A Long Stretch

It's been quite awhile since I posted, so here's an update. In the early spring, Mary Byrom and I, plus a few others, painted at Mothers' Beach in Maine. That's Mary with the easel and me with a sketchbook.

Later, I went to Sugar Hill, NH with the New Hampshire Plein Air group to paint the lupines. We do this every year. The flowers are wonderful, but of course I had to get a couple of buildings in. This is a 12" by 9", oil on oil-primed linen. I'm expanding it into a larger painting, but so far it's a flop.

Below is my part in a collaborative printing (woodcut) project, engineered by Maria Arango, an artist from Las Vegas. The result is a huge, multi-part, "puzzle" print, but she has also published the images in a book. Here's a link to her site if you want details: http://1000woodcuts.com/projects/cityoftheworld/index.html. It's fun to be part of such a huge project!

In August, while hauling my painting gear out of the back of the car in Camden, I slipped a disk in my back and was laid up for a couple of months. Ouch! Because of that, I didn't get to one of my favorite places to paint, Tarbin Gardens, very often, but here's a small (7" x 5") oil I did there at the edge of one of the ponds. 

I'm working on making my painting gear a lot lighter, to prevent any more injuries. One project is turning an old laptop computer into a paintbox, We'll see! 

Snow!

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to settle down and paint. Here I am on Tuesday, trying out oil-primed linen again. I'm beginning to like this stuff!  Mary Byrom found a turnout we could paint from. It's still not bitterly cold, so we needed only a modest number of layers to keep warm. You might be able to see the little barn behind me across the field (I was painting the buildings on the other side of the road). After awhile we noticed animals coming out of the barn.

Here's a closeup of the donkeys that kept an eye on us. They're too cute not to paint sometime. I'll post the farm I painted as soon as I get photos (forgot to do it in the field). 

Still Painting

Yes, I have been painting! Here's a photo taken by Marcus Gale of me just starting a painting of an old boat in Durham, NH. The boat filled with water as the tide came in. A local guy told us that someone planned to restore it. I've almost finished the painting; I'll post it soon.

Although I haven't painted at Prescott Farm in Laconia yet, I scouted it out recently for the New Hampshire Plein Air group, which has been invited to paint there. 

There's a lot of paintable material there, from flowers....

to multiple-angled rooftops. It was blazing hot that day, but lots of big trees provided cooling shade.

 We had a week of 90-plus degree weather recently, so I decided to work in the studio instead of going out to get heat stroke. Tarbin Gardens, where I paint often, has a bunch of cats (six? seven?) roaming around. I've taken lots of photos of them recently and used a few to make these cat portraits.

This is Creamsicle, who, I have to say, seems quite lazy. Though I've caught him in motion a few times, he's mostly flopped on the ground, in the shade, with his eyes half-closed. 

I'm not sure of the real name of this beauty, but I named her Penny Ante (money cat, get it? ::groan::). The rest of her markings are even more amazing; I hope to capture that in a painting sometime.

This little tabby is the shyest of all, barely coming out of the shadows for a photo. 

All the cat paintings are 8" x 8", oil on gessobord. 

Summer!

What to do on the first, hot, day of summer? Why, paint of course. Even though the temperature was 92 degrees, I went to Canterbury Shaker Village, thinking that I could find some shade and that there might be a breeze up on the hill. Right on both counts! I also pulled up a chair in an attempt to save my energy in the heat. 

There are cows at the Village this year. When I arrived, mid-morning, they were all walking around munching grass.

A few hours later, they had flaked out and were lying around like a bunch of hot hounds. 

There was water available for them. 

The gardens are smaller this year, but still beautiful. They aren't growing any vegetables, from what I could see. 

Here's a closeup of those poppies near the barn. 

A lot of the plantings are medicinal herbs and other useful stuff. Everything is labeled, so there's something to learn. 

One of my favorite flowers. These old-fashioned roses smell wonderful! 

