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.

The Secret Garden

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite art board

"I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden."
- John Erskine

I'm finally ready to unveil the last two paintings from my Chincoteague trip. Both of them were done in the fabulous little garden behind the "Channel Bass Inn", just off of Main Street. You would never know that such a garden exists by looking at the front of the Inn. But once you enter into the back yard area, the garden is like a series of little rooms and paths, with a vine covered potting shed, bird baths and fountains, flowers spilling out every where, climbing & soaring; there's something blooming at every level. Tall butterfly bushes and tall sunflowers blossomed overhead to give a real sense of privacy, pink and white phlox growing along some of the lower levels. For my first painting of the morning, I placed my easel where I could see the light peeking through on the garden path, lighting up the rim of an old shell shaped fountain. I'm calling it "The Secret Garden" and it's a 7"x5" oil on primed masonite art board. Oh what an inspiring place to paint (and think about what I might do in my own garden at home)! Tomorrow I'll show you the last painting of the "Chincoteague weekend". To purchase, please visit my DailyPainters.com Gallery Store.

Welcome to my latest new subscribers! I do hope you enjoy the paintings, photos & stories! I always love hearing comments from my readers!!

Chincoteague Houseboat

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain

The fourth & final painting of last Friday's paint-out in Chincoteague was completed in the afternoon. I'm calling it, "Chincoteague Houseboat", and it's a 5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite artboard.

After lunch, I headed down to Curtis Merritt Harbor marina near the end of South Main Street on Chincoteague. Now at 2pm, the sky was clouding up and the wind picking up a bit, too, but I had been admiring some of the larger boats here. As long as the wind didn't send me & my gear into the water, I knew I'd have the last painting of the day right there. I had checked out the views from both sides of the marina & found I couldn't go wrong either way, but I had one view that really appealled to me - but what I thought was a shed or small building....turned out to be a houseboat! Wow! I found out through one of the boaters who came up to see what I was up to. "Oh, you're painting the house-boat".
me, "That's a houseboat?...wow, does it go out very often?"
The boater told me, this fellow who owns the houseboat only takes it out once or twice a year, but certainly for the pony swim! Now there's a story - and something I'd love to see! It's been almost 20 years since I've been to a pony penning day on Chincoteague (it happens every year, the last week of July). But the excitement stays with you - it's something you never forget! I think I need to get me back to the island during July and see this again! I'll be watching out for the houseboat!

The plein-air event on Chincoteague is so well planned and hosted. There's a couple that hosts a dinner for the artists on the Friday night of the weekend event. They always have a wonderful spread of food and desserts in warm and inviting surroundings. It is always fun to see old friends who continue to return to the paint-out as well as new friends that you haven't yet had the pleasure to meet. Now, as beautiful as the surroundings are to paint, there are many of us artists who smile, wink & tell you we definitely come back for the Friday night dinners!

Contact me for purchase information on this painting: roxannesteed@gmail.com

Green Cottage

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"I can envision a small cottage somewhere, with a lot of writing paper, and a dog, and a fireplace and maybe enough money to give myself some Irish coffee now and then and entertain my two friends."
- Lt. Richard Van de Geer

The second painting on Friday during my Chincoteague Paint-out last week-end:

Over on Maddox Street, about 9am the sun is still moving quickly and making some interesting shadows under the eves and porch roof on the front of this house. I love to see the varying temperatures of light as it glances across the angles of buildings. Top that off with the gorgeous crepe myrtle on the front corner of this cottage and I've got a wonderful complimentary color thing going here. I'm set up on the lawn of a hotel just across the street, in the shade of the hotel sign, so there is no direct sun on my canvas or palette (makes it easier to see what you're doing!) Now if you've been to Chincoteague, you'll know that there are several bands of roaming ducks- being surrounded by water, this should not come as a surprise. I was wondering if they would come up and start pecking at my paint tubes, but they kept their distance. Whew, dodged that little bullet. So again, to start a painting, I indicate the large masses- with 'masses of paint' and block that in with these considerations in mind: warm vs. cool colors and light vs. dark values. As a painter, you'll find that if you allow yourself to block in with simple shapes first(and fairly abstractly), and get that canvas covered, the details you add on top of that will finish things up easily. And I am so glad I chose those shadow shapes immediately and got them indicated with the initial block in. As the sun continued to rise, the shadow shapes continued to change and weren't near as interesting as when I first saw them!

*Painters, make your decisions early and stick with them, see them through to the end. If you really must change for something 'better' you can always do that later. But if what you saw at first is the best, and you haven't gotten that down on canvas, it's more difficult to go back to the shadows that "used to be there". By 11am I was wrapping things up, the sun is high in the sky and I was ready to move to my next selected painting
spot.

Contact me to purchase this painting: roxannesteed@gmail.com

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Sunrise On Assateague

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"Each golden sunrise ushers in new opportunities for those who retain faith in themselves, and keep their chins up....Meet the sunrise with confidence. Fill every golden minute with right thinking and worthwhile endeavor. Do this and there will be joy for you in each golden sunset."
- Alonzo Newton Benn


I'm back from Chincoteague and now that the laundry's done, I'm off on the next adventure. It's birthday week at our house (both my husband & I share this week) but I'm three days older, so I get to celebrate first. That's another story for later in the week! But I'm writing this on a train to DC!

