cumberland 6, the field

This is another Cumberland painting. This time I was at one of my favorite fields. Kelly came by and took these photos of me and my kooky (tick protection) violet boots. heehee
I was asked by Ann to explain the boots. On the East coast our grasses are loaded with ticks that carry lyme disease. So far my boot approach has worked. When in grasses I wear the violet rubber boots covered with tick spray. When I was at the Mountain Maryland plein air event many artists were comparing the numbers of times they have been infected with lyme disease. (not a fun thing) I heard one person had it 5 times. Violet boots ride on!

cumberland 5

Same farm..same group of trees.

Cumberland 4

Two more farm paintings, later in the evening.(above) Early in the morning with rising fog. (below)
And a bit of good news! Last night was the awards ceremony. The show is amazing with a wonderful diversity of style. I am honored to be selected to be part of it. To my shock and absolute delight I won an honorable mention for the painting "View of Cumberland." Here is a link to post.
Al Gury was the judge of the show and he was happy to take the time to speak with all of us about our work. He is the chair of the painting department at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. You are fortunate if he is your teacher! Look to his many books, of which I own one "Alla Prima." Check out this link to see it.

Cumberland 3

Same farm, different view. The rabbits were having fun and the fog was stunning.

Cumberland 2

I see this land in my sleep. I have been back to this farm for three years now. For some reason it has always been like deja vu. It reminds me of a place nearby my home, but a little different. I know it from another time. It's so nice when there's no need to go through the "first date" and just get straight through to the relationship. That's how I feel about the farm.
I'll post another one tomorrow.

Cumberland Night One

Working in Cumberland...just had my papers stamped!

studies for later paintings

18x9 pastel and watercolor

One thing I always do before a plein air competition is scout out the territory. I really don't like to come in cold. So much of painting is about the feel, not just the light and things.
Recently I have really enjoyed the very long vertical, so I plan to do at least one long vertical. Last year I did a couple squares and rectangles from this view. I used those and created a new idea. It's the essence of downtown Cumberland right after sunset. Knowing that I would do this vertical format, I had to a special frame made to accommodate my  possible work. This painting (above) won't count, of course, but it gave me ideas. It's simpler if you just use standard sizing...but oh dear....no I wouldn't want anything simple??? Would I? I also made a small square frame of my favorite gold scoop chops.
Rules for a plein air competition demand that all work must be done on site, during the prescribed times. You get your board/canvases stamped on the beginning day and must use only those for your new work.  Plein air competitions are sort of nerve wracking...that is till you produce the first painting that you like. It's only then you breathe a sigh of relief. "Ah, I am not a total failure and won't embarrass myself!" I say. Normally I am a very positive person, but in these competitions the pressure often makes me feel VERY insignificant...more than usual.

PS Last night while doing my "observation walk" I saw the first firefly of the year!! Yipee, summer is here!

working from memory

8x8 pastel and watercolor on Uart
Has anyone read Birge Harrison's Landscape Painting? Mr Harrison taught at the Art Student's League in the early 1900s. In the chapter- The importance of fearlessness in painting, he says,"The public loves to be dictated to in matters of art.- to feel that the painter is"onto his job." It will pass by the man who says I think and stand rapt every time before  the picture of the man who says"I know."Aim to tell the truth:but if you have to lie, lie courageously."
  Today I returned to some of my studies from Uncle Harold's farm in the Cumberland area.
To be removed from the scene opens up a whole new world. When you are no longer a slave to the view, you can feel and aim more easily for your concept.  In this scene I wrote (in my sketchbook) about how the sky was overcast thus creating an intensity to the color. Sun washes out color. The glow of the mountains was intense. Even the grass was greener.  Aim to tell the truth, but if.......
Now you can ask yourself what works?

 This is what it looked like from my plein air experience.,,,not enough feel...incomplete.

no sky, say more with less and o'keefe

about 7x8 pastel and watercolor on Uart

The goal in this one was to do less and say more. You can still see at least 50% of the watercolor. Another from the no sky series, this one has mountain behind the foggy trees. Very light whispers of pastel, very much like the touch of the foggy atmosphere.
A quote from Georgia O'Keefe: "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way- things I had no words for."

