Phew! It's been a long time!

Looking Toward Kelley's Island from Marblehead

Sept. 2010 Oil on Panel

6 x 8

It seems like ages since the last post, well...it has been a long time!  So much has been goin' on that I don't know where to start. 

In my little art world...I've taken a show down and put another one up.  The new show is at our local hospital; Geauga County Hospital.  The show is a part of what is called Art in the Mart which is a partnership between the Geauga Council for Arts and Culture and the hospital, along with a few other locations in the county.  The set up at the hospital is great.  The show space is in a main hallway, it is well lit and the hanging apparatus worked beautifully.  The show went up like a breeze thanks to the wonderful help from the maintenance staff at the hospital.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera the day the show was hung, I'll get back over there soon, take some pics to share here.  I think it looks great!

I spent this past weekend at the Marblehead Peninsula on Lake Erie where I participated in a Paint Out sponsored by the Ohio Plein Air Society.  I arrived tired and with a head cold.  The first day of painting generated some ho-hum results.  The painting above is the third of the day, I was getting into my groove.  The challenge was working with a new color pallette, Lake Erie isn't my normal subject matter!  But the colors of the water were beautiful....grey greens, orangey yellows, it was fun just to mix the colors, put them down, then look up and see something new, something that had changed.

Sunday morning, I was rested and produced a better painting.  No picture right now, but will take one soon.

OPAS does a great job sponsoring the paintouts.  Lots of recognition for the artists who attended, about 50 or more.  Monetary awards with a nice awards ceremony. I met and re-met a number of other painters. People attended from all over the state and even neighboring states.  Its reassuring to meet others like me! (us!)  Just hangin' out talking paint, easels, pochade boxes, admiring various paintings, you know--art stuff.

 

On the home front, we had our annual party, which entails lots of prep, lots of people, a cornhole tournament, yummy food (last year it was a pig roast), and lots and lots of fun.  This year we turned it into a fundraiser for St. Augustine's Church  which is the church my parents belonged to and several of my siblings are members.  The church is known for its outstanding service to the people of Cleveland.  They run a hunger center, minister to the deaf community, among countless other services to help people.  I'm happy to say we had a great turnout, we threw a raffle into the mix, charged an entry fee, had live music and raised a nice donation for St. Augustine's.

Okay, enough!

Pics of more paintings next time!

So much to paint!

These are all 6 x 8 plein air paintings.  Most were completed in about an hour, give or take.

The negative space quest continues. When I pay strong attention to negative space, I am being visually challenged and stimulated.  Wolf Kahn talks about bringing the background spaces forward,  and playing with the balance between near and far spaces.  

ahhhh.  it's so exciting and all makes so much sense!

Barn

Art's Barn  Oil on Canvas (16 x 20)

A couple of summers ago, my sisters and I visited a friends home which is an old farm situated on a pretty piece of land about 15 minutes from home.  I took several reference photos that day, with every intention of getting back to spend some time painting on site.  I never did. 

Every so often I'd come across the photos.  Last week I began this painting of her barn and I finished it today.  It's such a great old barn, kinda weathered and falling apart.  Most intriquing to me is the opening from the door in front through the back door, you can see through to the view behind the barn. The whitish rectangle in the painting is the opening.  In my reference photo the view is from back to front so the white I've shown is actually her house.

 That day carried the weight of summer-- heavy with moisture plus the sounds of a summer afternoon. Looking through that opening, the negative space was the frame for the sensations of that day.

This summer I'll paint en plein air at her house, painting the view through the opening to the back.

 (Linda if you're reading this, can I come and paint at your house again?)

Ridgeline in Spring

When I was on spring break I painted these two paintings. A few hours of quick sortof plein air painting from my studio window.

Now the leaves have popped, all is green.

Maybe another painting (same view) is in order...