I've been wanting to tell you about the Paint-out event I spent in Chincoteague, VA last weekend. The Chincoteague Cultural Alliance hosts "Second Saturday" events all year long. For the month of September, they host a most wonderful Plein-aire Paint-out, exhibit and sale. It's well publicized and attended. Most of the artists attending paint Friday and Saturday, but some come earlier in the week to paint. I drove down on Thursday from CT and arrived with enough daylight to scout out the places I wanted to paint this year. For those not familiar with the area, Chincoteague is an island off of the eastern shore of Virginia, right near the border of Maryland. It's a small town with marinas, and famous for their oysters! the next island east of Chincoteague is Assateague, a National Park known for its wild ponies, made famous by the "Misty of Chincoteague" story.

I don't think I've ever seen the light as beautiful as I did on Thursday evening when we drove in. At 7:00pm the angle of light brought out the rich colors in the marsh grasses, trees, and even the mud flats. I'd been watching the times for sunset, and knew I wouldn't have enough time to set up & paint the rest of the evening. Perhaps if I'd just arrived another 30-50 minutes earlier? So I just stared....and took photos....and made plans for Friday! The weather was perfect and holding. Friday morning I set my alarm for 5:30am to be able to get out & set up for a sun-rise painting at the same marsh area over on Assateague. I paint in this area at least once each year, and I know the ponies make their rounds at some point during the day.

So, today's painting is "Sunrise at Assateague", a 6x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board.

The light moves fast at 6:30am. I kept things small this trip, bringing only 5x7 & 6x8 panels. I set up & began indicating all the largest land & tree masses, and BOOM- here comes the sun. I quickly decided where I wanted this in the tree-line. As it continued to climb the colors in the marsh grass continued to change and illuminate. I'm not a 'early' morning person, but if you've never watched the sun come up....and I mean really - sit- and slowly- take - it - all in....it's well worth your effort. As I was painting/watching/looking with intense concentration, I'm pulled from my thoughts by whinnying! Lots of whinnying! I turn to the marsh side behind where I'm standing, they're still not in view yet, but I hear the ponies! So I turn back to my painting, and the intensity of looking, thinking, painting....and now I'm hearing "slosh, slosh, slosh, whinny" - they are right behind me making their way through the marsh. They look sort of like a wild parade with egrets riding on their back. It makes me smile with delight! But I have a painting to finish....must focus!

Now the painting of sunrises (and sunsets for that matter) have a big challenge- you just can't 'stare' into the sun, you go color blind for a bit, and it really makes it difficult to see anything. I found myself holding up one hand to block out the sun (once I had it down on my canvas) and continued moving my eyes across the area to see the colors I wanted in my painting.

I was painting a few yards away from Lisa Egeli (one of the many fine painters at this event) who happened to be among the several of us who had chosen that view. I asked her later how she handled the 'being blinded by the intense light' situation. She indicates all the land & tree masses on her canvas before the sun comes up, then as it's rising, indicates on her canvas where it will be....and then watches the colors. Once the sun is just above the treeline, it's easier to see the shapes between the trees - and she can indicate that easier. She remembers the colors she has just watched, and goes in with that, tends to her edges, and finishes up. I find these events helpful in sharing ideas with other artists, so I'll pass these along to my artist readers! At this point in the day, the sun is up, it's still before 8am and I have a little green cottage with a fushcia colored crepe myrtle waiting for me on Maddox Street back in town! That is, after I stop for a big breakfast to get me through the rest of the day!

Contact me to purchase this painting: roxannesteed@gmail.com

Welcome to my latest new subscribers! I do hope you enjoy the paintings, photos & stories! I always love hearing comments from my readers!!

Misty's Marsh, Chincoteague

"Every year the Chincoteague fire department rounds up the wild ponies of Assateague. island, and then auctions off the colts and yearlings to thin out the herd. A young brother and sister, Paul and Maureen Beebe, have set their hearts on owning one particular wild three-year old pony, The Phantom. Only they have to earn the money, the Phantom has to be captured in the roundup (which she never has), and then they have to outbid everyone else for her in the auction. And even the Phantom herself has a surprise for Paul and Maureen: a foal named Misty." Review written by Kathy Li



8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

Saturday morning we painted at one of the marsh areas over on Assateague, the National Wildlife Refuge where the wild ponies are. Artists love to paint this side in the morning as the sun is behind us & illuminates the trees and grasses so beautifully. Frequently the ponies end up grazing through while we are there painting in this area. The day was hot, humid and bright as opposed to the day before- Friday was an overcast sky. The contrasts are frankly quite fun for painters to have such a back to back contrast from one day to the next!

End of the Island, Chincoteague

“Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”

- Dale Carnegie

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on board

This is Friday late afternoon's painting. After lunch we drove around the island to check out other places,...& ended up coming back close to where we were in the first place. But this part of the marsh had a ton of egrets feeding in the marsh when we set up. They stayed there for almost the whole time we painted, leaving after they gorged themselves for another 2 hours. Then, practically in unison.... they arose & left all together.... This is the marsh after the quiet.....

Morning Marsh, Chincoteague - sold

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
- Maya Angelou


9"x12" oil on linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

Today's painting is called "Morning Marsh". What a wonderful scene, the lovely abstract shapes in the land and water here on the island of Chincoteague, (VA). We painted in the morning, had lunch (oysters, YAY) and painted again in late afternoon.

It's so good to be visiting my VA friends again - I do miss seeing them & wish we weren't so far apart! It's a joy to get together & be a part of this large paint-out here in one of my favorite places! And...I'm eating all the fried oysters I can! YUM! We had a great day painting, I'll post the afternoon one tomorrow!