Choctawhatchee Bay

When I lived back home I used to fish on the north side of Choctawhatchee Bay out of Rocky Bayou State Park.   This was before the Mid-Bay Bridge was put in.   It was more for the view and less the catch.  Salt water was never my "thing"... I was a better freshwater fisherman and had the best luck near my Grandparents place in Gulf County along the Apalachicola River.  I suppose its the dark waters of Wetappo Creek which run deep in these veins.

I always liked Choctawhatchee Bay later in the day when everything started slowing down toward evening.  Maybe its because I'm an evening person by nature...my creative mind doesn't really awaken until afternoon.  When I was fishing on the Bay I seemed to watch more.  The movement of the water as the tides ebbed and flowed. The zephyr created ripples across the water's surface.  But what marked the Bay for me was the Black-necked Stilt.   Every location seems to have its totem and the Stilt is the Bay's totem.   Very much like I'll always remember DeFuniak Springs for its totem the bull-bat...the Common Nighthawk.

The Stilts always seemed to be supremely focused; quietly working the shore margins for a simple meal of crustaceans or mollusks.  Always seeming to have better luck than I, but I was watching them and not my line.   The line was just an excuse to be a pilgrim in their world.   In those moments they seemed part of the Bay; a water borne golem seeking wisdom along the margins.   Yeah...wisdom along the margins and it's there to find...small and glorious.

This painting is small one but exemplifies the minimal, flat background ethos of this series.  The few background details help force the form into three dimensions.  Its on an 8 X 10 panel in synthetic polymer.

Click on the image for a larger view.

September paintings...

I want to get back in the habit of writing a sentence or two about paintings I finish.  The focus now is entirely on the subject, but there is a strong narrative element that led to the subject being painting.  I hope to hang these descriptions when the series is finally hung.

My progress this year has been steady and I've been in a good rhythm of idea, sketch, transfer to canvas and paint.  I have a small notebook with my future painting ideas outlined and have gone as far as to prime canvases for them.   During the past few weeks I've finished two paintings;  Hwy 30A Surf Monitor and Tree Swallow Waiting.

Hwy 30A Surf Monitor

Back when I was in high school I used to sneak off with my brother's surfboard. He was at UF so he was none the wiser.   After surfing for a bit I'd come to shore and doze.  Once in a great while a sea gull or two would be standing nearby eyeing you or surveying the beach. You could imagine a discussion about the surf conditions and the prospect of a delectable morsel washing ashore.  

The painting is on a simple 8 X 10 panel.  I primed it a flat, light blue with the intent the  gull would pop off the canvas as a result of the shadow on its body and cast by its body...which it did.   I did add some light surf wash as it seemed to be missing something when I thought it was done.

Tree Swallow Waiting

After we first moved into our home in 1998 I put up several bird houses.  I put up a blue bird house attached to a pole on the tool shed next to my garden thinking it would be nice insect control having a nest nearby.  Quite quickly a pair of tree swallows moved it.   The pair nested for many seasons.  Initially, the male would circle whenever I was working in the garden.  He got comfortable enough with me to land on a metal fence post at the opposite end of the garden and watch my labors for a minute or two.

The painting is on an 11 X 14 canvas primed with a light naples yellow; a strong complementary color of the bird.  I did have trouble with this one...had to repaint the secondary wing coverts twice and I hope it doesn't show.  I spent more time on the details than I probably should...got away a bit from the less detail ethos of the series.