Morning at Sea Street Bridge

Morning at Sea Street Bridge

Our closest beach is now Humarock, presenting variety of nice views for plein air painting.   The vantage point of this painting is from the ocean side of the Sea Street Bridge looking back across the South River.     The small buildings on my left provided deep foreground shadows on me and the beach roses at the base of the bridge.   I made sure these rosebushes were dark enough to contrast with the dazzling sunlit boats and buildings across the water.   Does it look hazy, hot and humid?  Because it was!

Haberdashery

Haberdashery

There were three big, exciting purchases that I made when I graduated from college.   A car was first; a Dodge Omni, (brand new and shiny forest green)  and, hard to believe - a mere $4800.   The second seems a little strange now that I think about it, but it was an Electrolux top-of-the-line vacuum.   I think I actually paid for that via installments.  I hardly remember, as it certainly wasn't as exciting as the automobile!   The third big purchase was a Singer sewing machine.   It was state-of-the art at the time and I remember the sales person convincing me that the embroidery wheels were so easy to use that I was going to want to use them often.    For the record, I have never used them.  :)

The car and the vacuum cleaner are long gone, but my sewing machine is as functional now as it ever was.  This truly was an investment - and still going strong.    It has been set up in my studio now for a couple of months as I worked on face masks for my loved ones.  I clustered together some of the sewing notions (a.k.a. haberdashery) attempting to arrange a pleasing composition.   My composition expert helped with it, and soon it was time to break out my paints.

Capri Meets Boston

The "Stay-At-Home" challenge was presented to artist members of the Copley Society in Boston recently.   During the long storied history of the Copley Society of Art, there have been dozens of famous artists who were connected to or displayed at this historic Society.   We were challenged to choose a painting by one of the historic artists of the past and pay tribute to their work with a new creation.

John Singer Sargent was born to American parents in Europe, where he trained, travelled and worked.  Though very active in Europe, he frequented the Boston area in the late 1800s.   Many of Sargent's murals are found in the Boston Public Library, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Harvard's Widener Library. Sargent's largest scale works are the mural decorations that grace the Boston Public Library depicting the history of religion and the gods of polytheism. He worked on the cycle for almost thirty years but never completed the final mural. Sargent drew on his extensive travels and museum visits to create a dense art collection.  The murals were restored in 2003–2004.

Rooftop

Perhaps I should have paid homage to a Boston-based work, but his paintings from Italy are my favorites.  They have a flair all their own.   I particularly like this painting by Sargent because of the fun mood and carefree summer feel.  

Pink Freesia with White Roses

Although tiny, this little crystal vase is my new favorite.   It is perfectly shaped and looks lovely with miniature blooms from the garden.   I placed it on a small pedestal in a sunny, studio window and prepared to paint.    Shadows from the window grids were cast onto the set up and I was trying to decide if they added or subtracted from the composition.

Pink Freesia with White Roses

"Is there a term for the window grid things?" I asked my husband.   Without hesitation, he blurted "mullion bars."  He said it with an intonation that implied this was common knowledge.    He spotted my doubt immediately and he proceeded to look up the phrase.  Now to me, "mullion bars" is some vague, unknown term.  But expert carpenter/renovator that he is, he further added more terms that also mean window grids, "muntin bar, stiles, grids."     Haha, whatever they are called, they were casting shadows on my still life and the question remained was this good or bad?

I began painting.  The backlit still life had two white rose buds and a small freesia stem.   There was an interesting vase shadow, and within that, a bright refraction from the crystal.    The verdict of those other shadows came easily once I saw how much was going on in this small painting - no extra shadows from the mullion, muntin,stiles, grids or whatever you call them! :)

Lunch Along Boston Harborwalk

Family Lunch

These lucky folks are enjoying lunch at the Boston Harbor Hotel along the Harborwalk.     The two parents, a son, and a daughter are vacationing in Boston.   The daughter is slated to start school in the Fall.  In anticipation, there are lots of nerves, judging by their faces, but they are enjoying this, the last pre-college family trip.

What attracted me to the scene was the curviness of the bright iron tables and chairs.   The family of four, was encircled with all the lines.   Also the dark red brick really set off the white furniture and dinner napkins on the laps of the diners.   With this many shapes and colors, the painting should keep the viewer interested for more than a few seconds.  At least that is the goal.

The truth is, I painted this from a reference photo taken from five floors up while I was on vacation.   It was a wide angle shot that included a band that was playing, almost panoramic.  This family was incidental to the photo, but I cropped it and zeroed in on this snippet.  Also, I made up the whole first paragraph.  I have no idea who these people are!   :)

Trailhead - White Mountains

Old Version

This is a painting that I did a couple of years ago on site in New Hampshire.   I came across it since I needed a snowscape for an upcoming show.   With fresh eyes, I instantly saw what wasn't quite right with the painting - probably why it was relegated to "the stack."  It is now reworked and I think that the overall result is better.

