Sunday, March 29, 2015

Watercolor: Falling In Love a Little Each Time

Floating Dream, Watercolor

How do you know what to paint? And why do you paint it? 

These questions are asked of artists all the time.
Answers vary:
"I paint what I love"
"I paint what sells"
"I paint to show that there is beauty in the world"
"I paint to remind people that there is hate and injustice in the world"

Answers will vary from one artist to another depending on their intent and economic status. But I believe they have one thing in common.

They all fall in love a little each time they paint, or sculpt, or draw. They fall in love, but not necessarily with the image, although most often that is true.

They also fall in love with the medium. The way the paint tracks across the canvas in the process of blending and layering. The feel of the clay between their fingers, or the surprise of the random pooling of watercolor. Or just the way one color looks when placed next to another.

Each time I begin a watercolor I am not quite sure how it will all turn out. Although I have a plan, I like to give plenty of space to just let things happen. To let the water and paint mix, colors blend and bleed, and then surprise me.

And each time I let these random things happen, I fall in love a little bit again with watercolor.

Painting Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle has been painted countless times, by hundreds of artists. It's hard to find a new twist on this favorite Thousand Islands icon.  

The Castle consists of several buildings spread across Heart Island, in the St. Lawrence River. To include all of the buildings usually calls for a horizontal format, but I really wanted to include a lot more sky and water in my painting. My goal was to create a soft misty effect where the sky and water seem to merge, and the Castle would float above it. 

In the painting The Pump House sits at the edge of the place where the island meets the mist and the Castle rises out of the vegetation. The whole effect is of a floating dream world.

The background for this painting was done with a nice sloppy wet-on-wet approach. After the sky and water dried, the vegetation was roughed in. The architecture which was lightly sketched in before I painted the background, was painted when the paper had dried.  


Related Post: What made You Paint That Picture???
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3861155475348032430#editor/target=post;postID=8180894498777100315;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=26;src=postname



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

I Just Realized I Had a Pretty Good Winter

Gratitudes

I am taking an online class in Art Marketing which includes daily gratitudes as part of the curriculum. So for the last few weeks I have begun each day listing the things that I am grateful for.

Now in Central New York we have had a miserable winter. In fact in Syracuse we have the dubious honor of having one of the 5 worst winters in America. So my list of gratitudes doesn't usually start with "I'm so grateful for the sun and warm weather". This morning as I was lying in bed listening to the snowplow scraping along the road and bouncing off mailboxes, my first gratitude of the day was "Yes!!! leftovers!!!! I don't have to cook tonight".

But, then I thought a little more and realized that I had quite a few things to be grateful for.

But don't worry, I'm not going to get all soppy and sentimental because this is an ART BLOG, so I'll be talking about art things.

Winter Art Shows

I participated in 3 Winter Art Shows: 
  • Snowy Splendor at the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse 
  • Winter Recipe at the Tech Garden in Syracuse 
  • The Art of Winter at the Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton 
In the Art of Winter Show I won a Staff Pick Award for my "Cardinals!" and in Snowy Splendor I received a good review for "Leave Only Footprints" by Stars Magazine Art Critic Katherine Rushworth, and a photo of my work in the newspaper. The Winter Recipe Show was reviewed by New Times Critic Carl Mellor which resulted in another good review and a photo of my painting "Green Beer Parade" in the on-line version of that newspaper.

Coming Up Soon: Thousand Island Memorial Day Studio Tour

Back in January, I was invited by the Lyric Coffeehouse in Clayton to be their guest artist during the Thousand Island Studio tour May 23 and 24, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. I will be there with paintings, prints cards etc and I plan also to do a watercolor demonstration. The Lyric is located at 246 James Street in Clayton NY.

So I just realized that I have had a pretty good winter.

New Directions

And here's a first for me: Yesterday I was asked to judge an art guild show. I have judged the National Scholastic Art Show for years, but this will be my first time judging "grown-ups".

So yeah, this winter hasn't been too bad here at Windy Hill Studio. Outside???A totally different story. Let's hope we can put away our winter boots till next November!

Links 

Here is the link to the New Times Review:
http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/area-artists-react-to-local-scenery-in-new-show/



Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Queen of the Slip Jig



Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

It's day 17 of my blog "going green" and this is the last Irish themed painting I will be posting for quite a while. I can't believe I actually had enough Irish art to last for 17 days! 

For the Dancers

Today's painting is dedicated to the Irish dancers - again. Yes I know I have dedicated two paintings already to the dancers but this one is special for two reasons.

