This painting is based on two other paintings of mine. So this was a very different process for me. The paintings that inspired this one are below: the hills and light of the upper painting and the composition and idea of the lower one.
This is a 18x36 that I have started - no t finished yet, but I like where it is going. It is based on a plein-aire painting that was square in format and cool in tone. I am trying to keep this loose and warm!
I have repainted this landscape three times and finally am really happy with it. I reworked the composition of the grasses, so that they lead your eye into the paintings, and I changed the key of the paintings to a warmer tone. I really looked at the hard edges versus the lost edges! It is loosely based on a painting that I did in Maine.
I finally finished this one - it started off loose then got tight and too dark and finally has finished up light and loose again! It is 36x36 and I am really pleased with it!
This is the last big painting that I am going to start for my open studio (11/14 and 11/15) It is 24x24. I chose a 24x24 canvas because I have a frame that size! But I am not sure that this painting will look good in it (pretty sure that it won't!) Oh well...at least I like the painting! It is pretty dark in my studio right now - I will try to get a better photo in the morning!
I am hoping to finish this one for open studio event which is coming up. It is based on an 8x10 that I did of this view. this painting is 19x25. The challenge has been to keep the looseness and spontaneity of the small painting (see below). Viewing them together - it looks much darker than the original - I will have to go back and check my painting and see if it is the painting or the photo!
Here is a photo of my painting "On the River" finished. It is 40x60 - but online it is difficult to understand how big that is! So here is a photo with a scale figure (me!) The painting gets delivered tomorrow ! :)
I started this one in Maine - and finished it in my studio. It was inspired by canoeing on Crawford Pond early in the morning - around every corner was a paint-able scene!! I have been back from Maine for several weeks, but I have not been able to get back to several of the paintings that I started while in Maine. I did manage to finish a large commission - so that is exciting!
I painted this in mid-July on a hot sunny day near the bee hives at the University of Maryland Extension in Baltimore County. It is a farmlike setting. I found a place in the shade and was fascinated with the shapes of the shade - and all of the colors in the grasses.
I just spent two days at the Brandywine Festival of the Arts - it was a very successful weekend for me. This is one of the 17 paintings that I sold! Now I have to air out the tent and panels and make sure that everything is dry before I put them up. And then re-organize my studio so that I can paint again! I have a commission that I need to complete!
Here is the beginnings of my new commission - first the compositional sketch and the a scaled down painting, based on the proportions of the final painting. The canvas was just delivered - and my, it is big! :) The painting is still too blue based on the painting that they liked....
My goal for this week was to complete 3 pieces to submit to a show. So I decided that I should paint to the sizes of frames that I have. Makes sense, right? Then I came across a stash of these 18x36 canvas panels, and I was off painting this crazy size for which I have no frames. But this is my 2nd one ( the river painting on my last post was also 18x36, but horizontal). Anyway, I am enjoying the size and the format. I think that this is finished, so I am posting the progress photos below. I often forget to take them, but I am usually glad when I do!
While I have been painting a lot, I have gotten out of the habit of posting. So here is the progress on this painting. It is 18x36. I really like the sense of light, end of day quality to it!
Someone sent me this photo yesterday of one of my paintings all framed and hanging in her entry! I always love to see where my paintings find their home!
I painted this to take to a gallery next week - it is 16x20. I chose this size because I have a 16x20 frame. I have been interested lately in the last light of the day - dusk. This is based on sketches and photos near Mechanicsburg, PA
I have been remiss in posting - but I have actually been painting A LOT. I just got out of the habit of posting - which is terrible since I just read a book on how to improve your habits...Anyway, this painting is just about finished - the photo is a little darker than it really is.
Here is some more progress. I didn't get to paint much today - it was one of those days when being an architect interfered with being a painter. I struggle with balancing these two careers. But I am happy with the progress that I did make - and am trying to be thankful for being able to paint even a little today.....
Based on my smaller painting "Last Light", I have started this much larger painting. It is 24" x 36". A lot of peopel have responded to my process photos - so I am trying to remember to step back and take photos at key junctures!
This is loosely based on a photo that I took after painting a barn in PA one evening. I turned and saw this scene and it took my breath away! The coolness of the shade in the foreground and the warmth of the fast-fading light. I showed my husband the photo, and after I gushed, I could tell that he was non-plussed. I then realized that I was responding to my memory of the moment and the scene more than the photo that i had. So I tried to paint my memory - and I think that it worked!
This is the first Painting that I painted while I was the Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain National Park. I got there a little later than I expected, and was tired. But the light was fantastic and I couldn't wait to start painting. This was just outside my cabin. The tress were lit up in the distance and seemed to glow with a light all their own...2 weeks later the leaves had filled in to such an extent that the trees in the distance were no longer visible...
This is another piece that I painted during the Chestertown Plein-Aire Festival. I actually got up and out very early one morning and drove to the Eastern Neck Natural Wildlife Refuge, which was about 45 minutes away. I wanted to get there as the sun rose - but I was a little late. I was set up by 7 am, and the sky still had this amazing peachy pink glow, underneath a bank of silvery clouds. It was worth the effort to be in such a beautiful place - but it was cold, 38 degrees, and there was as steady cold wind off of the water.....
