Summer Plans

Summer Plans, 8 x 10

available

I caught these boys last year in Ohio during a break in their summer activities. They were more than happy to strike a pose for me.

Done For The Day

Done For The Day, 5x7

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Another of the farms on the outskirts of Malvern, Ohio, this one on Citrus Road NW.

Red Barn, Yellow Light

Red Barn, Yellow Light, 5x7

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If this barn looks familiar, it's probably because I painted a portion of this same cowshed, which I posted back at the beginning of August after my trip to Ohio. This one makes more of the barn itself, rather than the rolling countryside, and in a looser style.

Columns Of Light

Columns Of Light, 10x8

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This detail was painted from photo reference I took while in Ohio this past summer. It depicts a corner of the Hart Mansion in Minerva. Built just after the Civil War in an Italianate Victorian style, the mansion now serves as a fine restaurant. I found the arrangement of this trio of columns to be unusually beautiful and a wonderful example of what's known in design circles as the Divine Proportion, or Golden Ratio.

Hanover Township Firetruck

Hanover Township Firetruck, 24x24

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Hanover Township encompasses the farm my mother grew up on in northeastern Ohio. This 1940s firetruck served the township for decades. It still runs, thanks to the restoration efforts of my cousins, the Fureys, some of whom still live twenty miles or so down the road in Malvern, Ohio.

Colonial In Color

Colonial In Color, 5x7

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The shapes and angles of this house in the late afternoon light attracted me. In reality, the house is all red brick, black shutters and the small addition at bottom left, sadly, is covered in white vinyl. This being the case, and because I wanted to accentuate the myriad shapes and angles, I decided to give each wall a color of its own. I like the festive, bungalow feel of the colors, even more so when I recall that this house is, in real life, the rectory of a church.

Barn On Avalon Road

Barn On Avalon Road, 6x6

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These farm structures stand about a quarter-mile outside Malvern, Ohio, heading south along Avalon Road, toward Lake Mohawk. The evening before I returned home, I drove all over the area to get as much photographic reference as I could. I was intrigued by this scene, in the way the buildings were nicely tucked into the road embankment and how their geometric shapes radiate out in different directions. The telephone pole approximates the vertical axis of the group.

In For Repairs

In For Repairs, 5x7

NFS

Here is a study from one of the photos I took on my recent visit to Malvern, Ohio. It depicts a GMC dump truck parked for servicing behind Furey Motors. Judging strictly by its dog-eared facade, I think this one might have had multiple issues.

Afternoon Ride

Afternoon Ride, 5x7
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I found this red motorcycle parked in front of the Firehouse Grill in Malvern. It is one of an endless number of cycles we saw while in Ohio. The rolling countryside and summer sunshine no doubt contributed to their ubiquity.

A Place In The Shade

A Place In The Shade, 8x10
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This shady spot can be found alongside 613 Porter Street in Malvern, directly across the street from Furey Motors.

Rolling Corn, Red Barn

Rolling Corn, Red Barn, 8x16

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Coming from central Texas, it's amazing to see the rolling farmland of northeastern Ohio this time of year. In the week I was there, the corn seemed to grow well over a foot. This barn and corn field are on County Road 15, just off the main road between Malvern and Carrollton.

Ready To Pick Up

Ready To Pick Up, 10x8

SOLD

Furey Motors, an auto repair garage opened by my Uncle Louis Furey, has been in Malvern, Ohio for a very long time. Since it predates me, I never even thought to ask just how long. To me, it's been there forever. My cousin Tom now owns the garage and while the car designs have changed, everything else looks virtually unchanged from the way I remember it during our family visits of my childhood. 

The garage was a special place. One reason was that Uncle Louis always made sure I had a clean mechanic's rag ready for my back pocket when I showed up for "work." That was cool. Even cooler, however, was that Uncle Louis had one of those old bottle-dispensing Coke machines at the garage AND the keys to go with it. To me this meant the Cokes were free, not just for me, but for Uncle Louis, as well. This being my perception, at even the slightest twinge of thirst, I would hit up my very patient elder for one frosty beverage after another. 

In hindsight, I don't know how Uncle Louis weathered this brazen tendency toward self-gratification so magnanimously, but he always did.  Louis and my Aunt Alta both passed away several years ago, now. But their seven children, and the two generations that follow them are remarkably similar in their kindness.

Home for Dinner

Home For Dinner, 8 x 6

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My recent visit to the small town of Malvern, Ohio and the surrounding area was very nostalgic. We used to visit relatives there in the summers and spend time on the family farm about twenty five miles away. The afternoon before returning home, I had a chance to drive around and get plenty of reference photography of Malvern and some of the surrounding farms. I was amazed how much things have stayed the same there. The residents have done a great job maintaining the old homes and buildings. This back porch in the warm afternoon light is emblematic of the comfortable and friendly nature of this place and its people. I'll be posting more new art in the coming weeks, recalling this trip.

St. Philip Neri Church

St. Philip Neri Church, 12 x 9
NFS

Last week I accompanied my mother to eastern Ohio to visit relatives and the area near the farm on which she grew up. At eighty-eight years old, she was glad to be able to make the trip and had a wonderful time. The church above is special to my mother. She, along with most of her direct American-born ancestors, on both sides of her family, were baptized in this church. She attended the church, built in 1849 in the village of Dungannon, until she left the area to become a Navy nurse during World War II, where she met my father. The painting is a gift to my mother, Ruth Wernet Parker.