The first reason is because the dancers add so much good positive energy to the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations. The little kids are so darned cute and the more experienced dancers are just amazing. They put their heart and soul into their dancing. And the next day when all the celebrating is done, and the shamrocks and other decorations are put away, the dancers are back in class getting ready for the next event: usually a competition.

Irish dancers train all year; there is no real season like football. St. Patrick's Day celebrations are probably the most fun for the dancers, but only a small part of what they do.

Queen of the Slip Jig

And if you're wondering "what is the second reason why the painting is special", it's because it's dedicated to my daughter Katie. This painting was done when she was in the middle of her last year of high school and last year of dancing with the Johnston Irish Dancers.

The painting is titled "Queen of the Slip Jig" a play on Van Morrison's "Queen of the Slip Stream". In this piece, a well worn pair of Irish dance shoes, a crown and a few medals propped up next to an old concertina tell of a long, but satisfying day at the Feis.

Look closely at the shoes and note that the laces are worn and frayed and the toe of one shoe is held together with duct tape. Dancers shoes take as much beating as a pair of combat boots!

Let's hear it again for the dancers!!! And good luck at the Worlds competition next month!!!

"Going Green"

If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme I'm working with you might want to look at posts from the previous days.


Bonus Painting

And I promised a bonus painting for today. It's a re-run folks - the same painting that started us off on this 17 day virtual journey of Irish themed art.

Slainte!


Green Beer Parade 


Monday, March 16, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - In County Clare



It's Day 16 of my blog "going green" for St. Patrick's Day and today's painting comes to you from County Clare.

The location pictured here is just past the main tourist area of the Cliffs of Moher. After exploring the view from the cliffs (magnificent!!) and walking along the meandering path away from the tourist area I found this country road. Road!?! Okay more like a cowpath. And there actually were cows grazing on the hills, possibly contemplating the view.

Although the Cliffs were fabulous and the view from them fabulous as well, I was really intrigued by this simple country cowpath. I loved the perspective of the path and fence line all leading down toward the sea. The views in every direction begged to be painted, and probably have been a million times. So here's one more!

I am planning to put this painting in Associated Artists 50 Shades of Green show which opens next week March 28 at the Manlius Library.

"Going Green"

Since March 1, I have been posting Irish themed paintings on my blog. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme I'm working with you might want to look at some of the posts from previous days. All the Irish paintings will be dated March 1 - 17. You should be able to access all of the posts from any of the links below.


Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day

And it will be my last post from my "Going Green" promotion. I hope you have enjoyed these posts as much as I have enjoyed putting them together. I didn't realize how much Irish art I had! 
Tomorrow's post will feature the Queen of the Slip Jig and a bonus painting.

Slainte!

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Love Irish Dance



It's day 15 of my blog "going green" for St. Patrick's Day! 


Today's Irish painting is dedicated to all the Irish Dancers who have been so busy with the parades, dance-outs and other St. Patrick's Day events.

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication, and for making each celebration a special event!

This is a watercolor featuring a pair of dancing ghillies, with straps from the dance shoes intertwining to form a heart. Shamrocks and Trinity Knots complete the design.


Going Green

Since March 1, I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme you might want to take a look at posts from previous days. You can click on any of the links and eventually get back to the posts from March 1 - 14.


Two more days to go. Tomorrow we go to County Clare and on St. Patrick's Day there will be another dedication to those hard working Irish Dancers. And maybe a bonus picture too!

Slainte!



Saturday, March 14, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Parade Day!


It's day 14 of my blog "going green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

A short post today, and rather late. It's been a day full of parade, bag pipers, Irish dancers and fun with friends.

Hope you all enjoyed the day!

Slainte!




Friday, March 13, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Arches and Shadows from County Tipperary


It's Day 13 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day! 

Today's painting comes to you from County Tipperary. In fact it's the abbey just down the road from the Rock of Cashel. A few days ago my blog featured Blarney with Bridget, the Holy Cow who wanders the ruins of this abbey.

Today I am sharing a watercolor based on some of the photos I took when wandering the ruins. When I was walking around the abbey I felt like I was lead by the late afternoon sunlight drifting in and out of the arched windows and doorways. Everywhere I turned I found another group of arches,  sunlight and shadows to show me the way. Although the abbey had been deserted for years a spiritual quality remained. The memory of following the sunlight through the ruins stays with me even till this day.

