SmeatonTower Light House by Kolene Spicher

Painting a Red and White Lighthouse in Plymouth Devon, South West England 

Photo is a little blurry  but it reads,
Taking time out to enjoy life! 

I have painted a lot of lighthouses in my day, but this is a new one for me.  I really enjoyed working on this project.  The three in the front to the left of the light are Grace, Rick, and their doggy Reedus who is enormous.   

My style has always been to paint the ships and the boats in that "folk" style and gathered all around the light.  Reedus and Grace are the joy of Rick's life.  I can tell how he communicated about them.  I love the red and white tower and it reminds me of a lighthouse that I painted before.  I can't remember where it was, but it was red and white!  

The frame is a good one and one of my better frames that I own at the time.  It is a mortised frame and happens to be a tiger maple with lots of lots of age.  Perfect for England! 

The blue is in the turquoise family so it really makes the orange warm tones pop. 

Here's a shot that I snapped outside so that you can really see the color correctly.  

In this shot you can see how the frame just pops against all that wonderful blue color.  The light is solid and diffused so it eliminates those hot spots that I typically get when photographing behind glass.  

Hope you enjoy! 

Merry Christmas Rick and Grace and Reedus!! 

Kolene Spicher 

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Custom seascape by Pennsylvania Artist Kolene Spicher

My Heart's Always Home 

Day Dawns Beyond the Atlantic Sea! 

Sea Shells are gently applied  beneath glass.

Imagine this, you own the red house in the above picture!  Each morning you watch the tall ships go out somewhere unbeknown to you, what a sight!   Of course my artwork would be hanging in your house along the sea, too.  Stop and think about that!

The Large DioRama was created by an elderly gentleman captain from Maryland around 1880
THE PRIDE OF BALTIMORE 

I really enjoy creating reproductions that blend well with good antiques.  Today I present  Day Dawns Beyond the Atlantic. 

The Shells were collected by myself and found mostly along the Atlantic in New Jersey Specifically.  Finding the shells are 1/2 of the fun.  

I haven't decided if the frame needs any work, but I happen to think that it might be good just as it is! It will need modified, however, to receive the painting with the shells because the shells add a surface that is not entirely flat. The glass would be in the way.  

I spend some time over the summer at the Chesapeake bay and take a lot of photos.  I think this painting sort of reminds me of the bay area.  

I love it hanging with my mermaid seashell painting.  You can read about this at
http://kolenespicher.blogspot.com/2017/05/mermaid-seashell-creation.html

This painting and the others presented here are part of my collection that will be shown at the Wilton Historical Society's upcoming 2017 show held the first weekend of November 3-5, 2017  

Here's the link!

http://wiltonhistorical.org/events/american-artisan-show

If you want a card to this show, PM me! 

ENJOY. Wilton Historical Show, The Original!

Kolene Spicher 

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Day Boats

What is a DAY BOAT? 

Prints for sale today (August 25, 2014)  on ETSY - https://www.etsy.com/listing/201139051/sailboat-print-charming-little-day-boat?ref=related-1

A DAY BOAT is also known as a Joey boat.  I know a lot of 'Joeys' and have never felt that they reminded me of a day boat….hm.  I am sure there is some logical explanation~Maybe a later blog entry.

Recently, I provided some artwork to a gal that had an outdoor bathroom that needed a little TLC.  We hung about a half-dozen pieces including a set of day boats that I had painted a while ago.  Today I know a little more about boats than the day I painted these (not much more but I am learning~HA).
I provided a closeup of this one because I liked it the most, and it was the first one that I illustrated.

This shot is slightly blurry but at least you can see my gold bracelets. 

Day boats are used for DAY trips, hence the name.  They sometimes do not have a stern cabin.  I have seen plenty of sailboats that do have cabins and are 'day boats' in the sense that they are taken out for a few hours during the day.  They are big (with multiple cabins).  But today we are talking about Day Boats that truly are day boats.  Lest I am confusing you, here's a good example of a day boat that is bigger than my above illustration but was taken out for the day this last weekend.   I love the flags on this day boat. I am guessing that this is 25-30 feet.

A painting waiting to happen

If you go to www.spicherandco.com you can see other boat and nautical illustrations that I have painted over the years.  I want so badly to show to you some of my current work, but I am saving it for my Bedminster Showing-see early post .  I will highlight these pieces a little closer to my event.  At this show, I will have original paintings as well as some prints.  I might even take these Day Boats.

If you want to learn more about this show and how to get tickets, go here: 

http://kolenespicher.blogspot.com/2014/07/bedminster-traditional-artisan-show.html

Love the clean white background 

These prints can be hung just about anywhere.  I love the simplistic brush strokes and the white background.  This reminds me of summertime and fun :)

Thanks for taking the time to look at these.  I will be listing these (maybe tomorrow) on Etsy.  They are near perfect condition but have just a few dings that are not really visible.  I accidentally  had taken two sets to the outside bathroom job that I had referred to early in this post. 

Enjoy!  

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