Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Board

 PURCHASE

What is it about chickens? We all paint them, and many kitchens are decorated with them. They do have personalities, just look at their confident walks. There was a very funny record years ago with chickens singing "In the Mood." Cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck CLUCKKKK...

I know my friend the musical genius Bobby Braddock counted every one of those clucks to be sure I got it right.

Breakfast Club, 20x16 Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

Happy day, just sold this seascape. I am almost out of large seascapes. I'd better get busy! 

Pretty in Pink, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Panel Wildlife Painting

SOLD

This was a commission to do flamingos, and I always enjoy using my favorite color. Lately I feel surrounded by pink; as I drove up to my house the other day it struck me just how much pink is going on in my front yard. I have a very large frangipani tree and clumps of pink lilies blooming; it looks like the wedding scene in "Steel Magnolias." 

Early Birds, 8x6 Oil on Canvas

$89

I love early morning at the beach; it's very active yet peaceful. Birds are fishing, people are fishing, there are joggers, walkers, even Tai Chi. It's the best time of day.

At risk of being repetitive, don't forget the big Pieces of 8 Sale on Dec 7 from 9-4. It's at 3532 Samuel Place, Melbourne. Click here for a map and details.

Pardon My Back, 24x18 Oil on Canvas

SOLD

This is the first in a series and it's a bigger painting than I usually post. I didn't pose these birds, they were standing exactly like this, so this was one of those paintings that got named before I started it.

While in the Everglades I got to see plenty of mangroves, mangrove forests and mangrove islands. What fascinating trees they are. They thrive in salty environments because they are able to obtain fresh water from saltwater. Some secrete excess salt through their leaves, and others block absorption of  salt at their roots. Their intricate root design makes a protective nursery for tiny marine life.

The Gossips, 5x7 Oil on Canvas

Doesn't it look like the two birds on the right are gossiping about the other one? Though the birds are white, the side nearest the viewer was in deep shadow on a bright sunny day, so I made liberal use of blues and purples.

PURCHASE

Spoonbill Stretch, 5x7 Oil on Canvas

PURCHASE

This is my ode to the Spoonbill:

I am a silly bird.

Folks look and say, “What is it?”

My face is like a spoon,

My plumage is exquisite.

Speaking of exquisite things, I went to the Ruth Funk Textile Museum at Florida Tech in Melbourne, FL for an exhibit of beautiful dresses made of garbage. Incredible! It is called "ReDress: Upcycled Style" by Nancy Judd. I was lucky enough to meet the artist, who signed my sketch journal. 

Can you imagine, dresses of crime scene tape, target bags, and inner tubes? Nancy's mission is to save the earth from the garbage left from our conspicuous consumption. She makes us think. Below are my journal sketches, with an inner tube dress and a Carmen Miranda outfit of Target bags.

The Loons, 10x10 Collage on Canvas

I saw these beautiful loons when I was in a boat on Big Lake in Alaska. Hearing their mournful calls from far away is quite nice, but they have some other calls that are not as appealing. Male and female loons look alike, but the male is a bit larger. They can dive to depths of 32 yards and can stay submerged for fifteen minutes. That's my loon lesson for the day.

PURCHASE

Ready for Takeoff, 7x5 Oil on Canvas

I thought it was time to do a Spoonbill in oil, but I may follow this up with the same bird in collage. I love those wings, even though finding paper with the proper colors is pretty challenging.

PURCHASE

Hunger Games, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Board

This little confrontation inspired the title. It is very sad to me that the latest entertainment is the movie of the same name that is about children killing children. Kids are already growing up desensitized to human suffering because of movies, television and, worst of all, video games where they can do the killing. What are we coming to? I visited the Coliseum in Rome, where long ago, Roman citizens were prosperous and had too much free time, so were kept entertained by animals killing each other, gladiators killing each other, and animals killing people. Fifty to sixty thousand people enjoyed this spectacle every day.

Are we that much more civilized because we watch "pretend" horror and bloodshed? Wonder what the next shock will be?

PURCHASE

Young Cardinal, 5x7 Oil on Canvas Board

It would seem that Winter was missing this year, but I'll bet Summer will come on with some scorching heat. How bizarre that our country had tornadoes, floods, snow, record heat and earthquakes all in a couple of weeks. Pretty soon insurance premiums will be as high everywhere as they are in Florida, where we have not had a hurricane in years, but are still paying through the nose for the last one. But don't get me started...

Anyway, this little cardinal just puts me in a Spring Fever kind of mood, which caused me to dash outside and do yard work.

PURCHASE

Featured in International Artist Magazine

My paintings of the Everglades are featured in the current issue of International Artist Magazine with an article about me titled, "Big, Bizarre and Bountiful--Painting the Everglades." Now, they are not calling me big, bizarre and bountiful, they are referring to the Everglades. I think.

I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it! Whoo-hoo! Even though they put the wrong captions on some of the paintings. Still excited! They got my name right. Except in one place where they spelled it "Carman." But still excited!!! Eight pages' worth of Excited!

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, 5x7

I painted this little guy when my wrist was broken and I had to paint lefthanded. It was very exhausting, making my brain work a bit differently. I called it my Sinistra series ("lefthanded" in Latin), and it kept me going last winter while my wrist healed.

SOLD

Cranes on Lake Toho, 5x7

This is East Lake Tohopekeliga in Central Florida. It is a huge lake, full of bass fishermen. These cranes were ambling along, unbothered by all the humans around. When I was growing up in Central Florida, we had no pools, just lakes, and swimming was our main activity. The lakes were clean, alligators were less in number and afraid of humans...those were the good old days.

BUY

Spoonbill, 5x7

This is my favorite bird. It is beautiful, yet has a funny face that is a big spoon. There are a lot of contradictions like that in the bird world--like the albatross, so lovely, so graceful in the air, then it crash-lands and waddles away. 

BUY HERE

Breakfast Time, 8x10

Another of the variations of color and light from our beach. Early morning is a good time for colorful scenes, as well as a good time to catch lots of birds in action.

BUY NOW