Venerable Spirit (30x40")

This is "The Venerable Spirit" (30x40") oil on wood panel. I did a smaller version (6x8") of this image a while back and have had a fondness for it..I wanted to do a larger version and finally got a chance to..viola! This boat was docked in Rockport harbor some years ago and has absolutely beautiful lines. As a design, the work was done for me, look at that swooping line on the left side of the boat..what a craft! The colorful reflection of the houses in the background keeps your eye from exiting the picture plane and keeps it moving around the composition.

Thank you all for checking in from time-to-time, I hope you'll be back..I'm very excited for 2010 as an artist. I have four shows scheduled so I will be very busy. Here is what is ahead in 2010:
Rockport Art Association, Rockport, Mass solo show March 28
The Gallery at Mill Falls, Meredith, NH, one man show June 25
The Kennedy Gallery, Portsmouth, NH solo show August 06
Button Factory Open studio, Portsmouth, NH December 05.

Happy Holidays to you all and happy New Year.
Todd Bonita

Thank you.

Max, Alison and I at my Button Factory art studio
Thank you to friends and family and the hundreds of visitors who stopped by my art studio this weekend at the Button Factory open studio event. It was a huge success. I had some genuine belly laughs and met a lot of really cool new people from all over the country. I met a guy who recognized a boat in one of my paintings as belonging to his neighbor..he called him and told him, and in a short time I was shaking hands with the owner of the boat..Turns out his father-in-law built him that boat by hand..after a brief phone call I was soon introduced to an 89 year old boat builder named Charles who had made that boat with his own hands...how cool is that?! He invited me to his boat building workshop where I definitely plan to go and observe and in all likely hood do a painting of this man working his craft. It was wonderful.
Fifteen paintings found new homes and I will likely start relationships with two art gallery owners who welcomed my work this weekend. Thanks to you all.

Charles B. Darcy the boat builder who hand crafted the pea pod boat in my painting titled Newcastle Dory #1 shown on the wall behind him.