Connecticut Pastel Society

"Summer Moonrise," Pastel, 9 x 12

I am pleased to announce that my little moonrise pastel has been selected to appear in the Connecticut Pastel Society's "Renaissance in Pastel" show.  The show will be open to the public from October 7th to November 12th at the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, CT.  If you are in the area, please go! Summer has been very hectic this year and I have been traveling a lot, as always.  I have been working on some new cityscapes the last couple of months and should be able to post them soon.  Fall is going to be BUSY.  I will have 10 pieces in the Landscapes for Landsakes fundraising show in Saratoga Springs NY in October.  I will also be at the Saratoga Arts Festival with my portraits on September 17th.  So if you are in Saratoga on that date, please come by Congress Park and say hello!

The Human Connection

I want to share a comment I received in an email about one of my paintings.  The little study above, “Rain on Broadway”, was one of many paintings featured in a silent auction to benefit the Saratoga Preservation Society in Saratoga Springs the other night.  All of my paintings sold but this one sold during a preview showing and was not available during the auction.  When I got home I received a lovely email from the owner of the store that is featured in this painting. Here are a couple of lines from her email:

this is my corner, this is my store, this is a piece of my life. . . this moment you captured just stopped my heart. That quiet rainy evening on the corner where so much of my life has unfolded. If that corner could talk!!

I have to say this is one of the best emails I have ever received about my work.  It is so richly rewarding in so many ways.  And it encapsulates why I love these kind of scenes:  the stories, the history, the human connection.  Needless to say, I hope to create another piece that will touch her in the same way!

New Cityscape Study

Study for "Broadway Drizzle", oil on linen panel, 8 x 8

The reds are a little over saturated in this photo.  This is a study for a larger painting that I am starting today.  The larger piece will be 20 x 20.  I am going to emphasize the glow from the windows with a lot of glazing and transparent layers.  I will post a progress shot this weekend (hopefully)!

Spring Mist

"Spring Mist", 8 x 8, pastel on sanded paper

The mist and fog theme continues . . . This work will be shown at Sorelle Gallery starting Friday, April 25th.  There will be a reception on Friday evening from 6 - 8p.m.  Stop by if you're in the area!

Moonrise Over The Stables

"Moonrise over the stables", oil on panel, 9 x 12

I have been busy painting and getting ready for the trip back to the US next week.  I will have several new paintings of cityscapes and tonalist landscapes like the one above on view at Sorelle Gallery next week.  I will post opening times and schedule tomorrow.  This painting was inspired by some sketches of the stables across from the racetrack in Saratoga Springs.  There is a timeless quality to the old barns where they keep the horses in the summer.  I may do more paintings from here if I can get them to let me past the security gate!

Rain On Broadway

Rain on Broadway, 9 x 12, oil on panel

Forgive the bad photo here.  I only have my iPhone and it really does not seem to take decent pictures of artwork for some reason.  It feels a little strange to be painting cold, rainy street scenes when I am sitting in 85 degree heat in the Caribbean!  Unfortunately, my plans to paint some tropical townscapes have been postponed due to a sailing accident.  I missed a step and fractured my foot!  So, no plein air for a while.  It has been 10 days so far and I am able to walk short distances but am otherwise boat bound at the dock.  So, for now I am working from sketches and references I have of both New York and Saratoga.  Some of the Saratoga paintings will be included in my two person show in Albany later in the Spring.  More details to follow. . .

Illumination

"Illumination", 16 x 20, oil on linen

This is another Saratoga rainy day scene.  I am happy with it overall but need to let it sit for a while before declaring it "finished".  This will probably be the last cityscape I post for a while since I am in the Caribbean now. It's hard to paint cold rainy days when it is 90 degrees and sunny!

Pastel Plein Air: Oak and Cherry

"Oak and Cherry", Pastel on sanded board, 9 x 12

This is my first plein air outing with my pastels in a long time!  I didn't get a chance to do any pastels in the Caribbean (pastels are not allowed on the boat!).  It was a beautiful morning in Saratoga Springs and this Oak tree was the first thing that caught my eye.  The park is filled with blooming cherry trees so it is literally a field of pink and green everywhere you look.

New Snow Paintings

"Saratoga Fields", oil on linen, 24 x 24

I've finally finished up all the winter paintings I've been working on the past few weeks.  I've done quite a few studies and paintings of the area between Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville.  I'm leaving for the tropics tomorrow so this will be the last cold weather painting I will be doing for a while!  Next stop Tortola . . .

Schuylerville Sunset

Study for "Schuylerville Sunset", oil on linen, 6 x 8

Another painting from the Saratoga-Schuylerville area done from sketches and memory.  I am working on a 24 x 24 version of this painting but changed the composition to accommodate the square format.  I am happy with the progress so far and hopefully will be able to post something tomorrow.  Busy, busy.

