Artist at Work (here I was photographing the house before my conversation with the artist)
Castine Maine is surely a beautiful, old and charming town on the coast of Maine. And it happens to be on the National Register. While seeing and photographing some of the village's beautiful homes and scenes I happened upon this artist working on the start of a new "masterpiece." I struck up a conversation with him. At that time, unbeknownst to me, I was not aware that I was chatting with a world famous and celebrated artist. After only a few words I paused and asked him if I could take his photograph, and sorry to say he said he'd rather not I do so. Well, I had to respect his wishes, but it didn't stop me from continuing our conversation. In part, it including talking about the difficulty he has had in photographing his work for publications, and I know with oil paint and all it's specular reflections, it can be hard. He then pulled out a few of the brochures he had with him with photos of his work in them, and I was truly amazed at how beautiful his work was! After first thinking, "hmm, just another local artist painting some street scene on a barely started canvas, which was nothing more than the beginnings of a rough wash and, some rough outline on the canvas. But upon seeing his finished work I knew I was talking to the real deal. A bit cool at first, he warmed up and got more comfortable chatting with me, about his life, his schooling, and the fact that he had an engineering degree, and from my experience over the years dealing with engineers, engineers are mostly left brained. Odd, I thought, now a very skilled and competent artist, and for the most part artists are typically right brain people.
We chatted for at least an hour, and after doing so I walked away thinking too bad, I was leaving someone who could have been a friend in the real world. His work is beautiful, trust me...Google Anthony Watkins, artist and you will see what I'm talking about!
ANTHONY WATKINS
Anthony Watkins was born near Richmond, Virginia and grew up on his grandfather’s farm near Fredericksburg. He worked for a short time in military aircraft design before changing his focus to fine art. He studied painting with Lawrence Gluck, founder of Mission: Renaissance Art Schools in Los Angeles, CA, and with Yves Brayer at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and at the Ecole des Beaux-Art in Paris, France.
Watkins specializes in paintings of people and places seen under striking conditions of light and color. He has painted on location nationwide and has made painting trips to many countries, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Artist at Work (here I was photographing the house before my conversation with the artist)
Castine Maine is surely a beautiful, old and charming town on the coast of Maine. And it happens to be on the National Register. While seeing and photographing some of the village's beautiful homes and scenes I happened upon this artist working on the start of a new "masterpiece." I struck up a conversation with him. At that time, unbeknownst to me, I was not aware that I was chatting with a world famous and celebrated artist. After only a few words I paused and asked him if I could take his photograph, and sorry to say he said he'd rather not I do so. Well, I had to respect his wishes, but it didn't stop me from continuing our conversation. In part, it including talking about the difficulty he has had in photographing his work for publications, and I know with oil paint and all it's specular reflections, it can be hard. He then pulled out a few of the brochures he had with him with photos of his work in them, and I was truly amazed at how beautiful his work was! After first thinking, "hmm, just another local artist painting some street scene on a barely started canvas, which was nothing more than the beginnings of a rough wash and, some rough outline on the canvas. But upon seeing his finished work I knew I was talking to the real deal. A bit cool at first, he warmed up and got more comfortable chatting with me, about his life, his schooling, and the fact that he had an engineering degree, and from my experience over the years dealing with engineers, engineers are mostly left brained. Odd, I thought, now a very skilled and competent artist, and for the most part artists are typically right brain people.
We chatted for at least an hour, and after doing so I walked away thinking too bad, I was leaving someone who could have been a friend in the real world. His work is beautiful, trust me...Google Anthony Watkins, artist and you will see what I'm talking about!
ANTHONY WATKINS
Anthony Watkins was born near Richmond, Virginia and grew up on his grandfather’s farm near Fredericksburg. He worked for a short time in military aircraft design before changing his focus to fine art. He studied painting with Lawrence Gluck, founder of Mission: Renaissance Art Schools in Los Angeles, CA, and with Yves Brayer at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and at the Ecole des Beaux-Art in Paris, France.
Watkins specializes in paintings of people and places seen under striking conditions of light and color. He has painted on location nationwide and has made painting trips to many countries, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.