This is one of the first paintings I have done since she was born. It is monochromatic in nature, which means it basically uses one color. That color is Yellow. I have intense yellow, and dull yellow, warm yellow and cool yellow, dark yellow (Brown) and light yellow. I did add a little red for some spice.

This technique is a great way to create a mood in artwork.

This painting also evokes the landscape.

One of the things that got me started in art was fishing. My dad and I would go every weekend from March to October. We would go out and enjoy paddling around on high mountain lakes. We would catch the most beautiful fish, Trout.

During the winter, when the lakes were frozen over we would sit bored at home. We tried lots of things to keep us interested and occupied. One of the things that we did was cast key chains out in the snow and reel them in. What we did more often though, was draw and paint pictures of us fishing. That is kind of how my Dad, Tom Slack http://www.tomslack.com , and I got our start in art.

I painted this on a whim. It was lots of fun. I still love fish, and doodle them all of the time. water has become one of my biggest influences.

I love autumn, with all of the beautiful colors, The weather in autumn is fun, with many different moods, from morose to cheerful.

This painting was painted after a drive through the countryside near my home. I simmered what I saw in my memory and condensed the essence into this painting. It worked beautifully. It is one of the paintings which I sold this weekend at the Arts on Riverdale festival.

I hope that you enjoy it!

This Saturday, I will be participating in the Arts on Riverdale festival put on by the Macon Jazz Association. There will be great music, and a lot of art. Stop on by. It is near Ingleside Village, off of Ridge Avenue, in Macon, GA. I have the 9th booth from the stage. I have done a lot of paintings specifically for this festival, and am bringing some of Lynley’s fabulous jewelry. While you are there, stop and see Travis Hart’s work. His paintings are great.

I hope to see my Georgia friends there.

I like to paint over old unsuccessful paintings. The richness one gets from the new image, combined with leftover  pieces of the old image is wonderful.

Breezy, my latest abstract is one of these paintings. I was thinking of the ocean as  I created this image. The texture that was formed by the combination of new paint on old paint is reminiscent  of storms and waves.

I think this is a fun painting.

This is the second painting in my smaller painting series. This was the view out my window, when I lived in Macon. I loved seeing all of the Antebellum Mansions. One thing I find interesting is the color contrast on the Italianate home. The owners were redoing the roof, and I enjoy the cool color of the under layer, against the warm red tiles of the roof.

I love early mornings. They are like my own private time. The world is clear and beautiful, and all of the hubbub of the day has not started yet. In early morning light, everything looks better, fresh with the optimism that this day can be anything that it wants to be.

This house is a great example of that optimism. During the stark afternoon light, it was an abandoned, dilapidated bungalow, set among vacant lots, and empty businesses, but with the caress of early morning light, the beauty that the architects intended is visible in the home. What a great start to the day!

I have used atmospheric perspective in this painting to emphasize distance, as well as overlapping of shapes. I love the strong shadows on the cliffs of Pilot Mountain. This is a fun painting that gives a strong feeling of what visiting this beautiful range on a summer’s day is like.

Valentines Weekend, 2010, Lynley and I got up to a beautiful snowfall. It was just a few inches, but it blanketed the world with a clean new whiteness. We had decided to take a trip for the weekend, and the Raleigh North Carolina Temple was the perfect first start. We believe that a marriage sealed in our temples can last eternally, and since we had just been married 9 months earlier, visiting the temple was quite romantic for Valentines day.

The temple was especially beautiful later in the day when the sun came out and was sparkling off of the melting snow, and reflecting off the marble walls of the temple. So beautiful and peaceful.

This painting will be in our baby’s room to remind her of the eternal nature of families.

I enjoy the landscape. I think God is the greatest artist ever, because he created such a beautiful world for us to live in. Birkhead Mountain Summer is an example of this.One day, a week or so ago, I was just driving down some country road,  a few minutes from my house, when this view opened up to me.  I loved seeing the Birkhead mountain area of the Uwharries pop up above the trees, and see the field with its many color variations.

This painting is a good example of atmospheric perspective, the idea that objects that are closer to us appear darker, warmer, and with brighter colors. Details are more in focus. As things are farther from us, they are less clear, cooler in tone (like the far blue mountains) and lighter, until they are hardly distinguishable from the sky.