Painting the Light

When it came time to paint this scene I remembered the light and shadows and the arches. I sketched the architecture based on one of the photographs but used arbitrary color to paint a textured watercolor  background. Details of the architecture were added over the background using darker value to indicate depth. The sunlight is of course apparent in the lighter, brighter values. The really bright yellow areas played against the blues and purples add drama to the scene. The architecture is only partly articulated lending an overall ghostly feel to the piece.

"Going Green"

Since March 1st I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme you might want to look at some of the posts from previous days. 

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Blarney with Bridget
I will be posting Irish paintings till March 17.

Slainte!

Visit my website Windy Hill Studio www,windyhillstudioarts.com for more samples of my art.















Thursday, March 12, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Memory


It's day 12 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of 

St. Patrick's Day!

"Memory"

Today's Irish painting comes to you from the countryside of the Dingle Peninsula. We found this crumbling old farmhouse down a country lane as we were wandering through Dingle, in October of 2013. The late autumn afternoon sunlight gave the scene a lovely golden glow.

We took several photos from many different angles, so intent on what we were doing that we never noticed the farmer who came to greet (?) us.

Now for those of you who don't know, Dingle is a Gaeltacht, which means Gaelic, not English is spoken there. Many people in Dingle speak both languages, but some of the "old-timers" do not. Of course we were in the presence of an old-timer who had no idea of what we were saying...and vice versa.

To make things even more interesting he seemed to be hard of hearing. Our conversation consisted mainly of smiles and nods. We had no idea of whether or not we were allowed on the property (which we thought was deserted) but at least the farmer was smiling! We can only guess at what he was thinking.

There are so many crumbling old houses and castles dotting the countryside in Ireland. I wonder who lived here, when they left, and where they went.

Capturing the Golden Glow

When painting this scene I limited my palette to just a few colors. In trying to capture the golden glow, I mixed a bit of yellow into each color. In the end the golden tones lent a nostalgic feel to the scene which was just what I had hoped for.

"Going Green"

Every day since March 1, I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog in honor of St. Patrick's Day. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme you might want to look at some posts from previous days.


Slainte!


Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Connemara Mist



Well I hope you all enjoyed yesterday's bit of blarney with Bridget, the Holy Cow. This is the season for blarney isn't it?  And Bridget is really one to spin a good yarn. She talked my ears off!

Connemara Mist (sounds like an Irish whiskey)

I'm back on a more serious note for today's Irish painting which comes from misty, moody Connemara. I love the rugged beauty of Connemara; the barren mountains (bens) which appear when the mist clears, and then disappear again when the next mist blows in from the sea. Lakes and streams wind their way through the bens becoming almost silver in the misty glow.

The backroads in Connemara are as narrow as cow paths with high hedgerows on either side. We were lucky to find a few places to pull the car over and get out to enjoy the views.

Painting Connemara's Mist

On a misty day in Connemara the clouds hang so low it feels like you can touch them. Trying to capture this feeling on a 2-dimensional surface proved to be a challenge. I needed to find a way to add a little dimension and texture to the piece. 

After I had painted in the sky, land and water, I added some Golden Pumice Medium to the surface of the painting. After the pumice medium dried, I scumbled and dry brushed some light values (whites, light violets, blues and greens) across the roughed-up surface. It did the trick, adding an extra layer of texture and depth to the piece.

"Going Green" It's Day 11 !!!

Everyday since March 1, I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog in honor of St. Patrick's Day. If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme, you might want to look at some posts from the past few days. I will keep posting Irish art till March 17!

Slainte!

Related posts










Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Blarney With Bridget


Today is day 10 of my blog "going green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and it's time for 
Blarney With Bridget. 


A bit of the Blarney

Just down the road from the Rock of Cashel, sits the remains of an ancient abbey. Cows wander about munching on Ireland's green, green grass and poking their heads through the arches of the silent tomb-like building. 

I met Bridget while I was taking photos of the ruins. She came up behind me, silent as a submarine and scared the hell out of me. After the initial scare we discovered that we got along just fine. She kept me company for a while and told me her life (so far) story. She was actually born in England and was named LuLu. But she grew tired of England's incessant rain. Evidently she didn't know that it rains in Ireland too…hence the green, green grass. 

LuLu journeyed to Ireland, taking the ferry from Guernsey to Dublin. She then walked to Cashel, found a lovely spot to call home and changed her name to Bridget. She has adapted well to her adopted home and has even been known to moo with an Irish brogue.

