Entre'

 

The Entry, 30x40, oil available

There are times when I just want to break the rules to see if I can make it work. Let's see what you all think. Did I succeed or not?

The 'rule' in particular is to not split a painting in two, down the middle. Which is exactly what I did on this one. The vantage point is from the floor looking from the living room into the entry hall and staircase. I had been playing with my dog and when I looked up, thought that this could make an interesting painting. There was a myriad of reasons I liked this scene. The repetition of vertical lines in the stairwell, the radiator,  the legs of the table and the books in the bookcase. Then there was the oak of the stairs and banister and window, the floor, the bookcase and the oak chest. And finally, the plant, the pussy willows in the vase on the table on the landing and the daffodils. 

My justification for doing this scene this way is my hope that the viewer would either want to go from the living room to explore what is up stairs or to go around the corner to the front door. 

Multiple light sources can also be tricky. There is the window you can see on the stairs, the front door is all glass with a reed shade, behind the bookcase in the entry hall, and there is a window behind the couch off to the right of the edge of this painting. Oh, plus the two windows behind me on either side of the fireplace.

Road back in Time

The Road to Mandrakia, 24x36, oil on linen SOLD

I have been working on 5 larger paintings simultaneously these past several months, and possible as long as a year! Finally, one of them I am considering done. It has been a long haul. I am going to justify the length of time it has taken me because it isn't that I am a slow painter. The weather here has alternated between gray and rainy and very hot and sunny. Since I prefer to paint without artificial light in my studio, the gray days make it hard to do anything but start a new painting. The hot days drain me, as my studio is on the second floor and I do not have A/C. I do have a ceiling fan, and for the most part that does the job. Yet when it is close to 100 outside, that isn't enough. The difference is temperature when it goes from 60 and rainy to almost a 100 with no segue or steps in raise or lowering in temperature does something to the body, or at least it does to mine. Now that I have justified myself to myself, saying I am not lazy (well maybe just a bit) I will get on with this painting and why I wanted to paint it.

Five years ago I was invited to join my sister-in-law on the island of Milos in the Aegean Sea. This is the road to one of the many little spits of land that jut out around the island. Some have houses, some do not. This particular cove is famous for its Syrmata, or boat garages, which I tried not to highlight, as this painting/ story is not about them. For me it was about the road to the sea. Mandrakia is a little village down on the spit of land, even having its own little church. There is also a Taverna...naturally! The water there is so amazing. Changing colors while you watch. Each little cove or inlet has a unique feel to the water and the beach. I had never experienced anything like it before. In the intervening five years it has experienced much growth as it has been 'discovered' - I have been told there are now more houses in this view than when I was there and took this photograph.

I really got into the rhythms and pattern of the surrounding landscape while doing this painting. The land goes up and down and winds around. I hope you can follow the road that winds to the right and then again to the right by the little memorial then finally to the left and Mandrakia. It is a place special to my heart. I was there in April, and hope to go back this October if all goes accordingly. 

Painting in the Garden - Always an Adventure

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We have had smoke from the fires in Alberta Canada since last week creating a very gray environment. Finally, the air was clear and the temperature was perfect. The iris in my garden have not looked this good in years. In Denver, the weather conditions definitely determine what the garden is going to look like, or not, in any given year. I have not been outside painting, with the exceptions of my field sketches, yet this spring. And here it is almost June! 

All is going well for awhile until about an hour into it. I am enjoying being outside and in the flow. The occasional distraction of my puppy charging the fence barking as people and dogs walk by. THEN, a house a block away and down the street, which has been under construction for the past two years, started using a high power washer to wash the new black brick that this compound was built with. You think, down the street a block, what is the problem? It is the short block, and it is a busy street that slopes up to my house. So this street acts like a megaphone into my property when there is noise going on there. Another monstrosity, being built two doors down, and called THE PRISON by neighbors on the block, has not been half as disruptive as the one further away. It is like a microclimate situation. Living in a neighborhood that has been under constant construction the past 6 years, you would think I would be immune to the noise by now. It is not so. I don't think myself a sensitive type, but I am becoming very reactive to it, which serves no purpose, yet drills into the brain and psyche nonetheless. I had to quit working on the painting, thinking I would set up again today and finish what I could before my afternoon appointment. 

