Empty Fields

Empty Fields, oil on board, 18x24"

Barreling down the highway for extended lengths of time never gets old.  The fun part is trying to take photos that aren't blurry, no matter how advanced of a camera (the camera operator is not advanced!).  Here is a flat, farm scene that I'm always on the lookout for.  I never tire of wondering how different their life is, compared to my urban dwellings. 

Long Run

Long Run, oil on gessoed hardboard, 8x10"

I have been looking at several contemporary painters that I consider successful abstract landscape painters. This can be a blurry area, and many attempt it. However, it is obvious when it is not done well.  This is my first honest and conscious attempt at abstraction with landscape.  I'm not sure it worked, but I am still happy with it and feel like I worked through it more then the eye can see. I believe I will continue to work on these - as small scale, learning works. Note to self: prepare a limited palette prior to painting based on reference photo or subject matter. 

The one less traveled by

"The One Less Traveled By", oil on hardboard, 20 x 16"

Last weekend my son and I went hiking at a mysterious patch of woods in the middle of the city. It is owned by the Archdiocese of Louisville and it is entered behind a parish church and a wonderful historic building that used to house Passionist Priests.  Way down this very path we found remains of a swimming pool formerly used by the priests, and a gratto that still housed Mother Mary, left behind after close to a century of standing in one spot. 

Behind the Grasses

"Behind the Grasses", oil on hardboard, 9x12"

A white barn, highly lit by the sun, hidden behind a sea of wheat and other grasses appeared abandoned when I shot this photo last month.  I think barns tend to exude that feeling.  Contrasted with the organic elements, I found this to be an interesting subject matter.  

The Place to Go

"The Place to Go", oil on gessoed board, 8x10"

Ah, cityscapes. Will it ever get any easier for me to accomplish?  This old soul of a building is walking distance from my house. I shot a few photos when the weather was warm and the light was bright.  I just need more practice.

September in Napa 2

September in Napa 2, oil on hardboard, 14x11"

Recently I found some precut hardboards at my local art supply store.  The price was reasonable, so I bought two to try. I had to gesso them which was enjoyable; the Ampersand gessobords that I usually paint on, come pre-gessoed, so it has taken some of the hands-on process away. When I was in college, I used power tools to make my own stretcher bars, stretched and stapled the canvas taut until it pinged (was hard on my hands), and then applied three coats of gesso. It was a ground-up process, and I loved it.  The hardboards turned out to be to my liking so I can paint a little bigger for a reasonable price. September in Napa 2 is referenced from another photo taken by my sister on a recent visit to her "second home".  The composition was so straightforward I had a bit of difficulty with it. I think, in the end, I liked the way the shadowed vines in the foreground broke up the space.

"September in Napa"

oil on hardboard

11x14"

Yesterday after a quick warm-up painting, I hunkered down with some beautiful photos taken by my sister Claire. She visited her "second home" in September and sent me a lot of photos. When I began painting, I thought it would be nice to document various stages of the painting, starting with the toned board and sketch and progressing to the end. The first photo is the finished painting and then they progress henceforth. Let me know what you think.

Highlights and highway"

Oil on gessobord

8"x10"

I got up this morning to work on a quick, loosely stroked landscape to cheer myself up. I have had a rough week and needed some focus time. The reference for this painting was from the highway while driving to Kansas City last weekend to see my art school daughter!!

Buffalo Trace State Park

"Buffalo Trace State Park"

This past weekend was supposed to be peak foliage weekend in my area. There was real beauty out there, to go along with warm air and blue skies. I drove to a State Park about 30 miles from Louisville in Indiana and ran my dog all around the lake taking photos. This is the first to come from that series of photos.

Hushed October

Hushed October, oil on gessoed board, 20 x16"

Nothing is more freeing to me, then walking on a path, when no one else is around. For just a moment or hopefully more, you can pretend that this one small parcel of earth is there only for you and your thoughts. I worked on this painting for several days, as it is bigger then my normal 10x8.  It made me crave patience which I am normally full of, but in the end it all was found and utilized. 

Plein Air Day

Plein Air Day, oil on board, 10x8"

The last few times I have attempted to paint on location, I have failed miserably, to the point of frustration. Part of the frustration comes from the fact that I would spend all my waking time outside if I could, so to paint outside is all I want to do. But to have the opportunity but no success is enough to make me crazed.  This painting worked. Finally!! I tweaked only the color of the road, but not the shadow when I got home but other then that it remains how it was painted on the side of the park road. 

