Christmas cards past (part 3)

(See Christmas cards past, part 1, part 2)



The Christmas cards sent out in 2000 reflected the great travel experience that I had that year -- a trip to England in October to see my son Jeff, a student at the University of Evansville studying at the University's Harlaxton campus.

It was the first time I had been to Great Britain since 1978 when I lived in Edinburgh and worked on my dissertation in that wonderful city. I was happy to get back there after so many years, and I wanted my friends to share some of that experience.

The trip must have sparked my imagination because I did six scenes, not the usual three or four. Five of the six are places that I saw in England: top left, West Gate, Trinity College, Cambridge; top right, the church in Tattersall; middle left, bridge near the West Gate, Trinity College; middle right, King's College chapel, Cambridge; bottom right, Mathematical Bridge, Cambridge; bottom right.

The one non-English scene is the painting on the bottom left, the Pilgrim Statue, Central Park, New York City.

A month after my trip to England, I found myself in New York City. I had been invited to be at the Associated Press New York headquarters to watch and participate in the Election Day coverage. I had a good bit of time to wander around the city, and I took lots of pictures and did a few subsequent drawings and paintings.

As usual, my wife said none of these looked like Christmas. As usual, she was right.

I paint multiple copies of these scenes and usually wind up sending our 20 to 30 cards. People seem to like them, and some tell me they have the whole collection, although my wife says they are just being nice.

I'll be posting more shortly.

5 x 7, watercolor on Arches 140 CP

Price: not for sale

About the paintings

I usually do three or four of one scene at a time. They take about an hour to draw and paint.