Upcoming Landscape Exhibit

It's that season again!  The Fall shows have started everywhere.  I will both be showing a variety of "Landscapes at the Landsakes" Annual Exhibition to benefit farmland conservation.  It promises to be a beautiful show .  The show is open to the public at the Maple Ridge Gallery, 172 State Route 372, Colia New York from October 8th through 10th.  You will see a lot of beautiful work from some great artists.  Join us if you can!

Misty Newport

"Misty Newport", oil on panel, 6 x 8


I realized there are quite a few studies from last several months that I neglected to post on my blog.  So, you will see them now!  This is a little plein air done in Newport last summer.   I like that combination of deep summer green shrouded in mist.  That is the tony private school St. Georges in the distance mist.  Click on the button above to go to the Daily Paintworks site for purchase/auction.

Happy Memorial Day

I know it seems like I only post on holidays but I have taken an oath to post more often!  I actually do post new images on instagram and newyorknorthfineart.wordpress.com so you are welcome to follow on those sites as well.   It has been a busy few months and Spring seemed to have lasted only a couple of weeks this year!  It went from snow to 80 degrees in the Northeast and then back down again in one month.  Hopefully summer is here to stay now.   Hope you are all enjoying your holiday weekend!

Golden Dusk

Golden Dusk, Oil on Linen Panel, 11 x 14

Hope everyone is staying warm!  I am thinking of summer as you can see.  I can't complain really since I've been in Florida for most of this terrible winter and am returning next week.  I am working on several new cityscapes and landscapes and hope to finish them before I leave.  Stay tuned!

Early Morning on the Beach Path

"Early Morning on the Beach Path", 9 x 12, oil on panel

This is a larger version of a 6 x 8 plein air oil sketch done earlier this winter.  It is on the grounds of the Bonnet House facing the beach.  I reworked this a few times and in doing so lost the transparency of the dark areas.  I like it overall but wish I had held off on those darks in the foreground.   I had to resort to opaque paint to lighten those dark shadows.  Lesson learned (but I will probably do it again . . ).

Intertwined

"Intertwined", oil on linen panel, 9 x 12

The Bonnet House in South Florida has beautiful Melaleuca trees lining the drive to the main house of an old 1940s estate.  It is a beautiful spot to paint.  This was done in three sessions over a week or so.  Sorry for the poor photo - iPhone!

Happy November

"Rain on the Horizon", 6 x 6 , oil on panel

Wow!  I didn't realize I had been absent so long!  I have been working daily and posting pieces as they are finished on Instagram where there is a great community of like minded artists who do some incredible work.  (You can follow along on instagram at www.instagram.com/eden.compton if you are interested.)  It is tiny painting season again and I have lots of little works in progress for the holidays.  Some will be available at Sorelle Gallery in Albany and some will be available at a new online gallery called Spa City Fine Arts.  I will do a post on Spa City Fine Arts tomorrow.  Hope everyone is enjoying the Fall which seems to be turning prematurely to winter already.

Summer Trees

Summer Tree Study, oil on panel, 8 x 8

It's hard to believe summer is over!  It is warmer this weekend in upstate New York than it had been all summer!   Anyway, this is another study for my field note collection.  It was done from a quick pencil sketch in Newport this summer.  I would like to build a large library of these kind of references for my larger paintings.  I am working on a couple of larger pieces and hope to post in the next few days.

Lingering Mist

Study for "Lingering Mist", 8 x 8, oil on panel
Click Here to Bid at Daily Paintworks


This started as a plein air piece done in the middle of a summer day.  I decided it needed a little more mood and changed the time of day to early morning.  I like it much better.  I am going to start putting some of my studies on the Daily Paintworks auction page - starting with this one!  I will also be selling some of my smaller studies and paintings through an online gallery this Fall.  Stay tuned for details!

Twilight at the Lake in Cape Cod

"Twilight at the Lake", 11 x 14, plein air on panel

This photo is picking up strange accents but it was taken with an iPhone so that's about it.   I think the contrast and the purples are over emphasized.  This was a painting started on location at a lake near Dennis on Cape Cod.  It was the end of a beautiful day on the Cape.  I was initially taken with the shape of the trees against the water.  I did a lot of work in the studio on this.  Maybe too much.  I will leave it for a while and look at it with fresh eyes in a couple of weeks.

