Punctuation doing its job

Punctuation doing its job. Ironically, I mis-punctuated that! 

Emerald City

My father worked as an engineer at the Amoco oil refinery most of his life. I remember how he once made a scale model of the refinery out of balsa wood, and I thought it was just about the coolest thing I had ever seen. I don't recall much else about it, except the nice lady who was a secretary (or something) there, and a company picnic along the York River. In my mind,  it looked like Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz, and for some reason, I still think of the refinery when I hear the music of George Shearing.

Emerald City on the York River

Cat on a rainy day

A painting for a stormy afternoon

Clothes make the cat... redux

Well, the purpose of my journal paintings was originally to be the basis for final images, but I've tended to skip the final art and simply move on to something else. Here's an exception. I just finished this painting based on an earlier sketch. I decided to make it a little different than the original and painted a different background, mostly because I was inspired by the plant paintings of Henri Rousseau at the time and had the urge to paint some plants in a conservatory.

Clothes make the cat

Day shift at the sock factory

These are some sketches/ideas for a story book I have in my head. 

Day shift.

Babe & friends

Babe is one of my beloved dogs and yes, sometimes she can't see very well through her shaggy mop. But I'll tell you a little secret: she's not very good at catch whether her hair is trimmed or not.

Babe needs a haircut, and I can't say what issues the folks on the right have.

Accident on Waldron's Hill

Having no faith in Kelly Keffer's sled-driving abilities, I lept off 
the back to avoid an oncoming mailbox. Kelly missed the mailbox —I didn't. 
Is there a lesson here for me?

Accident on Waldron's Hill

Stephanie & the hairy fern

I was quite interested in the rendering of ferns and other plant life at the moment, whilst creating a background for a painting. I have an Australian tree fern myself, and I assure you it's quite nice.

Study of a hairy fern in captivity

Portrait of Louis, Louis Jr., and Louis Jr. Jr.

Catbird arrives

The New Year begins with a long overdue visit from my big sister, Cathy (aka Catbird) flying
in from the east coast.