Signs of Fall, Lake Nevin

Signs of Fall, Lake Nevin, oil on board, 10x8"

I really don't have a favorite when it comes to seasons because each one is a welcomes different extremes.  Fall is definitely a time of beautiful color, but in some ways difficult to express on a canvas because it's so overwhelming. With that said, I like the understated scenes, like this one from Bernheim. 

Signs of Fall, Tipsaw Lake

Signs of Fall, Tipsaw Lake, oil on board, 10x8"

A couple weeks I went on a day trip to several river towns in Indiana, and then stopped at a few state parks within Hoosier National Forest.  One of those was Tipsaw, which had a cute little swimming beach for its fishing lake.  At that time, Indiana was already showing small signs of Fall.

Early Morning Calm, oil on board, 10x8"

I took a beautiful photo reference while out on an early walk a few days ago.  It had a nice, tidy composition.  Despite the fact that we have had little or no rain for a while, everything was strikingly green.

Storm over Kansas

Storm over Kansas, oil on board, 18x24"

I'm heading out to the knobs of southern Indiana today to hopefully set up shop, dog and daughter in tow.  I finished this painting a few days ago, but didn't immediately post until I thought it was finished.  Even though a landscape is often simple, there is always so much more going then at first glance. Storms in Kansas, if you have driven one side to the other, come up fast and furious.  So much so, that the rest stops have emergency alert notifications that go off before you can see a storm on the flat plain. It is one of the scariest and exhilarating experiences I have encountered. Nature showing its strength.

Rainy day Sunday

Rainy Day Sunday, oil on board, 8x10"

I went out to paint yesterday and the sky was cloudy AND  sunny. Soon it turned into a downpour. I had brought my umbrella just in case, and in the process of opening it, I spilled my odorless mineral spirits and medium.  Brand new  bottles :-).  Nevertheless I continued painting until the downpour turned to a drizzle. And then the sun came out....again.

Beside the Lake

Beside the Lake, oil on gessobord, 8x6"

I had the best of intentions yesterday, to start a long weekend working and painting outside in various locations. My intentions will not go as planned now as it is going to be a rainy weekend.  It was raining when I set up near a park lake under a tree but I didn't let that stop me. I painted for about 90 minutes before wiping the painting off.  Turning more towards the lake in a brief moment of light, I saw these little fuzzies lining the bank. Before the next downpour could do me in, I captured this little grouping.

Green House

Green House, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

So many angles. So many straight lines.  I think this will be the final architectural piece for a little while to give my honing skills a break.  Despite the fact that they are small, they require more attentiveness and attention to detail then I'm accustomed to.  I have produced nine works all together

 and am extremely proud of myself for sticking with it even though it wasn't easy. Here they are in the order they were painted in starting from bottom left (sorry for poor photo). I'm also happy with the variety of the painting and content.  Now back to broad landscape until the next series idea strikes me.

Plain Garage

Plain Garage, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

This little garage reminded me of a little old lady.  The residents that originally and proudly purchased the homes in my 1920's era neighborhood are long gone, but their souls are hanging on in the form of sweet nostalgic architecture. One of the things that constantly flows through my head as I take my daily walks is the possible lives of the folks who moved in when the neighborhood was brand, spankin' new.  Who were they? what did they do for a living, and most importantly, how were their lives compared to our rushed, frantic, mad world of today. 
Looks can be deceiving....the neighborhood face is still calm, sweet and definitely charming. But the cars rushing down my street breaking the speed limit, and the parents hurriedly cramming their children into cars and returning at night with carry-out, tells a different story.

Red Shutters

Red Shutter, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

This painting almost required nearly the entire thing to be scrubbed, but instead I scrubbed the necessary parts (nearly all of it in the end!) to make it the symmetrical neighborhood home that it is. This house was so "perfect" that the mulch even matched the shutters.  

One of the difficulties I have been having that I didn't mention before is, with this series I switched back to small, small gessobords. I had been painting larger finally, throughout the summer, and as I had originally planned on doing a 30/30 challenge, I cooked up as many small boards to complete a months worth of paintings. When I changed my mind on the challenge, I used the boards anyway. What a difference 4-6+  cubic inches makes with a brushstroke. All in all, the work has been successful if I may add, in my humble opinion.

Purple Plant

"Purple Plant", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

This house had a streak of light dancing across it when I took it's photo. It was also framed in green, which often happens in my neighborhood which thankfully contains old-growth trees.  I had to rework this one a couple times to get angles right and lines un-crooked.  It was such a sweet little house, I wanted to do it justice.

