After threatening rain, both days of the Armonk show managed to stay dry and draw lots of people this past weekend. I completed the two new paintings for the show; "The Rocks off Conanicut Island" 18x24, and "Autumn Vista" 12x24, mentioned in my previous entry. Both have been added to the "New Pieces" page.
 Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA. September 16-18, 2011. This shows my display along the south side of the park. The Rittenhouse Square exhibition is held every year in June and September. After four months of work, I finally completed the 30x40 painting "Receding Tide". This piece has been added to the "new pieces" page as well as the homepage slide show. I don't often find beaches with so many stones, so this was a challenge, especially on my patience. I began this painting in May after a visit to Rhode Island in April. I was fascinated by the diversity of stones in the foreground, especially the granites. It reminded me of a beach on the New Hampshire Coast, within Odiorne State Park, where the sound of the stones rolling back as the surf receded sticks in my mind. This painting was exhibited for its first time at the Rittenhouse Square show in Philadelphia this past weekend.
I also completed the painting "Evening Mist", 24x36. A scene depicting an inland waterway as the setting for unique sky effects. I saw this sky over a marsh area north of Clarks Summit PA last month. Currently, I'm still working on two forest stream paintings, both 24x36. One is a summer scene, the other autumn. Both of these have been in process for 8 months now, but I hope to finish them in order to exhibit at the Skytop PA show in November (see show schedule - "About artist" page). This week I plan to complete two smaller pieces. The first, began in June, features the surf breaking around a rock formation off Conanicut Island ..... Rhode Island. The second, just started last week, has been progressing fast. Its a 12x24 autumn mountain scene. I plan to exhibit both of these for the first time at the show in Armonk NY this coming weekend. I welcome the approach of autumn weather with its cool refreshing air. This will shift my focus to painting autumn leaves and inland landscapes. I love the change of seasons, especially the dramatic shifts from September through December. I look forward to SNOW and its magical effects within the forest!! It seems every time I visit the "Finger Lakes" region of New York, I am treated to a fantastic sky show. Over last weekend, I enjoyed the grounds of Sonnenberg Mansion of Lake Canadaigua, where I exhibited in the Art in the Gardens show. The weather on Sunday involved a sequence of storms. Fortunately, there were enough periods of clearing to bring out more people. The trip home was quite spectacular. Following the edge of the traveling front, I was amazed by the dramatic clouds and lighting. Although it wasn’t until later that I stopped to get out the camera, the scenes from early in the evening are firmly etched upon my mind. I’m sure they will turn up in paintings as I contemplate a number of inland landscapes.
At the show itself, I worked on an autumn landscape with a dramatic atmospheric quality. I will enjoy completing this piece over the next couple weeks. Except for the effects of light on mountainside trees, most of it is complete. I anticipate featuring a cluster of white pine trees in the foreground, with deep greens contrasted against bright autumn colors. Although I thought I had the exact arrangement settled, I will be sketching out a number of compositional options for this foreground before I continue. I plan to exhibit this completed piece at the Rittenhouse Square show in Philadelphia next month.
On my way to the Mystic Outdoor Arts Festival this past weekend, I spent time amongst the rocks and tide-pools of Newport RI. Such visits always send me off with a new wealth of ideas and inspiration for paintings. Everywhere I looked, there was art. Although the tide was out and the surf calm, the clear blue sky made the colors in the water brilliant. I enjoyed wading amongst the rocks of Brenton Point, a place where the 19th century Hudson River School artist, William Trost Richards spent much time painting. Getting down low in the water provided me with inspiration for a variety of low-angle views. I hope to complete a number of paintings from this spot and will enjoy more frequent visits.
Before the Mystic show, I also dropped off a new piece at the Sheldon Fine Art gallery in Newport. It’s a small painting (8x16) and is titled, "Heading out past Beavertail Light". Be sure to visit it there when in Newport. Although much of Sunday was rained out, Saturday of the Mystic show went well.I spent time at the show working on a painting from Conanicut Island near Jamestown RI. The piece features an interesting formation of rocks with the surf crashing around it. I actually began the piece in June and hope to complete it this month. I extend thanks to the many fine people I met and enjoyed talking to at the show. Welcome to my website ...... and this new blog. I'm new to this "blog stuff" so bear with me. With many buyers and fans asking about my current work, I hope this will provide such information. Today, I completed the painting "Wave Break at Dawn", and I just added it to the "New Pieces" page for your viewing. Since my paintings require many layers and long hours of work, I am usually working on many at a time.
Currently, my biggest project is a painting depicting the surf on the S. shore of Rhode Island. The piece focuses on the surf draining back from among many small rocks and stones. I'm fascinated by the diversity of patterns in the rocks, from Quartz to a variety of Granites. There are so many in the composition however, that I can only work on these for so long before I need to switch to another painting. Therefore ...... its going rather slowly. My plan, is to complete it by the end of August. This painting will be 30x40. In addition, I completed the painting "Rolling in under the Touch of Sun" 12x36. I plan to place this on the "New Pieces" page shortly. Other work this week has included a view of Newport Harbor, showing the Pell Bridge in the distance, a portrayal of the bright morning sun through the trees of a forest stream, and a painting of the dawn surf rolling up on the beach (portrait or vertical format) across wet sand. These are three more works I hope to complete by the end of the month. The forest stream painting has been in process for many months now. Obviously, I enjoy jumping around between many paintings. This way, I can relive a hike up a forest stream and walk on the beach at dawn within the space of a couple hours!! |
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June 2024
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