I’m getting ready to hit the “road” again. I’ll join the Celebrity Infinity in Seattle on June 19th. Expect more Pacific Northwest paintings. Plus I’m working on changes to my website. In the meantime, here’s a painting from my last “alaska” visit. It’s the Cowpuccino coffee shop in Prince Rupert, BC. Cool little place. I painted this on one of my many visits in 2008. Tons, quite literally, of bald eagles in the trees outside the front door.
Latest direction in sketches. One of many doodles I did today. Musings on Western American art.
My website has been revised… finally. I’ve given it a new look. I added more paintings and restored the Elk Island Quartet Portfolio.
Click here to take a look: Michael Liebhaber
A portfolio of Lighthouses will be appearing soon. Until then, you can see the lighthouse in Malaga, Spain by clicking on my Travel Watercolors link over on the right side of this page. Enjoy.
I’m planning another road trip, actually an off-road trip, in central Arizona. Stay tuned for details.
It seems like a lot of my recent work has cafes as a theme. Thus today’s post is … The Hide Away Cafe in Solana Beach, California. I was in the San Diego area to visit old friends this past weekend. It was great to re-connect and to visit old haunts like the Hide Away. If you love local places to eat, especially for breakfast, they don’t come any more local, or funky, than the Hide Away. I won’t tell you exactly where it is (it’s “local” remember), but the beach at Fletcher Cove is a slow two minute walk away. There’s a surf mural on the wall inside, the cinnamon rolls are killer, and it’s tiny. I was stoked the rest of the day.
I did the painting after breakfast. I stood on the sidewalk out front as I did the pencil sketch, then pulled my jeep around and sat in it to add the watercolor. I had to be careful where I parked. Large eucalyptus trees provided shade, but one tree was full of horny egrets strutting, and doing, their stuff. Look out below!
There are a couple of other local places I know about. How about you. I’d love to hear about your favorite local places… wherever they might be.
This lighthouse is on the grounds of the Citadelle which sits at one end of the Ajaccio harbor. It was difficult to find a good view, as usual for many lighthouses. I determined that best view was from a tall jetty that protected one end of the harbor, but I was not sure if I was allowed to climb on it. I walked along the road that lead to the busy marina and jetty beyond, passed the marina gate, and noticed a set of partially obscured stairs in the jetty wall. I walked through the bushes, climbed up, and was rewarded with spectacular views of the lighthouse and harbor.
I am working on a series of watercolor sketches of New England lighthouses. Some of them will be shown in Sea View Gallery in Rocky Point, New Hampshire. I hope to see you at the opening. But there is a catch…
Rocky Point and the Sea View Gallery only exist in an upcoming book by Mystery writer Jane Cleland. The book will be released in 2010. In the meantime, Jane’s latest book is Killer Keepsakes. Check it out at Jane Cleland’s website.
As for the lighthouses in my New England watercolor series (like Nantoqua Point, ME in my previous post), they are fictional places. But the sketches are real and will be available soon. FYI: Only the watercolor’s in this series are fictional. All my other lighthouse watercolors are real places (e.g, Gurnsey Harbor Lighthouse)
In the meantime, Jane’s latest book, Killer Keepsakes, is due out in April 2009. Check it out at Jane Cleland’s website.
I am working on a series of watercolor sketches of lighthouses along the New England coast. Here is one of my pencil sketches for Nantoqua point light. The finished watercolor follows.
I’ve added selections of my oil and watercolor paintings to my website from my archives:
Watercolors from my past travels
Oils from a road trip across the USA
and Portraits from the musical series: She’s Not There
