Buoy #8

Buoy #8 White and Green

6"x6"oil on Raymar panel

This is the last buoy, at least for a while. I particularly like how the water looks like puddles, which happens when it's relatively calm.

The eight buoys will be part of the holiday show at Yarmouth Frame and Gallery this year. The opening is on Saturday, November 26th from 4-7PM. I'm very pleased that one of the buoys was chosen for the advertisement! Check it out below with the others.

Buoy #4

Buoy #1

Buoy #2

 

Buoy #3

Buoy #5

Buoy #6

Buoy #7

Buoy #7

Buoy #7 Pink ad Yellow Flag

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Here's another buoy with a flag, pink is apparently a popular color for buoy flags. Sometimes I change the color of the buoys (always risky, because it's easy to miss how the water impacts the various reflections), but this time I loved all the colors the lobsterman choose, and have tried to show you his palette.

Lobster Buoy 6

 Lobster Buoy 6 Pink and Green

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

This summer we saw several lobster buoys with a flags on their sticks, which certainly makes them easier to see. I particularly liked this one because of the colors.

Buoy #5

Buoy #5, Purple and Yellow

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I decided to go with a complementary color scheme for this buoy. It has a wonderful reflection in the photo, which I couldn't resist. I've still got a few more of these to finish, and I'll intersperse them with other subjects and whatever plein air painting the weather permits.

Lobster Buoy 4

Lobster Buoy 4 - Holiday

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I was asked to make one of the buoys with a holiday theme, so it could be used for marketing holiday events. When the water is reflecting the trees and it's a bit overcast, you get water that looks like this. With a red and white buoy, it's kind of festive, don't you think?

Harbor Master

Harbor Master

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel
 SOLD

I painted this one on the Freeport town dock, under the harbor master's office, which is up a flight of stairs. His boat was tied to the dock, but I could still see the bright light hitting the left side. Simplifying the engine was fun.

Lobster Buoy 3

Buoy 3 Red and Green

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

This is an unusual buoy, because it doesn't have a stick, but I couldn't resist the colors. The lobsterman will grab the line tied to the small end of the buoy using a gaff. I'm thinking of getting one of those for our boat, because we often pick up mooring lines that are hard to grab with a standard boat hook.

Lobster Buoy 2

Orange White and Green Buoy

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Today I did the value under paintings for three more buoy paintings. This is one of my favorites, I love the tricolored stick. I may replace the photo if I can get one with a better color reproduction of the water.

Here's the under painting. I wiped off more of the dark before painting over it, to minimize mixing with the upper paint layer.

Lobster Buoy 1

Lobster Buoy 1 (Orange and Black)

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Now that my workshop with Anne Blair Brown is over, I can focus on the theme for the September 30 Paintings in 30 Days. And that's buoys. In our coastal waters, buoys are often used to mark locations. If you've been out on the water, you've seen the green cans and red nuns that are navigational markers. Mooring balls are also buoys, in that they mark the location of a mooring on the bottom, to which a boat can be tied up. And finally, my favorite, are lobster buoys, also called pots, which mark the location on the bottom of a string of lobster traps, usually one at each end.

Above is my first in the series, Orange and Black.

A Good Teacher

Pomegranate with Square Brass Pot

6"x6 oil on Raymar panel

I’ve taken a lot of art workshops, with some very good teachers. And often they're teaching along a similar vein. But sometimes we have to be at the right place to hear it, or maybe we need to hear it many times. This spring I decided to try and find a teacher near me, whose work I admired, who appreciated the same painters that I do, and from whom I could learn over a period of time. And I think I’ve done that with Rob Abele. I take a weekly class with Rob, and as new people join the class, it’s great to hear him very consistently giving the same advice to each of us, whatever our level. Whenever he does a quick demo for someone, I wander over and watch too. Twice I’ve had a private lesson, which is very helpful. In those lessons Rob sets up a killer still life that will take me out of my comfort zone.

Below is my painting at the end of our session of still life #1.

Below is Rob’s. Note that we are painting at the same time, so we don’t have the same viewpoint.

I love the gestural way that Rob paints!

Below is my painting of still life #2 after “improving” it at home. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo at the send of the session. One thing I've learned is that I'm best painting alla prima, and finishing the painting in one sitting. Going back in, I usually muck it up.

And below is Rob’s version. Wow!