Milestone

This may look like an odd picture to post, but it shows just how faithfully my ancient Volvo has taken me to countless painting sites, among other places. I've never had a car that came even close to 300,000 miles. Now I'm thinking of trying for 400,000! It turned over on the way back from painting at a farm in Wells, Maine yesterday. And yes, I stopped the car to take the photo.

The day was overcast for quite awhile and my subject was pretty much in shadow. Even though it didn't seem like a very good choice, I couldn't resist the brick farmhouse and attached barn. I thought it was a pretty good start; then, in packing up, the painting fell in the dirt. Ugh! When it's dry, I'll brush it off and work on it a bit more. 

There was a flock of chickens running around the farm. That fence didn't keep them in for long. 

Their rooster kept them together, corralling them like a little sheepdog. 

What Season Is It, Anyway?

This must be New England. Here I am, less than three weeks ago, taking a break from painting to pose in my new summer hat in New Castle. Mary Byrom, coordinator of the southern chapter of the Plein Air Painters of Maine, took the pic.

About a week later, I'm painting in Perkins Cove in my winter hat, knitted by my friend Ruth. I have a heavy wool sweater under the windbreaker, too. It was a chilly, gray day! The picnic table was a handy place to put my paintbox. (Thanks for the photo, Marcus!)

Even on a dark day, there are interesting things to see and paint. These boats always seem to be here, waiting for someone to paddle them out to a lobster boat.

On land, you might see folks hanging out around the back of a pickup truck to chat. It's not much different on the water.

There's work to do, too. On a previous sunny day, the Michelle D heads out to pull traps.

Even though the Cove is full of working boats, the scene is peaceful and gorgeous. I still haven't finished that painting I started..... I'll just have to go back.

The New Easel

A couple of months ago, I traded in my cheapo Chinese easel for the real deal, the Take-it easel from Tobin Nadeau (see the link at right). It's a world of difference! Adjustments are made to the legs by pulling out brass knobs, much better than the wiry hooks on the old one that got caught on everything. I got the "Stapleton Kearns" version, that has a nice fat carrying strap. In this photo, my panel is hooked on with a bungee, but there are three holes that can be used for a support rod instead. There's a roll of paper towels stuck onto the end of the crossbar. I loop a couple of tiny bungees over it to keep the towels from unwinding in the wind.
Here's my setup, with a brush holder on the right, a "turps" container hanging from a support bar and, on the left, a clip from a sporting goods shop that I use to hang my trash bag. No tying/untying or blowing away! My palette is a sheet of translucent plexiglas fitted into the cover of an ancient 12 x 16 paintbox. I took off the doohickey on the side so the box would lie flat. In the winter, before I leave home, I squeeze out paint onto a covered palette from Judson's, so I don't have to take off my gloves and mittens and open tubes with freezing fingers. The big palette is just for mixing. One thing you can't see is the sheet of rubbery shelf liner that I use under the box to keep it from sliding off the support bars. That's not usually an issue, but one windy day I noticed that my paintbox had blown sideways and was about ready to topple off. Problem solved.
The easel came with a set of "showshoes" that prevent the easel from sinking into deep snow. I didn't really need them this winter, as there wasn't much snow, but they're kind of cute.
My medium is Liquin, which I keep in a squeeze bottle (thanks to Mary Byrom for that tip!). I can squeeze out just the amount I want, using one still-gloved hand, with no mess. Everything fits in the box (including a 12 x 16 panel) except my lunch, water, a sketchbook and the paper towels, all of which go into a small backpack. The whole thing sets up or breaks down in about two minutes, not counting cleaning off the palette. This easel is my favorite piece of art equipment ever!

Ms Liberty

This woodcut of a nude has nothing to do with the show, "Love, Lust & Desire," that I mentioned in an earlier post. I did it for an exchange, the theme of which was "Nudes." 

