Garden Tour - North River

Each year I am invited to paint at a property on the Garden Tour organized by the Cliff Rogers Library.   It is their biggest fundraiser and it draws an impressive number of people.   Who wouldn't want to stroll through the very prettiest gardens in the local area and support this lovely small independent library as well.    I look forward to tour day each year and getting to capture the beauty of these gardens. 

I was assigned an expansive garden in North Marshfield that abuts the North River.   The mature plantings were perfectly balanced with many of the specimens in full bloom.   I chose a border planting that had a black wrought iron fence and gate as a backdrop.   I included this lovely woman as she admired a very unusual clementis that had purple bell shaped flowers.  As for the painting, the thick paint application that I like works particularly well for lush and vibrant garden scenes like this one.

Garden Border Bells

Evening Paint Out After Rain

Evening Paint Out After Rain

 I recently painted en plein air along Littles Creek which is behind the JPH Organization in Marshfield.   It had been a very rainy day and it really did look doubtful that this paint out would happen at all.   As I set up it started getting brighter and brighter.   Clouds did dominant as you can see in the whitish sky.   The sun broke thru a bit however!   

It is interesting to note that when everything outside is wet, the dark values like shadows and underbrush are
very dark so that the value range just about covers the whole spectrum.   The wild June roses were spectacular so I pumped up the color in the painting.   Enjoy!

Roses Oval

While I was working on garden paintings this spring, I was inspired to tackle "the oval" yet again.  I have pulled this canvas out and worked it at least 4 or 5 times and then put it away again.   I've never been quite happy with this oval floral.

The pink roses version shown was the first try.   Ironically, this was probably the best one.  The roses sit nicely within the curved shape - but I didn't recognize that back then.  The subsequent versions (which I didn't take pictures of) gradually filled up the space and the roses got bigger.  This white roses version is finally the rendering I have settled on.   I do like the addition of the bees and the warm translucent shadows of the white rose petals.

And to prove that I'm done, I'm showing it framed. :)

White Roses Oval

Pink Rose Oval - Painted Over

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!

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! :)

Roses and Baby's Breath

Pink Roses and Baby's Breath

Could the generous person who visited and brought these fresh pink tea roses have known that I love pink roses?  My bathroom even has a pink roses theme.  What a nice gesture and the perfect subject for a new still life.

These roses were whitish at the base and edged with pretty salmony-pink.   Looking straight down into the throat of the blossom, no white was visible at all, just dark reddish pink.   The baby's breath accented the blooms and the whole bouquet sat in a cute little mason jar.

I could paint a hundred roses and I don't think I would be happy with them on the first go.   I usually have to go back at it and adjust, putting any spontaneity and freshness at risk.   With this small painting, the blooms may be too precise, but the leaves, stems and background are more loose.  Thank you for the pink roses!  Wait, do they look too
red?

Purple Mums in Metal Box

Purple Mums in Metal Box

This sweet gift given to me by one of my recent painting visitors made me smile.  I wanted to grab brushes and paint immediately.   As soon as I could, I did.  The next day I painted this 6x6 square.    There were other gifts, just as appreciated, but edible - and they didn't last long enough to make in into a still life painting.   Haha.

This purple mum plant sat in a gray, metal trimmed box, accented with Spanish moss.  Similar to painting rope in paint-night class, I under-painted the area dark, then came back with light colored paint for the stringy twirls of moss.   The moss's gray color matched the silver accented box and the cool purple. 

I never tire of painting flowers especially when they are a gift.  The blossoms fade, but paintings make  permanent remembrances of the kind gesture, so thank you again!

Inspiration from Historical Hassam

Marlborough Street - Childe Hassam

Every Spring, the Copley Society of Art holds an event called "Fresh Paint".   Dozens of painters head out into the streets and waterfronts of Boston to capture the scenes in the open air tradition, better known as "en plein air."

To this year's event there was an added twist.   We were invited to choose a painting from a list of forty famous Boston based paintings and use that painting as inspiration in the creation of our new piece.    I selected painter Childe Hassam's Impressionist painting of Marlborough Street shown here.

