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Saturday, August 30, 2014

The Beach House Friends


Welcome.

While I post this I am listening to Joao Gilberto "Eu Quero Um Samba.". I truly love a Bosa Nova vibe early on Saturday or Sunday morning providing I have not misbehaved too much the previous evening.

Then there is that fragrance. The one that is my pleasure of the Costa Rican French Roast cookin up. My companion and I head out to the adirondacks coffee in hand to sit and sip while we let the gentle waves of the incoming tide,sun and sand have their way with our toes.

This is a painting that is mostly memory. It has occured in many locations. I intend it.
The art is 14x18 inches oil on canvas.

More to come..

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Back to the garden revisited

Welcome.

Looks pretty good on that wall I think. Last time we saw this piece I opened my blog with it. I'm refering to my oil on canvas "We've Got To Get Ourselves Back To The Garden." which is in the center of this photograph with the white frame. You may have surmised that I got in! Happy.

The group as a whole was stellar. St Augustine Art Association deserves a round of applause. Held this year from the end of July through the end of August. I think the Nature and Wildlife annual competition and exhibition will be a standard bearer for regional and national wildlife shows.

This is my second appearance having been juried into the first one they hosted 4 years ago.

More to come.....

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

A little wind under my wings.....


Welcome.

When I was a kid lying on my back on the beach I looked up into the seamless blue and felt like I was flying. It would be so much fun to lift off like this laughing gull over a small spit of land and off over the galloping waves. You know, just see what's cookin. After a while you could drop down and catch a few small baitfish and then go chat with your flock on the beach in the warm sun.

Seabirds are beautiful to behold in every marine light for me. This was a rather hazy morning and I like the softness of the shape of the gull against the pale sky. The low horizon line creates a vast distance and openess to the art. This is a 12x12 inch oil sketch on canvas.

More to come......

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The view from the top.....


Welcome.

Jones Beach New York! The color generally surrounding the guards; be they from Ponte Vedra Beach Florida or Jones Beach are a great contrast to the neutral tones of earth, sea and sky.

They make a great visual counterpoint and of course individual eccentricities from umbrellas and hats to towels and sunglasses etc. give them their unique appeal. This guy had is own little sand castle mountain top perch to scan the water for trouble. I salute them all. Heroes.

This was an experiment. Watercolors were laid down first for the tranparent washes and then oils over the top for the opaque sections. Mixed media 14x18 inches on board.Sold.


More to come......

All art and images copright Alan Phillips 2014

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Kind of Blue


Welcome.

Yes, I am a Miles Davis fan. He's one of my musical heroes.  Although the tune "So What"  is  my fav from that album.

Now as to crab I like Blue, King, Soft shell, Snow, Dungeness, Red Rock, Stone lol, did I miss any? Well I like them too. Drawn butter with garlic and lemon? Yes. Lobsters, oysters, shrimp,clams,conk, escargot, mussels?  Yes,yes,yes!

We are discussing art here and artful cuisine is as artful as it gets. Now if I get to eat my subject matter, caught by me in a cast net or trap while out fly fishing for Reds in the ICW and have the art to savor long after the table has been cleared then so much the better!

This was a 22x18 inch watercolor on board for Water's Edge Magazine. It is Sold. In addition to really digging the color of these beautiful creatures; that blue and red on the arms and claws is so intense. I liked playing with that overhead still life graphic aspect of the composition. You get so many interesting negative shapes to play off the positive.

If I have not thanked you before for checking in and checking out my art. Thank you.

More to come.......

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Vanity Heading for the Light.....


Welcome.

Such a classic! These older cat boats just seem to groove with their purpose and they always look good in the water. I was taken with the big shape of creamy white against all that blue and the counterpoint of The Edgartown Lighthouse in the distance on Martha's Vineyard. Pictorally I also like the tension between the illusion of distance and sizes of the boat and the lighthouse to each other. It is such a smooth flow in the curve of the hull and frame of her lines.

