More Gearing Up

Crowd Pleaser

8x10 oil on linen panel

# 2 Acadia Paintings

#12 100 in 100

Little did I know I was going to be having two challenges which involved keeping track of what order the paintings were done!  I am trying to mark them accordingly after I get back to my Acadai apartment. I'm not sure exactly where I will be putting them all.  They have started creeping along the floor behind the TV (who watches TV in a national park?!), and the recliner.  I think they will begin taking over the other floor space.

Schoodic Point Breakers

8x10 oil on linen panel

#3/#13

These two were done late in the evening at Schoodic Point.  The spot where everyone seems to end up when they want to watch a really good show.... the big waves at high tide.  There were quite a few people there.  It was fun to watch people watching the waves.  I am learning, the challenging way, that painting waves is tough.  I knew it, I just didn't KNOW it.  I love the colors and the amazing colors on the rocks where the sea weed and other living vegetation grows, against the beautiful blues, greens, steel purples that are in the water.  I feel as if I am just getting my feet wet, metaphorically, here.  I have a whole car full of larger canvases, which I aim to work on, but I need to play with these smaller ones to begin to understand what it is I want to say about this amazing park and area of the country.

Geared Up

Mark Island Light

8x10 oil sketch on linen panel

#11 of 100 in 100

#1 of Acadia Paintings

Whew!  That's a lot of numbers!  My first day of actual painting in Acadia for my Artist Residency.  A little bit of a slow start, and not stellar, but I decided not to wipe it out, just go on and push through it.  This little sketch was done across what I think, I need to find out, is part of Frenchman's Bay, towards Mark Island Light.  I know you can't even tell it's a lighthouse, but hey, it was the first one.   I fiddled around after this one, went to Winter Harbor for some groceries, and to stock up before the hurricane comes our way.  

After getting back to my Acadia home, taking a short nap, yes, nap.  I stretched canvases, got things together and went out to Schoodic Point to catch high tide.  Very cool.  I was out there a long time, did two other 8x10's, which by the time I got back it was too dark to photograph.  So I'll post them tomorrow.  Much better, and I can feel a rythmn starting, whew, that's a relief.  I painted the rocks and waves, which is something I haven't done before but am fascinated by.  Love the colors.  

Tomorrow and Saturday everyone is expecting the hurricane to come to Maine.  BIG waves are expected, and high winds.  Should be exciting!  A Hurricane Party is planned by the interns and ranger in charge of them.  So we're all headed to that tomorrow night.  Putting water in the bathtub, getting flashlights ready.  I hope to get some good wave photos that day.  Maybe even paint!  I could easily get used to life up here!

Acadia National Park - Schoodic Penninsula

No pictures yet, but tomorrow I plan to start putting up work I'm doing, as well as a little bit about the area. So pretty here!  Fir trees, Birch trees, ocean, rocks, all waiting to be painted!  Amazing!  I got "home" to my little apartment here in the staff housing after a fun pot luck dinner with a group of the interns and volunteers.  Most are here to be working with kids that come with their schools to the S.E.A. program.  A program to teach kids about the environment of this area by staying out here for a couple nights, and learning all sorts of fun things.  All part of the Schoodic Education and Research Center.  I won't be here when the kids start coming (drat), but I'll talk to whoever else shows up.  I give two talks/demos, then take the visitors out to paint or draw.  The interns are mostly college or just out of college age folks, with some older people here also who volunteer/live here for the season.  The other "house-mates" in the "suite" that I am living in is a husband and wife team who have come here for several years to work in the park.

Tomorrow I will be out scouting for painting locations, and doing some work.  I will post what I get done, at least that's the plan.  I'll throw in some photos of the area, just to make everyone jealous! :)  Stay tuned!

Heading to Maine!

I'm behind in posting my 100 in 100, but I think I will be making them up in the next couple of weeks.  I have a two week Artist Residency in Acadia National Park in Maine.  I've been rushing around packing things, making panels, making boxes to hold wet panels, toning canvases, making piles of thing all over!  Can't wait to get up there and paint!  I will be doing a public talk to park visitors once each week, so I made a power point presentation for that (something I had never done on the the computer before!).  Part of my family will be coming up for the second week, which will be fun.  If you are ever interested in looking into artist residencies in the national parks, it is all online, and many, many parks and national sites have them all over the country.  The parks give you a free place to stay, usually have you do some public presentations, and donate a painting within a year.  Many of the parks put you up in wonderful, historic cabins and cottages.  Check it out.

I will be taking my laptop and will try to post as I do work.  Stay tuned in!

#9 and #10 of 100 in 100

The Beast

16x20 oil on canvas

#9 

Summer Snooze

8x10 oil on paper

#10

Here are numbers 9 and 10 painted during a plein air workshop I took this weekend.  It was taught by Ron Boehmer, who I have taken many classes from, and learn more every time I take a class from him.  We had a range of weather, from hot, sunny, hazy, and even some rain.  A great time had by all, even a lovely dinner sitting out on the deck of our hosts.  The location was an 80 acre cattle farm in the Shenandoah Valley, with all sorts of things to paint.

I have become interested in painting old trucks, ever since I saw Carol Marine's paintings on her blog.  Now I look for them, and found a great old dump truck this weekend.  He actually is called T Rex, but he was a real "Beast" I thought.

Now getting ready to leave for Maine in a week for my artist residency in Acadia National Park!  Have to get everything together! 

Goin' Wild!

Goin' Wild

16x20" oil on cavas

plein air piece

#9 of 100 in 100

price on request

I can see that the photo of this painting doesn't quite do justice to the bright colors.  I toned the canvas bright red, which comes through here and there.  I went a little wild wit this one, and had lots of fun.  This is a plein air piece done on the first day of a two day plein air workshop.  I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and really push and play with the colors.  Almost abstract.  It is # 9 of 100 in 100.  I started out thinking I would go on as usual, but that red was called to me!

#7 and #8, 100 in 100

Three's a Challenge

6x6" oil on linen panel

#7 of 100 in 100

$100

River Patrol

14x22" pastel on sanded board

#8 of 100 in 100

$400

Here are #7 and #8 of my "100 Paintings in 100 Days" challenge.  Both have to do with water, but are very different from each other.  #7 is an expansion of #6, which have one sailboat in it.  I had mentioned that the photo I have has three boats.  Liz Whiltzen suggested that I try putting all three boats on the small, 6x6" panel, using a large brush.  I love a challenge, so off I went!  Thanks, Liz!  I used a #8 flat brush for the painting, and it helped me keep things simple, although I think I still noodled around more than I wanted to!  If you see any dog hair in there, I dropped it as I was taking it off the easel, and with three big dogs who love to lay nearby while I paint, I'm sure there is some on there!

#8 is a pastel of a friend's Golden Retriever, Riley, who loves to play in the river.  He will dig for rocks, fetch sticks, whatever.  He has been in a painting before, "Riley's River".  I need to catch up and paint our dogs!  This one is a pastel, which haven't shown up in my challenge paintings yet.  But I'm sure you'll find more as the time goes on.  Painting in pastels is quite similar to painting in oils, despite the fact that one is dry and the other wet.  I think of them in very similar ways, such as both usually start out dark to light, thin to thick (oil), hard to soft (pastel).  Both mediums have their own special qualities which make them unique and fun to work with.