Bridget loves long strolls in the fields, fiery sunsets and a wee bit of the Baileys every now and then.


Bridget…the painting

Bridget was painted as an experimental piece using Pan Pastels on LeCarte pastel paper. The Pan Pastels lend a soft dreamy quality, but are really not the best choice for the rough LeCarte paper. The sponge applicator was ripped to shreds by the time I finished but my students enjoyed the demo. Or perhaps they enjoyed watching their teacher do something really dumb. I finished the piece using strokes of color with traditional stick pastels to define lines and shapes, adding a bit more depth to the piece.

I think it's good for students to see the teacher occasionally make a mistake, and then figure out how to "save" a piece. 

"Going Green" 

For the last 10 days I have been posting Irish themed art on my blog. 
If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme I am working with you might want to take a look at my posts from the last dew days.

Related posts


  

Monday, March 9, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Dingle: Land, Sky and Water



Today's Irish painting comes to you from Dingle, and it's another beach scene. I had never considered Ireland a beach destination, until I got to the Dingle Peninsula. 10 miles wide, it runs 40 miles from one end to the other, and is the westernmost part of Ireland. As the saying goes, "the next parish over is Boston".

Some of Dingle's beaches are ringed by rocky cliffs, but this beach happened to be wide open. It was just down the road from our B&B. We had arrived in Dingle at night and had no idea what type of scenery would greet us in the morning. We were pleasantly surprised to find this beautiful beach. The tide was going out but there was still plenty of water on the sand to catch the reflections of the magnificent clouds above. The beach seemed to stretch on for quite a distance and behind us were the mountains. Amazing.

This scene was painted with Pan Pastels. You can read more about Pan Pastels on the related link below.

This is day 9 of my artist blog "going green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme I am working with here you might be interested in some of the posts from the last few days, March 1 - 8. You should be able to access those posts from the links below.


I will be posting Irish themed paintings till March 17.
Slainte!




Sunday, March 8, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Along the Conor Pass



Today's Irish themed painting comes from Dingle...such a beautiful place! It's the Conor Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland. The narrow, twisting road provides some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen, and some of the most harrowing experiences I have ever had in a car!

Ireland's country roads are narrow to say the least. On the Conor Pass it's hard to concentrate on driving when the scenery around you is so magnificent.  Oncoming cars and the odd sheep, or 2 or 20, are always obstacles to be on the lookout for.

This scene is based on a photo I took from part way up a mountain. We had parked the car and found a spot to hike to: a small pond situated on a flat area of the mountain. The mountain was all rocks, and rather slippery from a recent rain shower, but we made our way up to the level area. The pond was a huge disappointment. Boring. Then I turned around and saw this magnificent sight in front of me: sharp jagged peaks against the sky and huge clouds casting dramatic shadows across the mountains. The mountains stretched in front of us for what looked like miles. Small lakes dotted the landscape, and beyond that, the sea. I must have taken 2 dozen photos with my trusty iPhone (couldn't wrestle the camera away from Rich).

The painting wasn't done till about a year later. I was preparing to teach a pastel class and needed to get my skills up to par before my session started. I did most of the painting in the course of 2 or 3 hours. Found myself falling in love with pastel again. There is something about the immediate, intense dramatic colors which you are able to achieve with pastel that really excites me. And because the process is fast, you tend to stay fresh and loose.

I have a few other pastel paintings from the Conor Pass, but this is my favorite. And the Conor Pass and Dingle Peninsula were some of my favorite days in Ireland.

If this is your first visit to my artist blog and you like the Irish theme I am working with, you might want to take a look at some of the other posts from the last few days March 1 - 7. I have included links to 3 of the posts; you can access the others from any of the links below.

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Steppin' Into March
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Across the Miles
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Rising of the Moon

Today is day 8 of my blog "Going Green". I will be posting Irish themed paintings till March 17!

Stay tuned and
Slainte!



Saturday, March 7, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - "Steppin' Into March"



Today's painting comes from the world of Irish Dance, again. This is a common theme for me when I am working on Celtic designs. My daughter Katie danced for many years with the Johnston Irish Dancers, so I had plenty of dance related props around the house to work with.

In this case I borrowed Katie's ghillies (soft shoes) and built a design around the shoes. They are the focal point of the picture. The shoes are positioned so that they appear to be dancing. The laces loop around and around and become part of a Celtic knot pattern.

