Thursday, September 29, 2011

Coastal Light and Calm



6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel

"Becoming inspired requires that you be curious about, and attentive to, feelings that emerge to help you reconnect with your original self." - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer


This summer I've been doing a lot of exploration in subject matter, size of paintings, and added another color to my palette that I haven't used in over a decade. But I take the advice of "notice what you notice" (what do you really love to look at?)- and I have the good fortune to have done a lot of painting from life this summer!

I have always sold my plein air works as finished paintings, they are usually gone before I even think of using it as a reference in the studio for a larger, or different sized painting. Listening to Dyer's advice about becoming inspired made me realize I had already done just that. I love the big abstract shapes in nature, the effect that light has on color...that changes each hour, each minute of the day.

Making this little gem available before I take on a big one! This painting is available from my DailyPainters.com gallery (check out Newest Paintings) or contact me here.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Late September Morning



6"x24" oil on linen (2 stretched canvases, 6x12 each)

I've been wanting to paint this bit of garden all summer. Especially for the peegee hydrangea at the corner of the fence. It starts out with limey green blossoms early in the summer, which gradually get huge and a warm white. As summer turns to autumn, they turn a rosey-mauvey-burgundy color. This it the 3rd summer in our garden - and the blooms on this one this year are huge!

This piece can be purchased (unframed) from my DailyPainters.com gallery or contact me here.

Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, September 26, 2011

Afternoon Light of Autumn



8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

Back to the same site at Harkness Park, where I painted "Butterfly Song" just a month ago back in August. Now the purple Joe-Pye weeds have almost gone by, they've turned a bit brownish purple. I chose to catch the view from a slightly different angle on this day - as I really liked the afternoon shadow shapes along the left side walls of the barns. Hurricane Irene really did some weird damage to the foliage on most of the trees. Many have browned out and are dropping leaves rather than turning color. Even the evergreens have browned out on the side facing south, where salt-spray comes off the ocean. I'm really curious as to whether we'll get much more color at all this fall here on the shoreline?!

Contact me here for more information about this painting!

Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Back of the Dunes



8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

I am always pleasantly surprised at the wonderful 'abstract' shapes in a landscape that you see when you squint your eyes down to see just the values.

Even on a gray, misty, overcast day, there is some wonderful color in the dried out grasses along the back of the dune. And yes, it's one of my favorite painting spots, over at Waterford Beach Park, the little path before you walk out to the beach, back in the marshy area. I finished this painting before the mist turned to a light rain. It was a wonderful morning of 'information gathering' with some good ideas tucked away in my memory to use for a larger studio painting, that I'll be sharing in an upcoming blog post!

Contact me here, for more information about this painting!

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Summer's End



12"x16" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Well, hip-hip-hooray! I finally have blogger working again and am able to load photos here once more. Just as I've about decided to go with another blog format. More discussion about that in an upcoming post. Now it's been over a week since I painted this, but my goal that day was to get back to the cove for a simple boat study...of a grouping of boats. In observing them while standing out there over a period of hours, they of course, shift with the winds and tides, swinging to face one direction or another. Usually they all swing to face the same direction, but depending on where they are anchored, some in the grouping may be facing a different direction. So part of my effort - as a painter - was to observe their positions at any one time, and indicate on my painting, where I'd like each of these to be. So while the painting doesn't have the painstaking detail of boats painted neatly in the studio, it is an actual fleeting impression of that moment in time....that part of the day when perhaps the winds were coming from the northwest and the tides changed...you get the idea. And I'm finding that the more I learn, the more there is TO learn. And though I have lived near water most of my life, my boating experience has been limited to canoeing and kayaking with friends.

For more information about this painting, contact me here!

Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Summer's End

Okay, not sure why, but blogger is not letting me load any pictures. Very frustrating, especially considering that I'm rather behind in blogging entries. Well, if it does start working again, there will be a boat study that I did last Wednesday down in Old Saybrook!

12"x16" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wave Study




6"x8" oil on linen mounted on board

So, when I finished painting the marsh scene on Assateague beach, I turned around to face the Atlantic, and decided there was still enough time and energy left to do a quick wave study. Which of course made me realize that I'd like to get out there with a slightly bigger canvas and a whole morning to dedicate to the study of this! But even quick 'doodles' are valuable - watching & looking - observing the color changes as the waves break and roll up on the sand. What a beautiful morning it was last Saturday in Chincoteague & Assateague. I am definitely looking forward to my next trip back there!

Please contact me for more information about this little sketch!

Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Assateague Light



8"x8" oil on Ampersand's gessobord

Wow, I am behind in my blogging. Seems I go away on a painting trip and it takes me awhile to catch up! This little scene was from my last morning there on the island. Over on the beach at Assateague, Hurricane Irene had made a cut through into Swan Cove! Sure brings it right to you when you see the huge force of nature. Last Saturday (almost a week ago as I'm writing this!) it was a beautiful morning to be out at the beach. Turning back toward the cove I could see Assateague Light house gleaming brighter than the wisps of clouds in the sky!

Please contact me for more information about this painting!