No. This painting was not destined to be completed outside. At 4 PM a wicked fast and furious hail storm blew through decimating my iris, among many other plants. Shockingly, the Particular stems I picked were the least damaged. I believe because the tree above provided some shelter. Iris in other parts of the garden were not so lucky. The good news is, that the buds withstood the assault, so not all is lost.

As of yesterday, not finished

Iris before I started

Noon light is bluer

Iris after the hail-could be worse! Morning light is red!

In the two photos of the iris, you can see part of THE PRISON. Thankfully, that piece of work is finished.

Lilacs

Day 3 -mostly done-thinking the 'vase' is too prominent

Wednesday of last week (May 10, 2023) everyone on our morning walk was talking 'hail!' So, I came home, covered my vegetable garden plants (we here in Denver know not to plant before Mother's Day-but who listens?), cut some lilacs, iris and hellebores, 'just in case' to bring inside. If nothing else I could enjoy the heavenly scent of the lilacs, or possibly even do some sketching of the flowers on the grey day that ensued. It did rain for 24 hours straight, but thankfully, no hail here. The area where I live has been called  "hail alley."

Sketch of Lilacs

Friday, so two days into the cut flowers shortened life, I decided to paint one of the vases full of lilacs. Being still overcast outside the arrangement was under artificial overhead light. I went and found an unclean previously painted panel, 24"x12" and proceeded. Sometimes, the first run on a used panel is the toughest, especially if the painting was varnished, as this one had been. I could not find a photograph of the painting so I am surprised it was varnished. Despite the effort put in by me, who knows how long ago, to remove the varnish and then sand it, it still lingers. The first flush of new paint means it is absorbed by the old varnish so I must remember to go darker and lighter in value to combat this phenomenon. It doesn't seem to matter - it all ends up monotone.

From Nicotiana to Lilacs- starting the block in- carving out shapes

Day 1-Black almost covered - allowing this layer to dry a bit

Saturday is not so gray and the sun actually shines forth from time to time. But in keeping with what I had started, I turned on the overhead lights. My thought was even if I don't finish the study, it has been fun painting from life and fighting the substrate at the same time. Today's effort felt less like a wrestling match and more fluid and easy. 

Day 2- Big shapes defined

Day 2 before quitting for the day- Lilacs holding up so far 

Day 3 Sunday is just to finish the vase. Which is really for drinking wine, I believe. I inherited it from my parents and is from the 60's when we first moved to Germany. I am not sure what it says on it but I believe it has to do with cultivation of wine.  It does have a handle but I have ever only used it for a vase.

Grey Heron - Adapting to One's Environment

Adapting to One's Environment, 12x16, available

The photo I took for this painting was taken while visiting my son in Kanazawa Japan. He had moved there to teach English a few years after graduating college. This would be around 2006. The city sits between two rivers, so I am not sure which river this is along, but as you can see, it is concrete and granite banking the river. Kanazawa sits along the Sea of Japan on the western coast of Japan. I took the photo from across the river, so the actual image is quite grainy. I had to fill in some areas that did not read well, especially around the eyes.

1. Getting the Shapes in

I sketched the bird in with a crimson colored pencil, which you can see still in this block in as I figure out relationships in shapes and values. My thought was to have the Heron blend into his 'environment,' so I used the same color palette for the granite wall and the bird.

2. Darkening down the wall

Even thought I liked the colors in the granite wall, I decided it needed to be more neutral so I added a darker value of a greyed blue overall. Dry-brushing it on to allow texture. I added a pinkish color to the concrete surface which as up to this point, I had left blank canvas. 

3. Finishing the bird

Now that the surrounding area is where I want it, I start work on finishing the bird. I softened the hard dark blacks and darkened the greys of his feathers. Also added some soft yellows and purples to his neck and head.

All these images were taken in my studio with my iPhone. I find it interesting that the earlier photos look darker than the last. 

Kevin Weckbach at Gallery 1261

I apologize in advance for not getting this out while the show was up. However, it appears to still be up on Gallery 1261's website. I went to the opening two weeks ago and was there early enough to get a chance to talk to Kevin, although not for long. He posed for his girlfriend to take this photo, so I did likewise. For those who don't know, I consider Kevin my mentor. I took his year long master painting class more than once, and though it has been many years since then, his teachings stay with me - at least most of the time.

