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.

Adirondack Plein Air Festival and Third Prize

"Morning on Bloomingdale Road", 9 x 12, Pastel

I just returned from the Adirondack Plein Air Festival in Saranac Lake, New York.   We had perfect weather for the event:  three days of absolutely beautiful clear skies and moderate temperatures.  I wishI could have spent the week up there as it took half the weekend just trying to decide what to paint!  The event was attended by 70 plein air painters from the Northeast and Canada.  There were some really good painters so I was quite honored (and surprised!) when I won the "Saranac Health and Healing Award" which was 3rd prize.   Second Place went to Charlie Hunter whose unique, starkly beautiful and moody paintings are always top award winners and First Place went to George Van Hook whose large painting of a fly fisherman in the stream was quite impressive.

Flowers on Cape Cod Marsh

"Marsh Flowers", 6 x 6, oil on panel

Well it has been a whirlwind of activity since last I posted over a month ago!  In that time I have closed on a new house in Saratoga Springs NY, sailed in Newport, RI and had a family vacation in Cape Cod.    While I was able to get some sketches and field work done, I did not have a lot of time for studio painting or blogging.  I am still unpacking and traveling between Saratoga and Newport but I am focused on getting some painting done this summer!  The above was a quick field sketch from last week in Cape Cod.  It was fairly early in the morning and quite humid.  I was focused on capturing the color relationships created by the humid atmosphere.

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.

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!

Plein Air Postcard Syndrome

"Rose Island Lighthouse", oil on linen, 6 x 6

For the life of me I can not get a decent photo of this painting.  I've tried every camera setting and photo editing fix and I can't get the color right.  It is also picking up strange accents like the orange in the sky which is much more subtle and the darks in the rocks which is also more subtle.  Weird.  Any and all photo suggestions are welcome.  Anyway, I did this study using only my sketches which is something I've been trying to practice more and more.  I want to free myself not only from photo references but also from what I call "plein air postcard syndrome."  I think many artists get caught up in the technical challenge of trying to capture a scene exactly as it appears at any given time of day when painting plein air.  I know I do.  While I may not have escaped the postcard aspect in this composition I deliberately focused on finding interesting patterns in the building and rocks while I was sketching.   I think a second pass at this scene would focus more on the rocks and and the front part of the lighthouse rather than trying to get the whole building into the composition.