On December 5th at 5:30, I’ll have a one-man show of about 30 works at the Chowan Arts Center in lovely Edenton, NC.  That’s in the northeastern part of the state. In the show, I’ll focus on a world that has gone unnoticed since the expeditions of Walter Raleigh and that was already legendary at the time of the first permanent English settlement in 1607.

The CAC sits at the end of Broad Street on Edenton Bay where nature meets a small eighteenth-century town.  Few places in the South so handsomely reward a visit.

In case you can’t make the trek, I’ll post the contents of the show on the site after it opens.  In addition, I’ll post some studies for larger works as I make progress with them as well as details of finished pieces as they come.

For now, the sketch above, done with a reed pen and a brush.  I drew it because I liked the rectangles struggling to keep their shape despite the passage of time.  It spawned a medium-sized drawing done with three pens and walnut ink that played up the texture of the sheet-metal building and the lacy disposition of the oak leaves behind.  Next will come a 2′ x 3′ ink drawing dwelling on the building’s trim and the paved surfaces below.

Last, I’ll do a large oil painting that ties together the elements just mentioned. I’ll also relate the the greens in the building’s painted trim and moldy siding to the greens in the trees.  What began as a musing on shapes has turned into a sustained color study, and a meditation on nature and culture.

Here is one of the charms of a painted scene; things appearing winsome or repellent in isolation find new homes, new relationships, and new meanings when someone pays them enough attention.