Along the Capital Cresent Trail

It's a warm-ish February day and bikers, walkers, skaters and joggers were out on the trail.  It was mid- to late afternoon and I wanted to catch the motion that was going by.  No one stopped to pose, although a few people asked for directions!

Mannequin and Model -- work in progress

It's crazy how I started this (the larger one), things were going well.... and then in fixing the mannequin, I made the model's face worse.  I was trying to relate the two expressions and I think I needed to step back a bit more to see the expression on the model.  This one is definitely going to undergo some more work.  

Attention Restoration Theory!

That's putting scientific terms around the concept of what art means to me -- a time to focus and immerse myself in nature, which restores reserves that have been depleted by everyday stress.  It's the title of my show, March 21-22 at the Yellow Barn Gallery.  

ART (attention restoration theory) was developed by a U. Michigan professor, Steven Kaplan, who demonstrated that not only could viewing nature restore focus to an otherwise stressed-out person, but could even provide a hedge against future stresses.

So -- if you can't get out and take a hike or paint en plein air, the clear answer is to buy a painting of something so beautiful, so transporting, that it gives you the experience Kaplan describes as "soft fascinations" like clouds, sky, and trees and then enjoy focusing on it... instead of kids, work, deadlines and the great forces that make the world stressful.

Now -- I'm back painting in the studio, as the weather has not been cooperating one bit with my plans to paint outdoors.  Still, I'll be posting paintings again in the coming week and get back to regular updates on my ART -- attention restoration theory.

Yellow Painting, part 3

Yellow Painting, part 2

I don't spend much time working in the studio on paintings that were begun outdoors, but I really liked this painting of yellow fall color that I'd started in October (the small picture is the way it looked two months ago).   Working in the studio, you have to ask what the painting needs, as I have nothing other than my memory and the idea I was going for to work with.   I knew I wanted to reduce the impact of the rocks in the front and lead into the leaves and sky area.

There will be a part 3, stay tuned.  

Now Showing!

I have work on display in two venues right now -- one, a piece is in the Yellow Barn Gallery member's show.  It's a juried show and the 100+ pieces on display are truly inspiring.   The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12 - 5, 7300 MacArthur Blvd. through December 21.

At the Edgemoor Club,  the holiday decorations include 14 of my landscape paintings.  It's hit or miss whether you'd find the club doors open if you wanted to peek, but the club is at 7415 Exeter Road, Bethesda.  301-907-2961 is the phone number you can call to see about getting in.

 

Cat in Poolesville

The cat sitting on the window sill provided me with the opportunity to paint the reflections in the panes of glass, each one a mini abstract painting.  Don't laugh -- I was thinking about Giorgio Mirandi when I was painting the little vignettes in the window (that is, if he used a colorful palette).

farm scene in Poolesville

Early morning, the farmyard was dense with sheep, one bull, a few turkeys, roosters and hens.  That didn't last!  I had the animals in place all of 15 minutes and then they all went off to another pasture, leaving me with the question of what to do with the sketched in animals.  I've had two opinions about the bull in front -- either to turn him so he's looking into the yard or to "paint his portrait."  Not sure which I'll do -- but I'll be trying to get to him later this week when I hope he'll pose for me.

Waters House, Day 2

Waters House, Germantown MD

You'd think the oldest house in Germantown, with parts dating back to 1790, would be pretty spectacular.  And it is -- but it's surrounded, smothered even, by close in housing developments and the construction of a new school adjacent to its site.  Still, with blinders on, you can look at the house, the barns beyond and off into the woods beyond and see a glimpse of Maryland's past.  We had a group of Montgomery County Plein Air painters at the site and a beautiful day to paint.