The bright flowers peeking out of the large plate glass window were strong enough to hold their own against the noon shadows, vibrant against the green of the structure. I had never thought of Ireland in terms of being so lush with flowers, but it seemed everywhere we went a wide variety of of flowers and floral compositions appointed the scenery.

The original photograph of the building front consisted of only the building and window. While I liked what I saw, I decided to add the overhanging window box of Nasturtiums, which was a typical sight on the tour. I chose the nasturtium because it is a favorite variety of mine and the orange, gold and red of the blossoms played well against the green building front.

I don’t recall what was lettered on the wall, however, because the last three letters appeared in the photograph and such wording was typical on Irish buildings, I included them. Note the cap of the wrought iron hitching post in the foreground, another unusual Irish architectural appointment. Erin Go Braugh!

My painting, “Pig’s Nose”, was done for my sister as an anniversary gift for her husband. It is based on a series of photographs I had taken in late spring of 2009, from the approximate spot of where my family vacationed when I was young. It was my good fortune to have chosen a day to photograph that grew into an incredible evening with a glorious sunset; so often the case in that magical land of Door County.

The pig’s nose lay seemingly suspended over the calm water of the bay while bowing to the sun’s retreat. The colors of this sunset seemed almost surreal, their complexity daunting against the stark light of the bluff. The contrast of the two gave me a sense of serenity. Because of its familiarity and significance to my family, this scene is perhaps my favorite painting.

The project of painting the “Pig’s Nose” lasted one and a half months. It is a 24 x 36″ oil on canvass. In order to capture the stunning colors of the sunset I first toned the canvass with a thin mixture of cadmium yellow medium and yellow ochre, a hue that peaks through the sky and water and helps unify the color of the composition. The brilliant hues along the horizon resulted from application of a glaze of cadmium red medium over the toned ground. I was experimenting with this combination initially, but once I saw the blaze of color that resulted I felt I found a way to approach and mimic the brightest sections of the sunset.

So, I feel good about the results of this painting. It is special to me and humbling to have captured an image of the fleeting moments of that day I spent alone with the pig’s nose on Little Sister Bay.

My current project is an oil on canvas that is based on my brother Tom’s photograph, “Pink and Blue.” I’ve been working on the piece for about three weeks now, and anticipate it taking at least another three weeks to complete.  The length of time it takes me to complete a painting depends on its size (in this case, 18×24) as well as the amount of detail involved. This particular painting is a Door County cloudscape that looks North across Death’s Door from the Lake Michigan shoreline. It’s very personal to me, not only because I’m working from my brother’s photograph, but because his image was taken from the beach at my sister’s property in Door County.