Cavern in the Japanese Garden - Revisited

Cavern at Japanese Garden

This painting was begun in Canandaigua, New York, and it never quite grabbed me.   It was a gray, overcast day, and true to plein air, it was an accurate representation of the bleak feel.  I put it back on the easel and took a look at the pictures from that original day.   Fortunately, I found a sunny shot of the same scene.   There was significantly more yellow and deep red undertones.   Within an hour, the gray day was transformed into a sunny June day.   The waterfall was now visible pouring over the cavern boulders.    I believe the gloom is gone, replaced with a scene that is almost sparkly.

Sun Sweeps In - Donegal, Ireland

Sun Sweeps In - Donegal, Ireland

I painted this scene once before.  That was after a trip to Donegal, Ireland to explore my roots.   The land depicted has special significance to me because it was these fields that were worked by my Great-grandfather back in the late 1800's.  The cartpath runs down to a culvert between the road I was on and the pasture.  Stone walls are all over tinted with greenish lichen and moss.

BUY NOW

Midday at Granger

Midday at Granger - In Progress

This was Painting Four of the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition and the second painting of the day. Painters were invited to the historic Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum to capture scenes that the "Friends of the Museum" may like to own.   The sun was already high in the sky by the time I got started on this painting.   A woman in 19th century garb was posing in an antique carriage and several painters worked on the scene from various angles.

The museum hosted a nice reception that night and several paintings were sold (including mine).

Cavern at Japanese Garden

Cavern at Japanese Garden - Stage One

This was the second day of painting at the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition and Festival.   One of the main supporters of the event is the Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens.   Juried painters were given admission passes for the week so that we could paint on the property.   This was plein air heaven! There was no searching for an appealing scene; they were everywhere.   We walked the entire property first, and I found myself declaring on multiple occasions that this was the spot, only to find the next area even more enticing.

Cavern at Japanese Garden - Nearly Done

Unfortunately it quickly clouded over and the end product reflected the day, and didn't result in a painting that I liked.   In packing for the trip to New York, I almost removed my long down parka from the van, feeling so sure I would not need it, but elected to leave it behind my seat.  So glad I did!   It saved me from the damp wind and mist. Furthermore my knit stretchy gloves were in the pocket, also put to use.

I can't resist rocks and a full value spectrum, both of which were present in the Japanese Garden.  I stood along a pathway below the main thoroughfare.   There were twin caverns built from boulders where water trickled down into a green mossy pond.   It would have been relaxing if the paint-out was going well.  :)  But being down in this low spot also sheltered me and my set up from the harsh wind.

Cavern at Japanese Garden

Spring greenery was everywhere, just not as bright and illuminated as I had hoped.    Ironically, this painting took the longest to execute, nearly four hours (two hours longer than usual), and yet it was my least favorite.   Two paintings down, four to go!

Lake Canandaigua from Onanda Sky

Eager to Get Started

This was the first painting done for the Finger Lake Plein Air Competition and Festival in Canandaigua, New York.   My blank canvases had just been stamped, meaning that coordinators mark the back, a verification that no work had been done ahead of time.  Next stop? Painting location number one.

The organizers had provided a list of scenic spots from which to paint, and we decided to start at the furthest point, the southernmost tip of Lake Canandaigua in the town of Naples.   It proved to be a great place and the property owner generously shared not only this fantastic vista but use of her home while we painted.   The twelve acre parcel was situated high above the west side of the lake.   It had a couple of barns, a pond. flower beds and of course, the amazing view looking north along the lake.  

Onanda Sky - Stage One

I began with the most distant lake shore and sky.   I locked them in while they were pale blue, pink and naples yellow.    The blue hillsides dipped down to the water, a distant gray-blue hue.   At certain spectacular moments, the hills were illuminated with stripes of sunlight turning them golden green.  Dark trees and shrubs anchored the scene across the middle third of the painting.   The foreground grasses were warm and sunny yellow - that is - when the sun peaked out.  The stark white canvas did prove to be a bit of a challenge, since I inadvertently scraped the paint down to the white with my palette knife.   It necessitated being even thicker with the paint, which, in retrospect, probably gave a better result.

Onanda Sky View - Stage Two

The weather?  Very variable - rain, mist, sun, overcast, and most of all windy.   We pushed through the process, mine taking a bit of extra time since this was a larger canvas at 12" x 24".   The final steps were to make sure all the bare white canvas spots were painted and to ensure that the lighting scheme was consistent.  One down, six to go!

Camp Hill Plein Air Festival Paintings

Barn at Dusk

The Susquehanna River Valley is just as picturesque a place as can be, the iconic farms with tall silos, cattle on rolling hills, and distant hills fading into the distance with light shades of blue.     It wasn't hard to find some stunning scenes!

During the painting competition we could paint up to five plein air paintings, two of which would be submitted (all without he assistance of photography.)   I shared the first painting of the side of the mansion at the Fort Hunter.  Here are three more paintings.

View for Eternity

The Barn at Dusk was done along the Yellow Breeches Creek looking uphill.   Teens were enjoying "surfing" down the swift currents of the creek behind me, along with their dog.  They would slide down the rapids then emerging downstream and walk back upstream for a truly natural carnival ride.  They provided company as well as entertainment:).



Susquehanna from Fort Hunter

View for Eternity was done early in the morning from the back parking lot of a hilltop church looking down the slope of the adjacent cemetery.   I loved the hills and the moist clouds (there was a quick sprinkle).  The colors were cool pinks, yellows and blue  - and sooo much green!

Susquehanna from Fort Hunter was done in the late afternoon.  I was facing west and the sun was sitting high above the hill on the other side of the river.   Whenever the sun peaked though the clouds, there would be bright yellow illumination over the tops of the trees and down the hill.   (Dark patches were the cloud shadows.)

Does anyone know if "America the Beautiful" was written here?   So amazing!