Big Red

Harford county Plein Air paint out

 Ladew Garden Topiary 

 

See dar trees? 

Participating in the Harforf Paint out this year has been a bit of a struggle to get out and paint after a day of school but well worth it . 

THE RECEPTION IS TO NIGHT !

Art du Pastel en France Award at the PSA show 2016 NYC

" “Spring Thaw”, my drawing that won the Art du Pastel en France ,  was probably the “edgiest” painting I have ever done. Early in the spring, when the snows of winter had finally melted away, I went walking through the woods and into the lower pasture on the farm behind our house. I came upon a pile of bones from a cow that didn't make it through the winter blizzards. The warm tones of the setting sun cast colorful shadows on the bones and I was struck by the beauty of their forms as well as the sadness of the ravages of winter.   At the time, I was growing a bit weary of the majestic, pastoral scenery of much contemporary landscape painting, including my own.   This painting is my reaction to "pretty pictures that hang over the couch”.   I wanted to see if I could take a subject normally thought of as disgusting or disturbing and show how light and shadow can transform it. It's nature and the cycle of life brutal, sad, and, beautiful.  Spring Thaw" won the Art du Pastel en France award at the Pastel Society of America show this year. 

This was my first time in the show and a great honor to be selected let alone get picked for an award. Kate and I took the Megabus up to NYC for the day and attended the show in the National Arts Club, a magnificent mansion in Gramercy Park.  That makes three awards for this painting. Time to retire this racehorse.  

 Pastel Society of America 2016

 “A primary mandate of the Pastel Society of America (PSA) is to provide a forum for the exhibition of works by the most accomplished pastel artists in the United States and abroad.”

“Six hundred seventy-five artists submitted a total of 1,496 images. Of those artists, 487 were PSA members and 188 were non-members. Thirty-nine artists entered from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.”

“One hundred seventy-five artworks were selected for exhibition. The exhibition, the culmination of PSA activities for the year, acknowledges the professional excellence of participating artists and helps promote the finest examples of pastel to the public, the professional art world, art students, and art collectors.”         (psa website)   the Art du Pastel en France  is the award given by the French version of the PSA.

After the Rain

This tree is at the ice pond on the trail to Roostercomb Mt. After a rain storm the sun came out and illuminated this pinetree from behind and just lit it up like a green spear 8x10in pastel 

Vapor Trail

I've painted these white houses many times . I am drawn back to them because the morning light ccasts such cool shadows. The houses are like monopoly pieces set down on a gameboard. It was a hot  clear morning in Keene Valley,NY. these houses are next to the school and behind the firehouse. I left the vapor trail in the sky because I thought it leads the eye down into the pines. It also suggests this 21st cen presence of life in a limeless landscape. 12x16in

Two More for Keene Valley

 

Cold Frosty Morning - Marcy field 

We usually see Marcy field green with grass but This morning there was a silver frost on the grass that disappeared as soon as the sun came up. The footprints were mine. 10x10in oil 

Noonmark Mt 

I tried to be a little flatter with my paints. Painting a landscape should be like assembling puzzzle pieces. 10x22in oil 

"Old Mountain" Phelps

Orson Schofield (Old Mountain) Phelps (May 6, 1817 - April 14, 1905) was an early Adirondack guide from Keene Valley. Phelps named many of the Adirondack High Peaks, and cut the first trail up Mount Marcy.^[4] Phelps Mountain is named in his honor.Phelps' image was made famous in paintings by Winslow Homer, and photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard. . (Wikipedia) 
 Fellow artist and exhibitor,George Ludlow, came up with an interesting challenge. Last year when we were discussing some paintings he did of Old Mountain Phelps,he thought it would be fun if everyone in our next  show would produce a painting of Phelps. I couldn't stop thinking about it, especially when i saw the tangle of his beard. It reminded me of a topographical map. 
In a departure from  my usual techniques of oil and pastel  i created a collage  from a 1907 map of the high peaks (no actual map was harmed in this process) The pack he is carrying IS an contemporary map I used in hiking and was in tatters.   In his beard I included all the places Phelps might have been familiar with. After that I had to figure out what to make his shirt out of. I used actual birch bark. The vest and background are pieces of hand made paper. The face I drew with a quill pen. I framed it with an actual Victorian frame from his era.This project was a lot of fun and a real welcome break from my usual landscape painting. 11x14 Mixed media collage in Victorian frame.