Can you identify what I saw in the old painting that I didn't like?

Trailhead - White Mountains

If you said, blockers, you agree with me.  The beautiful distant mountains are the starring feature in this region of New Hampshire.   Although I included them in the painting, there was not just one, but two barriers between the viewer and those lovely mountains. Specifically, the row of shrubs and the sharp beginning of the foreground woods were dark parallel lines across the entire width.   The viewer's eye couldn't flow to the distance, and it was both a psychological block and a physical block.  I had painted the scene literally, so literally that the painting composition suffered.

To fix it, I added a path to a trail into the woods, chopped down the little evergreen to the left of center and added a trailhead marker   These features were borrowed from the trailhead entrance just a short distance away.  We can walk into the scene now - the artistic license everyone talks about!

Blue Crab Circle

Blue Crab Ring

This painting was an imaginary design.   I positioned my crabs in a circle, trying to inject some variety in both shapes and color.   Crabs typically sink down into the sand and the swirling water around them can create sandy ripples.   In this painting the mounds of sand emphasize this curved armature.   The canvas itself was an odd, almost square shape and I thought having a circular design was a suitable offset.

It's summer and I love having Cadmium Orange on my palette .... it is a good color for mixing summer light, and of course blue is its complementary color. 

Under, At & Over Water (Aka - The Span of Angels)

Folded Sections of 7 foot canvas

This piece is a fairly ambitious undertaking at 84 by 36 inches.   I plan to hang vertically, envisioning a wall with a cathedral ceiling.   I was breaking my own norms and truly making it up as I went.   (What?  Not the usual formula?)

I'll be in a much larger studio soon and it will be a real treat.   In my current studio I worked on sections of the canvas, unfurling each section and clipping up the folded parts.  I worked the elements in succession, the sky, the far distant mountains, the mid-ground meadow, the shrubs on the shoreline, a sandy beach, the chop, and finally, the underwater world.  

The Span of Angels

The angelic cherub in the clouds is fishing (of course :)) and the fishing line spans all the elevations down into the tropical reef, where an angel fish is deciding whether to bite.     Well I've told you too much already, but there is much left to do on this one - mainly making the elements more harmonious with one another.  

Stay tuned for the final product in a few weeks.

Autumn Bounty with Bottles

Autumn Bounty - Drawing Stage

This is a fairly large painting at 24 by 36 inches.  I mounted the canvas myself.  I have been dissatisfied with many ready-made canvases as they can be poorly gessoed, mounted crookedly and not tight enough.     I had not yet made a single brushstroke, yet
this painting had extra labor invested, and that was nothing compared to what was to come.

Autumn Bounty - Stage Two

My hydrangeas were hardly impressive this summer producing few blue flower heads.  With the arrival of autumn however, the few greenish blossoms started turning color, pretty combinations of blue, green, pink and maroon - foliage?   I cut the flower heads, leaving extra-long stems, and displayed them in a tall turquoise vase on my dining table along with my oil and vinegar bottles.   I started adding more bottles and the last of the tomatoes.   What else,what else...onions, avocados, apple garlic.   So colorful!

Autumn Bounty - Stage Three

Each day the ever lowering of the angle of the sun had created a colorful and shiny display.   By mid-afternoon, the sun illuminated the vase, green bottles and red fruits.  I sensed a new still life coming on and started rearranging the objects in various ways - at least six or seven change-ups before settling on this arrangement.

 The biggest challenge and one that makes the painting unique are the abstract shadows, the reflections in the glass top table and the sunbeams pouring in from the window on the left.   You may have to click on the picture to better observe this detail.

BUY NOW

Autumn Bounty with Bottles

Summer Bouquet

Summer Bouquet

One thing I love about summer is the abundance of flowers.   It's not just the cultivated blossoms that are peaking right now, but the many unplanned wild flowers growing here, there and everywhere.   Arranged in a simple clear glass vase, the wild weeds(?) compliment the garden blooms nicely.    I hoped that the rustic bunching of multiple kinds of blooms would translate to loosely painted blooms as well. This bouquet has common tansy buttons, cilantro flowers, pink petunias, magenta lantana and white cosmos.

The shadows were first and the most important shadow color of the whole painting, I think, was the "dark white" of the shaded cosmos petals (radiant violet, permanent green, and pink).   Achieving the shadow color of the starring flower - the primary center of interest - would give the painting credibility, even if the rest of the painting was executed with wild abandon.  I always hope for wild abandon, but seldom can resist bringing it back under control.  :))

The shadow mass on the dark table was roughed in next with a darker indigo color.  The "non-shadow" background was a light value made from the same pinks, greens, blues and yellows embedded in the flowers.  Finally, the reward...applying the bright clear petal colors.   Wherever possible, I tried to paint a single petal with a single brushstroke that fully overlapped its background.  It's funny how applying a single effective stroke is more difficult than fussing over an area with many strokes.   It really is a mindset.  Plan, then one and done!  In other words, the more spontaneous it looks, the more calculated it was - for me anyway.