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 12, 2011

Painting Under Pearly Gray Skies & Light Misty Rain

Country Church, 9"x12" oil on linen mounted on board
Secret Garden, 8"x8" oil on Ampersand's archival gessobord

Last Friday was a solid gray day, thick cloud cover, and actually a fine mist in the air, that eventually went into a soft rain. I started in the morning painting the little church on North Main Street in Chincoteague. Even though the light is not strong enough for distinctive shadows, there are soft shadows. And the color in the vegetation seems to deepen. For the afternoon, I went over to Channel Bass Inn, on Church Street there on the island. They are a bed & breakfast with a lovely garden behind them. It's like a series of small rooms that lead one into the other. From a city parking lot behind the inn, there is an entrance into the garden that is a wisteria vine covered arbor. This is where I stood to be protected from the mist, which had turned into a very light rain at that point. From under the vines you look into a curved path that leads you past a bench, loads of flowers and around into another opening, until you finally get to the back entrance. It's an enchanting place, and I was glad to return to see it again this year. And glad I had some cover from the rain!

Contact me here for more information about these 2 paintings.

Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, September 9, 2011

Chincoteague, Late Afternoon - sold!



12"x12" oil on Ampersand's archival gessobord

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." - Russel Baker

Well, Day 1 of painting yesterday, and 2 of my 3 were keepers. One was a scraper. I decided today that the one I did in the middle of the day, didn't deserve to see another day. But the other two, I'm so happy with. This one is a spot I have painted before, but I decided to paint in a square format this time. I wanted more sky in there, and as luck would have it, we had some very interesting skies yesterday! Really happy with the value contrasts on this one!

This one will also be in the Plein Air event here on Chincoteague Saturday evening!!

For more information regarding this painting, please contact me here!

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Misty Morning, Assateague/Tom's Cove



12"x12" oil on Ampersand's archival gessobord

"Nothing dies as long as there is the memory to enfold it and a heart to love it". -Ida Beebe

I am down here in Chincoteague, Virginia at the 8th Annual Plein Air Event hosted by Chincoteague Cultural Alliance. Here's a picture of me from a previous year, in their web-site. After hurricane Irene blew through the east coast the other week, I was wondering what I'd find down here, but they are doing fine! There is a new cut through on the beach at Assateague, strong storms are always moving shorelines, the power of the sea and weather is really something to behold. I spent the early morning down on the beach at Assateague Island, looking towards Tom's Cove. The weather was looking a bit questionable, as it had rained while I was eating breakfast. Luckily it was a passing shower, moving off to the west. It took it's time in clearing off though, which was fortunate because there was a beautiful misty cloud cover, and as the sun started to burn through the haze, the marsh grasses were a fantastic limey-electric green! What a beautiful way to start the day!

Mark your calendar for the big event- I'd love to see you if you're in the mid-Atlantic and can make the visit over to the island!

Reception, Exhibition & Sale
Saturday, September 10, 2011
6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Paschal Hall
St. Andrew’s Church
6288 Church Street
Chincoteague Island, Virginia

Here's your first preview! Contact me here for more information about this painting.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, September 5, 2011

Summer Passing



24"X36" oil on canvas

"Summer has set in with its usual severity." ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge


I haven't dropped off the map, just off the grid for almost a week. But I did get some good painting time in. I've found my efforts to paint much bigger outdoors eats into the time I would've spent blogging about it once I finally get back inside. I've always loved doing smaller plein air works (averaging 8x10 in size). But I did want to stretch and challenge myself in a big way this summer by taking larger canvases out in the field.


Painting bigger outside is not for the impatient. Each day I thought I might finish, I would find that I wanted 'just a bit more time' (as in at least 3 more hours). Each of those 'three more hours' continued on until I got to a point where I was satisfied with the 'statement'. I was fortunate to start this before hurricane Irene came through and took the rest of the flowers off of the plants. The purple Russian Sage and the yellow day lilies were pretty much blown off. By having a solid block-in of color to begin with, it was easy to see where these all fit it. Luckily this area did not see any damage, at least in the direction I was looking. Behind me, large old oaks & evergreens had split, and workers were clearing limbs from trees and yards in the hill above me.

It's been a bit frustrating around here, as any one who has survived a hurricane or tropical storm (or even bad winter weather). No power for four days makes you realize how spoiled we are, especially in regards to those things we see as necessities now. How did our ancestors do it? Still no cable for internet, tv or phone around here....and of course it's not a life & death sort of thing, but you do get the feeling the world keeps spinning whether or not we put in our two cents or daily-painting or facebook updates. I've found that my cell phone is holding a much shorter charge these days. Time for a new battery perhaps? Hunting down large bags of ice became the daily routine, to make sure I had enough to keep my cooler of food chilled. After one morning of finding no ice to be had any where, I figured I'd try the liquor store. The guy had sold all 72 bags that he had, but.....they had power back on, and his ice-maker was in the basement....and if I would mind the store while he went down stairs, he'd bag up a couple sacks for me! So, there I was chatting up all the customers who came in, talking storm news, when we thought we might get power back on. And there he was, back with my ice, mid-conversation with a small group of folks who were not strangers any longer.

And talk about 'survivors guilt', I've just discovered that one of my fellow Daily Painter artists, Carol Marine, has likely lost her home to wild-fire yesterday. She, and her husband and son managed to escape, taking with them computer, purse, and a few of her small paintings...everything else is gone.

There are still some in our region with no power (as I write this). But I'm glad I finally am able to pass on the news to you, I'll be painting in the annual Chincoteague Eighth Annual Plein Air Event this week. If you are in the mid-Atlantic, I'd love to see you. Saturday, September 10th 6pm - 10pm is the exhibition and reception. It's held in Paschal Hall, 6288 Church Street on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. All hurricanes have been banned from the island, so please head on over and join us Saturday the 10th for a wonderful evening of newly painted works painted by 45 fabulous East Coast artists!

For more information regarding this painting, please contact me here.

Labels: , , , , , ,