Matanzas Inlet bridge. There was a family with a father and two young children waiting for Dad to catch some bait for the day of fishing. The little girl, who did not seem very excited to be there, gave me much encouragement and compliments as the painting progressed.

So here's a hundred paintings. I'm going to recap and provide some analysis of the effort in the next couple of days.

Thanks for looking.

Summer 100 (99 of 100)
"Fading Light"

11 x 14 (plein air)

Painted on the beach in the late afternoon with the wind blowing pretty strong in my face.

Summer 100 (98 of 100)
"Bobby B"

9 x 12 (plein air)

This is the shrimp boat Capt. Bobby B. It was anchored next to the Bridge of Lions on a very windy day. I set up near the waterfront sidewalk on Thursday. The photo does not do justice to the painting. The sky is a bright yellow.

Summer 100 (97 of 100)
"New Day"

6 x 8 (plein air)

The color on this photo isn't even close. I took the photo in the gallery so the light wasn't right. Anyway I did this on Thursday morning at the lighthouse park.

Summer 100 (96 of 100)
"At the Shore"

8 x 10 (plein air)

From the same place as the last one. Liked the light on the front of the little house. Nice place to live. A bunch of people kept walking by with their dogs or children. I wonder if they realize how great they have it?