Time for another blast from the past. This was done after a trip to Nova Scotia and Maine a millenium ago with Valfred Thëlin. I had been painting about a year, and felt this was one of the best of that period. And I still like it. It sold for $500 at my first solo show at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, and I thought I hit the lottery! Probably painted on Crescent or Strathmore watercolor board, can't remember which w/c paint. Approx. 24" x 36".
Thursday, January 28, 2010
St. Andrews By The Sea
Time for another blast from the past. This was done after a trip to Nova Scotia and Maine a millenium ago with Valfred Thëlin. I had been painting about a year, and felt this was one of the best of that period. And I still like it. It sold for $500 at my first solo show at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, and I thought I hit the lottery! Probably painted on Crescent or Strathmore watercolor board, can't remember which w/c paint. Approx. 24" x 36".
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15 comments:
Yes, this is definitely one to love for a long time. I like the softness - almost like a memory of the seaside and a trip there, a bit faded with time, as all memories are, but still beautiful. You were a comer even then, kid (having just had a birthday, I have decided to call everyone under 50 "kid" from now on), and have just kept growing and exploring and kicking some butt along the way :) Would you ever revisit this - or this "theme" again and see what comes out of your mind today?
An excellent early work Nicholas. It is important to have some early successes to spur one on .. a carrot if you will (or won't). I remember taking for granted many of the good breaks I got in my 20s .. to be balanced later by disappointments as I approached 50.. Made me think and grind my teeth and paint some more. Now when lady luck shows up it is a big deal... and I always treat her like a lady. I think you may have an appointment with her in Asia .. can't wait to hear great tales from the East.
Yeah this one is a piece of poetry.
Nick, this a wonderful work, I love it so much....you can be proud of it. The colors and the little points are very well selected. Thanks for showing it.
A big hug for you, my friend.
Enrique.
P.D. My sending has reached destiny. Now there is only to wait..I'll crosse my fingers.
Excellent Nick. At first it did seem a bit different from what I have seen recently...but equally well done. The abstract feel to it is very nice.
Rhonda - beautiful description, thank you. I tried to do something similar once, but the painting gods said you only get one of those!
Bill - "let's keep this party polite...never get out of my sight..." One of my fave Frank tracks! And Deep Purple did a song called Lady Luck that is just HUGE, on the album with Tommy Bolin. She visited again today, and we're still friends.
Dake - thank you comrade. It makes a nice example of the wonders of mixing w/c with gesso, the only way I know to get that look.
Enrique - if it touches you, I'm happy. Don't think you need to be crossing fingers, querido amigo!!!
Sandeep - yes I suppose it is quite different, it was #128 - many many moons ago! I've painted in a number of styles, I value diversity as much as anything in art. As my favorite painter says, the moment you get confident and comfortable, it's time to discard and move on to something new.
I remember this one, Nick! My DH and I are renting a cottage in Nova Scotia this August for a week...hopefully I come home inspired, just as you must have been.
Great abstraction ! I am sure that it stealed the show when it was presented in exhibition.
It's always great to keep pictures of early works, it shows you all the way done.
Patty - yes, this used to be on my website, one of the early ones I still like. I'm sure you'll hit the famous spots there, a painter's paradise!
Catherine - it's funny I don't see it as particularly abstract, but it is I guess. I do remember the place really looked like that, misty and all the purple vegetation and little white flowers....unless that was the smoke talkin'!
This is gorgeous Nick. Another favorite,
a Nick landscape!!!! WOW!!! lucky buyer... no matter the subject, your style is presente here anyway.
Hi Nick,
That's a great ethereal abstract ,,, an 'early work' that sold for $500!!!!!!!
I have some of my first drawings and w/c's here at home (apart from doodling with pen/pencils and cartoons drawn at school during yawning lessons). But my FIRST art sale was for a pen & ink-w/c (exhibited at a school show) that sold for the astronomical (pwincely) sum of $17!!! You read right: 17 bucks!! lol. Young-un me thought I'd really hit the jackpot(!!), ..and it seemed logical that maybe i could quit my 'day job' of mowing lawns on weekends!! lol!! [I was at school and already paying off (to my parents) a fairly large telescope at about age 13 > I've had stars in my eyes ever since heheh. And mortgages too.
Er .. later on I decided that I couldn't finance my lifestyle on that kind of income especially considering the cost of frames etc! As i do actually play the violin, it was a case of 'getting out the violins'.
Anyhow, good on you for posting an earlier work. I'm doing that too sometimes. It also demonstrates diversity and growth which are so important in art imo.
best wishes,
Wayne
Deb - I'll post some of the other early ones I like. Owe it all to Valfred Thelin, who got me painting large from the beginning, usually 30x40. I firmly believe that is the best way to start in watercolor. You quickly learn how to handle paint when there's a lot of paint to be handled!
Alex - gracias amigo...this morning as I lay in bed not wanting to go out in the crazy snowstorm we just had, I stared at your little landscape forever. You'll never know how much I love that painting, and what it means to me!
Wayne - again! ha ha, well actually my VERY first sale was a clown picture (hate to admit that) when I was in 1st grade. A kid name Dean offered to sell me a cool magnet he brought to school for $1 the next day, and we agreed that if I didn't have the money, he could punch me in the stomach, and if he didn't have the magnet, I could punch him in the stomach. Trouble was, he was the toughest kid in 1st grade. I panicked when I got home, no idea how to raise the cash. Drew a clown in red crayon with a tightrope walker behind him, walked a block down to old Mrs. Lapes' house, and by god she bought it. My brother witnessed it from the sidewalk. Dean didn't bring the magnet, got the dollar anyway. True story, I'm sorry to say. It's the one original of mine I'd truly pay thousands to buy back, but it was a lifetime ago. Thank you for your story, it brought back my own memories!
Nick, even if your style has evolved over time, is a beautiful watercolor. Violet is one of my favorite colors and this landscape is like a dream. I love it!. Thanks for sharing.
Carmen - gracias, I still like this one very much, and if I still had it, might even hang it in my own casa!
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