Rena Powell

I did this one after a long, hot day of painting on Bald Head Island when I needed to sit in the shade.  I looked down the porch as I was resting and thought, "now, there's a painting" and got out my gear.  It is currently at Ziabird in Wrightsville Beach until Sept 19th. 

I painted this plein air from a hill over looking Captain Charlies Houses on Bald Head Island.  It is normally available at Woods, the Bald Head Island Gallery, but, it is currently on loan at a show in Wrightsville Beach, NC at Ziabird, a show that will be up until Sept. 19th. 

I had to go to Bald Head Island recently and this was an interesting trimaran  in the Deep Point basin.  I just saw all these geometric shapes and color shifts and I had to try to paint it.

This was a guy sailing in Southport one evening and I thought the sun lighting up the sails was very beautiful.  I put it against the dark of the trees to really bring it out. 

This is a cottage in Southport that is covered in wisteria and in the spring is quite colorful.  I like the way the color of the wisteria compliments the green trim on the house

This is the only pink pier that I know of and it is here in Southport.  It's been here forever and its old and rickety.  It's just one of those things that give a place some local flavor.  I liked the shadow colors and the rhythm of the uneven lines of the settling posts and railing.

This is one of the old and unique boats around here in Southport that can be seen cruising around on any pretty day.  I love the lines of this boat and the colorful flags on the back.

This was a study done the same day and I loved the shadows that the architecture cast onto the sunlit side of the building.

This was a plein air study I did several months ago on Bald Head Island and I just touched it up.  My friend and fellow painter, Mike Rooney - mikerooneystudios.blogspot.com , showed me how to get to this spot on a hill with an amazing view. It was a cool crisp day and I tried to capture the bright sun on the water and porch of Captain Charlies cottage.

A good patron of mine, Alison Puccinelli, asked me to donate a painting for an art auction she is helping organize at the Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA.  It is to raise funds for the Children's Garden there and is showcasing many up and coming artists. It is April 29th  and should be a lot of fun. www. lewisginter.org  

This is a small tug that is almost always at the entrance channel of Bald Head Island.  It is owned by a local dredging company and they use it to dredge around Bald Head often.  I was leaving Bald Head after a week of staying on the island and painting plein air when I took this picture and I was struck by the way the evening sun lit up the side of the boat.

There's always time to paint my favorite Southport sailboat.

Lately, I am obsessed with the wild horses on the Outer Banks.  I'm doing a series of paintings of the beautiful,  sturdy little ponies that live on the beaches from Corolla to Shackelford Banks.  They say they are descended from Spanish Mustangs and most of them are a warm brown color that turns a brilliant gold in the sun..

This is a boat that was in the yacht basin here for a day two summers ago.  I got some good pictures of it because it is an interesting boat and I liked the bright summer sun light on the side of the boat and the colors in the canvas.  This is the second time I've painted it, but, this time I did it on a smaller scale and accented the flags and sail covers.

Last weekend in Southport, as the snow melted and the sun came out, it seemed everyone was out walking and enjoying the weather.  The horse and buggy driver was also out, sitting on the waterfront waiting for a customer.  I loved the way the sun lit up the side of this little, patient horse. I ran home, got my camera and painted him while the memory was still fresh.

I got an email from someone who had taken some incredible pictures of the "almost tame" deer that they feed and which inhabit their back yard.  I loved this picture because it gives you a rare glimpse of what they look like when they are not sprinting away from you in fear. 

I saw these guys coasting through Southport last summer and caught a picture.  Later, I heard that they had stopped at the marina that and they were on a long journey down the coast on this little boat.  I thought it looked like quite an adventure.  I sold this picture to someone in Ohio and before I shipped it I looked up the name on the side of the boat, "Habitatcrew.com". It just so happens that they are from Willowick, Ohio and I thought it fitting the painting should be going back to their state.     

I got the idea for this from several pictures that I took at the Southport Pirate Regatta.   I took lots of pictures that day, but, I really like these navigational bouys.  This buoy, number three, is near the inlet entrance between Oak Island and Bald Head and it guides all the huge cargo ships that come through the channel.

This painting is in honor of my favorite childhood book, "Watership Down"  I love to pick it up and read it again every few years.  I am hoping to donate it to the "First Book" silent auction fund-raiser. First Book is a non-profit that buys books for needy children  (for some of the children it will be the first book that they own)  The event is Feb. 6th and 7th at the Children's Museum in Wilmington, NC.

This was taken on a beautiful summer day, and you could see some young kids springing off the porch with their surfboards.  It's a nice image to recall in the middle of winter.