There are so many good paintings in this show, I am surprised it did not sell out. In my opinion, he is one of the best painters of our time -based on my limited knowledge of all artists of our time. His use of color and his strong values that show up in his paintings are rarely rivaled. He paints so abstractly yet the abstract shapes pull a scene together so succinctly.

The depth!

Detail-so abstract

Detail-the blue of the river! 

Look at the brushwork! The colors!

Detail of water in the light from painting below

look at the color in the shadow side of the snow!

Wow! pure blue. The warm and the cool- no one does it better

Photos don't do justice to the vibrance of Kevin's work.  He continues to inspire me.

Sargent at the Legion of Honor

 

Detail from Landscape below

Detail from Landscape below

Spanish Hills-details above

Stunning light!

A familiar one

I am a late in posting about this exhibit, but there is still a month or so left if you happen to be in or near San Fransisco before May 14th, 2023. I was there last month, working a visit to the Legion of Honor into visiting family. It is funny how I manage to do that! (It was a rainy day or else we would have also taken the trail along the cliffs from the Legion of Honor) This is my third out of state trip to see a John Singer Sargent Exhibit  (two were in NYC and Brooklyn). This one focused only on his time in Spain. https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/sargent-and-spain  He was so prolific there has been very little overlap in going to see his works. Thankfully, he had the ways and means to paint as much as he wanted, and we are all the richer for it. 

Sargent sure had a way with color and light. Some of these paintings positively glowed from across the room. Thankfully the day we went it was busy but not crowded so one could see both close up and from across the room. And take ones time. These are just a few examples of what caught my eye. The landscape was atypical for Sargent in my experience, but so rich in color and nuance. The last three above from the fountain to the girl walking down the street, show the continuity of his palette and how he can make the light around the fountain dance as well as light up the street from a distance or bring to life the Alhambra using very similar color mixes yet achieving very different effects.

The only disappointing aspect of this exhibition was the 'swag' being sold. The postcards chosen for reproduction did nothing for the paintings they represented and usually postcards are the better than what is printed in the books.  I tend to buy coffee mugs as I travel, and the only mug was of one of my least favorite paintings in the show, a pomegranate tree. Even my old iPhone captured the light dancing around the fountain with the beautiful reflected light! This is the third exhibit (Alice Neel at the deYoung Museum in SF and recently here at the Denver Art Museum) I have gone to in the last few years where the quality has decidedly gone down in the Museum gift shops...I can't figure that one out. Cost more, quality sadly lacking. What could possibly be the excuse? I noticed I wasn't the only one walking out without buying anything, not that I believe that to be unusual...

Struttin' his Stuff - Giant Blue Heron

Blue Heron - Strutting, 6x6, oil, available

 I did 3 sketches from life of this Blue Heron, as he hung around the beach in Pensacola FL a few years ago. He just kept walking back and forth and up and down! One sketch I cannot find, it was pen and ink- very different from this pencil sketch and the other is much like this one below, except the legs are too short in it. :-0   Finally did this small oil painting. It was intended to be submitted to the Randy Higbee 6x6 show in December, but it wasn't where I wanted it to be by the deadline. I have had this post sitting here as I tried to find the pen and ink drawing, but alas, I have given up. 

The colors of this bird, though 'blue,' are really quite varied. Such an elegant creature!

pencil sketch

 

Cabin Kitchen, oil and linen, 40x30

Here is a painting I started about two years ago now. I had driven to Arizona to visit an artist friend of mine. She had recently moved and was wanting some company to go plein air painting with. I was happy to oblige. It was mid-April, and much warmer than snowy Colorado. She had made a new friend recently who invited her to come to her cabin. I was included in that invitation, so off we went. This new friend was also a creative type and the yard of this cabin was full of these lanterns she had made. See example below. She made them out of vases, and bowls and ashtrays (from thrift stores) - whatever glassware she thought would work and then she adds a string of lights to the interior base which, though I didn't get a chance to see them lit up at night, I am sure is stunning. What a fun way to recycle and repurpose. There were LOTS of them, in all colors. They look like fun mushrooms sprouting all over the landscape. The 'mushroom' is glued to a stone base to prevent them from toppling over and breaking. 

