Harmonious Color and Moody Neutrals

In my two recent watercolor paintings "Good Morning Beautiful!" and "Waiting for Spring" I am working with a limited palette. Both paintings were begun in my watercolor class at the Y Arts Studio, with the intention of using each as part of my lesson plan on limiting your palette. But each painting is quite different in subject matter and mood.

"Good Morning Beautiful! started with a simple arrangement of three objects: two eggs and a lemon. The composition is simple and follows the rule of thirds grid and all three shapes are similar in that they are ovals. The colors I chose are cheery shades of yellow, orange and a very pale red with accents of white. Yellow, orange and red are analogous colors, which means they all lie next to each other on the color wheel creating a harmonious composition.

I began the painting by sketching the three objects, then painting the perimeter of the eggs and a small area on top of the lemon with masking fluid. After the masking fluid dried I painted a very light wash of yellow and orange across the paper. After the wash dried, I peeled off the masking fluid and began laying in washes of color on the lemon and the eggs building up shadows and creating depth through successive washes of color.

The grid pattern was a afterthought. I had started the painting with the intention of using it as a study rather than a finished painting. But as I worked on the painting I became more interested in developing a finished piece, rather than just a study. So the grid pattern evolved as a way to unite the elements in the composition. Because geometric patterns are visually strong they can distract the viewer from the focal point. For this reason I kept the pattern light and somewhat fragmented.

My end result is a cheery good morning in the kitchen type of painting, hence the name "Good Morning Beautiful".

"Waiting for Spring" has a more subdued palette dictated by subject matter and time of year. The lighthouse at Tibbett's Point stands bathed in washes of pale neutrals; the February sun tries to peek through the clouds, bits of mist rise off the icy water. This painting is all about that time of year when winter has worn out its welcome: the sky, water and snow often seem to be the same color. Spring is still several weeks away.

This painting began with a light sketch. I masked one side of the lighthouse, the other two buildings and part of the snow to keep the color pure white. The sky, water and snow were created with a sloppy wet-on-wet wash of blues and greens mixed with Payne's Gray. Bits of pale red and yellow were added to create depth. As warm colors come forward and the cooler colors recede (push/pull) we create a sense of space and depth within the painting. All colors, warm and cool, were kept very light, very subdued to lend to that bleak end of winter atmosphere. The addition of Payne's Gray to the greens and blues created a series of moody neutrals perfect for a February sky in Northern New York.

The only spot of color is in the red roofs on two of the buildings and the top of the lighthouse. I tried to carry bits of the red through the painting, so that the viewer would not fixate on the red roofs. There is a light red in the shadows on the snow and a bit in the sky to carry our eyes across the painting. I added a darker wash of Payne's Gray mixed with blues and greens to the water to indicate areas where the ice is melting. Details were kept to a minimum lending a somewhat dreamy atmosphere to the painting. Perhaps to keep the viewer dreaming of Spring.

Each year when winter rolls around I find myself painting at least a couple of winter landscapes. Usually the paintings are in preparation for The Art of Winter Show at the Thousand Island Arts Center. This year is no exception; last week I delivered a watercolor and an acrylic painting to the Arts Center. The show opens on Friday, but there's always a chance that I will miss the reception due to weather conditions. Painting the winter and driving in it are two entirely different things!

The winter light as it sits low and pale in the sky always intrigues me. The early morning light and late afternoon illumination are the most interesting with orange, pink and golden hues bouncing off new fallen snow; trees casting long purple/blue shadows. I never have to go far for inspiration...especially this winter. The snow covers and hides a host of problems turning everything into a winter wonderland.

This year's entry in acrylic paint was started as a demo for my Painting class at the Y. I was scheduled to teach a class called "Painting the Winter Landscape", but due to a clerical error, my class was transformed into an Intro to Acrylics Class. But, I had planned on painting a winter landscape and I still needed something to enter in the Art of Winter show, so I stuck with the winter theme.

I was working from a photo and began by lightly sketching the major shapes: tree-line, a few drifts of snow and a stand of trees near the lower right corner, no details. I omitted distracting details like power lines and much of the partly covered fallen underbrush. I under-painted using complementary colors to add more vitality and depth to the "local colors".  In the original painting some of the orange underpainting in the sky and snow peaks through, but I am not sure that shows up in the photo below. Those little bits of warm color add a dynamic interplay with the cool tones of the winter sky and the shadows on the snow. The sky and snow were both painted by mixing colors directly on the canvas when wet so that the transition from color to color remained soft and diffused, lending a realistic quality to those areas. The tree-line running across the back was painted with a variety of dark hues including combinations of Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Pthalo Green. I used a bit of light purple, (almost a lilac color) to lighten and subdue some of the dark tones.