On another note, my camera DIED! Now I have no camera and very little money to buy another one decent camera. Yipes!  It was a Canon and my google reading now tells me that it is common at its age (3 years) to get the lens stuck.
That brings a special event for you! On June 18th at 5:00 pm I will post a number of my small paintings for sale. Rather than pay for framing and wait for the gallery to sell them I am taking charge. Stay tuned friends!

quick draw- cumberland center

about 11x8 pastel and watercolor on Uart
This is from yesterday's quick draw. Let me explain first what a quick draw is. The artists arrive at the prescribed location, this time it was a rectangle of streets downtown in Cumberland. They come early and stake out their turf. Each artist then has their canvas/paper/board stamped and gets ready for the whistle. At precising 10 am the work may begin..no earlier. At noon, precisely two hours later the whistle is blown again and all painting must cease. The artists and many onlookers gather. Prizes are awarded and hopefully sales will result.
Just a little bit of pressure, eh???? And then right before the start (5 minutes before) another artist plopped her easel down right in front of me, right in the middle of the foreground. I got over it...It helped that I had done the value study so I already had a plan. Things happen.
I  did many sketches and then a value painting of my chosen spot before the whistle. They were completely separate from my finished painting. I know for me, in this very complex view I chose, it would be best to mass out the major shapes.
To begin the weather was misty so the light was diffuse. It changed later, but I stuck with it and resisted all the strong shadow shapes that came later. I was delighted to have sold this painting. I actually had two offers. Yay!

edge of the world

 9x12 pastel and watercolor on marble dust board
To create this one I used an old, discarded board. It had an underpainting, I think it was oil. For some reason the board was so porous (gessoed marble dust was on it) so I struggled to cover the other painting. It made me only paint the large shapes and paint them with thick watercolor, almost like oil. (It's funny how the gap between the medium is beginning to close.)
The color of the grasses first attracted me, but then upon looking I was most intrigued with the way the trees and the edge of grass met the distant mountains.

Today is the "quick draw" event. 10-12am pick a place in the town center it work...with and audience. Yipes.

canal early morning

The canal offers so many possibilities, of which I will never tire. I hope everyone else doesn't tire of them. This is one of yesterday's, the first one of the morning-5:30 am.
Today is framing day. Everything needs to be in by noon. Only two paintings can be submitted. This painting and the house on the hill may be my entries. I have so many others I will blog later.

summertime when the livin' is easy

9x12 pastel and watercolor on marble dust board
One of my favorites in a long time...yay! and under pressure! When I visited Cumberland last week I saw this view. It was rainy that day but I could still imagine the possibilities. Yesterday morning I was delighted to see it filled my every dream!
Two songs played in my head as I painted.
"Summertime...when the living is easy, fish are jumping...." Do you know that one?
But then there was the intruder song... "Little bunny foo foo running through the forest, picks up the field mice and bops them on the head."
Which song helped me paint that we will never know. I must be slightly crazy.

A big thank you to all my blogger friends for all the encouraging comments yesterday. I feel like I have company when I am here! Back to work now... the sun has almost risen.

cumberland

about 7x10 pastel on Uart (no underpainting too wet outside)
The Maryland Mountain Plein Air Festival is right around the corner so I knew I needed to go scout out the area. I prefer not to go in "cold" to an event. I need time to wrap my mind around the possible landscape. I spent the morning driving around the county then called the organizer, Kelly Moran. She graciously invited me on a personal tour of the best places to paint. I not only saw the best places, met people, learned a lot of the history of the area, but also spent time with the witty dynamo - Kelly. Lots of fun!
By the time I was back to my hotel it was pouring...but should that stop me from painting? Nope. Good thing my shadebuddy covers my whole easel (but not me)...pastels hate rain.
I thought about what WK said on Friday. So when I began this painting of Cumberland in the rain and fog I began with what probably was an area of trees-left center, instead of the bridge or buildings. It was a total struggle, till it whispered to me.


More new WK tidbits tomorrow when I return home.