I'm a painter from Virginia. In December of 2004 I decided to make a painting each day. My subjects are often the places and things I see in my everyday life and during my occasional travels: a sunbeam on a wall, an acorn my daughter gave me, a broken egg, a lightning storm over Santa Fe, a PB&J sandwich, a rose, a dead bird, a box of bubble wrap-- in their own way these things are all beautiful to me.

I made a painting each day from 12/10/2004 to 4/1/2006, but since then I have posted a little less frequently. Most of the paintings here are postcard-sized oil paintings which are auctioned on eBay. I start the bidding at $100.

Annie Dillard's wonderful book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was an inspiration for this blog. She wrote:

"There are many things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go on your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get."

See my press blog for more information about A Painting a Day, or read some of my posts about it here.

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Duane