When the painting was in progress the trees in the far background became a temporary focal point, due to the path of shadows leading the eye back to them. After I added definition to the trees in the right lower corner and added the arch of the branch across the path the other focal point emerged: the trees in the foreground, especially the arching branch. The trees in the far background were subdued with less intense colors and no details. I added some bits of stick-like branches poking through the snow to help lead our eyes through the picture. I painted in a few fallen trees partially covered with snow to help transition from the snowy path to the wooded area.

The show opens February 7 and runs through March 31. If you are in the Thousand Islands area stop by the Arts Center located at 314 John St. in Clayton. The Art of Winter will run concurrently with a selection of fiber pieces and weaving artifacts from the Arts Center's Handweaving Collection. The town of Clayton is quiet in the winter, but there are still a couple of nice restaurants open serving lunch. If you are lucky you will see a few hardy souls zipping across the frozen St. Lawrence River in air boats!

Peaceful Night

It's a peaceful night here in Windy Hill Studio. I'm working on a watercolor and listening to some Native American flutes and drums.

I'm working on a painting for the Winter Show at The Thousand Islands Arts Center. It seems strange to be smack in the middle of January with plenty of chilly weather but no snow. I seem to recall several inches of it covering my yard just a week ago. But I'm sure it will be back. Till then I'm creating my own winter wonderland. Haven't finished enough for a picture, so here's one from a few year ago. It's called Frozen River.

A New Year at Windy Hill Studio

The new year always finds me planning direction for the upcoming months. I'm usually lining up teaching opportunities for spring and summer, looking for possibilities for showing new work and
deciding what to paint and when to paint it. The winter months are slower for me; most of my gallery/sales opportunities are in the late Spring, Summer and Fall. So the winter is the time for planning and painting.

The winter itself presents endless possibilities for painting; sunlight on new fallen snow is full of subtle shifting colors. Yeah...I know, we don't see a lot of sunlight in the winter here in Central New York. But those heavy leaden skies can have a somber beauty to them too.

One of my plans for the new year is an update to my website. That update will be coming in the next few weeks after I gather together the newest images and write some new text. And delete the sold paintings!

I am currently teaching two painting classes at the Y Arts Studio: Watercolor and Acrylic. In both classes I am working on winter landscapes as my demo pieces, also intending to use them in the Art Of Winter Show at the Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton. During the winter months I have plans to paint a few "River" pieces which will be exhibited in the Thousand Islands areas; specifically Bay House Artisans in Alexandria Bay and The TI Arts Center Gift Shop in Clayton. Boldt Castle, Singer Castle, the Thousand Islands Bridge and the Lighthouse at Tibbett's Point are all on my list of paintable images!

I have submitted my plans for summer classes at the Thousand Islands Arts Center. This year I will be teaching Watercolor and Acrylic Painting for adults and a Parent/Child painting workshop as well.
Last summer I divided my time between camp and home. Many of my teaching and work opportunities were in the North Country/Thousand Islands, so I spent quite a bit of time at camp...always a great place to relax and at the same time be inspired by the scenic landscape. This year I plan to do the same. Windy Hill Studio North has been recently renovated and is a nice cozy spot to paint while my cats doze in the dappled sunlight streaming through the windows.

I will still be teaching Drawing and Painting classes at the Y for adults and various types of studio classes for kids.and I plan to teach at least 2 weeks of Y Arts Camp this summer at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park.

I'm looking forward to a pleasantly busy winter of teaching, painting and preparing for the summer shows. I have an exhibit now at the Y Arts Gallery titled "Camp". My intention in this show is to capture those timeless and intimate moments shared by all who live life in the outdoors. I am continuously inspired by the land, sky and water. It is my hope that this show will bring back memories of what it was like to be a kid at camp: splashing your canoe paddles in the water, canon-balling off the dock into the lake, running through the grass to catch fireflies and staying up late to roast marshmallows around the campfire while re-hashing the day's escapes.

