“Waveny Park Pond” 12 x 12

“Annisquan River Harbor”  11 x 14

Here are a few more little oil paintings I did on location in Gloucester last week.  We had great weather the whole time and I am finding that I am inclined to use mostly light layers of transparent oil colors in plein air work since they seem to best evoke a sense of luminosity, especially when painting in bright sunlight or near water.

“Little Harbor in Gloucester”  9 x 12

“House on the Harbor”  6 x 8

I have been taking a once-weekly plein air painting class with David Dunlop this summer, and we paint on location in all different places around CT. I decided to do the class all in oils (vs pastels, which I’ve done a lot of plein air painting in) in order to improve my speed and also to figure out a good oil outdoor setup for myself.

I also was lucky enough to get an invitation up to Gloucester, MA to stay at a friend’s house on the water with a few other plein air artists and paint for a few days. And of course I’ve been doing paintings of Fire Island. So, here’s an update on what I’ve been putting together, oil painting-wise (and more to come, once I get them photographed!):

“To Bayberry Dunes” 9 x 12

“Umbrian Grapevines” 11 x 14

“Ghost Dance” 5 x 7

“Erosion-Part I” 6 x 8

“Rockport Breakers” 6 x 8

“Little Marsh Dance” 5 x 7

“Nothing But The Boat” 6 x 8

“Indian River Soliloquy” 11 x 14

I originally painted this scene in black pastel only, for the Salmagundi Club’s Black & White show this past winter.  The drawing was strong, so I decided to add some color.  The new version, “Indian River Soliloquy,” will be in the upcoming ‘Water Works’ show at the Gregory James Gallery which opens May 15th.

Lots happening these days – I continue to paint regularly with the High Street Painters in Brattleboro, VT and my portrait/figure work in oil is coming along. I recently took a one-day landscape workshop in oils up in Putney, VT with Dennis Sheehan – what fun! We ‘made up’ our scenes which was liberating and fun. I’m looking forward to Dennis’ next one-day workshop in May.
I also spent a few painting sessions in Vt in March with Juan Ramirez who was visiting for a few weeks from Chicago. Lots of laughs, and Juan presented all us HSPs with copies of the updated draft of his notes on Sargent, soon to be in book form if all goes well.
I just dropped off 3 paintings to Greg Mullen at the Gregory James Gallery in New Milford, CT for its upcoming “Waterworks” show, set to open Saturday, May 15th from 6 – 8p. Am posting “Marsh Dance” here today, which will be in the show. I hope to get one more painting to him before the opening.
Thursday evening April 29th is the opening of my solo exhibit at Mill Street Home in Greenwich, CT. The reception is from 5 – 8p and should be lots of fun. Mill Street Home is a very cool store, with lots of interesting decor and furnishings made of natural materials.
Two weeks ago the Front Street Gallery opened in Patterson, New York and currently features a show of paintings by Mary Souter, Linda Puiatti, and Gene Cadore. Next month Crista Pisano’s oil landscapes will be featured, and I hope to have work hung there in the coming months as well.  I’ve been trying to go up to paint with Gene at the gallery weekly and am also practicing my Italian on him, in prep for our trip to Umbria in June.   Thank God he’s a good sport!

More later-

11″ x 14″
Pastel on pumiced Gatorboard

The texture of this painting surface was very rough and grooved, and after trying to fight it I just decided to go along with it.  I first built up layers of color using a Styrofoam peanut to blend hard pastel in different areas, and then lightly grazed soft pastels over the grooves to create the highlights.  The end result is very impressionistic – close up, you can see all the bumps and ridges, but from a slight distance the lights and darks pretty much morph together to form a representational-style painting with soft edges.

As promised, here’s the final version of the work in progress shown a few posts below.

16″ x 22″
Pastel on Wallis paper

I love painting koi, and this is my third painting of them.  This is the largest so far – framed, it’s 24″ x 30″.

11″ X 14″
Pastel on pumiced Gatorboard

Here’s another scene from my recent trip to Vero Beach.  I’ve been working with acrylic underwashes since the weather turned a little warmer and I can work out on my deck (it gets pretty messy).  I like the brightness the acrylic wash makes come thru the pastel layer in the lightly painted areas.

18″ x 24″
Pastel on pumiced canvas board

This scene is of a vehicle path behind the dunes in the Fire Island National Seashore.  Fire Island is a natural barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay on the south shore of Long Island, NY.  Since no cars are allowed on Fire Island except for maintenance and park ranger vehicles, these tracks in the sand are the only trace left by humans – the rest is natural coastal scrub and pure glistening sand.  Very peaceful.

The painting “Tranquility on the Burma Road” is also a scene behind the dunes, done at the different time of day and year.