Cool Morning

Study for "A Cool Morning", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

This is a plein air piece started in Newport a couple of weeks ago.  I did not spend enough time working out the composition before I started so I have struggled with it for the past week or so.  My main area of concern was the bottom right corner.  I had to make up the rocks and tree there so that the composition was more than just three horizontal bands.  I think I will let it sit for a while.  Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend!


Revised painting as of 9/3:  I had to move that big boulder in the right hand corner.  It was heavy ; )

Breeze on the Water

Breeze on the Water, 9 x 12, oil on panel

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  We just finished a nine day charter which was good but exhausting!  I am finally finishing some of the plein air pieces started a few weeks ago.  This was from a plein air trip to Cohasset in July.  It may need a few more tweaks but I'm calling it finished for now!

A Summer Day

"A Summer Day," 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

My friend Denise and I had a beautiful day in Cohasset last week.  It was the perfect summer day!  The colors are little saturated in this photo but it was taken with an iPhone so it is what it is.  I have decided to stop naming locations in my painting titles.  I recently had an email from an internet troll that demanded all copies of one of my plein air sketches of a Connecticut beach because he apparently owns a house which is barely recognizable in my sketch.  He threatened to sue if I didn't send the painting in 50 days!  As my mother said, "I wonder how his lawsuit against Google Earth is going?"  Hmmm.

You may notice that I have been trying out different templates from blogger in the last couple of days.    The blogger templates allows for a myriad of different color combinations but there are some areas that you can't adjust so I am still working on it.

Morning on the Marsh

"Morning on the Marsh", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

This is still a work in progress.  The building is an old convent in Newport.  The actual scene had a road running straight to the convent with the marshy area on the side.  It wasn't that interesting so I used my artistic license to change it (thank you Donald Jurney for that license)!  I have been trying to use instagram more often because it is easier to post images from my iPhone.  I will try to remember to post here when I post on instagram as well.  Or just come over to IG and follow me!

A Rumor of Autumn

Study for "A Rumor of Autumn", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

Don't Panic!  It's not Autumn yet!!  It's not even close.  I painted this study plein air in the Blackstone River Valley last week with Donald Jurney and a few other fantastic painters.  You can follow all of them on instagram (@donaldjurney, @paulbatch, @briandmartin - I know I am missing a couple but you will see them on Donald's thread).  The orange colors in the foreground are the underpainting showing through.  I actually did not intend to make the scene look like Fall but Donald suggested the name and I decided to let it stay Autumn.  I still have work to do on the water and the tree on the left but I am going to put it aside for a while.

Mist Along the Canal

"Study for Mist Along the Canal", 9 x 12, pastel on hand made sanded paper

Yes, another misty painting.   I like fog (unless we are sailing in it).  This is going to be a larger oil painting.  I think I will be able to refine the shapes of the trees a bit more when I do the oil version.  This paper has a lot of texture so it can be hard to get really refined edges.  I like the feeling overall but will probably do a small version in oil before I tackle the larger one.

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!

Sunset Along the Shore

"Sunset ALong the Shore", pastel on sanded paper, 6 x 6

I finally broke out my pastels to do a few studies today.  I usually can't use my pastels on the boat (too messy!) but we are on land for a couple of days so out they came.  We can't see the sun set because of the mountains so it is really more about trying to capture the way the changing sky affects the colors of the trees and land.  I like this piece and may work it up into a bigger size lair.  The back mountain probably needs to be darkened a bit to push it back.

Think Green

"Spring Greens", 12 x 12, oil on panel

I don't usually post works in progress but I felt we needed a little break from the rain and snow!  This painting is based on several sketches and some photo references of one of my favorite spots in Ridgefield, CT.  It has some great trees.  This was a misty morning in late spring/early summer.  This is an example of the indirect painting process I am using in some of my landscapes now.  It has several layers of glazes, scumbles and opaque and translucent passages.  At this point it is a matter of adjusting the values of the rocks and emphasizing the misty quality of the atmosphere which I will do with more glazes and probably some opaque areas to tone down the bright green areas down a bit.  As I've said before, it is a time consuming process!