Friday, May 29, 2009

Just a Few from the Tidemark Show







Here is a few of my pieces from the show at Tidemark, some of the photos don't really provide true color but at least they are not blurry..?. The top one "Stareing at the Glare" (11x14) is from my first trip to Boothbay to paint with the Plein Air group that meets weekly and was my first piece of the day.





The Second piece "Just Afternoon" (24x36") is from when I was painting at Castle Tucker in Wiscasset with Roberta, neither of us painted the castle, haha.






3rd piece is of Main St in Waldoboro, (16x20) I was painting in the street that day and yeah I know standing in the road with an easel will definitely get you some strange looks.... I got a few that day but I had to see around the cars..?.


This street has some great hills that look great as the sun goes lower in the day, I hope to paint this place quite a bit in the future.






The last piece is of " Lilac Cottage" (16x20") I think I paint Lilac Cottage or some part of it once a week at least, the owners John and Bill are great, and deserve much thanks for letting us (painters) park and roam their property for our paintings, Thank you! Lilac Cottage is a beautiful Antique shop that is surrounded by,,, you guessed it, Lilacs. They are starting to bloom and when they are full in, I will probably have to be removed by the police to stop painting them, ha.





My disclaimer: Blogger places picture where they want when they want so If my writing doesn't coincide with the photos sorry and good luck figuring it out.





Quote: "I've caught this magical landscape and it's the enchantment of it that I'm so keen to render. Of course lots of people will protest that it's quite unreal, but that's just too bad."




This extra Quote is something I enjoy and thought I would share it with you today, the end of both quotes ( Both Monet)are refreshing and fun,,, enjoy.



Quote 2: "We're having marvellous weather and I wish I could send you a little of the sunshine. I am slaving away on six paintings a day. I'm giving myself a hard time over it as I haven't yet managed to capture the colour of this landscape, there are moments when I'm appalled at the colours I'm having to use, I'm afraid what I'm doing is just dreadful and yet I really am understating it; the light is simply terrifying."





























Thursday, May 28, 2009

Rainy Days


Yesterday morning I headed out to Boothbay to paint with the Plein Air Painters of Maine group( www.pleinairpaintersofmaine.blogspot.com/ ) despite the bad weather predictions for the morning. I figured a morning of gray day painting is better then a whole week of nothing as the rest of the week looks to be a wash. (yes pun intended) About 30 mins into painting the rain drops started to fall and in another hour they fell pretty hard but I did manage to get two and really enjoyed the challenge of the " gray day " and the color harmony it brings. This piece was finished (relative term I know) in some decent rain and I think it might be my first time I have painted in rain that made me have to drain my palette a couple times, haha I even lost a brush so it must have been kind of hectic.. I think I will have to drill holes in my EasyL box for a rain gutter system and get some Mai Thai drink umbrellas for my brush washer can...?.
This past Tuesday I went to take down the remaining pieces from my show at Tidemark, and just want to Thank everyone at Tidemark again and again for all their help and work for making my first show very memorable and successful. I plan on being back there early next year to take part in another show (dates to be determined) and continue my involvement with this great gallery. Thank you Tidemark!
Since the showing at Tidemark and the announcement of my winning of the Monhegan Residency I have been contacted and in talks with a few galleries. Two of the Galleries are definites and the other is still on hold. I am really excited to finally have this ball rolling and the oppurtunities to really push myself and see what is possible... (I will announce galleries next post)
Quote:Renoir's Color Mixing: "He always mixed his colors on the canvas. He was very careful to keep an impression of transparency in his picture throughout the different phases of the work ... he worked on the whole surface of his canvas [and] the motif gradually emerged from the seeming confusion, with each brushstroke."-- Jean Renoir, son of the Impressionist Painter Auguste Renoir, writing in his memoir Renoir: My Father

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Big House on the Prarie







OK, it feels like forever since my last post and I think its the first time i have gone this long without something new on here. I hate to repeat what I read on other blogs but I don't think thru the summer its gonna be too frequent posting for me.


Some of the things I have been doing lately painting almost every Saturday with the figure group up in Belfast ME at Waterfall Arts, Every Wednesday I have been participating in the Plein Air Painters of Maine paint outs, (Thank you Corinne) I also paint quite a bit with my good friend Roberta Goschke (she's great check her work out on the link) and most recently spent a day hangin with Colin Page, painting in Damariscotta. (this painting is from that day) It was a beautiful day and I hope the painting conveys that. (I know the photo stinks) I got a couple and laughed thru out the day, especially when a young girl that was passing by recommended to Colin to paint a dinosaur into his painting.


Well its about time to head out to paint so I'm wrapping this post up early.




Quote: "Art is a harmony which runs parallel with nature -- what is one to think of those imbeciles who say that the artist is always inferior to nature?" Paul Cezanne




The 22nd is our 5th Anniversary ! Happy Anniversary Raquele!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

No Title


This piece is from the morning of May 2nd, I got a few done that day in Bristol but I would say this is the pick of the litter. not alot to ramble about today so here is a Quote: "Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I see before me, I make more arbitrary use of colour to express myself more forcefully ... To express the love of two lovers by the marriage of two complementary colours ... To express the thought of a brow by the radiance of a light tone against a dark background. To express hope by some star. Someone's passion by the radiance of the setting sun."Vincent van Gogh, 1888.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Show (before and after)




















First things first, Thank You to everyone involved, Tidemark Gallery and all who make that gallery run like clockwork, Family, friends, customers, and those that just let me know that they enjoyed the show, you all made my night!


I don't have good pictures of the all the work yet, I will be taking some at the gallery and raiding a few other cameras to get some photos for here soon. So for the moment here are the before the show hanging pictures which really give you an idea of the layout of this beautiful gallery(sorry for bad photos) and then this is a picture of us (Raquele and I ) after all have gone home. If you see in my hands there is a black item, that is a book given to me as a gift that night by a friend of mine (Thanks Chris!) I will share an excerpt from this great book in my quote today. Quote: "The one dollar bill originally had Chuck Norris on it, but the beard kept getting caught in vending machines." OK one more...." Chuck Norris was supposed to be the next face on Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately granite is not hard enough material to replicate Chuck Norris's beard."