Coming back to art late in life....and LOVING IT!

I'm very pleased to announce that for the fifth time in less than a year one of my paintings has been recognized with a Bold Brush Fav15% award. "Al's Place" was a recipient of the April 2018 recognition.

I often write about my plein air painting in and around the little Delta town of Locke, California. And of course, the centerpiece of Locke is Al's Place, better known as "Al the Wop's". This tiny and dilapidated bar and restaurant is and has been a must stop for decades for motorcyclist groups and families alike while touring the Delta on a summer weekend. In fact, it was in Al's place in 1972 that I first played "Pong", my initial experience with video games. (I still can't win at any of them.)

Although the pong game is gone, everything else in Al's is exactly the way it was then....including all the dollar bills mysteriously tacked to the 16' high ceiling (ask the bartender), the cold beer and the juicy burgers! This painting of the fabled Al's Place was started "en plein air" this spring and finished in the studio. It is now in a private collection.

The Bold Brush competition is an international online event sponsored by Fine Art Studios Online (FASO), which offers website services to artists. (My website is built and operated using FASO.) The monthly competition is open to any artist whether he or she is a FASO customer or not. More than 2,000 entries are submitted each month from some of the finest of today's artists. The Bold Brush Fav15% award is not one of the major honors, but it does indicate a special recognition by the FASO staff. I am proud that it is my fifth Fav15% achievement. A major award in the Bold Brush competition remains a goal. I'll keep painting and competing.