Whispers and secrets among the adirondacks

Welcome.

Joy, I do love a quiet place to sit, to talk, to listen. It could be listening to a friend, the wind in the trees, in the beach grass, the lapping of the waves or the earth itself. We could simply speak of nothing or not speak a word, and yet smile with volumes of messages recieved. Sunk deep into a relaxed state, breathing deeply, loving and being as I have, in this place I can only hope that you have done the same whever you are or live. This is near Crane's Beach in Ipswich Massachusetts. The wicked best clams come from here.

This is an oil painting on canvas 36x20 inches and refreshes my mind's eye each and every time I view it.

More to come......

All art/images copright Alan Phillips 2014

Once upon a time.....

Welcome.

When I was a kid seeing this car meant one thing, fun. I t was an idea of the beach. I lived in a fairly suburban post industrial blue collar city outside of Boston. We didn't see too many of these on my street. Revere Beach was 10 to 15 miles east and I might add huge fun for me both for the nature and the amusements, the amusement of my nature and the nature of my amusements. Yes Virginia it is a real reel. That might be a story for another day or my first novel.Not to mention the roller coaster. But, back to the painting, it's oil on canvas 36x48 inches and it is sold. Please keep in mind that I can provide prices for prints if you are interested.

The spot is in Neptune Beach. The house has been painted yellow now and still looks amazing against our stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. The painting is titled "The Pink House Woody."

Thanks to all those who have sent emails or called about digging my work here on my blog. I appreciate your checking to see what's new and some of my greatest hits. More to come......

All art/images copyright Alan Phillips 2104

Summertime in Southport

Welcome.

This oil painting on canvas is called "Anticipation" and is 36x48 inches. The location is in Southport Connecticut and from this vantage point could have been the 1800s save the powerboats in the background. The Pequot Yacht Club is just to left and is as picturesque as any club house I've seen with two red brick buildings that serve as the foundation for meetings and establishing regattas and the club's memebers and events. They also have charming little sailing dinghy races during the dead of winter! Fun.

Southport was always a refuge for me. It was like walking into history in a time when things were slower, quality of utmost importance and skill was tested against the elements to earn one's mastery.

It is sold. I have plans to feature many more harbors and beautiful wooden sloops. More to come....

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

More from the neighborhood...

Welcome.

When I first lived in Jacksonville or Ponte Vedra more precisely having moved down from the North 20 years ago one of the First Coast first impressions I got was from Ragtime Tavern in Atlantic Beach. After a few beers I remember thinking.."I like it here." Course that tends to happen after a few beers. I must say though that after 20 years I can sit at the bar in Ragtime have a beer and think exactly the same thought. Great place for the girls to have lunch too. The bottom of these two paintings; both of them oil on canvas 12x16 and sold is typical on any Saturday or Sunday, the girls in sundresses coming from having a glass of wine and some appetizers and dish!

More to come.......

All images copyright Alan Phillips

Down on the corner....

Welcome.

Back again today with more neighborhood oil sketch studies. Around the corner from Pete's Bar I've included what was and what is. Any body who liked a good old fashioned cheeseburger and a late night cover of The Rolling Stones by Mike Shackelford and company has fond memories of The Sun Dog Diner. I do.  So far I've had a couple of lunches at The Flying Iguana and I will be going back for more. One night I'll get down for drinks too but in the meantime I hear only good reports from my crew and I think a new legend is emerging.

Both these oil paintings on canvas are 12x16 inches and both are sold . I liked doing them for their immediacy and punch. I don't think I spent more than an hour on either of them. The idea being to keep them fresh leaving a sense of discovery. More to come....

All art copyright Alan Phillips 2014

The Neighborhood....Atlantic and Neptune Beaches

Welcome.

If you are a local you just smiled. If you are not, you know what I mean when I say the 'neighborhood bar'. Quintisential beach bar with pool tables, affordable draft beer, loads of atmosphere, character and people who love it because it's comfortable and pretense is left outside. Bloody Mary Thanksgiving morning is just a straight out 'fine' tradition and it gets better every year.

This one is 12x16 oil on canvas study. It is or was part of a series I was working on from 2010-2014 getting my brushwork down, working on various aspects of this small art form to inform my larger works, besides all the places I painted I love, a win win proposition if ever their was one.!  Sold. My posts in the next few days will be others in this series. More to come.......

