On Capturing A Moment

I paint a lot of landscapes.  So I go to a lot of spots and try to capture what I see in paint.  Over the years I have seen many of the scenes that I've painted become something else entirely.  Sometimes a developer will build over what was there; sometimes lightning, fire, a flood.

The scene above was much more sublty changed.  You could see it from the beach, just as it is above; but after I painted, a hurricane blew through.  These islands and beaches are tough, and everything you see above is still there.  You just can't see it anymore from where I stood to paint.  The wind and storm surge carried about ten verticle feet of sand up onto the beach, and so now there is a wall of sand that hides the scene.   The sea took a beach from somewhere else and put it here, so this beach actually is in better shape after the storm.
I have been back to this spot a few times since making this painting.  Had to climb up a big sand dune to see, but the whole scene survived.  The big, ancient Live Oak in the background and the sea oats in the foreground.  They're all still there, but this painting could not be made the same today because the place where you would have to stand to paint it is under ten feet of sand.

UPDATE

TODAY'S STUDIO ACCOMPLISHMENTS are as follows:

    1.  Painted 3 paintings

    2.  Wiped 3 paintings off of the canvas.

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.

Thinking too much about the beach, I guess.

BAD CAT - Mixed media on illustration board

I thought this old sketch fit my day.
Our cat, Anabel, is undergoing some mild "treatment" that involves sitting in my lap and me holding a warm compress to her.  It also involves me chasing her all over the house because she doesn't much care for it and she knows when it is coming up.  So after going from room to room and floor to floor, finally cornered her in the kitchen by the cat food & water.  As I picked her up, she reached out and grabbed the little rug on which the food & water bowls sit, and the rug came right up with her.  Food & water all over the kitchen floor, angry cat in my hands.  The bowl rolled all the way across the room.  So I had to put her down, clean up the mess, and start over.  Anabel is in the doghouse.  Her brother, Tug, seems strangely satisfied by all this.
Now if I can only find her, we can start all over.

NEW GALLERIES!!!!!

 

After a prolonged absence, I have finally sat down to update the galleries.  So even if you visited yesterday, click on the galleries (on the banner near the top of the page) because I have updated them.  I've also added a couple of brand new ones.

I do appreciate you visiting the studio-blog.  Please enjoy my paintings and drawings.  They are my personal expressions and reactions to life and living.