Category: Turpentine diaries

Woodshop by the lake

I use my small backyard shed as my woodshop. I would rather do my carpentry in that cramped space than have the sawdust from my table saw in the studio. Even modest carpentry jobs like frame and stretcher building produce A LOT of sawdust. In the warm weather, I keep the shop doors open to…

New series

I am embarking on a new series: Amusement Park. After my last visit to Cedar Point, I’ve amassed 1500 photos. I bought a season pass and intend many more visits. Amusement Park joins my two other series: Playhouse Square, and Main Street. I am still have many more paintings in the works in the Main…

Family mystery

My great-grandfather Ramey had a fierce personality. Even in his 90’s, he had no time for nonsense, epically from unruly children such as me. My grandmother ascribed her father’s fierceness to his harsh childhood. Orphaned early, his adopted family treated him as little more than a servant. One day, my grandmother’s oft-repeated story went, her…

Who needs culture anyway?

One of the biggest shocks of my life and one of my biggest disappointments occurred when I went to France for the first time in 1993. France! home of great artists–David, Delacroix, the angelic Ingres, Manet, Monet, and many others. Writers? Balzac, of course. The master. I made a pilgrimage to his home which is…

Good day

I couldn’t wait to get started today. Problems are simply opportunities and everything is possible. You know what I’m talking about? I put aside some large designs that have been absorbing me and started working on this painting, Self-portrait with Camera. I’m happy with some bits of it. The painting has a white ground, which…