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.

Great Falls, VA -- another day

Along this stream above Great Falls, yellow leaves were everywhere.  In my quest to break out of some patterns I'd gotten too comfortable with, I painted on a vertical canvas and put the emphasis on the color yellow.  I have more work -- maybe a lot of work -- to go on this and I'm hoping to get back into it later this week.

Great Falls, Va -- Above the falls

The reflection of the log in the water first caught my eye -- the colors on this very chilly fall morning were what rooted me to this spot.  Several ducks floated in and out of this little channel above Great Falls and I added a few to the scene.

My goal, based on looking at my recent work, was to paint without a horizon line.  No vistas. Look at something close to me.  I was only partly successful -- I ended up putting the water's edge not so far from where I've been placing my horizon line.

Kayak at Swain's Lock, reason for an art blog

It was a really cold morning to paint!

One great reason to blog art is painfully evident by the work I've been doing at Swain's Lock.  It's a place with the Potomac river, the C&O Canal, woods, long vistas..... and apparently, one very static horizon line.  This is not something I'd been thinking about, but here it is, right in front of me -- a horizon set 2/3 of the way up the rectangle.  

Time for a fresh approach.