Vanity was the name on the transom. I thought it ironic that it was tacking off the path straight to the lighthouse. My cousin and I were heading out of the harbor behind the cat in his Grady White to enjoy some time out on the water with the kids. It was a good day.

Gulls have a special place in my heart and spirit. You will see them in many of my paintings. I am very fond of Terns and specifically Caspian and Royal Terns which appear frequently as well. I regard them as fellow ocean and harbor travelers, hence friends of mine.

This is a 30x40 oil on canvas. This art is available at $4,500.00 US unframed and shipping is additional. Contact me at alanlovesart@gmail.com

More to come...

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Atlantic Beach beckons.....


Welcome.

So simple really, a warm sunny path on a winter day in Northeast Florida. Growing up in Massachusetts we journeyed up to the cape some summers. Our place was in West Yarmouth. My Friday and Saturday nights were spent roaming around Hyannis and my days were spent on the beaches. Mostly I remember the huge dunes in Dennis. I remember the days were languid and lasted a very long time. They are the same here. The Atlantic Ocean remains.
It is as cool, crisp, salty and playful as it was when I was a boy. Who could ask for a better friend and constant companion running with me North to South and back again.

I relish the sound of the surf, especially on a day like the one portrayed here. It's not high enough to surf and not simply lapping the shore but enough to have that rhythm entrainment
and bring me back to center, you know it's a time where I just let the sun, water, air and sand 'have me.' Luckily for me, it's one hundred percent effective every time. I emerge from this very path with renewed energy, sense of focus and restored joy. This one is an oil on canvas 3x5 feet. Sold.


More to come..........


All images/art copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The power of pink

Welcome.

This is a Hibiscus blossom. I grew the plant, it and eight others from small starter plants. I had thought it might make a nice backdrop against my fence at the back of the property and tried to choose either a variety of one color or as many colors as they had. I ended up with nine different versions in all as a wall of floral color looking out through my back terrace doors.

It was truly a surprise to see them drink up the Florida sun and a fair amount of water and a touch of good soil and fertilizer to become sprawling 10 to 12 foot riots of blooming color. I had to smile. I made a hibiscus rainbow.  I had to paint one of the flowers. This is a 36x36 inch oil on canvas. It spent about 6 months at the Cummer Museum and Gardens in Jacksonville Florida. It is Sold.

I believe color, flowers, art and intention all have healing power. I marvel at the beauty of nature growing and simply being itself to inspire awe in me. I give thanks.

More to come......

All art and images copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Fresh flowers


Welcome.
Sometimes you get lucky and have a friend who lives a couple of blocks from the beach and has fresh flowers growing in her backyard. These are tea roses tucked into hand blown water glasses. This oil painting sketch is 12x9 inches. Sold.

If you love roses as I do then stay tuned as I've blocked in 3 bigger paintings of them and will be featuring them here in a month or so. I have many favorites. Peonies, Gardenias and Magnolias top the charts along with a generous helping of roses both to paint and see and smell and enjoy.

Great thing about flowers in a painting is that they are always fresh.

More to come.....

All images and art copyright Alan Phillips 2014

Friday, August 1, 2014

Time for a journey....

Welcome.

This is a spot, a path rather that leads to the beach in Ponte Vedra. There are days when I wake up and I can't wait to get to the easel. Then there are other days when I know it's time to get outside of the studio, go see what's cookin at the beach. What did the tide bring us today? This was a cool sunny morning and the warm sand under my feet felt soft and pleasant.

Pathways, unfamiliar trails, roads less traveled have always held an appeal for me. Adventure awaits. What will I find? There is the excitement of discovery and exploration. Even if it's a small journey, to a place I know it may somehow be changed or hold a new secret.

It's nothing short of spectacular to simply be in this enviornment, listen to the sounds and feel the warmth of the sun.  This is a 36x48 inch oil painting on canvas. Sold.

More to come....

All art/images copyright Alan Phillips 2014