3 Days 3 paintings, breaking rules.

Today, clear and cold.

     

     I delivered paintings to both Saratoga Arts, and Southern Vermont Arts Center, both in opposite directions, then there was Halloween!

I couldn't pass up that shadow.

         #881  Outback                                             10-31-16                                                9x12

                                                            These are our jack-o-lanterns!

          This was yesterday, I went out and there was some sun, but the clouds came in later.

             #880  Battenkill @ Center Falls, NY                              1-10-16                      14x16

                                                              Ollie enjoys time at the river!

   
         As you know I've been converting my wood shop into a painting studio, mostly to have all in one location, that is gallery, framing, staging for shows, etc... But I also thought it would be nice to expand my repertoire, and on Saturday I did just that.  I wrote somewhere that I never copied my own work, use reference photos or painted something that wasn't in front of me.  I broke all those rules.  I thought I could improve on the plein air version, work on things in a controlled setting and "fix" things I didn't like. I also thought it would be good to have some larger paintings, and try and "distill" the image/composition.

                      This is my set up, I'm not sure if the photo was helping or not. I set up sight-size, if this even counts, so I could "transfer" the smaller to the larger, and proceed, at least in theory, as I would out of doors.

       This is very close to where I ended, although I guess I could go back into it. There were a lot of things to like about the painting, the shadows on the road, the shape of the tree cut, the far hills.  I'm liking the control obtainable for depicting the telephone poles, signs and tree trunks, but over all I feel it lacks the spontaneity that the plein air painting has, and along with it a sense of originality.  It looks worked, and yet the paint handling feels under cooked.

        #880 C.R. 59 @ South Rd.  (studio)                        10-30-16                             16x20

New work at Amp Galleries, Saratoga Springs NY.

It snowed today, which totally made sense because I had to pack the van up with stacks of paintings and drive them over to Amp Galleries in Saratoga Springs, NY,

     AMP Galleries is in this building: 454 Broadway, the Saratoga Marketplace. Their web site:
http://www.ampgalleries.com/about

 
               There are 14 framed paintings (2 not shown) and a short stack of unframed panels.  any painting is available with or without a frame.

                     This will be up thru February, and maybe longer, the hours are Monday-Saturday 11-6. Sundays 11-5.  If you are around, stop in.  If you want to meet me there send me a message on the contact widget above.  There will be events and I'll announce them here as they come up.

                     Thanks for reading my blog!

Finished September Paintings

    September was a productive month, with 25 paintings done, here are 15 of the best, although a few are missing because I had trouble with the photo files. The weather was spectacular, with a lot of sun and warm temperatures, and somehow I was able to keep life at bay enough to focus on painting.  I had a lot of successes recently with the "Best in Show" award from the Trask event and a bunch of sales. I got a show at Saratoga Arts, scheduled for the spring of 17'  and joined a new cooperative gallery in Saratoga Springs NY, to be installed this week.  All good stuff and I'm happy about that, as long as I can keep painting!

                   843 Strand @ night, Old Forge, NY.                         9-1-10                                    11x12

              #844 Moose River                                         9-2-16                                             9x12

         #845 View from Bald Mountain, Old Forge, NY.                      9-2-16                         12x16

                       #848 Park Place                     9-5-16                                   14x16

                 #849 Spraguetown Rd, @ CR 52 Greenwich, NY.                   9-7-16                          12x16

              #850 C.R. 59 @ South Rd.                                       9-9-16                                 11x14

               #851 W. Main St.                                      9-10-16                                        12x16

                 #853 Hudson River @ Thomson                                 9-12-16                                   14x16

                                 #855 Home                                     9-15-16                          11x12 

                      #857 Stuben @ James St. Albany, NY.                         9-16-16                            14x16 

             #858 Charles River @ Watertown MA.                       9-17-16                             9x12 

                                          #859 N. Park St.                                  9-20-16                          12x16 

                       #861 South Rd. @ C.R. 59                           9-22-16                                 9x12  

               

                 #864 McCray Rd. Greenwich NY.                            9-27-16                               11x12

                #866 S. Union St.                                           9-30-16                                            14x16 

                          

                                         As always thanks for reading my blog!

Champlain Canal lock # 6 Ft. Edward, NY. laying out the paintings and a new gallery!

     Rainy today, after a cloudy day along the canal yesterday.  I needed a rain break to get some other things done.
 

                 This is a scene I've wanted to do for a while, it's the lock,  without the  lock, but with the bridge, pump house, the road, and all the other stuff. There are some yellow trees, but they stay very much in the background.

          A progress shot.

            The Money Shot.

             #878  Champlain Canal lock #6 Ft. Edward, NY.             10-19-16                12x16

       Here I've laid out the paintings from September, 25 in all, and most are my larger size.  I'm waiting for a clear day when I can photograph them, as well I will number, title, date and sign them.  Once this is done, I will varnish them and I can send out jpegs.

