Monday, May 28, 2012

Glimmer

 I've painted Chapel pond many times in oils, it's my spiritual home in the Adirondacks, but never in pastel. Pastels really lend themselves to getting that seamless color of water that you can only get with glazing in oils. Right here the sun has just topped Giant Mt and has begun its passage down the sides of the mt.  I am experimenting with about a half a dozen blues, layering them, blending with fingers, brushing out with a stiff brush and scumbling. Still some more to be done. I enjoy getting lost in the process. 14x13 3/4 pastel on sanded paper.  SOLD

Dreaming of Noonmark

 A little Memory picture of Noonmark Mountain. I will be there in just a few weeks. 8x10in pastel  SOLD

Monday, May 21, 2012

Chapel Pond

 Working on this painting of one of my favorite places in the Adirondacks, Chapel Pond.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Indian Mound

 A Keene Valley landmark,this glacial erratic sits out in the middle of a large field and has been painted by artists for over a century. I like how the light hits it at different times of the day, like Monet's haystacks. Just messin' around  from memory with pastel sticks. 8x10in pastel   SOLD

Sunday, May 13, 2012

View From Thorsby

 In 1923 my grandfather bought a small cottage on the Severn River abput 12 miles north of Annapolis in a Summer community called Sherwood Forest. The house was sold in the '70's and remodeled and re configured extensively. My sister and brother-in-law were able to buy it back and now the family is back on Thorsby Hill again. I did this plein air piece on a painting excursion with Bear Miller on a brisk, windy day in early spring (Easter monday,to be exact) The trees were just starting to leaf and they were this electric green that only comes in the spring. We were standing on the edge of the bluff painting with one hand and holding our canvases with the other.  I dashed this very quickly as the shadows moved down the side of the house.I painted the view, Bear painted me painting theview. If you want to see his rendering check out his blog over there on the right.  8x10in oil on panel   

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mill House

 This stone house is at Jerusalem Mill. I lived just over the hill in the background back in the late '70's when it was in private ownership. It now belongs to the state.  I finished it off with more leaves in the upper part but framed it for a show before I got another shot. I posted it just for the record. What facinated me was the play of light on the stones and foreground.  18x26in pastel on sanded paper.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Evening Walk

 Around 7 pm the setting sun creates long shadows that eventually engulf these two little houses in KeeneValley. This is the first time I painted the presence of my wife and self into the picture. We walk by these buildings every day. I am experimenting with what pastels can do as opposed to oil paint and I love the way you can layer colors. 
8x10in pastel on black rag board  SOLD

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Trinity Falls

 18x26in pastel on sanded paper

   Last summer I painted a small Plein Air sketch of this famous little falls in Keene Valley. I completed this studio painting using the sketch as a guide. Two artists I know have painted this falls and I wanted to create my own interpretation. I built up this image with many layers of marks and smudges trying not to be too realistic but it happened anyway.  

Cairn on Crow Mt.




Big Crow is a small mountain with a super view. We climb it every year. At the top someone had built a small cairn to mark the top. Stylistically I wanted to create a piece made up of small dashes of color like the Impressionists instead of flat planes of color ala Porter or Katz.  Seeing the Van Gogh show "Up Close" in Philadelphia gave me a new respect for his genius and the way he applied paint to canvas. I also discovered that there was a name for subject matter that Van Gogh and other 19th and early 20th cen painters explored when they went into the forest to paint. It was called
"Sous-Boise" Into the woods.    16x20in pastel on board. SOLD