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Dolls and Balls

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In my home I have quite a few of my paintings and drawings on the walls, I suppose much in  the same way as any aspiring artist wants to show them to his friends and guests. The pictures often get a bit of attention, not from everyone, but occasionally, someone will see one that spikes their interest, or at least makes them look at it with more than a glance. Except for this one painting. This one hung in my garage, on the wall, with an old frame around it, not exactly in what I would describe as a place of honor for a painting. But one night we had a little get-together here and someone slipped out to the garage for a smoke. He came back quickly, taking others out to the garage to see this painting, which, seemed to be a cause of some concern for him.....what do you think?

Target Pistol Paintings

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As far back as I can remember, I have had an interest, no a fascination with guns and shooting, and for a time was involved in target shooting . It is always important to remember guns are a tool that can be used for both good and bad. In my case, an interest in hunting and shooting as a youth probably played an important role in keeping me from getting into trouble...or at least serious trouble...Ha! As a teenager, two of my friends and I spent many, many after school afternoons in my father's basement shooting air rifles and pistols in a small target range we had created. One of the guns, a Daisy spring loaded BB pistol is featured in the watercolor picture of the gun and can. Another target pistol , this is a watercolor on illustration board. This is a colored pencil 'painting' of a pair of LL Bean leather topped boots.

Lake Paintings

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This acrylic painting hangs on the wall in my family room. It always evokes a feeling of comfort for me, as it is the view from my family's summer cottage on Lake Charlotte on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia . If I can't be there, I can at least enjoy the view. Looking to the left from our cottage window we can see this view, which hasn't changed much in 40 years. Visitors to the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia know that many of the lakes and rivers are resplendent with rocks, many of them granite left on the shore and in the coves as the ice receded at the end of the last ice age. These rocks are a hazard to boate rs but make an excellent perch for a duck in need of a rest, or a place for a big fish to hide behind. The solidness and permanence of the rocks reminds me of how the land will always be here in one form or another. Here are some rocks..... ...and some more rocks , this is an acrylic painting .

Boats

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This beautiful cape style boat belongs to a very good friend of mine. It is a working lobster fishing boat called "The Emma and Boys" They fish out of the Yarmouth area of Nova Scotia. This acrylic painting is in the collection of the owner of the boat. I painted The Emma and Boys one Christmas from a photograph the Captain's wife sent me. It's truly a great boat . I like to work from photographs and sketches, I'm not really into the whole outdoor painting on location thing. I work far to slow for that I fear.... This tugboat operates out of Halifax Harbour . I see it everyday on my way to work. This is a colored pencil picture worked on over a period of time from a photo. Colored pencils produce lovely vibrant colors, but alas the requirement to frame the finished picture under glass makes framing a costly endeavor. Unfortunately the camera flash produced some shine on this particular photo that is not there when the painting is viewed in 'person'

The Lake

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This painting was sold at a benefit auction about a year ago. Unfortunately I did not get the name of the new owner, and therefore one of my 'babies' has slipped from my fold. Parting with a painting, whether for money or for a good cause, is still a painful experience . It is a creation, and a loss of creation, almost like the loss of a loved one is hard to forget. For me, selling a painting creates that sense of loss and I have to convince myself to let go. The above picture is from a scene I noticed at Lake Charlotte on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. It is one of many rocky points and coves, tree lined shores and dark waters. This picture is based on the early spring when the ice starts to slowly break up around the edges of the shoreline and the water peeps through, giving promise of things to come.

Quiet Places

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These paintings are visions of places that exist on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. I would be specific and tell you exactly where, but I think it best left unsaid. So much of the the woods and waters of the area look similar that these could be many places. If they stir a memory in you, I am most humbled. This next one adorns the wall of a good friend of mine, and I can only hope he enjoys it always.

Roberts Art Gallery - Old Fishing Camp

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Hello, and welcome to my art gallery. Here you will find various paintings and drawings I have done over the years. There will be still life, landscape and even a few figurative paintings shown here. Although not actively selling my pictures, I do appreciate being able to put them 'out there' for people to see and hopefully enjoy. This first one is an acrylic painting of an old logging camp, which turned into a fishing camp, and has since been torn down and replaced by a new building. I find it sad to see the old places go, disappearing from the landscape, leaving no trace of the lives lived there. Fishing camps of the 40's and 50's and before, held many happy memories for men who spent their vacations fishing for trout and salmon. They were rough and tough places, nothing like the accomodations people expect of fishing lodges these days. The place in this next picture exists only in my minds eye. Sometimes when the world is getting me down, and I feel like a