Off the Wall

If you have never read the "About" page on my blog, you might wonder why I call my blog            Art and Sand.

Sand is the reason we live at the beach and why Steve is a full time artist.

For all of our years together, Steve has been an avid surfer - unfortunately these days it is harder for him to paddle due to his artificial shoulder.

Before moving to the beach, Steve would go surfing every morning before work and the family would be at the beach all weekend which meant sand - all over the cars, bodies and the house.

I used to joke with Steve "if there is going to be this much sand on the floor then we should live in a house at the beach".

Steve bought me the beach house, told me I could no longer complain about sand and unexpectedly found his muse in the process.

Our house serves as Steve's gallery - every wall displays his work - on a rotating basis as pieces sell.

Lately, a few favorites have come "Off the Wall".

Steve painted "Portsmouth Autumn" a couple of years ago after a road trip around New England- our neighbor Al, who grew up in Massachusetts, spent 5 years coveting the painting and finally purchased it last month.

The same day that Al bought his painting, another set of friends asked to buy "194 Bleecker Street" - we spotted this door when we were walking down Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village and I made Steve go back to take a photograph.

I am very proud of Steve and his artistic talents so I asked him for a list of other recent sales. 

This painting is titled "On Brunswick Lane" and was recently commissioned by the people renting the house with the picket fence - they will be retiring in June and want a remembrance of the house and the view they have enjoyed this past year.

"Another Pierpont Summer Day" was purchased by our next door neighbor as an anniversary gift to her husband.

The painting hangs over their sofa as a reminder of the many days the family has spent sitting on the beach together.

Over the back fence, we listened to little Alejandro laughing, crying, screaming, etc. from the day he was born so Steve was thrilled when he was asked to do a painting of those first days when Alejandro was learning to walk - thus the title, "The Waddler".

"The Entryway" was commissioned on the sly by our friend Jerry as a Christmas present for his wife- the painting shows the side entrance to their weekend retreat.

We saw a woman riding along the beach and Steve liked the challenge of painting a horse - her husband surprised her with "Cowgirl in the Sand" as a Christmas gift.

Steve never knows when a painting will sell or what will be next so he was surprised when this older painting, "Mission San Buenaventura", sold after several years.

"Sunset Dunes", another painting that has been around for awhile, sold just before Christmas to a customer who lives in Chicago - I guess he was dreaming of the beach during the cold winter.

Steve recently delivered "Rincon Classic" to our friends Manny and Sandy - the painting was done in trade for the building of my little garden house.

We are blessed that Steve can spend his day painting and he can paint what he wants

  like this recent painting reminding him of a road trip he and JP took to Mexico years ago.

Our long walks provide lots of ideas for paintings - maybe he will paint this classic Porsche we saw on the street yesterday

or this idyllic spot on a hot winter day a few weeks ago.

One thing is for sure, Steve will always have something to paint and we will always have something new on our walls.

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You can read about Steve's transformation from businessman to artist here.

Visit Steve Cook Studio here.