Painting at Antietam

I am working on a painting of a young lady at Antietam.  We live just a short drive from the battlefield.  This summer is the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam.  The area will be loaded with civil war reenactors this weekend, and the battlefield will be packed with tourists.  I am not really into the whole guys running around with rifles scene.  I find the dress of every day people more interesting.  This is a huge trip for many people that show up to dress the part for the weekend.  Hidden behind the artifacts are plastic tubs, smart phones, and coolers filled with 21st century conveniences.   

Untitled

Oil on linen.

Allegheny Deer Skull

Deer skull, water color pencils and graphite on paper.

Andy

My daughter's friend Andy, oil on canvas.

Ripley West Virginia Back Hoe

Farm fresh art from deep in West Virginia.  Watercolor in the traveling sketchbook.

Nicole

Oil on canvas, in progress.

Keysers Ridge, Maryland

"Keysers Ridge," Maryland, oil on masonite 6.5 x 8.

“I saw the wind blow so hard on Keyser’s Ridge, that it took six men to hold the hair on one man’s head.”

In the early days of the National Road, this stretch was often “snowed up” with drifts up to twenty feet deep. Stagecoaches and freight wagons were stopped here for days at a time. When they could travel, they sometimes left the blocked roadbeds and rolled across the nearby “skirting glades.”

I turned the heat on in the Jeep as I drove over Keysers Ridge at sunset on Thursday. Not much there, just a small truck stop and a McDonalds.  The National Road (rt 40) crosses the ridge, and leads west into the Allegheny Mountains.  It is a beautiful road to travel any time of the year.