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Changing of the guard

Welcome.

This waterway is surrounding the tip of a small island which is inhabited by one person. It is in the middle of The Intracoastal Waterway a few miles from the mouth of the St. Johns River. The tide was on the way out. I am mesmerized by the rip speed of the flow of that tidal current. The time was just about a half hour before the sun dipped down behind the treeline in the distance and lit everything up with that honey colored glow.

"Changing of the Guard" is also the title of the painting. The tide, the shift to dusk and the great egret coming to claim it's territory over the gulls which would soon depart, all signaling the approaching blanket of night. I loved the ribbons of reflected pink sunlight slicing through the blue water. This is an oil painting on canvas 3'x5' . The price is $8,000.00 US unframed.
Shipping is additional. Contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com

It is a reverie for me, these moments, my spirit aligned with the tide, the earth, the sun and I savor the rythms. More to come....

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

It's a far cry from where I started....

Welcome.

This was a blustry morning in the summer out on Martha's Vineyard. I just wonder what stories that dinghy could tell. This is a 36x48 inch oil on canvas. Among the many loves that Alan has as Alan Loves Art is the art of the curve. I just dug this sweeping arc out to that house on the point and that shimmering morning island light. This was on the southern side of Chappy. Sold.
More to come.....

All images copyright Alan Phillips

On The road to little Talbot.....

Welcome.

This was a hat trick for my visual sensibilities with a channel of big water heading out, a sand dune with scrub and the tidal creek couched by that large white oak. And a rather large egret....sorry my friend..to have disturbed. This was on the way up to Little Talbot Island. The air is so clear and space starts to open up from land to open water and I just feel my shoulders drop, all the tension of whatever truly small intrusion on my peace I created that day just runs out the creek with the tide. This is an oil on canvas 36x22 inches. Sold More to come....

All images copyright Alan Phillips

Soft moon rising....

Welcome.

If you are anything like me, you love the smell of low tide. I know it may sound funny. It might make you giggle. Truth is; it's the smell of the earth and living things that are all interconnected in growing and dying and being reborn as something else.

 I can't tell you how many times I fished up a single fresh oyster from the mud flats in the Intracoastal or a shelf of an oyster bed on which I was standing, fly fishing in Long Island Sound and pried the oyster open and popped in my mouth right there. Now that's fresh!

It's that fragrance and the sight line changing to reveal the architecture of the creek beds, the substructures of the ebb and flow of a tidal marsh that reveal so many interesting forms and shapes. This view was up past Atlantic Beach in Florida while heading out towards Mayport.

The absolute ghostliness of that soft moon and the little egret, motionless, perhaps having had it's fill of outgoing shrimp, content like me to simply breath in the quiet made this more than worthy subject matter for my brush. The price for this one is $2,800.00 US unframed and shipping is additional. Contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com.

This is an oil on canvas 15x20 inches. More to come......

Be sure to check out Zazzle under sunnybeachman to discover cool items with my watercolor art on them.

All images copyright Alan Phillips

Simply Red....

 Welcome.

My apologies to Mick Hucknell. I dig a red roof against the skyline. Here in Florida, especially close to St. A  we enjoy an abundance of gorgeous Spanish architecture. The  top one is an oil on canvas 12x16 inches and is a scene from Marsh Landing Harbor in Ponte Vedra. Lush I believe is the way I would define it.

The next gives me a smile each time I see it. It's called "Whale Watch" it is an oil on canvas 9x12 inches. This particular red roof happened to be on a boathouse up in Ogunquit Maine.

The last and certainly not the last time I will paint it is the Harbormaster's Hut at Beach Marine. It is one of the friendliest marinas I have had the pleasure to explore. It is a oil on canvas 11x14 inches. More to come....

Be sure to head over to Zazzle under sunnybeachman if you would like to purchase fun items with my watercolor art on them!

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Heading out and heading up....

Welcome.

This was some sweet morning when I spotted this guy in his sloop in the channel down at Vilano Beach in Florida. The sweet lines of her hull just easing through the water and he, heading out and heading up to the big water.  The little pop of The St. Augustine lighthouse in the back is just plain fun as a counterpoint and I loved that shallows arc that's lighter green leading into the composition. I seem to capture moments with the American flag flowing majestically in the breeze fairly often...had to be expected, I grew up on Main Street after all and the Fourth of July parade always marched past my front door each year.

