LateSummer Still Life

Here is another sweet little still life "Late Summer Still life" It has a fancy frame which I like with the simpleness of the image.

Shrimp Curry

This was an easy and fast dish we enjoyed. First I sauteed quickly lots of vegetables, red and green peppers, zucchini, onion and garlic with some chopped fresh ginger. Then add my curry powders, I have several ,and let the spices cook. Then a can of coconut milk and a little chicken stock and let it cook and at the last minute I added the shrimp. I ate mine over a bed of spinach but Lucy had some sticky rice with hers. It was yum. I am having this for lunch today.

SOLD
These are two newest paintings. They are little, 5"x7". they are on thick gallery wrapped canvas. They are sweet and would look great together but I am selling them separately for $125.00 each. These have been sold! Thanks Tom for checking out my blog. Can't wait to see yours!

Pink Lady

I came across this Datura or Bella Donna or Angel's Trumpet in full bloom on my way to the gallery yesterday. All the blooms were right at eye level and hanging over the sidewalk. It was just breathtaking and so full of blooms. These plants are rather poisonous but were used in some cultures as a hallucinogenic. So be careful.

Tiki Hut

This is a fairly new painting called "Tiki Hut" I painted it on Sugarloaf Key at the Sugarloaf Lodge during our painting get together. It was all painted with a scrap of cardboard like a pallet knife , no brush work. Its fun and open feeling.

This is a clerodendrum. They are in bloom all over the keys right now. They are also called shooting star plant. I have 2 in my yard and its nice to know the Key Deer do not eat them! They have pretty green leaves and the back of the leaves are purple.

Mangos

Just thinking about those mangos made me think of this painting. I painted in in December along with some tangerines and a pomegranate. I have a nice black frame on it and it is in the gallery.

The show is over

The show is over and I created my own little stimulus package right in my tent and also saw a lot of friends and made some new ones. I have to empty my car now and move the art around. While I don't have wheel barrow full of money to take to the bank, I was glad to see people parting with their money and not being too closed pocketed( I don't really think that is a word).
Its February and that means the mango trees are in bloom. On my walk I checked out all the trees in my neighborhood and was pleased to see so many trees loaded with baby mangos. So unless there is a big wind or a dry spell these should be big succulent mangos come June and July. My mouth is watering and I need to go make better friends with my neighbors.

Art Show

Well the first day of the show was today and it was an early morning but a beautiful morning. Got myself all set up and open for business. Once I got set up and looked around I noticed this red flame tree in bloom above my booth with a tall, tall, tall Washingtonian palm next to it. It was a great thing to look at all day. The day went smoothly and having absolutely no expectations I am happy to report I surpassed all my expectations and more. Saw so many people and met a lot of new ones and was able to share my art with more then just a few. I am home and ready to put my feet up and sip a little wine and hit the sack. The streets were packed and it looks like tomorrow will be another gorgeous day, with three cruise ships in town. Should make for a action packed day.

The purple snail

Here is another painting that will be in the show. I am taking it off my living room wall which will make me sad as it looks great on the bright blue wall, but i can always paint another if this one sells. And the next one will probably be better. I am pulling all my stuff together for the show, looks like it will be a beautiful weekend. See you on Whitehead street!

Morning Walk

On my walk this morning there were loads of birds singing and the tidal flats were at low tide and just beautiful with the mangrove roots casting shadows. It will be finally warmer today but a neighbor informed me we will be getting another cold front tonight so I may have to pull the socks out again, and check the weather channel. Out of the blue I got an email from and old college roommate. It will be fun to catch up with her and it amazes me how small the world has gotten and how easy it is to be in touch with people.

Red Sky

I really like this painting. I started out with a red canvas ground and really had in mind to do a soft pastel cloud painting, which would have been a challenge to me, as i am not really a soft pastel kind of painter but I felt I needed a challenge. Well as i started to put the sky in around the clouds i just had to leave the red, it had become so powerful and chucked all thoughts of pastel. This 16"x20" It will be in the show this weekend.

Braised short ribs

Made these the other night, they were fabulous. They were like candy. Let me know if you want the recipe.

I just finished this book, "Mattanza" by Theresa Maggio. My son had read it and left it at home. I really enjoyed it.

It is an account of the anicient Sicilian ritual of bluefin tuna fishing. It is set in the town of Favignana, I think I will have to go there some day, where the author observes and gets involved with the colorful tonnaroto or tuna fisherman. Its an interesting tale.

