Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge is located in Columbia, North Carolina. I visited the area in early October, so there are some interesting reds and autumn colors reflected in the painting. I like this picture because it includes sky, land and water. Each of these areas reflects a different painting style.

This work was juried into SCOPE: The North Carolina Landscape Show - and was awarded First Prize in that show. 

It is a 1-1/2" canvas with all four sides painted and is currently available at the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh (Cameron Village) littleartgalleryandcraft.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

For years I have struggled with how to paint a view from the beach. On a lazy day in early July it hit my while idling the day away at Atlantic Beach. Looking out on the horizon I saw very definitive shapes and lines. Unlike other paintings I have done that usually involve tress and other complicated shapes, this setting was beautiful in its simplicity. I love the contrasts that this scene allowed fo: the dark blues of the water vs. the light blues of the sky and the tans and umbers of the beach vs. the water made the different segments of this work pop off the canvas.

Despite the apparent simplicity, this painting took an incredibly long time to complete. The water and the sand each were painted in small grids and then later refined. The beach actually has sand particles in it to make it a bit more authentic.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

Sweetwater Creek is located in Eastern North Carolina near Williamston.  During a recent trip to the region I took some pictures from the highway overpass.  Things like sunken trees and dark muddy water with brilliant defined reflections make this a very interesting landscape.

There are several different acrylic painting techniques I used to create this picture.  The water was painted in different grays, greens and purples – when complete I applied a thick sap green glaze over the water this allowed for a sharp contrast with the foreground.  The grassy area in the foreground is different bands of greens and yellows accented by speckles of contrasting greens and yellows to represent the wet grass.  The further background in the top 1/3 of the painting represents the dense forestry I saw in that area.

Certainly the most involved and eye catching elements of this work are the trees.  The detail work and heavy impasto allow these trees to jump off the canvas.  In some cases (like the red in the upper left) dried paint/glaze is adhered to the canvas using gel medium.

This work is presented as an unframed work.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

In the second painting of my Sweetwater Creek series I decided to hold off on the impasto work. I like the water in this piece and the reflections of the trees seem more pronounced. The depth provided by the blacks, grays and blues in the top center make a bit of intrigue as to where the water ends and land and trees begin.

This work is presented as an unframed work.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

In creating a typical landscape, I find the sky to be one of the most important elements to the painting.  The viewer’s eye is directed to the vanishing point where horizon line disappears and eventually dissolves into the sky.  Challenging the viewer with a “non-traditional” sky I find accents other parts of the painting.

In 2009 this piece was accepted into The FIne Art League of Cary's Annual Juried Show. It is a 1-1/2" canvas with all four sides painted. 

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN SOLD

In Croatan Forest 2, I used varying square and rectangular shapes of blues, whites and grays to achieve this “geometric sky”.  Just by cutting shapes in masking tape and applying different color glazes in layer over layer allowed me to achieve this effect.

In 2009 this piece was accepted into The Wayne County Arts Council Annual Juried Show. It is a 1-1/2" canvas with all four sides painted.  It is presented as an unframed work and will be shipped free to anywhere in the continental United States.

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN SOLD

Over Memorial Day Weekend we visited Lake Waccamaw near Wilmington, NC. It was an overcast day so the sky offered some interesting colors. This is a very shallow lake - the kids and I walked nearly 100 yards into the lake before the water got too deep. This allowed the bottom of the lake to be faintly seen in the picture from which this painting is depicted.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

This is the second painting I completed that is inspired by a recent trip to Lake Waccamaw near Wilmington, NC. The sky reflects a bit of organized chaos of varying shapes, colors and symbols. The white outlines representing clouds were placed over the part of the color/shape pattern that moves diagonally rather than horizontally across the canvas. Because the leaves of the big tree encompassed so much of the sky, I decided to continue the same pattern - this time using varying shades of greens and yellows. These leaves are accentuated with a glazing medium-fluid acrylic mixture that is evident in the dot patterns.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

My favorite area of Eastern North Carolina is Croatan Forest.  Situated between New Bern and Atlantic Beach the landscape is diverse enough where one might see towering pine trees and dense forestry adjacent to a sandy beach and serene coastline.  I created three paintings from the pictures I took.    My favorite of these is Flanners Beach  this really illustrates a wild and diverse forest scene in contrast to the serenity of the beach at sundown.

In 2009 this piece was accepted into the Visual Art Exchange SCOPE juried show. It is a 1-1/2" canvas with all four sides painted.  It is presented as an unframed work and will be shipped free to anywhere in the continental United States.

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

Growing up in the North, I always tended to see cotton as a synthetic/artificial material. Seeing it grow out of the ground in full bloom is quite interesting. The pure white of the cotton offset against the greens of the field and the trees in the background create some interesting color contrasts.

The cotton is this painting is composed of fluid acrylics (Pearl White and Van Dyke Brown) mixed with glazing medium. I am anxious to try a similar composition on a larger canvas.

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

The Second in a series of cotton field paintings.  The purple and blue sky in this came out magnificent.  The cotton is this painting is again composed of fluid acrylics (Pearl White and Van Dyke Brown) mixed with glazing medium.

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

Hoop Hole Creek is in Atlantic Beach, NC.  I visited the area in 2009 and took a lot of pictures, but nothing really popped out.  I knew if I were to paint this area, the painting rather than the location would need to be my area of focus.  I decided to create a polytich of 12, 10x10” panels.  I painted each panel separately and tried different painting techniques on each.   When finished they were all mounted onto 36x48” oak board to create a full composition.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

Located just south of Goldsboro, NC is Cliffs of the Neuse State Park.  We visited the park in late Spring, this visit was preceded by about seven straight days of rain.  Alot of the hiking trails were flooded, but it created some cool pictures that would not exist under normal conditions.

 When I began painting these pictures this was my first go around with acryl gouache on watercolor paper.  I use acryl gouache in nearly all of my paintings, but usually as more of an accent layer over traditional heavy body acrylics.  Previous paintings have always been done on canvas or boards, cold press watercolor paper provided me an interesting new dynamic.   Unlike canvas, the paper allows for softer strokes and better detail. Of course some of the impasto and sgrafiito techniques that I like to use are not possible on this surface, but overall I like this surface as I can do paintings a bit quicker.  They also look nice under glass in a metal silver frame.

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN SOLD

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN SOLD

A painting derived from a picture I took while visiting Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach, NC.  I believe Fort Macon was constructed in the early 1700’s and served prominent roles in the American Revolution, Civil War, WWI and even WWII.   My view of Fort Macon is one interpretation of a view seen by multitudes of men over a course of 300 years.  What I saw was an interesting landscape of twisted and winding trees offset by a brilliant blue sky.  At different points in time this same view might have had pirates storming the fortress or a brilliant blue sky replaced by exploding mortar fire.

It is presented in a shiny silver metal frame.

Buy the original by contacting me at micah@micahmullen.com

Buy prints at http://micah-mullen.fineartamerica.com

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN SOLD