Winter Landscapes and Memory

"Winter Vineyards", oil on linen panel, 8 x 10

This little painting is a scene from the same area as the last few posts.  Working from memory is both liberating and confounding!  It is liberating in the sense that the artist doesn't feel constrained by the limits of what is in the photo or sketch and is free to move trees around, change the direction of light and create different color harmonies than what may have been there initially.  It is confounding for just that reason as well.  There is no guidepost or map to follow when painting from memory.  The color of the bushes against the snow was what I remembered most vividly of this scene.  I may have overdone the saturation of the rust colored bushes but I'll let it sit a while.

Saratoga Sunrise

"Saratoga Sunrise", oil on linen, 5 x 7

This little painting was one of my first experiments with indirect painting.  I didn't intend to paint in layers with this little study as the underpainting was done in opaque rather than translucent paint.  Paintings done in an indirect manner usually start with a translucent underpainting followed by layers of thin glazes to build the color.  I like the soft effects you can get with glazes but I also like the bold, fresh quality of paintings done in one go ("alla prima").   There will be more posts on indirect painting as I experiment with this method in the coming months.   This painting is currently at Mimosa Gallery in Saratoga Springs NY as part of their small works exhibit which is on view through February 17th.

Along the Road to Schuylerville

"Road to Schuylerville, oil on panel, 6 x 6

This painting was done from sketches and memory.  I have been visiting a few spots on the road between Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville every day for the past week or so.  This is beautiful country very close to the New York/Vermont border.  Bordered by the Hudson River on the east,  there are horse farms, corn fields and apple orchards along the road.  From some vantage points you can see the Adirondack Mountains and Vermont's Green Mountains on the horizon.  I particularly like the winter landscape here.  Below is a pastel version of the same composition.  The colors are cooler and stronger in this version.  I like the texture of this piece (it reminds me of a Twachtman winter scene) but I am doing the larger piece in oil.

Saratoga Lake Oil Sketch

"Lake Ice Saratoga", 6 x 8, oil on linen

Part of my new approach to painting involves working more from memory and on site sketches.  Eventually I hope to get rid of photo references all together.   I am spending more time working out different design ideas and color combinations before starting a new work.  I worked from a couple of graphite sketches to create this little color study.  I was trying to capture the feel of an icy morning at the lake in late Fall.  There was just a light dusting of snow on the lake grasses and trees.   I remember the different colors of the shoreline were a mix of pale warm and cool colors.  I love the pale pinks, greens and greys that you see in a late Fall landscape.

Happy New Year

"Fresh Snow (from the studio window)", oil on gessoed paper, 5 x 7

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  I had a great time with my family in Saratoga Springs NY and Ridgefield CT.  It's been a busy month traveling which partially accounts for my absence from the blog.  The main reason I have not posted very much is that I am starting to take my work in a different direction.  I took two classes in the past few months that have really impacted the way I create my artwork.  I will discuss these two classes and what I learned from them in more detail in subsequent posts.  I will devote more time in the coming year to doing the the preparatory work that goes into creating a piece of art:  drawing, design, conceptual refinement, color studies.  I am going to use my plein air pieces as real studies and not as just little copies of the scenes I happen to find wherever I may be at the time.  The bottom line is that I want to take my work to the next level in the coming year which will require a lot of hard work that doesn't necessarily result in something that can be posted on a blog everyday.  I will be working on ways to make this blog more interesting for those of you who like to look at art every day and those who create art every day!  I will keep you posted  .  .  .

See you next year!

Saratoga Battlefield Plein Air

"Saratoga Battlefield", 6 x 8, oil on panel

The photo gremlin strikes again.  I can't get the colors right so you will have to trust me when I say that the mountains are not electric purple in the original.  This was done last week while we were in Saratoga Springs NY.  This beautiful park celebrates the famous Battle of Saratoga which was a turning point in the American Revolution.  This was one of the lookouts where the Americans had set up camp.  The Hudson River lies just beyond the tree line.  It was a beautiful day and I hope to get back to the park and paint more this Fall before the snow falls!

Saratoga Arts Fest

"November Afternoon",  9 x 12,  pastel on sanded paper

This weekend is the Saratoga Arts Fest in beautiful Saratoga Springs NY.  There are a lot of events going on downtown throughout the weekend.  The above painting can be seen (and purchased) at the Mimosa Gallery which is hosting a fundraiser for the Arts Fest.  The opening is tonight from 4 to 7 p.m. so if you're town please stop by (unfortunately I can't make the opening but hopefully you can!).  I love the town of Saratoga.  There is so much going on and there are lots of beautiful places in the area to paint.  I will be teaching a weekend pastel plein air workshop through the Saratoga Arts Center in September.  I will post more info on the workshop later so stayed posted!

In the meantime, I am getting a little plein air time in while visiting the Chesapeake Bay.  This is an inn in a very small town in Maryland called Oxford.  I was so into my painting that I didn't see the huge black clouds approaching until the loud thunder made me drop my brush!  I had to pack up quickly and didn't have time to finish but I think I kind of like it where I left it.  I'll let it sit a while.