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!

And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

"Sunflower", Oil on Panel, 16 x 20

I took a little break from the drizzle of my rainy cityscapes to revisit my Caribbean market ladies.  I did a series of these paintings in pastel several years ago based on our trips to the island of St. Martin. We have not been back to St. Martin in several years so I more or less abandoned this subject matter.  But, I was feeling like doing something a little different so I pulled out the reference files.  This is probably a little more contrasty and saturated in some areas than the actual painting but I am pleased with it overall.  Shout out to Greg Little for the helpful advice!

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!

Frost's Woods

I have started a series of posts about Visual Poetry which you can follow over on the New York North Fine Art blog where you can read some great posts by my friend Rita DiCaprio as well.  I have started a series of paintings that are based on poetry.  These are not intended to be literal translations but are visual ideas that hopefully communicate a particular mood or emotion in a poetic manner .   My first artist is Robert Frost (you will also be able to follow on instagram with the hashtag #robertfrostproject but there are only two so far!).  The poem referenced above is Stopping by the Woods on A Snowy Evening:

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.  

The only other sounds the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Happy New Year

"Chinatown Morning," 9 x 12, oil on panel

Hope everyone had a great holiday season!  It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and here we stand in 2015 already!  I am eager to attack my long list of art goals for this year which I will discuss in more detail in subsequent posts.  My work process has evolved over the past year or two and I am trying to be more deliberate and focused in the development of the concept, the design and the execution of an idea.  My plein air paintings are primarily used as a studies right now and I have been doing a lot more drawing in the field which I enjoy.  I do still love the cityscape genre so you will be seeing more of these this year!

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.

Urban Beauty: Not Just Another Pretty Picture

"After the Rain Tortola", 9 x 12, oil on panel

I am pleased to announce that "After the Rain Tortola" has been accepted into the "Urban Beauty" show at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa, California.  The paintings selected for this national juried show will focus on the "unusual beauty and sometimes darker side of our cities."  It will run from October 4th through the 17th.  I wish I could attend the reception on the 4th but it is a long way to go for a party!  But you should go if you are in the area!

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.

Summer is Here

"Newport Summer" study, 6 x 8, oil on panel

It finally feels like summer!  The boats are out and the sun is shining.  This painting is much lighter and cooler than the above jpeg.  I can't seem to get a decent photo because it is so bright outside.  I will try to get a better picture later if I can.  I am announcing a new sales policy regarding my small studies and pastels that are featured on my blog and Facebook.  Starting this week my new 6 x 8 and 6 x 6 studies will be available via the Daily Paintworks website.   I will not be selling these small pieces through the galleries any longer so if you are interested in a small painting please either email me or just click on the Daily Paintworks widget on my blog.  Larger paintings will still be available through the galleries.

"White Umbrella"

"White Umbrella", 9 x 12, oil on panel

This is an oil version of a pastel painting I did a long time ago.  I've always loved this image.  I hope to make a trip to New York soon to collect some more cityscape references.  In the meantime, this painting as well as my recent cityscapes and tonalist landscapes will be on view at Sorelle Gallery starting this evening.  There will be a reception starting at 5 p.m. so if you are in the upstate New York region please come by!

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!

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!

After the Rain

"After the Rain" (Road Town, BVI) 9 x 12, oil on panel

I had a fairly unproductive month due to the fractured foot incident but things are on the mend!  I have been working on some small pieces while laid up on the boat.  This is one of a few paintings currently in progress though this one is pretty close to finished.  There may be a scumble here or a glaze there before it is all done but I am leaving it for now.  I will post the remaining few pieces as they get closer. . .

En Plein Pleut

"Rainy Day in Annapolis", oil on panel, 6 x 8

I am happy to report that the sun has finally been spotted in Annapolis Harbor after 7 days of rain.  Seriously.  It's been raining for a week.  This is a rainy plein air sketch done from the boat this morning.   At least it is dry under the bimini!

Saratoga Moonrise

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

This is another oil sketch done by memory.  I stood on my porch a few weeks ago in Saratoga and quickly sketched the moon rising behind a neighbor's house.   My main memory was of the red violet color in the lower part of the sky so I developed the rest of the color harmony from that one observation.  I am trying to do at least one of these sketches every day to strengthen my memory skills.  It is amazing how much you can recall of a subject or scene if you spend enough time studying it beforehand!

Sunset Cape May

"Sunset Cape May", oil on panel, 6 x 8

I did the underpainting for this sketch while we were bringing the boat down from Newport a couple of weeks ago.  The light was beautiful but it didn't last long!  I had just enough time to get the basic shapes down before it was all over.  After the underpainting was dry I added transparent glazes to the sky to get that sunset "glow".

Memory Painting

"Morning on Birch Street", 5 x 7 , oil on panel

Yes, another long absence from the blog.   Our new house in Saratoga and the constant travel over the past six months have taken a toll on my productivity and blog material!  I still sketch and paint every day but most of it is preparatory work for pieces that I will work on in the studio later on.   I will have a long stretch of studio time coming up in a couple of weeks.  One of the exercises I am trying to do more frequently is memory painting which I've mentioned before on this blog.  The above sketch was done from memory this afternoon without any references.  It is the view from my window in the early morning in Saratoga.  I did a couple of pencil sketches a few weeks ago when I was there.  I looked at the sketches to refresh my memory and then put them away to paint the above oil sketch.  I find it liberating to not be tied to the scene in front of me!

Twilight in the Adirondacks

"Adirondack Twilight", oil on panel, 6 x 8

I hope everyone's Fall is off to a good start!  Summer certainly flew by fast but I love this time of year.  It is the perfect season for outdoor painting in my opinion.   The weather is still warm but comfortable during the day and the air is crisp - perfect!  As I've discussed in previous posts, I am trying to spend more time sketching and painting reference studies in my outdoor sessions rather than producing finished paintings.  The above color study was painted from a black and white pencil sketch done in the  Adirondacks a few weeks ago.  It captures what artists call the "magic hour" from sunset to twilight.  I have also been rising early to get some sketching done during the early dawn hours.  Luckily the sun rises later this time of year!