So back to the painting. She gave us a tour of the interior of the cabin as well. They do not live in the cabin full time but it was as funky inside as it was outside. This kitchen painting is only the first I hope to do of the interior of the cabin. (I did ask permission to take photos inside.) It is a large, for me, painting, with so much going on in it, I had to let it sit, sometimes for months, to be sure the perspective was right and I wasn't getting to nit picky about details, which I am prone to do. This sat for months again once I felt it was done, and when I didn't feel inclined to go back to it, have deemed it 'finished' - at least enough to post it. I found this kitchen to be inviting; where you just want to walk in and explore. Hope you do too! 

Before and After, Debbie's Place

Debbie's Place, Hopland CA, oil, 11x14

This painting was started as a plein air painting in 2007. Debbie was a neighbor of my in-laws up the road in rural Hopland CA. I regularly brought my plein air gear when visiting and did many paintings over the years of this area. Debbie raised these sheep for their wool which she sold to weavers all over the country. I have sold many paintings of her sheep! This was one of my more adventurous paintings from that time period. My vantage point is looking down the hill from behind the fence, standing on the side of the dirt road that is basically one lane. Traffic was not usually a problem.

I recently reworked it yet again as I can't seem to get it where I want it. I think it is as good as it is going to get. When I can't get motivated to paint on the current round of canvas's I have going, revisiting an unsold painting is an easy way to get me interested. Nothing is ever finished around here until it goes out the door! There is a wedding in the family coming up and I was wondering if I should do a new painting for the happy couple or one that the bride would relate to from her childhood. That was the motivation on picking this particular piece to revisit. Some of the photos below are darker than the painting would have been due to the changing digital photo technology but they are not tampered with.

Original, plein air, 2007

First Revision, 2008, looks like a yellow filter! but not

It looks like I corrected some of the drawing on the sheep's shed and took out the blues and dark greens from the grassy hill. I wonder if that was shadows from the trees originally as the roadway was bordered by trees? It is too long ago now for me to know what is was that I was doing as the photo I took has the hillside in sun.

Second Revision, 2011

I have not included the 3rd or was it the 4th revision as it is very similar to the second except I added the dark sheep in the middle ground in the middle. The original plein air is not as bad as I expected it to be, but then, I have a history of not liking what I do on site and can't keep my hands off of it. Either I wipe it off then and there or I keep finding fault in it. I have gotten better about these high expectations over the years, but I don't paint outdoors as much and I have learned the hard way that they are not normally as bad as I think they are if I let them sit for awhile. Those painting that do end up being as bad as I thought, I have been painting over, which I enjoy doing.

White Phalaenopsis

block in

White Phil, 24x12, oil, available

Here is a painting I did recently. I am not convinced it is finished, but I was done. It has been awhile since I painted an orchid from life and with 4 orchids in bloom right now I went with the one that was most advanced in its bloom. It took me longer than I care to admit, working on it over days, trying for the same time of day, which isn't always that easy.

In the block in I was thinking I would add an abstracted version of the desk that is the background of this none set up. I literally just brought the orchid and set it on the computer table I have next to my easel. I then decided I didn't like the idea of the desk but I kept the dark band across the white orchids for contrast. as well as the color of the wall behind the desk. The only color I made up is the golden color in the middle. That would be very dark as well otherwise. I have a gold screen I often use as a simple backdrop for these impromptu still life set ups so that is, I am sure, why I picked that color.

An artist friend of mine was over the other day and I asked her opinion on whether this needed any more work and she said 'no.' I signed it and am posting it 'as is'. I am trying hard to not keep 'fine tuning' it as is my won't.

A better photo added later: 

Bosc Pears Turned Around

 

The Conversation, oil, 6x8, available

Side by side with initial blocking in

The same basic set up as with the blue background except I turned the pears to another angle where they would still stand up on their own and used some of my scrap paper to change the background color. It sets up a more intimate pose for these two pears to continue their conversation. I had found a clean 6x8 panel which I didn't realize I had as I rarely paint this size anymore. This was the next day and already the pears are ripening quickly. This one I think I can call "the Conversation."