Inspired by Hassam Marlborough Street

My version, inspired by Hassam's city-scape, a corner in Boston's Back Bay, is missing the horse and buggies and the long dresses.    The red rooftops, long shadows and stoop-front roses remain very similar.

Pink and Yellow Roses

Pink and Yellow Roses Square

 I recently came across my notes from a demonstration put on by revered American master artist Richard Schmid.  It took place a few years ago, early in summer down in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod.  Also in attendance was his young protege', Daniel Keys.   It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I remember being mesmerized as I observed the techniques being deployed - the arrangement of the still life elements, the colors on the palette and even simple things, like how he mixed the grey for a white flower petal in shadow.

Florals are a particular specialty of his, always yielding a lovely result and I used some of his methods, including his palette style
to create this small floral.

Aaah - Vacation

Aaah ... Vacation

This patio is a beautiful spot especially in the morning. The arbor juts out to the west from the house, the perfect place to be for a summer vacation morning.   The July greens are lush and moist and the tendrils of the vines stretch for sunlight above the arbor, and things a blooming. 

This is a large painting that was executed in several steps because of all the architectural elements. It was more work than most, which is ironic because the theme of the scene pays homage to doing sweet nothing!

That's not me, by the way. :)

Cliff Walk Paint Out - Revisited

Last year we drove to Newport, RI in late June for a weekend getaway and painting trip.  There were hundreds of scenes worth painting and settling on a location is tough.  As walkers we invariably find places to park and paint that would be easily be missed while driving.    This painting spot was at the halfway point of Cliff Walk at a dead end street.

Cliff Walk Newport - Final

The day was glorious - bright and sunny and just warm enough.  This scene faces northeast, so the sun and water glare was to my right.   It did get easier to see as the sun moved, but my eyes did take a beating.   I remember stopping to look around and thinking, what an amazing world, and how lucky are we to be surrounded by all the elements of nature we revere - sun, ocean, breezes, roses.   After painting, we walked the rest of the trail to the southern terminus before looping back to our painting location.   We then could apply fresh eyes to our wet paintings.

Here is a video snippet of the Cliff Walk Paint Out ...you'll have to imagine the smell of the roses and salt air!

Roses Oval

Pink Roses Oval

Being in an art supply store, for me, is like being a "kid in the toy store."   I am usually shopping with specific intent (and a list) but I am easily lured toward impulse buys when it comes to art supplies.  One such impulse was the purchase of the oval canvas used for this painting.    My original idea was to use the oval for a portrait, as was popular in the nineteenth century.   In preparation for the portrait, I underpainted the canvas - at least twice - during the several months it spent hanging out in my studio.   I never did execute the oval portrait, but eventually decided to use the surface for this pink roses bouquet.  Yes, another pink roses painting!

I wouldn't have guessed that the shape of the canvas would disrupt a comfortable painting "flow," but it did!   Not having straight edges made me feel like the painting elements were floating, and their placement seemed "off."    Initially the roses were painted sitting in a vase until I realized that the weight and groundedness of the vase was the problem.  It had created an imbalance so the vase had to go!   As soon as the vase was wiped off, there was instant harmony within the rounded edges.

Learning never stops does it?  This experience showed me some compositional attributes of subject space versus "white" space, and of course beyond that, it demonstrated that its fruitful to try new things often!

Marshside Birdbath

Marshside Birdbath - Stage One

Last fall I found this old birdbath at an estate sale.   It was in fairly good condition and just needed a coat of black spray paint to spruce it up.   Well it is a big hit with my feathered friends - not only for frequent sips of water but for the activity its name suggests.   The two house finches featured in this painting have a nest in a shrub on my back deck, and are currently working on hatching five dime sized eggs.  They seem to swoop to the birdbath all day, although they always defer to larger starlings.

Marshside Birdbath - Stage Two

It was the end of May and the late afternoon sun had a hazy brightness when I started this painting.  Although it has been raw and damp, this was my kind of day, 65 degrees, not too sunny, and breezy.    The sweet old-fashioned shape of the birdbath caught my eye so rather than packing up for an elaborate paint out, I just set up in the backyard and enjoyed the view.