Hot Tin Roof

Here is a painting that never made it to my web site before it was sold, thanks to a lovely couple from Kentucky. www.hobbsart.freeservers.com

Bocce

Well the Bocce Sisters won last night 2 out of 3, Woot Woot! It was a beautiful night and we all had a good time. It got chilly as the night wore on . We were smart and did not go out for cocktails to celebrate. maybe we have learned our lesson! The Bocce courts are in a beautiful new park in Big Pine and though the courts look a little drab imagine the ocean is just 25 yards to your left.
http://www.lowerkeyschamber.com/

Here is a painting that will be in the show this weekend. Actually its 4 paintings. I was inspired by a part of a poem "Under Siege" by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish:

Our cups of coffee. Birds green trees
In the blue shade, the sun gambols from one wall
To another like a gazelle
The water in the clouds has the unlimited shape of what is left to us
Of the sky. And other things of suspended memories
Reveal that this morning is powerful and splendid,
And that we are the guests of eternity.

Well here comes the cooking part of my blog. This was last nights dinner Chicken breast stuffed with artichoke and spinach, wrapped in bacon just to add insult to injury. I started by brining the chicken in salted, sweetened water with lots of black pepper, in fact they defrosted in the brine. Then I opened them up and pounded them inside a plastic bag with a trusty cast iron pan. I made a filling almost like that delicious artichoke heart and spinach dip with a little mayo, a little cream cheese , chopped canned artichoke hearts and thawed chopped spinach, grated Romano, chopped garlic, salt and pepper.
Then I laid the chicken out and plopped the filling in and rolled it up with a couple pieces of bacon around it and baked on a rack at 350 for a bout 45 minutes yum. I served it with cauliflowerHere they are going in the oven. Of course there was some wine consumed with it and I would recommend a nice Pinot Grigio. It was so nice yesterday that I was able to sit on my back deck and read for about an hour, after I finished painting and shopping, with a glass of that pinot grigio and I really enjoyed it.

Wall of Art

This is a picture of some of my paintings at 7 Artists gallery. Most of these will be in the show next weekend. This is some of my newer stuff, not my usual tropical things. The gallery is located at 604 Duval street, Key west. We started this gallery 7 years ago and we are 7 artists who generally get along and keep the gallery up and running. It is an eclectic group with some beautiful colorful art. I know a lot of you have been in the gallery but if you haven't please stop in next time you are in town. I am always there on Fridays and Wednesday nights with a Monday or Thursday here and there. You will always find an artist at the desk. Check out our web site: http://www.7artistskeywest.com/ Those are Maggie's pots in front. Check out her new blog: http://www.maggieruley.blogspot.com/ We are having another foggy morning but yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day and after all the chocolate wore off I was able to paint outside since it was so lovely. I am working on 2 little paintings I will show you when they are done. I found this orchid in bloom in my yard yesterday, who knew i could grow orchids!

You know life really is just a box of chocolates, luckily I like every single one and would never put one back. This is a painting I did on Thursday with a group of wonderful painters I meet with on Thursday mornings led by the great Jim Salem http://www.jimsalemart.com/. We had beautiful red still lifes set up but my eye was drawn to that Whitman sampler. Luckily we got to sample from the sampler after we were done painting!

Happy Valentines day

Happy Valentines day. Hopefully there will copious amounts of chocolate and wine and flowers surrounding you. I know there will be at my house.
It was brought to my attention that maybe I started off my blog in a somewhat negative way and hopefully I can remedy that by telling you that you all will be sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for my next post day after day and hopefully you will check in often to see just what has come out of my paint brush and just what succulent food creation I will present next and just how the Bocce Sisters are doing and how we are climbing the ranks of bocce stardom!!

It is another foggy day in the middle lower keys, specifically Big Pine Key, and fog is usually a once a year phenomenon but this is day 2 for us. The trees are dripping and the fog rolling and the birds seem a little lazy this morning , but the dogs are still barking in my neighborhood and hopefully the sun will cut through this dense grayness and warm things up a bit.

Oh yeah this is just what you want to do is read another blog! Everything I read about marketing yourself as an artist, they say you have to have a blog, well...........here it is. I know so many of you dont have time or really care to know what I am painting or making for dinner or my teams weekly bocce score but I'm putting it out there anyway and you can look and read at your own risk.

I am getting ready for an outdoor art show here in Key west, the Old Island Days Art Festival. It is February 21st and 22nd. It will be down on Whitehead street in old town and if you are in town you should stop by, its usually fun to check out the art and it should be a beautiful day. Check back for some photos of paintings I will be exhibiting , some that have never left the studio and have been hanging on my walls at home.