Asheville: August 2014

     In early August, my family all converged on Cloud Nine Farm outside of Asheville, for a reunion. My wife's grandfather retired there in the late 60s, and it has since been maintained by Janet Peterson, his daughter, as a working farm and vacation rental. We love going there, and since we moved to Charleston, now it's only about 4 hours away. I was able to do some painting while there, usually during my youngest son's nap time. All these are oil and graphite on paper, which I've been using all summer. I decided to focus on things close at hand, rather than distant views of the mountains...a continuation of sorts of the flower paintings I did earlier in the summer. These were all done in one shot, usually about 2-3 hours. I've included a few details below the full size image:

15" x 22"

detail

9" x 12"

15" x 22"

detail

      For a more detailed and poetic description of our time there,  you can visit my wife's blog post and if you're ever looking for a nice getaway near Asheville, visit the Cloud Nine Farm website.

Asheville

11" x 16.5"

I just got back from our yearly visit to Cloud Nine Farm, in Asheville, NC. We spent 10 days there, enjoying the cooler weather and relaxing with family and friends. I brought my paints and a few canvases, and was able to finish these two. I decided to work early in the morning, from about 6:30 to 8:30 am, because the light was less harsh, and it wouldn't take away from any of the family activities we had planned later in the day. There's something wonderful about getting up at dawn; a certain quietness that is only broken by the sounds of the birds and cows. 

These paintings depict the timber at the entrance to the farm; stacked logs and various wood debris in different piles. Most of the timber was from another spot on the farm where I did a painting the previous year. I went back to that spot and saw the cavity where those trees once stood. I probably could have spent the entire summer here, painting variations on this same theme. Surprisingly, I found it to be a continuation of the drawings I did of our patio before we left; building materials in different states of completion and 'finish'. Both of them I did over consecutive days, each one taking about 4 hours in total.  I love how I was able to capture the full moon in the distance on this one, and how it echoes the circle shape of the log ends:

12" x 18"