#27 "Ristorante" 11x14 oil

It's been 30+ years since I've been to Venice. However, my friend Candace and her husband Todd were fortunate enough to travel there last summer as part of a wonderful cruise thru the Mediterranean. Some of the photos were posted on Facebook by, "Candie" and I took the liberty of downloading a few of them. Thank you Candace and Todd for the inspiration!!! One of several photos that struck me was of a ristorante on one of the Venice canals.
I just wanted to be sitting at that restaurant having pasta, and sipping a fine Chianti!!! Not sure if Candace or Todd took the photo but this what they saw. Hope to get back to Venice one day but until then, this will just have to do! Godetevi il vostro pasto!

Update! Todd took the photo while he and Candie were on a gondola ride! I did a little research and found that the name of this little hotel/cafe in Venice is Hotel Ca' Fortuny.

#26 "Ella's Mom" 11x14 oil

My granddaughter, Ella Rose Nickels -->

This is a painting of, "Ella's Mom" when she was a little girl. Of course, that is my daughter Darcy. About a year ago we traveled to Richmond, Virginia and visited Terry and Jane Mohr. Jane found an old photograph of Darcy and gave it to me. She must have been about 4 or 5 at the time. She was wearing one of her favorite dance costumes. Darcy loved to dance and would entertain us most evenings with a dance in front of the fireplace. I think it was Jane who happened to take this picture as Darcy stood in front of the living room window. The light illuminated her dress from the back and side as she struck a rather shy pose. Darcy is now, "Ella's Mom" and I'm sure it won't be long before she and Matt are afforded the same pleasures she granted her mom and dad when she was just a little girl. I decided to photograph my progress as I painted this afternoon.

This painting, "Ella's Mom" has found a new home in Carlsbad, California.


Turn up your sound and click the play bar above to watch a 60 second video of painting, "Ella's Mom."

#25 "Nineveh Road Barn" 9x12 oil

Well I guess if you're from Indiana, ya gotta paint a barn! I started this painting back in August. I made a few changes and I'll live with it like this for awhile but I have a feeling I'm going to go back in and make some more changes. This barn sits at the corner of State Road 252 and Nineveh Road. I've been passing this barn since the early 1970s on my way down to mom and dad's cottage on Sweetwater Lake. This past April (2009) I was on my way to Sweetwater for the annual, "opening" of the Ah Kum On Inn. It was time to get out the lawn and deck furniture etc. It was early spring so there was a hint of green in the trees but the grass was already a vibrant shade of green. Since it was morning, there is nice shadowing on the side of the barn and on the barn roof the from chimney. It won't be long before we repeat the ritual... and I pass by once again, the "Nineveh Road Barn".....

A few of years back my son and I went to Story, Indiana in the hills of Brown County to hear an outdoor concert. It was a perfect August evening and the concert was held on a stage built out from an old barn in a hollow behind the old general store that has now become a terrific restaurant and inn. When I was a kid growing up in Indiana, I used to hunt, fish and camp at Burr Williamson's place just a few miles from there. This was back in the 1950s. We would hike thru the woods down to that general store in Story to get candy and anything else a few quarters would buy.

However this night, almost 50 years later, most folks brought a blanket and sat outside underneath an August moon. There was a roaring bonfire casting flickering shadows into the woods that surrounded us. In addition to Ramblin Jack Elliot... we heard a local singer/songwwriter by the name of Tim Grimm. He sang a song he had written called , "Better Days" about a farm family and farm life. I really liked this song so I decided to learn it and record it myself... The song reminded me of my Grandma and Grandpa Schuyler's farm in North Judson, Indiana. It was the Schuyler Dairy. I put a few photos of the farm etc. towards the end of the song ........ Now, Randy Jackson might say, "it was a little pitchy" and he'd be right but, what the heck!!!



Turn on your sound and CLICK ON THE PLAY BAR above to see the slide show and hear the song.

#24 "The Lighthouse" 8x10 oil

I know I said I was moving on from, "lighthouses" but this is an 8x10 that I started months ago and couldn't get it the way I really wanted it. Yesterday I got it out and truly mixed a few pots of paint and just messed around. Can't say for sure if I'll keep it this way but it was fun being kinda reckless as I tend to be a control freak and it's hard to let go sometimes. I will say for sure.... not gonna post any more lighthouses in the near future!!!