Visit an internet art gallery which features paintings of the two Carolinas which I began in the late 1960s. Initially I began using pen and ink during law school because there was not room for a studio in a dormitory. In 1972 I started painting in watercolor because the medium was quick to dry and fitted a busier lifestyle. Over the years I would take pictures of scenes which meant something to me…usually during the Summer. In the Winter when there was no yard work, I would pick out a few pictures to finish before Spring duties returned.

My subject matter consistently featured the changing face of the Carolinas. It is where I grew up, partied during college, held circuit court, vacationed, and raised a family. Over 50 years the Carolinas have changed beyond recognition. From a landscape punctuated by small and modestly larger towns, the Carolinas are now undergoing full urbanization with raging metropolitan regions and crowded vacation venues. Consequently, a lot of these paintings are of places which no longer exist. To everything there is a time…..

Each painting is colored using a brush with the notorious No. 2 pencil of school test fame! Each work can be classified as a realistic miniature in that attention to detail is of paramount importance. I explain my style as being from the “Calvin Coolidge” school. President Coolidge was called “Silent Cal” because he only said enough to answer the question. My paintings give a glimpse of what one sees and not a full “look”…a glance as opposed to a stare.

As you can imagine, detailed painting can take a long time. Some of these works took upwards of 300 hours. Accordingly, when I decide to paint a picture there must be a reason because the commitment will be significant. Each picture tells a story of a place and time.

The red hound dog wandered into my pictures at least 28 years ago. Dogs were just part of the scenes I observed. When I saw one, I knew a picture was waiting conception. And I preferred the dog to the “birds on wing” used to fill up empty space. A dog has more character. A dog is wedded to the ground and gets to know all of it by smell and by taste. I now put a red dog into any scene which captures my interest.

The medium of watercolor is time-honored. Before the days of cameras, water colors were used to record distant locations or serve as the pre-study, rough of a final painting which would be rendered in oils. Learning how to sketch and watercolor was a part of the classical education much as the use of digital camera and the website it today! Watercolor papers are acid free and if properly mounted and kept out of direct sunlight can last for hundreds of years. The next time you go to a major city, visit its art museum and look for the watercolors. They are truly remarkable works for they capture light and air like no other medium!

I created this website thirteen years ago when it dawned on me that I had turned 60 and that I could share my journey in art using all of the neat, state-of-technology digital tools to build a gallery without sticks or bricks! In addition, I wanted to create a museum showing local art rather than the gentry on horseback chasing foxes! For this land was not settled by fancy folk. It was settled by an industrious and pragmatic people fleeing domination by that sort!

If you have an interest in any of the pictures, please email your comments.

Begin your tour of this work in progress and thank you for your visit!!