Civil War Haiku (2)

My fourth-grade teacher
Had Mosby’s sword on the wall
Segregated schools. 

Civil War Haiku (1)

(For Michael Douglas Jones.)

Burnside told us, Charge
The heights at Fredericksburg
Thousands departed. 

Homestead Grays (Sunset, Monday, 15 November 2010)

William Van Doren, HOMESTEAD GRAYS (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

I hope folks will excuse the baseball reference in the middle of November, but it is indeed gray, we’re working on having a homestead of our own, I think the Negro Leagues deserve more recognition, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, a more or less related team, did hire a new manager today. Even in the middle of November, there are the beginnings of hope for a new season.

Two-Minute Warning (Sunset, Sunday, 14 November 2010)

William Van Doren, TWO-MINUTE WARNING (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Blue Green (Sunset, Saturday, 13 November 2010)

William Van Doren, BLUE GREEN (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The Sylphs (Sunset/Twilight, Friday, 12 November 2010)

William Van Doren, THE SYLPHS (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Thanks to anyone who tried to see this website last night when it was at various times down or scrambled, and who has since returned.

I didn’t think I even knew what a sylph was until I saw this post-sunset sky and the title Les Sylphides popped into my head, and I had to look it up.

Sometimes the challenge in painting sunsets is not to overdo the color; but, honestly, more often the challenge is not to wind up ‘underdoing’ it.