"Man With No Name", plus Artist of the Day - Nat Morley

Man With No Name

Well, I haven't been able to get back into the rhythm of posting every day, or even every other day for that matter, yet.  I knew that would be tough task once Spring/Summer rolled around, what with all of the demands of the property.  I'm almost caught up with getting back up to speed after the Winter lay-off.  The lawn is looking pretty good, the plants are starting to come back (tulips, daffodils, azaleas and camellias are blooming now), most of the accumulated lawn debris has been burned off (only a few weeks left of burning season until we shut it down for the Summer), and now my attention turns to the various flower beds and vegetable garden.  We want to get the garden planted over the next 2-3 weeks.  I've been working on prepping the raised beds, added additional soil to top them off, and start the actual planting today, right after I post this blog.

My Daily Paintworks entry for today is "Man With No Name", one of Clint Eastwood's iconic film characters from the spaghetti western days. This original portrait was done using stroke work and cross-hatching strokes, and is part of my Faces West Gallery.  The link beneath the image will take you over to the Daily Paintworks auction page.  Of course, you can also view "Man With No Name" on any of my other Gallery or Storefront listings by clicking on the appropriate link on the side panel.  For example, if you are interested in T-shirt, mug, calendar or any of the other products that feature this image, check out my storefront at CafePress.com., and look for the Faces West shop.

Morgan Freeman

I also have an Artist of the Day entry today, and his name is Nat Morley.  He is one of my fellow FineArtAmerica artists, but unfortunately, does not have a lot biographic information on his Profile Page.  When I tried to click through to his website, I found out that his domain has just recently lapsed.  I'm hoping he's in the process of renewing, to get back up to speed, but in the meantime, I do know that he hails from the United Kingdom and does a fantastic job with celebrity portraits in graphite.  So, I'll post a few of his portraits here and you can check them out for yourself.  As usual, the links provided beneath the images will take you over to their respective pages at FineArtAmerica, where you can check out the larger versions.

Johnny Depp

The Joker

Zooey Deschanel

Osprey

Osprey

Although I've been back from my recent trip to Florida for a couple of weeks, I haven't posted any blog entries since my return.  Actually, I haven't even been on the computer much since my return. Before we left on our trip, we had about 2 weeks of rain, so much of the yard work fell by the wayside.  Add to that almost 2 weeks that we were gone, and you can imagine the shape of the yard when we returned.  It looked like a jungle! I'm still trying to catch up!  Thankfully, we've been experiencing some great weather lately, and I've been able to make the yard presentable again, to which my aching back will surely (or sorely) testify.  

So, I'm going to ease back into the posting routine with a new Daily Paintworks entry, "Osprey".  This original pen & ink rendering was completed using stroke work in combination with the stippling, or pointillism technique, and is part of my Wildlife Gallery.  The link below the image will take you over to the auction page at Daily Paintworks.  From there you can also browse through the other original pieces featured there. As I get back into the routine, I have a lot of new artists I'm looking forward to introducing through this blog, so keep posted for regular Artist of the Day (Week, Month, etc.) entries, as well as additional original pieces from my portfolio.

"Loggerhead Key Lighthouse"....plus, it happens evey spring.

LoggerHead Key Lighthouse

Today's entry at Daily Paintworks is my original pen & ink rendering of "Loggerhead Key Lighthouse".  Actually this was yesterday's entry, but I'm a day behind in posting due to Easter Sunday.  Located on Loggerhead Key, the westernmost key in Dry Tortugas National Park. The lighthouse was first illuminated on July 1, 1858.  Loggerhead Key, as the name implies, is a nesting place for the Loggerhead Turtle, and they return to the island each year to lay their eggs. In 1992, Loggerhead Key was included in Dry Tortugas National Park, and the grounds are open to the public, but the tower is not.  This rendering was completed primarily using line and stroke work, with just a little bit of stippling, or pointillism thrown in. Recently, it was on display at a local medical clinic, in Salem, Oregon, along with about 20 other pieces, as part of a one-man showing.  The link below the image will take you over to the auction page at Daily Paintworks. From there, you can keep tabs on all of the originals at auction right now.  It will probably be sometime around the middle of the month before I post another blog entry, as I'll be on vacation for awhile.  But all of the originals at auction should be cycling through at least one more time at auction before listing at their regular Buy It Now price.  If I can sneak a blog post in while I'm gone,  I will.

March 20th marked the official start of Spring, though depending on where you live, it can be much earlier than that or somewhat later, too.  I know when I used to live in Colorado, I always thought of February as starting the Spring season.  That seems kind of strange, but the weather can be so unpredictable in Colorado, that as soon as I was able to get out for a few rounds of golf, that was the start of Spring.  Of course, you have to realize that it can still snow in May, June or July there also.  I remember one Summer when I worked at the Keystone Ranch Golf Course, I played a round once where I started on the 1st hole in bright sunshine, about 70 degrees or so, and by the time I got to the 7th hole, I was in the middle of a blizzard that dumped about 6" of snow, freezing my butt off and driving the cart back to the clubhouse in white out conditions.

Spring also brings back the routine of working in the yard.  First comes the necessary clean-up from the winter months, and then you fall into something of a pattern of scheduling out the daily chores and tasks so that by the time you've cycled through everything, it's time to start over again.  But the yard looks great, and if you time everything right, you can sneak a round of golf every once in awhile.  I think you can get the drift here that I love the game of golf.  I worked in the golf business for about 10 years, so Spring also brings my favorite tournament, The Masters, into focus.  All of the early season tournaments that begin in January are just the warm up for The Masters, the first of the four Majors to be played during the course of the season.

Finally, Spring brings the start of the Baseball Season, and as I'm writing this, Opening Day is under way.  All teams start with a clean slate, and hopes of making it to the Playoffs and World Series are alive for every team.  No 100 game winners or losers yet, no hitting streaks or slumps, the All Star Game is still 4 months away.  And of course, there are the Baseball movies, and there are some great ones.  Most folks are familiar with the more recent ones, like The Natural, Major League, Field of Dreams, The Rookie, etc. although some of these are even approaching the 25-30 year mark, so it's hard to consider them recent.  (Am I really getting that old?)  There are quite a few oldies that I really like also, like It Happens Every Spring, which prompted the title of today's post.  This movie is from 1949, and starred Ray Milland, Jean Peters and Paul Douglas. It's about a professor who accidentally stumbles upon a formula which repels wood.  When the liquid is applied to a baseball, you can imagine the havoc it causes with batters when they swing at the ball.  It's a great baseball classic. Other baseball movies from this era that I really enjoyed as a kid are:  Kill the Ump, from 1951 and starring William Bendix, Angels in the Outfield, from 1950 and starring Paul Douglas (re-made in 1994 with Danny Glover), and one of my all time favorites, Elmer the Great, from way back in 1933 and starring Joe E. Brown.  It's been quite awhile since I've seen any of these movies, so I may have to check Netflix to see if they are available.