BUY NOW

Blue Sandals

Blue Sandals

This pose caught my eye right away.    If the beautiful figure were to be leaning too much one way or another, the eye would immediately identify the imbalance and be disturbed by it.   The weight of the upper torso is supported by a straight right arm to the chair, and the remaining weight falls onto the planted foot (yes, complicated with a stiletto).    The figure is the focus, so all the other elements are intentionally subdued and blurred.  Classic but contemporary painting depicting the grace of the human figure.

Watering Can with Carrots






Watering Can with Carrots

This week I was sorting through seeds and planning my 2016 vegetable garden.  I guess I am officially "thinking Spring."   I was remembering last year's buckets of tomatoes, a bumper crop.   I typically take pictures of even mildly noteworthy things so I was sure there must have been some summer harvest photos.


Composition Thumbnail

I found a decent photo of some freshly pulled carrots piled in front of my old watering can.   I used that shot as inspiration for this painting, at least for color and shadow.   The photo's overall composition was lacking so I re-arranged the objects on a 3x3 sticky note trying for more pleasing shapes.

More Rock Formations

More Rock Formations - In Progress

Rock Formations and More Crashing Surf

This is the first of two paintings done on a beautiful day in October.   I was painting out with a group of five other New England plein air painters.  The rock formations we saw at Beavertail Light in Jamestown, RI were comprised of layers of shale and coal that are common in the Narragansett Bay area.   I liked the rugged look of the rocky layers that had been worn down from the pounding surf.  The tidal pools were helpful painting elements because they could be situated to enhance the painting design.  In this painting I think they helped create a stronger abstract design quality.



Bridge and Cedar

Bridge and Cedar - In Progress

"Free, Fun, Fridays" is the name of a program in the Greater Boston for which many organizations and "not-for-profits" offer complimentary admissions/passes.  We took advantage of the free parking at World's End in Hingham this past Friday.  We hiked the trails and saw amazing views of the Boston skyline and then we settled in at a picturesque spot to paint.

A mature, old cedar near the entrance caught my eye, but I also liked the bridge which crosses over the outlet from the Damde Meadows Tidal Marsh.  I found a spot where I could include both of these nice features in my painting design. 



Bridge and Cedar World's End

BUY NOW

Cardinal in Gold

Cardinal in Gold

My birdfeeder was quite popular this winter.  Although I had been keeping it full through November and December, the traffic didn't pick up until the first 30 inches of snow fell.    I have seen finches, chickadees, warblers and sparrows.   I've supplemented the seed with bread thrown on the snow under the feeder.  The bread seems to attract seagulls more than the "desired" birds.  Although cardinals usually show up at dusk and feed on the ground, this female cardinal actually perched on the feeder and munched for quite a while.

As for the painting, I thought the light/dark pattern against the fence made an interesting abstract.  As I view the painting now, I'm thinking I need to warm up the light values because they look too cool and white.

Blanketed Snowy Path

Blanket on the Purplish Path - Stage One

It's been snowing just about every day for a month.   Take today for example.   It started out sunny this morning and then, all of a sudden - or so it seemed - it was as if another blizzard had hit.  The whiteout eventually gave way to more sun, and even though I'm sick of the hassle of getting around, I have to admit, it was absolutely beautiful.   Everything got coated again with clean white snow accenting the cobalt blue shadows.   Transparent areas of snow can look green, yellow, lavender, pink and teal, not to mention the sparkle of sunlit snow.  So pretty!

Blanket on the Purplish Path

So capturing the layers and layers of snowpack from multiple storms was the goal for this snowscape.  Subtle washed-out background values sat back, while the crisp maximum contrast evergreens came forward, as well as the wet, shaded tree bark.   The light/dark pattern created an abstract pattern that I liked and I thought it looked sufficiently balanced.   Although the painting composition was an imaginary location, the very real snowy ripples were from life - out the window.    This painting would make a nice addition to a contemporary realist collection.

BUY NOW

November Beach - Green Harbor

November Beach - In Progress

Sunny Beach in November

The sun was shining and the wind was blowing from the west making it a fine day to paint on our east facing beach. I've painted from this spot on Burkes's Beach on numerous occasions, but it is never the same, and it never gets old.  

It was a low angle midday sun, which actually produces more reflected sunlight than a higher angle sun, and still quite bright.  The temperatures were warm enough for both my personal comfort and oil paint viscosity.   We've already had a couple of strong ocean storms which had deposited plenty of seaweed along the multi-tiered shoreline.  Most of it was now a dark, dried-out, maroon color.   On the water, the few lobster boats that did enter the channel were stacked with traps, and I'm assuming they have been pulled out of the water for the winter.  