Alley Beauty, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

For the paintings of the architectural series I have been reusing my Ampersand gessobords from paintings that I didn't care to hang on to after 2 years.  Or as I like to say,  "paint overs".  You will notice some texture within some of the paintings that, despite sanding, still remain. 

"Alley Beauty" was painted this morning in a moment of frustration. I had planned on attending a paint-out in Louisville but circumstances prevented me from going. In order to not cry over spilled milk, I went back to my studio and started another painting from my architectural subjects. Better to make hay while the sun shines. All-in-all, despite my disappointment from not attending the paint-out, I feel successful today. 

Labor Day

Labor Day, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

I started this painting on Labor Day but wasn't satisfied with it in order to post that day. So here it is, tweaked here and there.  Labor Day weekend was a very productive painting time period for me. This is the last one that came out of that binge and I like it! It's like icing on a cake!

Red Shutters

"Red Shutters", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

I have been making the rounds lately in my neighborhood, searching for subject matter for the latest series "Local Architectural Color and Elements". This is a cute little bungalow around the corner from me. I see it daily and take in the sweet factor of it, and its age (nearly 100!). The red shutters first caught my eye years ago, and now with subsequent passings-by.

Red Row

Red Row, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

Here is the second painting in the series "Local Architectural

Color and Elements". I felt like I got the perspective mostly right with this painting.  The details are hard, I have to admit. 

But it's only #2 so hopefully progression will show itself. 

Alley Shape

"Alley Shape", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

So I passed on the 30/30 challenge I had been considering, not because I didn't want to do it, but because I got behind at the end of August with non-painting life stuff, and September started before I could put my hands on a paintbrush. I am still going forward with a series I had decided upon before September began, but just not as many paintings in the end. I am calling it "Local Architectural Color and Elements". The first one is above. I have been out roaming my neighborhood in Louisville, and the alleys as well (where I tend to find more interesting subject matter all the way around). My goal is to "slow down" and concentrate on getting the perspective correct, the highlights where they need to be, the angles un-wonkey, etc. You get the picture. I haven't done an architectural series in a while, and I"m feeling the need.

Private Universe

Private Universe, oil on gessoed board, 16x20"

I worked on this painting for a few days from several images I had taken from a short Lake vacation near the end of the summer.  The reflections on the evening water were intense, and I had problems with scaling down the intensity for one painting.  As I am a few days removed now from finishing it, I like the way it is equal part calm, equal part alive.

Dawn's Early Light

Dawn's Early Light, oil on gessoed board, 16x20"

One of the interesting things about waking up beside a large lake is the amount of space available for natural light and color to present themselves on a minute-by-minute basis.  Yesterday's painting showed a near colorless scene right as the morning has broken. The scene for today's painting is after the sun has gathered some energy and illuminated  everything on the horizon. 

Morning Mist, Looming Clouds

Morning Mist, Looming Clouds, oil on gessoed  board, 16x20"

I spent four days last week on a houseboat on Lake Cumberland. It was an interesting experience as far as painting goes - I was able to do some paint sketches. The first morning I was up so early and everything had lost its color. It slowly, slowly was regained as the clouds parted and the sun appeared.  This scene is right in the middle of all that.

Artful Alley

Artful Alley, oil on gessobord, 12 x 12"

Here is another alley scene, composed with the intention of continuing to practice and hopefully improve my drawing skills, but continue to pull knowledge on form, color, and perspective from the broad landscapes I have been working on.  I am about half-satisfied with this painting. I had trouble with the actual alley and its trajectory and kept reworking it. As I look at the image of the finished product while I write this, I see I still didn't quite get it. Win some, lose some. I think I learned some as well.

Active myrtle, quiet alley

Active Myrtle, quiet alley, oil on gessobord, 12x12"

I have been painting so many broad landscapes over the last year or so, that I started thinking long and hard a few days ago about a possible shift. It's not that I am bored with the subject matter by any means, but I am constantly wanting to improve my painting skills in other areas as well.  I've been looking and studying so many artist who do urban observation really, really effectively and thought maybe I could move with baby steps in that direction.  It requires more patience obviously, because of the detail involved, and it will sharpen my drawing skills.  We shall see. I started with this alley scene so let me know what you think!

Quiet Lake

Quiet Lake, oil on gessobord, 12x12"

I did some quick sketches at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum a couple days ago. I had planned on staying for a few hours, but the heat and the bugs got the best of me.  I enjoyed the small amount of productivity I was able to accomplish in a short amount of time.  I used one of the sketches to produce this painting,  remembering the light  that was affected by the heat and humidity that day from memory. 