I was a whiner on this last one, having somewhat of an aversion to the fun house mirror aspect of the reflection in the rounded brass vase. So when I got home I set up and painted the still life shown at the top of the post, including the shiniest object I could find.

I know I’m learning something with Rob's approach and the consistency that studying with the same teacher over time brings. Thanks Rob!

Dinghy in Blue

"Dinghy in Blue"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel
$150
(the blue is a bit lighter than shown here)
To purchase, click here.

 Under painting in cad yellow and burnt sienna,
which was followed by a thin layer of quinacridone red,
once the yellow layer was dry

As the sun goes down, everything goes golden. It's my favorite time of day.

A Little Fauvism Goes a Long Way

"Fauvist Clouds"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

spoken for

I'm teaching a class at Artascope in Yarmouth, Maine, on creating your own style with color. Monday is our last of 6 sessions and we've had a lot of fun. The students have been great, and eager to try new things. We've done toned canvases, bold color under paintings, and studied drawing, values, and mixing clear bright colors. This is my demo from class 4, where I went a bit wilder than everyone else, with a Fauvist rendition of a painting from my past.

We also had some fun doing value paintings over photographs. Below are some of the student paintings. Everyone really enjoyed this one.

"Shadows in the Snow"

"Shadows in the Snow"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

$150

I'm on Cape Cod, and it's snowing! Just kidding. I started this one last week, and wanted to finish it for the up coming holiday season. I've painted it before, and always love this winter scene at Thomas Point in Maine.

"Waiting for the Lobsterman"

"Waiting for the Lobsterman"

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I've painted this beautiful classic dinghy before. It belongs to a local lobsterman.

"Red Sailboat Boothbay II"

"Red Sailboat Boothbay II"

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Red Sailboat Boothbay II in process

I wasn't totally satisfied with the first Red Sailboat Boothbay, and so went back to my Anne Blair Brown notes. Anne had told us to "think like turtle, paint like rabbit". I decided to think more about this one, and to let each brush stroke lay, rather than to paint over it. I forgot to take a photo of the value study underneath, but here's one of the painting after the color block-in.

"Churchy"

"Churchy"

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Churchy is one of the dinghies owned by our extended family in Maine. She's a great rowboat, and many children have learned to row in her. This the first of 30 paintings in 30 days that I plan to do this month, along with about 700 other artists for Leslie's Saeta's challenge. We've all chosen a theme, and you won't be surprised that mine is boats. Since we are out on our boat, my next couple may be watercolors, things are rolling around out here a bit much for oils, though I did finish this one on the trip. To see everyone's paintings each day, take a look here.

"The White Dinghy"

 

 The White Dinghy

6"x6"
oil on paper
$75

Finally after a late spring, boats are going into the water in Maine. This one belongs to one of my neighbors. It's a classic.

Lemon #5 with Sunflowers

Lemon with Sunflowers

6"x6" oil on gessoed paper

Sunflowers in January, thank you Trader Joe's! My husband says this one is about the sunflowers, so I guess lemon #5 is jealous. I think Janett predicted this... And then there's the blue jug, I just love it. And blue and yellow are such a good combination, I couldn't resist.

If you will email me a link to your favorite lemon painting, I'll include the links in the next lemon post. Please use a link that will be permanent, like a blog post, rather than a page on a website (those are subject to change) and include the artists name. My email address is in my profile.

Concord Art Association Holiday Originals Show

 Apple Versus Orange

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

$200

Farm Pond Pines

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel - SOLD

$200

I've put two paintings in the Concord Art Association Holiday Originals Show, which will be open
November 29-December 20, 2012. The open house is on Sunday, December 2, 2:00-4:00p. I'm not going to be able to be at the open house, but do stop by if you are in the area. They have wonderful paintings, jewelry, and other art related gifts. I'll be checking it out on the 29th.

Concord Art Association

37 Lexington Road, Concord MA 01742

978-369-2578

gallery@concordart.org

River Arts Flora and Fauna Show

The Meadows

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

plein air

Distant Pink

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

plein air

Friday night is the opening for the new River Arts Exhibit, "Flora and Fauna". I'm honored to have had two paintings selected by juror Henry Isaacs, whose work I love. The Meadows and Distant Pink are shown above. Both of these were painted en plein air at Great Brook Farm State Park in Massachusetts.

The opening is from 5 to 7PM. Hope to see you there!