Once again, I'd Rather Paint than Post, but here are some newer works

Summer paintings

Time, who has any? Paint or Blog, paint... so I blog in bulk today!  I'm posting on Facebook which is somehow easier.  Thanks for following!

                                                             Chamber Music at Hope

                                                            I'll Have Another

                                                             Happy Birthday Anna!

                                                                      Janie's cousin Henry

                                                                    The Pier

                                                                    Gone But Not Forgotten

                                                                 Oregan Inlet

                                                                  Looking North

Three Graces  36x48"

Eden House Lane

This path was always a source of pleasure. The approach to the beach was always dappled with light. The destination a piece of paradise. What wonderful days of creative play with cousins. How lucky we were to have those memories.

Chowan Grist Mill

Here is the story of a Saturday of leisure at the grist mill. Father and son are fishing. Horace is behind the mill sneaking a smoke. Pearl and Leroy perch on the water's edge sharing secrets, cutting their conversation short as Mini and Sarah are approaching. Mr. Roscoe is getting the horse ready for an outing. Billy Bob dangles his feet from the bridge. All well dressed for a Saturday in the country.

House on the Courthouse Green

This view down the street includes the yummy shadows and a view of the water. I enjoyed the negative spaces which appear all through this one. SOLD

Edenton's Cupola House

Edenton's Cupola House is a favorite to paint, with all the masses of darks, wonderful shadows and the welcoming gate. This is a donation to Historic Preservation.

4 Olives

by Munroe Bell... pleased to say that 4 Olives won an Honorable Mention at the 2013 Molly Fearing Show! SOLD, too!

Lobster

I need to change the name of Tracy Bell Studios, to Bell Studios, as Munroe has started painting some wonderful pieces! Stay tuned, his talent is amazing!! I am sorry to brag, but I have reason-

Virginia Dare

A Munroe Bell donation for the Lost Colony Gala

Still Water

A Munroe Bell landscape

Decorations of Independence

By Munroe Bell

Trombone

From Munroe's easel...

Old Mac Donald Had a Farm

Old Mac Donald had a farm... on this farm he had an international tractor, and if you look closely, he had a wife and children and sheep, too!

One See

"One see" is a term I leaned from my early years in Social Work. I was given instructions to get to someones home in "sees". You start out and look, as far as you can see is one see, once you get there, look as far as you can see, that's two sees... get the picture? The family's home was indeed 4 sees down Indian Woods Road! I have never forgot the directions nor the family.

The Unpainted Artistcrosy

One of my favorite subjects to paint, the historic section of Nags Head. At sunrise and sunset, there are a myriad of colors on these beauties. This is 30x40".

North Side of the Pier

This is a 30x40" and it hangs in Dr. Christina Bowen's new medical practice at Regional Medical Center. Her office space is now home to a lot of my paintings.

Nags Head Woods

Munroe walks the woods a lot this time of year. He brought this image back and it beckoned to be painted.

The Bend

This is a bend in the road heading out to the country in Bertie County. The wonderful fields so full of color, the deep shadows and clear light of the day, priceless!

The Farm

This quaint farm is just outside of Manteo. The sheep are wonderful to paint, so full of personality! A camera is a must, as they stay on the move.

Old Favorite

I was asked to donate a painting to the OBX Hospital Ball Fundraiser, and painted this wonderful cottage again. It is one of my absolute favorite cottages as it has so much color for a brown shingled cottage. It catches the sunrises and sunsets like a prism! I hope it sold well! 11x14"

The Herring Roundup

The viewer is on a hill looking down on this scene, which makes me really have to slow down to get the right perspective. The colors are some of my favorites, and most interpretive. 18x24"

Plowing the Fields

This was a challenge in perspective. It made me really stop and observe, stop to measure and to really think as I painted. I did go wild with the handling of the dirt, all done with the palette knife which I forget to get out and use. Lots of paint, lots of movement, lots of fun! 8x10"

Boots and Becky

Boots and Becky were wonderful to paint. Who knew that a brown and black goat had so many colors in their coats? I started with large shapes to check compostion and sizes, then went to paint just the different shapes of color, and vola! These are Jeanne and Steve Brooks' babies-

Tying Tobacco

I love these farm images from the past... I enjoyed this one so much I started another! The splashes of lightened green gold and the rusty peaches really make it sing... 16x20

Milepost 13

This is one of my favorites in the unpainted aristocracy. I do not know why the roof photographs so rusty?... It shows best in "real life"! 16x20