Cascading

Cascading, oil on gessobord, 12x9"

If you have ever been to Boulder, CO then you know there are constant streams running throughout. When I was there last summer, there was one within walking distance from the hotel. Even though the streams are small-ish in width, the water always runs rapid because of the trajectory of the nearby foothills.  The rocks are still large enough to hop around on and take some fun photos. This painting is from one of those days. 

Park Road

Park Road, oil on gessobord, 8x10"

The "heat dome" has spread over the majority of the U.S. and I went out to plein air paint earlier this week. I learned a lot during my 3 hours in the park near my home such as:   
1. when the light is overly bright, tone down your colors  2.  when dealing with mostly greens, decide the spectrum and mix up four greens to simplify this spectrum.  3. Bring food if you haven't eaten yet. I started to get shaky even though I was in the shade.
Also,  I want to say that several strangers spotted me and stopped to chat and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.  Thanks for taking the time  out of your exercising  to do so.  

Neighboring

Neighboring, oil on gessobord, 12x9"

I wanted to paint early and quickly this morning. I got the early part right but the quickly didn't work. This painting was supposed to be a 20 minute sketch but turned into an hour painting, because my greens kept getting muddy. At one point I almost scrapped the whole thing but didn't. If nothing else I enjoyed sitting and painting outside, which I am hoping to do more of soon.

Crossings

Crossings, oil on gessoed board, 24x18"

I've been working on another moody palette landscape for a few days.  My goal in the next few months is to get a phone or camera that will take better pics for the blog.  There are layers here that just can't be seen. I often have people say that the paintings are so much more colorful in person, so hopefully better images coming in the near future.

Fishing Lake

Fishing Lake, oil on board, 20x16"

I finally feel like I am headed in the right direction with this one. It's probably hard to tell by the photo , but there are layers of color interacting with each other in the painting, as well as the gestural mark making, which I've always been drawn to.  These isolated lake scenes are becoming my favorites and have allowed me to not feel so inhibited.

Open Road

Open Road, oil on gessoed board, 24x18"

I've been working on this one for the last three days.  It is not one I felt rushed to finish, and allowed myself the time to think about attempting new things and changing others that I felt weren't working. The photo I worked from was taken on my trip last summer where we drove from Louisville to Colorado, Utah and New Mexico and saw non-stop beauty along the way. This was a simple highway scene, to contrast the grand-scale beauty within those states, but it was it's simplicity that brought me to it.  Sometimes the simplest things go unnoticed within the grand scheme of things. As Ghandi said, "Simplicity is the essence of Universality"

Overcast Lake

Overcast Lake, pastel on paper, 12x9"

Hugh and I did a return visit to the park with the lake, with the dog. This time the weather was overcast, windy and cool compared to bright, sunny and hot yesterday.  I sat uphill from the Lake to draw this time.  Because the light was static I used local color for the ease of drawing during my time constraints.  

static I used local color for the ease of drawing during my time constraints.  

Sandy Beach

Sandy Beach, pastel, 12x9"

I took my dog to a large park with a lake in the middle. We found this small beach, to serve as a point of launch for him to get in the water. While he was sunning himself afterwards, I pulled out my pastels and did this 20 minute sketch to use as a reference for a future painting.

Across the Fence

Across the fence, pastel on paper, 12x9"

I felt like working outside with my pastels this morning, but I couldn't venture too far. I have colorful views all around me so I just picked one and began. This one turned out to my liking. The sun was high, the light was bright and the colors vivid. Nothing better.

Reflection

Reflection, oil on board, 16x20"

These colors are really moody in a beautiful kind of way.  I have to believe that is my subconscious talking.  Despite the fact that I want to paint on some days, it's been difficult. And then when I feel up to it, I haven't had the motivation.  But the photo I took back in April that I used for this painting was inspiring - half sky, half water with a glowing parcel of land in the middle. I also love the word reflection because of the dual meaning. So which ever version you choose for your interpretation, it works! 

Landslide

Landslide, oil on board, 14x 18"

Rows and rows of uphill vines acting as earths sun catchers.

Long-legged

Long-legged, oil on board, 16x20"

I really need to get a phone with a better camera. I took several photos of this painting, and I feel like it still isn't represented to the best of its ability.  Regardless, I loved these long-legged vines.  I wish I knew what varietal they are.  When I was painting the background, I blurred the photo so I wouldn't get to caught up in the nitty gritty, i.e. the details. The abstraction was fun to do, and still shows the depth of space.