RMW Ramblings

  Bringing Home the Christmas Tree Christmas 1963 O ur 2023 Christmas cards were mailed out last week, remembering our 1963 Christmas. We'll be looking at other "bringing home" cards later.

  Apotheosis This group or triptych comprises three acrylic paintings on canvasboard.  The subject evolved after the painting was initiated.  I painted the background on the panels in phthalo green, phthalo blue, and a mixture to create the teal background in the center panel.  Then I did some sketching   . In the upper left are thoughts about the orientation of the panels.  I considered and abandoned a child and a classical Greek horse for the center panel.  The peacock evolved from the color palette. The title Apotheosis I cribbed from the large N.C. Wyeth mural Apotheosis of the Family that covered a large expanse of wall in the Wilmington Savings Fund Society (now WSFS Bank) then on Market St. in Wilmington.  It now is at the Historical Society of Wilmington.  

  Seahorse Pastels with gold ink.  

  The Typist This is a caricature sketch I did sometime in the 1970s.  I should have put the folding legs on the short sides of the table and with a connecting cross bar.  

October Gold   A chiaroscuro still life.    Painted in a dark room with glancing light on the gourd assemblage.  

Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 4   On the flip side of the HdG barriers edging the Promenade Grille outdoor seating Ezra Berger and his crew painted birds of the Chesapeake. I have painted many of these Bay aviators, mostly great blue herons. Here is a set of four paintings depicting a heron prancing on our seawall with classical Greek and medieval heraldic references, Erodios.

    Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 3     Among the HdG barrier paintings on the water side is one non-piscatorial Chesapeake inhabitant, a blue crab. I have painted many crabs over the years, and one from the same set of the "Yellow Perch" and "Rockfish" earlier. We'll look at the inland bird side of the barrier paintings later.