I enjoyed working with the idea of positive and negative space as I painted the Celtic pattern and shamrocks. In some case the objects are painted, in other places the area around the object (negative space) is painted creating an interplay of light and dark values and a sense of depth.

This day 7 of my blog "going green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I hope you are enjoying the paintings. I will keep posting Irish themed paintings till March 17.

Dance Memories

I have wonderful memories of the years my daughter danced. The times Katie and I spent together traveling to competitions with dance friends are among my favorite memories. We had a lot of laughs, shed a few tears and met so many great people along the way. And enjoyed the best music and dancing ever!!!


"Steppin' Into March" is available as a 8 x 10 print. Price $40


If this is your first visit to my artist blog and you like the Irish theme I'm working with, you might want to take a look at some of the other posts from the last few days March 1 - 6.

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Across the Miles
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Rising of The Moon

Stop by my website too  https://www.windyhillstudioarts.com

Slainte!










Friday, March 6, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - "Across the Miles"



Today's painting comes to you from "Across the Miles". This is for all the young men and women far away from home, serving their country.

May the road rise up to greet you,
may all your days be bright
May love walk at your side by day, and keep you warm at night.
May all you pass upon your way 
be glad to call you friend.
And may the road rise up to greet you
and bring you home again.
(traditional)

And it is day 6 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

I painted this picture a few years ago for my sons, Mike and Ben. The boots belonged to Ben and I think they were left behind intentionally because they didn't fit right. Both boys were far away from home and I was looking for a unique card to send for St. Patrick's Day. Hmmm…why not paint the boots??? WHAT? So I did.

After I finished the painting I imported it into a graphics program and designed a greeting card, printed a couple and sent them off to the boys. I'm guessing no one else in the Army or Marines received a card quite like that one!

I painted the boots again a few months later substituting the shamrocks for stars, and added a flowing red stripe. After importing that design into a graphics program, I added a patriotic border and the verse from the traditional Irish blessing. The design was used for cards and posters (8" x 10") which have sold pretty well.

You might want to take a look at a related link, a rather comical look at what prompted me to paint Army boots.
You're Painting WHAT????

That's all for today.
Slainte!

If this is your first visit to my blog and you like the Irish theme I'm working with you might want to take a look at some of the other posts from the last few days, March 1 - 5.

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Rising of the Moon
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Ceili!


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Rising of the Moon



It's day 5 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day!  Today's painting is called Moon over Conemarra. It reminds me of the words to the old Irish rebel song "Rising of the Moon" which dates back to the Rebellion of 1798. 

'Tis the rising of the moon, 'tis the rising of the moon
And hurrah, me boys, for freedom, 'tis the rising of the moon.

I did this painting shortly after I returned from Ireland. No photo references were used though. This came  purely from my imagination. I was experimenting with collaging torn pieces off decorative papers over watercolor. The paper used here was almost lace-like and once it was applied over the transparent watercolor it reminded me of the misty days we spent in Conemarra.

Conemarra has a stark, barren beauty. The rocky hills (bens) rise up from a hardscrabble landscape. Mist swirls in from the sea surrounding the hills obscuring all sense of depth and detail. When the mist clears, bits of lakes, and streams appear. Sheep are everywhere, including the road…especially the road! 

I tried to keep detail to a minimum here. This painting is more about atmosphere. There is a hint of land or maybe water in the lower right corner. The torn paper mimics the shapes of the bens, but is not necessarily meant to be the hills. In this painting I prefer to leave the details up to the viewer.

If this is your first visit to my blog you might want to look at the last 4 posts. They are all Irish themed in honor of St. Patrick's Day…coming up soon!

Slainte!

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Green Beer Parade
Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Dunguaire Castle Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Beach at Dingle Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Ceili!




Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - Ceili






It's day 4 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day which is coming up soon! Today's painting is called "Ceili!" and comes from the world of Irish Dance…and also from my imagination!

A Ceili (pronounced kay-lee) is a gathering or party, featuring traditional Irish music and dance. 
Inspiration for this painting came from my daughter Katie who danced with the Johnston Irish Dancers  for several years. 

In creating this piece I used several photo references and did quite a few sketches until I came up with a composition that reflected the excitement of the Ceili.

Two dancers, slightly left of center, leap toward opposite sides of the painting creating a diagonal tension and moving our eye toward the supporting elements, the musicians. One dancer's foot points directly to the fiddle player, drawing her into the area we call our focal point, or main area of interest.