The show opening was great fun! The McGowan gallery was jammed with people the entire time. Two of the four paintings I have in the show have sold. They happened to be the ones I posted here. Many other paintings went off to happy buyers, too. Who says we're in a recession? (OK, they were all small, 8.5" x 11" or less, and pretty low-priced, under $300. But still.) 

Add-on

I lost the other image yesterday and blogger wouldn't let me add it, so here's another try. 

Valentines

OK, I know it's been forever since I've posted. My only excuses are: holidays, laziness and ....um, that's about it. I was asked to submit some small work for a show at the McGowan Gallery (www.mcgowanfineart.com) in Concord called, "Love, Lust & Desire." Attached are two of the paintings I'm sending, "Conversation" and "Lonely Radish."  Bet you were wondering how the radish would fit into a show with that title, huh? Well, it IS a French breakfast radish..... 

Conversation is acrylic on gessobord, 6" x 6" and the radish is acrylic on gessoed paper, 10" x 7".

Fix

Here's the "fix" to yesterday's failed acrylic landscape. I'm posting it to show the method rather than the success (it's still not OK as a painting!). First, I scanned the 6" x 6" painting into Photoshop and printed it out actual size onto heavy paper. Then I painted on clear Colourfix Primer, which has a fine grittiness to it. Once that dried (I left it overnight), I put a couple of layers of pastel over it, turning the ugly brown shed into a tree and adding a shadow in the front where there really should have been one. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm fairly sure that the Colourfix could be painted right over the original acrylic. Pastel over that would probably have even more texture to it. This method could also be used over watercolors (esp failed ones), drawings, pen and ink, etc., just about anything that would take the acrylic based Colourfix. 

Still Life

This is another little still life, 5" x 5," painted in acrylic on gessoboard. I'm having fun with some of the old objects I've collected, plus some new ones that have crept in recently. In a couple of days, I'll be trying out the acrylics "en plein air," at Shaker Village in Canterbury. I'll post whatever I end up with, as long as they're not "wipers." 

....and another

This is another still life from the workshop: "Green Jar with Rose," approx 9" x 6," acrylic on gessoed paper. You can see the gray undertone in places, but I decided to leave it rather than getting picky. I was still having fun.

Departure

Earlier this month, I took part in a still life workshop taught by Ellen Rolli at the Concord (MA) Art Association. My aim was to loosen up my painting, have fun and learn how not to agonize over every detail. What I didn't know right off is that, while the workshop was posted as being for both oils and acrylic, Ellen teaches only in acrylic. I'd never used acrylic for "fine" art before. Yikes! Though I could have used oils, I decided to jump in over my head and go for the acrylics. I felt like a new person! For starters, I re-learned how to hold a brush (not like a pencil). The paint (mostly Golden) was wonderful: juicy, fast-drying, intense color. In the one-day workshop, I did eight small paintings, about half of which I'll save from demolition. My days of painting tight, overly obsessive, niggly paintings are over. I still like other artists' realism; I just don't want to do it myself. I'll save my urge for detail for woodcuts, where it's needed. At least for now.
The painting above is "Flower in Bottle on Blue," approx 9" x 6," acrylic on gessoed paper.

Plein Air???

One day last week was really sunny, but also cold, so I painted from inside the studio looking out. This little (8" x 6") oil painting "Snowy Sunset," probably doesn't fit into the plein air "rules," but to me it's really no different than painting from inside the car or from on the porch. This is the second-floor view in the same direction as the last little painting. I did three of these studies that day; fun.

Garden Path

I know; it's been forever since I've posted anything. What have I been doing? Shoveling snow, chatting with the phone company about our dead phone, shoveling snow, yelling at the phone company, shoveling snow....... etc., etc. Plus, of course, the holidays. So, for a bit of relief (or is it relief from the relief?), I'm posting this little 8" x 6" oil on canvas panel that I painted last fall in the back yard. I left out a lot of trees, as I just wanted to concentrate on all the colors.
The critter show came down yesterday. It was a moderate success; the few people that saw it (it snowed on reception night) loved it and we made a couple of sales.