I hope I bring back a few memories of the good old days at camp, whether they were 10 years ago, 50 years ago or just last summer.

Preview of Upcoming Show

Here are a couple of images from my upcoming show at the Y Arts Community Gallery, 200 Towne Drive, Fayetteville, NY

You can read my previous blog entry for more information about the show.

The show will run throughout the months of January and February.
Pictured here are: Hangin' With the Buoys, and Keeping a Lookout.

Carving Out a Bit of Studio Time and Preparing for a Show in an Extremely Busy Season...what was I thinking!!!!

Well I can't believe how long it has been since I have entered a blog post. September was my last entry! After an extremely busy Summer and Fall, I find myself preparing at the very last minute for my next show....a show I booked a year ago! But over the course of a year, a lot can happen.

As I had said the summer was busy. I was teaching a little bit here and there...I guess the here would be in the CNY area, so that would be the art camps I taught at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia; and there would be the North Country...specifically Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton. I am also one of the members of the Bay House Artisans Co-op, which meant working at least 3 times per month in Alexandria Bay, and I exhibited in Sacket's Harbor as well. So I spent a lot of time at camp, which was nice, and also inspirational for painting.

Fall was also a busy time wrapping up obligations up in the North Country and preparing for a trip to Ireland. The trip was magnificent and I have already started a series of paintings based on the dramatic West Coast of Ireland.

I had started putting together the theme for the art show at the Y Arts Community Gallery, which is "Camp",.... and what space could be more appropriate than the YMCA especially as they begin registering for camp in January. Unfortunately I was not able to put together a marketing plan with the Y, which leaves me on my own here to publicize the show. I had a grand plan to start sending out PR in November. Unfortunately, my brother who had been sick for close to 3 1/2 years was hospitalized, and died 11 days later. I spent most of November at the hospital and later making arrangements for his funeral, cleaning out his house etc. And then I got sick...with bronchitis. Between illness and mind-numbing grief I got nothing done. So, that was the month of November.

And now it's December and Christmas season...yeah just a little busy here.

But, I am FINALLY back to blogging and even better, back in the Studio. The "Camp" show will be on display in the Y Arts Gallery, 200 Towne Drive Fayetteville, NY,  during the months of January and February.

And for those of you who are saying "Camp" show???? HUH??? The theme comes from my attempt to capture those timeless and intimate moments shared by all who live life in the outdoors. I am continuously inspired by the land, sky and water. It is my hope that this show will bring back memories of what it was like to be a kid at camp: splashing your canoe paddles in the water, canon-balling off the dock into the lake, running through the grass to catch fireflies and staying up late to roast marshmallows around the campfire while re-hashing the day's escapes. 

I hope I bring back a few memories of the good old days at camp, whether they were 10 years ago, 50 years ago or just last summer.

Variations on a Theme: Dance!

As I am getting ready to teach a class in collage, I am looking through old files and photos of collages created over the last few years. I came across the Dance series for which I had not only created 4 visual pieces, but also a text to go with each one. So....I decided to post it on my blog.

The Dance Series started with a pile of discarded sheet music found in a wastepaper basket at Cultural Resources Council, now known as CNY Arts. I was immediately intrigued by the endless possibilities presented by contrasting the music with all of its obvious implications, with abstractions; color, shapes, and patterns. Whether or not the abstractions related in any way to music was not important initially, however as my idea began to take shape, music again became important as the driving force behind each piece which represents a different style of Dance.

The series consists of four pieces White Ballet (Ballet), Nairobi Night (African Dance), Guts and Grace (NIA) and Steppin’ at the BB (Irish Step Dance).

White Ballet: The term for traditional ballet, graceful, flowing, uplifted and ethereal, all fluffy white and pink tutus.

Nairobi Night: African Dance, earthy and grounded, fiery colors, movements driven by the insistent drumbeat.

Guts and Grace NIA: or neuromuscular integrative action is a fusion of modern dance, martial arts and the healing arts and a study in contrasts. Complimentary colors, positive and negative shapes, linear and rounded, flowing and staccato all at once.

Steppin’ at the BB: Irish step dance. Linear, uplifted movement, the staccato beat of hardshoes on wooden floor all represented by the straight edge of the watercolor abstractions. The torn side, edged in gold, a representation of the soft side,ghillies and intricate patterns across the floor.