Here are some still life paintings, in part inspired by Taryn Day's terrific work seen here at her blog, "Awake and painting" , check it out!. She is also a fabulous portrait artist. The red onions are painted on a hardware store paint color chip, a new medium i've been exploring. I'm trying to generate some revenue to realize my materialistic dreams ( a trip? A BMW cabriole ? more paint?) so I am putting these up on etsy for purchase along with others seen here on the blog. link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulHBrahms11

Another painting of a highway.  Maybe these images have something to do with the fact that my car inspection has run out, and i'm sorry to say it probably won't pass. Looks like it's the virtual highway for a while. I suppose I could take a bus? Reduce the carbon footprint and all of that. 

Must be wanting a change of scenery. The highway is calling me.

The cottages around here were once like this, modest scale, 1 1/2 stories, w a wrap around porch. Usually built from whatever salvage lumber the builders could get their hands on. I lived in one once on  Higgins beach that had walls built from shoe crates used to ship shoes made in Lewiston factories and for train transport. This one always appeals to me because of it's warm colors.

It seems like a lot of my work ends up kind of flat, mostly horizontal and vertical lines, and right angles. Maybe I'll try to work on a painting with curves and diagonals?

I started a project in January of 2011, called the 50 paintings project, the gist of it was to create 50 paintings, 5"x7", each season of the year. Many of the subsequent paintings (over 350 paintings) were attempts to paint waves. I made a lot of bad paintings! This painting is not one of the 50 Paintings project paintings. It is much larger , and was a commissioned work for a summer resident here on the island, who was returning to her home to face a daunting medical treatment, and she wanted to have a painting to remind her of the beauty of the ocean.

Good morning. Welcome to this blog about life and art. I live on an Island in Maine, in a little cabin by the ocean. A great place to pursue that inner journey, write a novel, paint. It's the kind of life many fantasize escaping to, and would do just that, if it wasn't for the problem of making a living. It's a challenge for sure, but as I look at the paintings I am making represented in the digital medium, It reminds me of how rich the experience is in this corner of the world. Yesterday, for instance, my six year old son and I braved the tempestuous sea in a Kayak to explore the granite ruins of Fort Gorgeous, an antebellum structure guarding the harbor. We wake in the morning with a view out our window of the sea and sunrise. We trap crabs and race them on the dock. From a kids perspective, this place is full of adventure, and from the adults point of view, it makes you feel like a kid sometimes, when the world presented endless possibility. 

Now to the image. My hope is to share the paintings I create and add links to the work of others I find inspiring, open up a wider marketplace, and invite new dialogue. 

If you are interested in purchasing artwork, please visit my auction page at etsy 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulHBrahms11?ref=search_shop_redirect