On a sunny day somewhere around the 70 degree mark standing in the cool water and heading down to St. A for breakfast after...well, still makes me smile just looking at this painting. It's a 6x4 foot oil on canvas. The price on this one is $8,000.00 US unframed
not including shipping. Contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com

More to come.....

Be sure to check out Zazzle under sunnybeachman where you can purchase all sorts of fun items with my watercolor art on them!

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Needs a little work.....

Welcome.

Love the John Mayer tune where he sings the line, "I am in repair." Yikes, I'm familiar with that one. Here though there is always something reassuring to me about a boat that's on it's way back to the water. Perhaps it's time outside or that I do like to make things with my hands and even the satisfaction of a job well done in the quality you can see and feel once aboard and under way. As a kid I was always hanging around the boat shop or the harbor and the boatyards hoping to work a little, hoping to get out on the water. I really like the way the colors played off each other, the point and the counter point being complimentary.

This boatyard was down in St. Augustine Florida on The San Sebastian River. The title of this one is "Marching Back To Sea."  It's a 30x40 inch oil on canvas. Sold. FYI any of these that you see and are interested in are for sale just inquire with the title in an email to me unless it's sold and then we can discuss a print or giclee if you like. More to come......

Be sure to check out Zazzle under sunnybeachman where you can find mugs, t shirts and hats along with many other fun items with my watercolor art on them.

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Running on Maine time...downeast

Welcome.

Well, Back in Maine again. This is a great little hidden cove off the Penobscot Bay and I spied this classic rowing dory listing in a tidal pool. Heaven for me is cool temps, great people, lush landscape and healthy water. If you travel a couple of miles up the road it's nirvana for your taste buds at The Bagaduce Lunch. This is an oil on canvas. 20x30 inches, also a commissioned piece. Sold More to come.....

Be sure to check out Zazzle under sunnybeachman for a range of my watercolors on hats,mugs,shirts and many more fun products.

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Where The Wild Things Are

Welcome.

These are two oil paintings that are 20" square. They were commissioned for a couple who live in Ponte Vedra. I took a walkabout down at The Guana River State Park now a National Estuarine Research Reserve and loved these two views. One can almost always spot an osprey, manatee, scrub jays, egrets, wood storks, herons and on this day it was an egret fishing for breakfast.

I seem to be able to find my balance and a greater sense of harmony in a place like this. Perhaps I may be standing in a spot that a Timucuan indian stood admiring the beauty, checking his traps or stalking his quarry. I love the quiet and the prisitne beauty. More to come...be sure to check out my watercolor art on fun products over at Zazzle under sunnybeachman.

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Those summer days...

Welcome.
 Remember that Sly and The Family Stone tune with the line, "I cloud nine when I want too." Of course I would like that to be playing in the background right now as I write now. I will figure that one out as I go. Taking the time to slow down at the beach is my idea of breathin easy. Cloud nine. Discovery has always been an interest in my seeking for my art, therin lies the adventure. When I am on a quiet stretch of beach and I stumble on two whelk shells like this I feel as though I have found treasure. These days I might photograph them. I do however always leave them. I ponder that they were once somebody's home and that a very sluggish creature was able to manufacture so much beauty outwardly and to protect itself at that. I appreciate with astonishment that fact that they are also perfectly engineered to their enviornment to efficiently move, capture food and work with the ebb and flow of the tides.

This one is a watercolor 9x12 inches. Sold More to come.......Make sure to check out all of my watercolor art over at Zazzle under sunnybeachman to put on hats, hoodies and holders

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2104

Lazin on a sunny afternoon....in the summertime

Welcome. What a sweet little tender this is; awaiting it's work. I am a huge fan of hand made high quality anything! Yet, boats in general are a symbol of freedom to me. This is an oil painting 24x34 inches. I found it on an afternoon walkabout in Rowayton Connecticut nestled up to a dock in a tiny harbor. The fact that there were candy colored clouds in the sky up above the tree line and reflected was an added bonus.  more to come....

Be sure to check out my watercolor images on all kinds of fun products over at Zazzle under sunnybeachman. The price on this one is $5,000.00 US unframed not including shipping.
contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com

All images copyright Alan Phillips 2104