Sunny November Beach

Once my easel was set up, the next decision was where on the canvas the horizon line would be.  Two things convinced me that it would be toward the bottom, the first of which was the beautiful, shimmery sky of wispy high clouds.  The second factor was that the tide was coming in, covering more and more of the jetty.  I didn't want to place a lot of attention on skinny slivers of visible rocks.  So then, the sky would be the starring element, and the basic compositional decision of the landscape was made.   As for the water, the northern (left) section of the horizon was dark ultramarine blue in contrast with the (sunnier) eastern (right) section was much lighter blue, almost a cerulean hue.  

So here it is after the paint out.  The inner painter is telling me to add a lobster boat entering the channel.   Should I listen(?), is the question!

Clutching Gold

Renoir Bathers Snippet through Viewfinder

It was the second week of my workshop with Eli Cedrone.   The plan was to use the same ideas from last week's still life abstract, but apply them to a figure.     That process was to design the painting in black and white with a charcoal thumbnail, to do a line drawing that would flatten the planes, then to develop the abstract version into our desired level of realism. 

Thumbnail Design

I chose a painting of Renoir's bathers as inspiration for this one.   I used my viewfinder to frame two small portions of the (very large) painting.   I then did a thumbnail in charcoal of each to decide which one I would paint on my 9x12 canvas.    I liked both thumbnails so I decided (too ambitiously as it turns out) that I would just paint both.   The mission was to keep it loose and free, so I thought there would be time for both - ha, not true! 

As the face and hand came together I decided that this looked like a sleeping goddess.   I refined the closed eyes and adjusted the mouth to be slightly drawn down as in sleep, dreaming even.

Garden at the Edge of the Marsh

Marshside Garden

It was the end of July which meant the vegetable and flower garden was reaching its peak. My lettuce had been coming in steadily, the best lettuce year ever.  I had harvested more than a dozen cucumbers already and I was looking forward to the first batch of salsa once the dozens of green tomatoes started turning red.    The wide zinnia border in front of the vegetables was even starting to get edged out by the advancing vegetables.    Not every gardening year has been like this one, so it was gratifying to see everything doing so well!   So what better way to remember it than to record it in paint!

My purple butterfly bush had to be a prominent element for this 2014 garden painting.   When I trimmed out its dead wood in Spring, it looked quite lopsided but fortunately it sprouted symmetrically and it was in full bloom.    It towered over the rest of the garden and its purple blooms looked beautiful against the lush green marsh grasses.   It really does attract butterflies, and it also attracts bees and, occasionally, hummingbirds.

After roughing in the distant sky, tree line and marsh in more muted tones I turned my attention to the garden elements which would be most prominent.  The bright greens, yellows, reds and purples got me mixing big piles of paint that I applied impasto style - full, thick color with a palette knife.   I also included the one very large sunflower peaking out from Bob's garden beyond.

I love thick "out of the tube" paint color.


Marshside Garden

One Word and A Twenty Inch Square

Canvas Stretched onto Cradleboard

This year's challenge for the North River Arts Society event is to transform a twenty inch wooden cradle board into a work of art - and - somehow integrate a word into the creation.  Signing up for these challenges is exciting because it really makes one push out creations that otherwise would never have been conceived.

Staring at this nice cradleboard square of sturdy wood, it did cross my mind that it could serve as the base for a three dimensional creation.   3D has never been part of my repertoire - and call me cautious - but I didn't want to risk doing failed experiment with a creation that would benefit the organization.  So my first step was to cover it with gesso'd canvas.

Thumbnail charcoal

I don't typically work on squares and every time I do, I really enjoy it.   Composition "rules" that are generally followed for rectangular canvases, aren't necessarily in play for squares.   For example the widely accepted guidance of not placing the center of interest in the middle of a rectangular canvas, can usually be ignored for squares.   Symmetry works just fine on a square.



Once Upon a Storybook - Stage One

In the spirit of the "people" work I've been concentrating on lately, I sketched out some scenes with small children playing.  I have been experimenting with unusual head placement/angles and one of my latest favorites is the head down angle. I composed a scene in which small children are gathered around a checkerboard - see thumbnail to left.    


After completing stage one, I swapped out the checkerboard for a large picture book - with, of course, a word.

I first positioned their heads within a circle drawn within the square.   Additionally I roughed in two tangents, the calf/shoe of the boy on the left, and the arm/hand of the boy on the right.   The book forms a strong quadrilateral shape to balance the square and circle.

Important:   If you are interested in the painting, it will be auctioned off Memorial Day Weekend at the North River Arts Society Festival of the Arts in Marshfield Hills, MA.





Once Upon a Storybook