The two dancers and fiddle player create a triangle shape, which becomes our focal point. The viewer can see part of a bodhran and the hand holding the tipper. Part of an accordion is visible, but very abstracted near the left corner. And last but not least, in the top left corner we have what seems to be a band; they are very abstracted and painted in subdued color...I call them the "Muddy Neutrals".

Color also played a big role in painting this piece. Bright bold colors and active brushwork create a sense of drama as colors seem to leap off the canvas along with the dancers. You can almost hear the music!

Slainte!


If this is your first visit to my blog make sure you take a look at the posts from the last 3 days.  I will be featuring Irish themed paintings March 1 - 17.


Related posts




Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green - The Beach at Dingle



Today is day 3 of my blog "Going Green" in honor of St. Patrick's Day. This painting comes to you from Dingle, and I'm sure you have noticed there is absolutely no green in this image. But it is Ireland!

In my opinion Dingle is one of the most scenic areas in Ireland with long fingers of land reaching out into the sea, and misty islands appearing, then disappearing as the fog shifts. Frequently a light rain blows in from the sea, washes the land and then quickly blows back out to sea, leaving behind misty droplets of water hanging in the air. Heavy clouds hang over the land, but the sun peaks through, casting dramatic shadows everywhere.

On the day we stopped at this beach a group of German tourists had just finished surfing and were enjoying a picnic lunch as they packed up their van. I had never thought of Ireland as a "beach destination", but evidently some areas along the coast of the Dingle Peninsula is ideal for surfing.

I was completely taken by the quality of shimmering light, not just on the water but all around us. My goal in painting this picture was to capture that quality of light and atmosphere. Details are minimal. This painting is all about glowing light and shimmering water.

If you are interested in learning about how I achieved the effects of light and atmosphere you might wanted to check out the related post below.

Related post No Details Today

Monday, March 2, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green--Dunguaire Castle



This is day 2 of my St. Patrick's Day tribute on my blog. Today's image Castle Dunguaire comes from County Galway.

As Rich and I were driving from Connemara to the Cliffs of Moher, we came upon this lovely old castle perched on a small hill overlooking the water. Wow! Iconic Ireland was the first thought in my mind. We got out of the car, looked around and took several pictures. My intention of course was to later use the photo as reference for a painting.

About one year after our trip to Ireland I finally got around to painting this scene.  This painting was done with Pan Pastels as a demo piece for one of my classes at the Y Arts Studio. The softness of the pastels conveys a somewhat dreamy quality to the picture which I think is well suited to the subject matter.

I really loved painting the sky in this piece, and especially the clouds. Ireland has the most magnificent skies I have ever seen. Huge clouds roll in and roll out casting dramatic shadows all over the landscape. There always seems to be a bit of dewiness in the air.

In the next few days you will see more of Ireland's skies in my paintings.

Till then,
Slainte






Sunday, March 1, 2015

Joan Applebaum Art Goes Green -"The Green Beer Parade"



In honor of St. Patrick's Day I will be featuring Irish themed art on my blog page March 1 - 17. When you are Irish, St. Patrick's Day is a season rather than just one day. This is especially true here in Syracuse where the winters are long and cold and we are just looking for any sign of spring.

Our 2015 Green Beer Parade took place last weekend. I was in North Carolina, so I missed it but I was there in spirit. 

I painted this image several years ago, but always bring it "out of the archives" at this time of the year. Right now it is currently at the Winter Recipe Show at the Tech Garden in Syracuse. So if you want to see it up close and personal….head on down to the Tech Garden, 235 Harrison St. Syracuse, NY during regular business hours M - F.

When I first posted this image of the Green Beer Parade (not to to be confused with the St. Patrick's Parade!…we like to celebrate here in Syracuse!) I wrote the text below. I am including the text again for anyone who is not familiar with this much loved, rather quirky event that helps us transition from Winter to Spring.

"If the St. Patrick's Day Parade is Syracuse's official Rite of Spring, then the Green Beer Parade must be the official prelude to the Rite of Spring. Each year approximately three weeks before St. Patrick's Day, the Green Beer Truck arrives at the intersection of Tompkins St. and Milton Ave, the only place in the world where the green traffic light is above the red. Accompanied by bag pipers and Irish dancers, the truck makes its slow journey down the street to Coleman's Irish Pub, as the sons and daughters of Tipperary Hill return home to witness the grand event. Snow swirls around us, but March is just around the corner and the hope of Spring is in the air."

Slainte!

Related post http://joanapplebaumart.blogspot.com/2015/02/green-beer-parade-favorite.html