Outdoor project - boathouse!

Son Nate has been getting ready for the birth of little Lana - she is due in six or seven weeks! The nursery is done. The computer room/office has been moved. The garage has given up the boat. So a concrete pad, at the second driveway to an existing storage shed, has been chosen to be the floor of a "boathouse." Below Corey is just home from school to see what we accomplished on our first day. Nate and Lindsay had to pose for the camera, too. We struck water in the rear corner. Nate burried a drain pipe to help the situation. The "workers" below are happy because we have spent some time moving the project forward. Below you can see a section of wall on the concrete pad and the first section of new concrete over the drain system.
Corey is posing with his ship/stone holder that he planned and help build.
We have some of the trusses assembled and put into place!
Almost all the trusses are up.
We have the sheathing attached to the trusses and we hope the tarpaper will hold up against the storms that are predicted.

Nate's two week working vacation is done. We will get back to work on his next day off. We are looking forward to more building and some painting. Then the best part - finishing!

Sign painting

Somehow I started painting a few signs? I got my early practice doing advertising signs for one of our Little League fields in Smythe Park in Mansfield. Below is a sign for the shooting range at the Lambs Creek Sportman's Club. I finished this sign four days ago.

My brother-in-law Gary needed a sign for his farm. His wife Bec decorated for Halloween.

Gary wanted his sports teams on the back of his Angus sign. The Celtics have had a good year and the Red Sox are tough, but no comment about the Dolphins.

Christine cuts my wife's and my hair. I did the sign below for her shop. She'll be glad that I put her in the photo.
Jim Hufnagel used to raise strawberries and needed a sign. His wife El taught in my elementary school for years and years.

Sometimes I try to be a "regular" painter

I often wonder what my art would look like if I had pursued "realism." Sometimes I try my hand at more conventional art. I've done some dog portraits. Below is Luke Maresco as he looked a couple of years ago.
Most of my representational painting has revolved around animals - real or imagined.
Below is my daughter's cat Tiger. Tiger lived with us a long time ago.
When my son was little, I did the following fantasy painting to protect him at night.

Other creative endeavors

Our friends Gale & Kath Largey were treated to a retirement party by their children Missy, Ben & Erin. The party was held in the Pine Creek Gorge (which is billed as Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon). The area is an example of Mother Nature's wonderful creativity.
Gale's creativity has manifested itself in filmed documentaries including one about the Austin Dam Disaster

Kath's creativity helped her through her career teaching special-needs children. This couple is a good argument against everyone being "normal." I mean that as a compliment. I couldn't help photoshopping them into a painting by Boris.

Our Tripmates Sandy & Larry Nesbit have a wonderful gate at the entrance to their property. Jeff Tice one of their neighbors designed and fabricated the entire project.

Below is a modest example of some of Jeff's metal work which, thanks to Sandy, graces our front sidewalk designed and built by Ford Hume (more on Ford later).

Jeff Tice is still working on his model train that is outside his home. The shovel in the foreground below should help give you a sense of scale.

All the bridges have been constucted by Jeff. The evergreens are some type small bushes. We here in Tioga County of Pennsylvania are blessed with many creative minds.

2008 Price Stucture

Some have asked what I charge for my artwork. Below are my standard sizes and their prices - it has been suggested that I price my work by the square inch! For the past three or four years my prices have remained the same. The examples are shown to scale and long gone! All, except the smallest, are framed with my slat frames which I paint off-white. The small, 4" by 6", are mounted on a piece of pine which is a little larger than the panel. Shipping costs are not included in the prices. I have never turned down commissioned work and often do two pieces in the attempt to suit.
Often I am only able to come close when trying to match the colors from a previous painting. That's a good thing - no two pieces are alike!

1,500 Stars

I'm working on my STARS project. Every November the Keuka Lake Wineries host two weekend events, Keuka Holiday I and II. Besides generous tastings, each winery on the tour feeds their guests and gives them a small ornament. The 1,500 stars that I'm making will be the gift from Dr. Frank's Winery this year.
The photo above makes the stars appear quite silver, but the following photos of finished stars presents them as gold (which they are) with green and burgandy.

I have 500 stars painted but only 200 of them are strung with the minature labels attached. Thank goodness November is months away!

Success at the ARTSfest

The weather held during both days of the show. Large crowds came - about 20,000 people each day. I felt like I talked with all of them!
I was indoors. My wife Mugge stopped by and brought me a giant pastry, because she knows what I like.

Doug & Maggie and Lindsay & Corey stopped by, too. Doug suggested that I become involved with the ARTSfest two and a half years ago. Corey's stripes are in honor of his favorite animal, the zebra.

Below is one of the presents that Corey made for his mama for Mother's Day. We both worked on it, but Corey did most of the stamping!

People purchased about half the paintings that I hauled over to Athens. I was very pleased and will be back next year. Below is one of the first paintings that was sold.

Show time!

I hauled my stuff to Athens this afternoon and set up for the ARTSfest which opens tomorrow (May 3rd) morning at 10 am. The Fest lasts for two days. See you there.