Nashville Arts October!

My upcoming show at Abrasive Media won a mention in Nashville Arts lineup for the October art crawl!

Nashville Arts October Crawl Guide

Southern Wild

October Gallery Show

8. Bass Hollow Barn

Brian Smart stands for a portrait with his Bass Bandit, a Camaro set up for the local dirt tracks around North Alabama. His garage is the upper barn on my wife's family farm; the barn, built by Colleen's father and grandfather in the '20s, is now too fragile to serve its original purpose. With this piece, I've done my duty as a Tennessee artist and painted the obligatory barn, and had a good time doing it.

Oil on Canvas  30"X40"  2008

7: Bill and Sally

I just completed this little piece, taken from a sunny day in 1974, Bill and Sally Davis in their MG TA, bowling along through Percy Warner Park. Though a bit grayer and wiser, the trio can still be seen at speed along the Natchez Trace. This oil took only a few days to complete. Funny how some pieces simply leap from the bristles of the brush. Not so easy with my latest painting. More to come.

Oil on Canvas, 36" X 20" May 2008

6: Jag XK 120

Finally back to painting and posting new work on my blog. This close-up is of the car that changed America forever. The Jaguar XK 120 hit the US like a lightning bolt in 1949, showing everyone what a street legal high performance car could do. It also had the most beautiful lines

of any car of the time. Jag did it again in the '60s with the E-type, and then the company sank back to making English Buicks for the doctor / lawyer / broker set.

Oil on canvas, 46" X 18", from photography at the July 2001 Jag meet in Franklin, TN.

5: Hong Kong

1967, Hong Kong. John Roach, Larry Johnson, Mike Beckley and I, in our crisp Navy whites, wandering around the British Crown Colony, Nikons clicking away at every interesting visual. Fresh from H&I fire support off Danang, the Providence crew spread out for a three day R&R in one of Asia's most alluring ports of call. I got lucky with this shot of a typical lorry at dockside, as well as a couple great shots of the MV Wayfoong, a subject for a painting I'm currently creating.

Oil on canvas, 2006~2008, 30" X 36" 

4: Not so still life

A lovely summer day, and here I am, my head buried in the engine bay of an elderly Rolls, drawn by all the polished brass and aluminum. As with the finned manifold of a blown Alfa, or the bewildering complexity of a mighty Merlin, or here with the carb and air cleaner of a Rolls, the beauty of vintage machinery can be as alluring as the exterior. In the case of my little Citroen 2CV, not so much.

Oil on Canvas, 2008 22" X 28"