It's A New Day!

Okay, I had to leave this in... (I can't find the delete key) This morning about 5 AM, went outside to feed the HeatherCat and look what was staring down at me from the water oak at the garage door! This is Black Bart, an Eastern King snake and friendly too. He eats vermin and is the only snake that can eat rattlesnakes, corals, and moccasins... however, he may have just dined on a sparrow egg but I think I'll keep him.

Three beautiful ladies inspired this new setting and pose. I am really pleased with the extra care I took on this piece. It is a commission for a Norfolk patron. It's a 24 x 24 canvas.

Here's a 30 x 40 canvas done as a commission (accepted with delight); all the right colors, all the right attitude. It was done for a friend of my first framer!

I am back in the studio and painting again: This one is a 24 x 24 canvas and while it seems a little washed out in the digital, it is really a dynamic, rich, deeply colorful piece...(I have got to take time to work out shooting these new pieces; the studio floor is not giving me the best reproduction!)

All in the Past

These shots Gail discovered as she was going through our volumes of photos...

Cindy Casky was one of my first avid supporters. She managed Picture Parts in Virginia Beach back in 1992 as I was first getting started in the art field. Cindy's idea was to throw a party, invite the public and call it "Tom Barnes Unframed." She hung the art on clotheslines across the store, layed out some snacks, and had a cake done with a long neck lady drizzled in icing on top! That show started a lot of things: The guys, Lee and Scott of Blue Hippo fame (after 18 years Scott is still buying my work for his new spa and salon in Newport News VA), came and bought several pieces and asked if they could use my ideas for a restaurant theme which turned out to be fantastic showcase for my work. My then new friend James was a struggling young law student who bought his first painting - on the payment plan - for $75. He later became a successful real estate lawyer, a serious collector of my work (he and wife Lisa own nine originals!), and is now my longtime financial advisor with a biggedy consulting firm in New York!

These have become my "show stories" and I love remembering how it all got started... boy was I in for a wonderful ride!