      This is the wall for my current paintings, these are the ones from this month so far. 

         On the largest wall I'm laying out the work, and just as important, the frames for a show at a co-operative gallery I'm joining (read, renting) in November.  My space is 4'-10" x 7'-10", and the black tape and board seem, indicate the size.  I will arrange the paintings like this, and change out the paintings, hopefully when they sell.  There will be a rack of 30 or so unframed paintings, they can be fitted with a simple black frame, or purchased without a frame.

       AMP Galleries are located at 454 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY.  I will post pictures as soon as I move in.  The web site is here:  http://www.ampgalleries.com/about

1st self portrait in a long time.

It was a rainy night, I hadn't gotten out to paint and I had my new studio to break in, here is what I did:

                                     #877 self portrait                   10-17-16                  14x11

   

    I had done the self portrait as my concentration for the Advanced Placement in studio art, of course this was in 1978!

                                         It felt like I was out on the road when I set up like this!

Northside Drive, Bennington, Vermont and my new space!

Warm.

   Yesterday I drove over to Bennington, I wanted to end up  at Leslie Parke's opening at the Bennington Museum, and I thought I'd paint on the way over there.  On any given drive I see things I'd like to paint, I found this on Northside Drive, a strip road, now with a new Walmart, fast food, gas stations and a gun shop.

     #876  Northside Dr. Bennington, VT.                      10-15-16                                 11x12

     Here is my scene, I'm just off the main road, at a Y intersection, that doesn't get much traffic, so it felt safe.

                   The Money Shot.

       Today I painted some walls!   Ever since I got the word that I'd have to stay away from lead, in late May, I've been working little by little to clean and re-organize my carpentry/ window shop into a painting studio.  It's taken some time and a lot of effort, throwing a lot of stuff out, or on the burn pile,  I got rid of some tools I never used, and stuff I would never need.  I vacuumed up dust.

                                                                             A pile of waste paint.

Another mega- blog! 7 paintings and a whole lot more!

   The first part of October has been full of stuff, yes of course painting, but also shows and some traction in getting the paintings into the world, all great, and desired, but a lot to process.  The weather has been just beautiful, with the fall colors changing in exciting and unpredictable ways.

     This is a scene looking down Carey Ave, a back street in Hoosick Falls, NY.  I honestly don't know how I ended up painting this scene, but it did have some redeeming qualities with the shadows crossing the street, the distant hill and the tree cut (where the tree is cut back for the power lines, and is a common subject for me)

                           Truly a back street in an old post industrial small town in Upstate New York, there is a scruffy quality, and a majestic quality and they co-exist in a lovely fashion.

                         #869  Carey Ave. Hoosick Falls, NY.     10-5-16            10x8



         The next day, I visited my parents in Newton, MA.  This is the city hall, not far from where I grew up, and my parents still live.

      This was a great scene, the light on the building, the shadows of the trees, and the traffic, so much traffic going by.

      #870  Newton City Hall, Newton, MA.               10-6-16                                11x12


         Friday night was the first of 4 days in the Landscapes for landsake show, a fundraiser for the Ag Stewardship Association, a cause close to heart, preserving farmland in our region, I'm friends with a lot of the other artists and many of the people that come to the show, and that's a lot of people.  It was a great success with a lot of sales, seeing old friends, meeting people and fun!

      Early (5:30) Saturday morning I took Alane and Hope to the airport for a trip to Puerto Rico, they would have a blast with Alane's sister, niece, and families.

   On Monday, Columbus Day, also the final day of the show, I went out to paint. This is what I found:

  I really liked this process shot, it shows how I'm thinking while developing the painting, notice the scraping away of the sky for the tree, and that the bright lights and darkest shadows are there early in the session.

    #871 Cross Rd.  Salem, NY.                   10-10-16                                    14x16

Later the same day I went to Greenwich and found this:

These village scenes close to the end of the day pose some interesting challenges, with the way that the light goes on one thing then another, it also give you an opportunity to create a very dynamic composition with these radical elements of different parts.

     I don't necessarily like "chasing" the light, that is to change things as the light changes, but I do sometimes.

       #872  Salem St. Greenwich, NY.                    10-10-16                        11x14

Tuesday was just too beautiful not to paint, and with the trees turning colors I went looking for trees, you'd think I could just walk out the door and find a tree to paint, but nooooo, I have to drive around past millions of them to find the ONE.

 

      #873  Black Creek Rd.  Salem, NY.                   10-11-16                     12x16


   This was Wednesday, another day with gorgeous light.

     This is the largest panel I've painted in a long time.

      #874 Lincoln Hill Rd.                             10-12-16                               16x18

Yesterday on my way back from Saratoga, I drove around way too much, but I found something pretty good. 

   In this case I had to stop because I was loosing the light, which was great, but fleeting especially toward the end.

       #875 Scotch Hill Rd. Salem, NY.               10-14-16                           9x12

Thank you for reading my blog!