Artists-By-the-Sea, St. Andrews

Wondering About Supper

Weather Uncertain

 July 9^th & 10^th, 2011

Could Clear up - Could Rain

The annual fundraiser for Hospice Charlotte County takes place this coming weekend.  

In addition to offering the Plein Air paintings that artists complete around St Andrews during the event, the organizers have requested that artists bring along some small works with them – to kick start the silent auction process.   I have been very busy this holiday long weekend getting ready.  

Lone Sentinel

Coming In or Going Out

These are a number of the small paintings (5"x7" matted to 8" x 10") I that I completed for this event.  Hope to see you there!

Old Reliable

Honestly, I think I was more afraid to start this commission than I have ever been when starting a portrait.  The owner of this tractor loves it.  He is more than proud of it. And so my conundrum (I love that word).   Painting nature is a bit more forgiving and less precise than rendering something that has been manufactured.  Tractors are specific, they have gears & grills, shiny parts and mucky parts along with very specific angles, perspective and proportions. 

The drawing has to be precise and representational of all the details.  No room for errors here.  Have to invest the time upfront to get it right.  Typically, I approach a painting with a very loose drawing focusing on volume – how much space the subject occupies, proportions, and the best composition to do it the most justice.  So I had to switch gears with this one. No pun intended.

In order to capture the softness of the spring sky I used a gel medium to keep the acrylic paint wet longer to allow for more blending.  Then I began working on the details of the horizon and the areas between the rail fence. 

Next I fussed with getting the reds right.  I mixed and tested and mixed some more.  Somewhere along the line I began to relearn that acrylic reds are difficult.  The colors deepen as they dry – whereas with watercolor they lighten.  Often deepening for several hours after the color has been applied.  Also acrylic reds have a tendency towards streaking. Layer after layer after layer of red and orange were applied.  The next day more layering of lighter reds. You get the idea. 

And finally, it is complete and I am at the starting stage.  This is when I stare at the painting with squinty eyes and a critical view.  Looking for any area requiring tweaking and fussing.  I generally wait two- three days before sealing the work and framing – just in case….

Peppermint Candy Petunias

Somehow, the whole time I was working on this painting, I kept thinking about Peppermint Candies.  You know, the ones with the swirl of red and swirl of white?   It first occured to me as I was sketching them out - and then as I started to apply the watercolor paint I just kept thinking about them.  

Awhile back, I checked on my framing inventory and realized I had five really nice frame sets for watercolor paintings and so I set out to complete five in one month.  And I did it.  This is the last piece that I told myself I had to do in this timeframe.  

I love the colors of this flower.  The pinks are flaming and yet there are so many subtle shades.  The photos that I worked from were actually more on the bluish side - I chose to modify the colors to the impression they had on me.

This painting is 12.5 x 8" wide (unframed size) and is painted on Arches 300lb paper.

Spring Delight - Apple Blossoms

Although I said I would never paint them again - I am at it - and am planning at least one more.  

A number of years ago I painted a large watercolor of these delicate blossoms, sold it and received three commissions to do similar ones. And so I thought that I was apple blossomed out.

Only we have five mature apple trees and two young pear trees in our yard.  And they are truly beautiful.  Each year as the blossoms open, I am out in the yard photographing them.  Over and over.  And.. there are so darn many of them! This angle...that angle... maybe with more sky... maybe with less sky.  Obviously I am really attracted to this flower.  Maybe just to anything that blooms in the spring. 

So, once this painting is complete, I hope to paint another on a larger scale with the sky as the focal point – much like the painting Blue on Blue below.  

Fair Ladies

These lovely flowers grace the inside of our chicken wire fenced in garden.  We moved all our lilies into this rustic enclosure - in hopes to foil the white tail deer population that absolutely belive lily blooms are deer ice cream.  Well our plan work surperbly...well, until last year.

They have leaned longingly into the fence for a few years now - and managed to bend down a section making it easy for them to leap over.  And well, we cannot figure out how to repair it with out completely rebuilding it!

The deer love lilies.  All kinds of lilies - as much as we do.  Only we do not eat ours!  The lilies grow amoung the asparagus (which deer do not eat) and the mint (wish they would eat) and the clematis (crap shoot on this one, well they will sometimes eat the blooms).

And so, in a effort to get to enjoy these lovelies, I must paint them.  This ia a 12"  x 12" watercolor on Arches 300lb paper.  I think as time permits I will paint this again on Ampersand Aquabord in a larger size.

Nothing like a pending deadline to motivate an artist!

Fushia Delight

I am so excited to be participating in the Kings County Studio Tour this June 9th and 10th - http://www.studiotour-nb.com/  .  This means, of course, I have to be prepared.  Now I have been painting for quite awhile getting ready for a solo exhibit "Full Spectrum" to be hung at the Imperial Theatre the end of August this year.  So I have a lot of really large paintings completed for this.  The gap I have is for smaller pieces.

So what does any artist operating under self imposed deadlines do? Why I checked my framing inventory and, this time wrote the sizes down and went searching for subjects that would be fun to paint and coordinate with my three burgundy frames and two gold ones.

Two Beez

So far so good, I have two completed and the others are lightly drawn out.  There are more petunias, a different variety, pretty lillies (I have no idea which variety) and apple blossoms.  I will be ready for any color other than pink.  Oh, by the way, I have a large painting in progress - pretty pink peonies under way as well.  More to follow on this one -just likely not too soon!

WIP - Longing For Spring

And so I recently started this painting - had it sketched out for quite awhile.  But finally decided to jump and start painting.  My family is making fun of me for painting snow in the spring.  Two things, first I should really be motivated to finish it in record time and second - this spring has been so gosh darn cold - I feel like painting snow.

These are the Adirondack chairs under our side verandah.  I love these chairs and the verandah.  There is a swing off closer to the concrete retaining wall.  This area is our southern exposure - we spend a lot of time there in the spring and fall and on windy days.

When I was painting our clapbords, I realized that our whole house needs to be painting - unfortunately, I do not mean on canvas!  As I started adding in details like the knots and the greenish ting to the gray I realized that while these details may make for a good painting - they do not say this is a well kept house.   Painting the house will have to be a project for next spring.

I started to block in the second window - and have the perspective off - will correct that in the next session. The deck is covered with snow, as are the arms, seats adn the backs of teh chairs.  Once I have the background right - I will start into the snow.

This is a large acrylic painting 36 x 42.