Marshside Birdbath

Fresh Red Roses

Fresh Red Roses

My Love sent me red roses for Valentine's Day, beautiful long stems with lots of lovely greenery and a large red bow.   I am the luckiest woman on earth to be married to this perfect man...but I digress :).

I chose an 8x8 square to capture one primary red blossom with hints of other roses and buds as well.   After the first pass I took a large mop brush and blurred the background and the edges of the starring rose.   I then reestablished some strong shapes.  I used napthol red instead of cadmium red which more closely matched the deep crimson.

I may still make some changes, for example brightening the greenery, and hopefully if any flaws jump out at you, let me know and I can address that too!

Finishing Up June's Blooms - aka "The Potting Bench"

Stage One - Underpainting

Stage Two

My love of gardening is second only to painting although painting claims most of my time. Combining the two seemed logical as I set up this still life of a potting bench.   Last month I shared the foundation stages of this large still life painting (22"x 28") and work on it continued.

A long critical look at the version shown (Stage Two) and decided to make a few changes.  The circular armature was working but I thought it would be better to reinforce this flow with the addition of well-worn gardening gloves and my pruning sheers.    Where should the gloves be placed?  How should the sheers be angled.    Finding an acceptable arrangement took some playing around.   Then the question became, what would the hierarchy of the elements be?   Depicting everything with equal attention and importance weakens the painting as a whole.    The circular flow I was trying to achieve could be undermined by an ambiguous hierarchy.   In the end, I decided on the following order of importance:

The Potting Bench

1. roses   (lightest lights and most intense color)
2. pruning sheers  (sharp lines, and some vibrant color, but in a middle value)
3. gardening gloves (human hand shape - naturally gains attention)
4. jute (falls on the path of the counterclockwise circular armature)
5. watering can (sits back, very little light, blends in with background, hints of highlights)
6. clay saucers (muted and dark)
7. under-the-bench clay pots  (dark and not part of the armature, ie the last thing to get noticed)

This painting will be my submission to this year's Boston Guild of Artists Juried Competition.  I also changed the name to "The Potting Bench."    I'll let you know if it gets in!

June's Blooms Phase One

Potting Bench - Transparent Wash Stage

It was June and these beautiful blossoms came from my garden.  We have had some picture perfect weather lately which has spared the bushes from the harsh wind and rain that can shorten their life cycles.    So there are plenty of flowers to paint!  This still life included two vases with pink roses clustered, a clay pot of blooming pink kalanchoe, my watering can, some well worn gardening gloves and pruning sheers completed the set up.  The height of the set up suggested that a portrait aspect would work better than landscape.

Potting Bench - Upper Element Needed?

For stage one, I applied a warm transparent wash with a mop brush, mapping in the set up.  I carved (wiped) out the areas that would be lighter with a paper towel.   This stage had a subdued, antique feel that I really loved; why it could be called a finished painting if that was the look I was after.   However, my goal was to create a fully developed, thickly painted canvas of blossoms, so the subdued style would have to be another day.


I began the second stage by applying mid-tones for roses and leaves.   After adding each supporting element, I used a clean mop brush to buff out the edges.  Believe it or not it seemed more difficult to decide how to handle the negative space than the subject matter on this one.   A larger canvas means more space for interesting objects and shadows.   I decided to place hints of clay pots under the potting table and a fringe of greens behind the primary blooms.

This is a 22x28 inch canvas so progress has been somewhat slow, so I consider this one still in progress.   To be continued...

Pink and White Roses

Pink and White Roses

I liked painting the pink roses a couple of weeks ago (did I just say that?) and I began working on another, this one having both pink and white blossoms.  The white rose is really more green than white, and I included accents of pink on it as well.  
I worked the background in a warmish charcoal grey made from sap green, alizarin crimson and a touch of lavender.    I also worked out the placement of the roses in thin warm pink with a soft sable brush.   Once the first layer of paint was dry, I applied the cool pink rose petals with a short rounded palette knife.   Streaks of pink and yellow are running through each petal. I used a soft dry sable to draw the thickly painted petals into the base of the petal.  I'm thinking they are not loose enough.  Practice makes perfect, so I will continue to practice.