Steamy Southern Morning 8" x 10 " - plein air oil on linen panel	for information contact: The Richard James Galleries 549 Highway 107 South Cashiers, NC 28717 828.743.5553 www.richardjamesgalleries.com

On a sultry late August morning I set up my easel in a field of mist. Cicadas hum, birds twitter, and frogs croak. The persimmons are just beginning to turn to their Alizarin/umber color of fall. The moisture in the air, left over from last night's  thunderstorms, softens the landscape of greens and ochres. It rises in wafts of pale color, later revealing a pale blue sky. The heat of the day is already settling in as a warm breezes swirl through the fields.
The beauty of Marshville is a subtle one, unlike other places I have painted. There are  no stunning, wide open vista with mountains, no crashing shores, few tropical colors. Just the merest hint of beauty found in the quiet, the heat, the summer music of rolling thunder as cows slowly ramble in fields, corn sways with the breeze and cotton grows steadily until it resembles a snowy field.