Bye-Bye Billy

The character of the rusty truck nearly speaks louder than the face of Billy. What a combo. Wonder what Rusty and Billy's person looks like? 16x20

Spruill's Pasture

I love these pastoral scenes with the textures and big skies. Throw in some animals, their reflections in the pond, a few bales of feed, bordered by majestic trees, what could be better? 11x14

Great White

I wish the deep, layered brushes of color showed up in this image... but you just have to see it "in person"! My paintbushes spread the paint like butter, building up layers of richness. These stately birds always remind me of my mother... though she is really more of a great blue heron. So elegant, yet on take off so awkward. Tis truely difficult to fly out of the ditch with class! 16x20

New Bern's Fabulous Fountain

I have been invited to join in an art sale in New Bern in two weeks!! Finding time to paint with all that I am committed to do, has been ridiculous! I took a day off today to just sit and paint... and catch up my blog. This fountain was fabulous fun, lots of shapes and highlights to make it come to life. I wish the photograph did not wash out the life it has in person. That makes me think of all the photographs of clouds I took this week. Not one was as magnificent as the "real thing". Sometimes it pays to stop, be still and just look and savor the moments. 11x14"SOLD

Walking the Neuse

Another for my next art sales opportunity in two weeks in New Bern! LC Homes Dickie sent me several images of New Bern, and it was hard to choose among them, there were so many wonderful architectural jewels to choose from. This one appealed because of the wonderful shadows, and the clouds. The clouds have been so lovely these last few weeks, I am happy to paint some with drama! Thanks LC! 11x14" SOLD

Island Jazz

When I paint anything having to do with music, my baby boy is my muse. I keep him on my mind while painting and have the nicest visits! This was fun, the lights and reflected color kept me amused. 11x14"

Alleyway

Wow, this one was fun! Like making a stained glass window, weaving color in and out of the dark trees. Journey to the end , following the light... before you get there to the right hides a magnificent columned federal home which has a history rich in memories. This piece was donated to the Dare County Arts Council for Artrageous. 24x36" SOLD

"Old Friends"

Simon and Garfunkel's' song "Old Friends" played in my mind all day as I painted these wonderful little ladies. Remembering how old ladies looked my youth, with tie up high- healed shoes, well dressed and coiffed at all times, jewelry matching... how times have changed. Grandmothers now are dressing in spandex, sporting helmets, riding their bikes 27 miles to the spin class at the Y! These ladies became my old friends, one lost recently, but never to be forgotten. SOLD

Water Lily

I am taking a few days to enjoy time at the easel. This was pure pleasure. It just flowed out of me, like a cleansing tide. Relief from the stresses of loved ones and friends being at odds with Hurricane Irene. The paint did as I wished it to do, no struggles. Times like these make me happy to be a painter. I can spend all day painting, relaxing and in the end, donate it to a worthy cause. I am painting two for upcoming fund raisers, Artrageous and the Charity Classics Tennis Tournament benefiting Hospice. Both events take place the last weekend of September. Do come and support the Arts Council and Hospice. 24x18" SOLD

CottonPickin

One of my favorite paintings of all times was another cotton weighing... I had to tell the story again with new characters. The weighing seems less exacting, but the interest in the weight is the same. Can you imagine, 100 pounds for 75 cents? 11x14" SOLD

Old Friends

The sky and the light were fascinating in this one. Sometimes the camera just doesn't do the painting justice. This one is much richer in person. I love the crouched figure using his cane and the cow to help him down the path. 11x14"

Pop Pop

It was a pleasure to paint this image of our beloved Peter Rascoe, so like himself. Dressed in his customary white tee and khakis, Coke his devoted dog at his side, content to be at the Rascoe cottage feeling the breeze. We will miss his presence but his spirit will be with us forever. 8x10 Gift, NFS

The Stackhouses

My paintings usually tell a story, mark a time in history, and usually the past. This is my paternal grandmother and Uncle Andy of Marion, South Carolina. I have just discovered a multitude of photos of my family taken in the 1920's, which are immensely paintable. As I am studying them to capture the story while painting them, I am learning more about my family which was mostly unknown to me. What could be better? Oh and the lights, my grandfather was a splendid photographer, my grandmother a willing model. Two beautiful boys... Sound familiar? SOLD

Big Sky

I concentrated on the sky in this one, trying to layer the clouds. The clouds have been lovely this past week in Bertie County. I expect they were sending their welcome to Peter who surely is at the "Pearly Gates"now. I will miss him but know he is in heaven preparing a place for us all. 6x8"