Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Farmers' Market Canandaigua

Farmers' Market Quick Paint Competition
Framing Quick Paint Entry
This was the seventh and final painting done at the Finger Lakes Competition and Festival.   It was a little different from the first six paintings in that this was a timed "quick paint" event.   Painters were given two hours to complete a plein air painting plus a half hour to frame and walk it over to the Town Common where it would be on display with the thirty other entries.

That morning, I still had not decided what and where to paint when I heard someone mention that the Farmers' Market takes place each Saturday morning.   After checking into the quick paint event I pulled into a parking space right next to where the farm vans loaded with produce were pulling in.   The rows of vegetable and flower flats near my van caught my eye.   There was a nice large bucket of tall peonies, a reminder of the peonies from day before.   Farmers Doug and Walt had backed their red van into their space and were working out of the back of it.

Once they realized what I was doing they occasionally came over to check progress.   I decided to include Doug who wore a yellow shirt that stood out despite being in full shadow.  Walt lamented that he wasn't in the painting so I explained about the yellow shirt.  He then proceeded to tell Doug that they should switch shirts.   Haha!

It turned out that the person who bought this painting knows Walt and Doug, and further, her grandfather was one of the first five farmers who started the Canandaigua farmers' market.   The painting is with the right person!

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Peonies at Sonnenberg

Peonies at Sonnenberg
Painting Six of the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition was an afternoon experience with a 12x24 inch canvas panel.    I chose a long white arbor that divided the formal gardens and a fifty foot peony border at beautiful Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens.  The dimensions of the canvas seemed just right.   Peony blooms are short lived, yet they happened to be peaking on this glorious June day.   The mild scent of the hundreds of pink and white blossoms occasionally drifted my way, an extra bonus beyond the beautiful visual.  A large painting at this point in the competition was a self-assigned stretch assignment.   If it turned out well, it would look nice in the pale silvery frame I had planned to use.

Peonies at Sonnenberg
This was the last day to paint for the main competition, and I would be turning in the best three paintings this evening.  I decided that this painting would be one of the three to be submitted for judging.   And although it wasn't selected for an award, I was satisfied that it was good and that I stayed true to how I paint.    Under time constraints a person's true signature style is probably more pronounced!