Wandering

Here's a newer piece of a guy seeming to not have a care in the world as he wanders around in the swamp. This piece is loosely based on an old friend and some of my own treks into a nearby marsh. This is a water based paint on paper by Michael Quirk dated 2018.

More Booze Bottles

Here's another still life painting of some little booze bottles that I collected along the shores of the Housatonic River. These were lined up on a window ledge catching the late afternoon sun.

For more trashy art, visit my other blog: http://quirktrash.blogspot.com/

Another Snow Bird

Yesterday was the first official day of Spring. It was sunny in the mid 40s and my sons and I cleaned up the grounds here. I thought we were finally done with winter, but sure enough it snowed this morning. I dragged out another old painting of a starling lost in the winter.

Winter is Still Here

Just when it seemed like Spring was here, we got a few more inches of snow. I found this painting from a few years ago in storage. Three Starlings are shown foraging for food in the snow.

Apples and Oranges

It's not all about apples and oranges. I have some coyote skulls around here somewhere. This painting is a few years old and it's never been shown before. A world premier right here! It's an 8 x 10 inch oil on panel.

More Green Apples

This still life of a similar subject was painted in 2008. The blue background provides a good contrast to the green apples. I don't remember the squirrels bothering with them until this year. One of our neighbors, who used to feed the birds and probably the squirrels, moved away, so now they are turning to me. If I catch em, they will be painted.

Green Apples and Leaves

This is a recent painting of some green apples and leaves that came from a tree in the backyard. In spite of the lack of rain, this was the best apple yield in five years for this tree. Once the squirrels figured it all out, the apples were doomed.

Still Life with Sunflowers

Time to get back to some painting. This is a painting of some dying sunflowers sitting in my grandparents old honey jar. I started it about 5 years ago but it remained unfinished. I decided to revisit the painting and lighten the background which was a big improvement. A few more touch ups and my signature and it will be done. Click image to enlarge.

Charles Burchfield watercolors at DC Moore Gallery

I went down to the city to see the Charles Burchfield watercolors at the DC Moore Gallery on 5th Avenue. I've admired his work for years, but never saw any in person. Amazing work, larger than expected with the artists' hand seen in the pencil and charcoal lines. The gallery was a little hard to find, but turned out to be a nice friendly place to visit. From there, I headed downtown to the Morgan Library and Museum for the 'New at the Morgan: Acquisitions Since 2004' show. Another place I've been trying to get to in NYC. An excellent show in a really nice venue - no photography though. The library itself is an awesome piece of work - thanks Mr Morgan. Check out this review from the NY Times.

Water - Plants - Sky

I took a little hike up by the reservoir a few days ago and took some close up shots of trees and plants near the water. The reflections of trees in the flooded areas, was very cool. Lots of frogs and other critters were out singing. Got a few good ideas for some paintings.

The Drinkers at the Met

While visiting the Met and checking out the Van Goghs, Monets, Picassos, etc... I found this dark little Honore' Daumier painting titled "The Drinkers", that I'd never seen before . I really like this character study from France, circa 1861.

Animals in Your Kingdom

I got "My Crows" painting (below) into the "Animals in Your Kingdom" exhibition at the Micro Museum, located in the downtown Brooklyn, NY arts district. The show runs from June 7 - July 19 and the opening reception is Saturday, May 31, 7 - 10pm - www.micromuseum.com. After dropping off my painting, I went down to the Promenade and took some photos of lower Manhattan. It's a nice area, but it's a Hell Ride to get there from CT. Click photo for larger image.

Painting of Tulips

I painted this about a month or two ago. Mother's Day flowers. This was one of the first paintings I did, using my new and expensive tube of cadmium red. As any painter will tell you, there's nothing like high quality pigment.

Painted Strawberries

Nothing too exciting going on lately. I've been entering some work in a couple of different shows with mixed results. More on that later. A few days ago I had some strawberries, took a few photos of em and did this little 5x7 oil painting. As usual, click the image for larger version.