More Apple Trees...

My interest in apple trees continues!  Two more drawings begun in August and finished recently. 

"Twins"

soft pencil on gessoed paper - 10" x 14"

"In Taftsville"

soft pencil on gessoed paper - 11" x 14"

Now, the trees are bare for the winter but spring will come and who knows, maybe winter apples in the snow may be happening soon....

ArtisTree "Small Works" Exhibit

If it is "Small Works" season, it must be December!  Last Friday night was the opening of the show in South Pomfret and is was crowded! 

I am showing four watercolors:

"Proud"

"The Three Bosceteers"

"Gossip"

"Alone"

My contribution to the "50@50" is a drawing in soft pencil on gessoed paper.  

"Hal Pacca"

I photographed this lovely alpaca at Vermont Sheep and Wool in Tunbridge back at the end of September.  The concept of the "50@50" is that fifty area artists create small 7" x 7" drawing, paintings, 3/D pieces on board and the become part of a wall of work each selling for $50, all going to the artist with no percentage to the gallery.  It's quite the scene when folks line up at the door to be able to get in first and have their pick of all the work!

Driving Home from East Barnard

       I've been taking apple tree photos left and right and though I know I took the one this drawing is based upon, July 12th, I can't rightly say where it was on my way back from East Barnard!  This is the latest drawing....

"Perseverance"

soft pencil on gessoed paper - 10 1/2" x 14 1/4"

       I love how the shadow beneath the tree holds texture and mystery.  This tree has a jumble of empty limbs and speaks to me of age and grace....

At Saint-Gaudens

         Yesterday, several of us gathered at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire to be extras in the filming of a documentary on the Cornish Art Colony which was a popular art colony centered in Cornish, New Hampshire from about 1895 through the years of World War I.
       The central figure of the Cornish Colony was Augustus Saint-Gaudens.  He attracted a summer colony of about 100 artists sculptors, writers, designers, and politicians who lived there either full-time or during the summer months.   That grew into a single extended social network. Some were related, some were friends, some were promising students from the Art Students League of New York that Saint-Gaudens had co-founded.  In addition to Saint-Gaudens, actress Ethel Barrymore, painter Maxfield Parrish, dancer Isadora Duncan, sculptor Frederic Remington, American president Woodrow Wilson and many other notables were associated with the colony.  After his death in 1907 the colony slowly dissipated.
       As we were being filmed as Joan Hoffman's plein aire class, artists were working primarily in oil and watercolor.  I decided to draw and the little apple tree just outside the porch was my subject. My drawing below is the tree itself but put in a different setting.  Though the tree at Saint-Gaudens was surrounded by mown lawn backed by a field and woods, I decided to situate it on a knoll with grasses and flowers around it...

"Apple Tree at Saint Gaudens"

soft pencil on gessoed paper - 10 1/2" x 14 1/2"

       I have another apple tree drawing on the work table now--my new fascination is these wonderful, personable trees....

Little Apple Orchard

       The Richardson Family Farm in Hartland is the site of the little apple orchard here that I couldn't resist drawing.  Such a sweet place.  All their electricity is provided by solar panels on many barn roofs, they make wonderful maple syrup and supply Cabot Cheese with their milk products....

"Little Apple Orchard at Richardson Farm"

10" x 14' - soft pencil on gessoed paper

       This may need a bit more tweaking--dandelions in the foreground?  But I like it a lot and I'm motivated to get out tomorrow to draw some more....

Time in the Studio

         On Saturday, I managed to get some time in the studio to work on some soft pencil drawings on gessoed paper.
         The first one was done at Silver Lake, across the street from the Barnard General Store.  In the foreground is the launch site for canoes and in the background, the beach at the state park...

         This second drawing I started last week at our plein aire meeting in the Village of Woodstock.  These inviting adirondack chairs are on the lawn of the Woodstock Inn...

         I still have three unfinished paintings to work on and Wednesday is another plein aire gathering so I really do need some time in the studio!

It's Been Awhile

        It's been awhile since I posted and I promise I am going to be much better about posting each week.
        I've been going out on Wednesday mornings with a group from ArtisTree.  Thanks JJ!!!  But today started out wet and cold and I didn't have the gumption to spend the morning outside.  So, today I'm working on finishing up work started in May.
        This drawing is from last week's sojourn to Kiss the Cow Farm in Royalton, a certified organic dairy farm that sells fresh milk, eggs, pastured poultry, and more from an on-farm farmstead....

"Barns at Kiss the Cow Farm"

soft pencil on gessoed paper - 7 12" x 10"

       What a treat to see the chicks and cows and farm equipment--great atmosphere!  I have several photos that will hopefully make interesting drawings and/or paintings....

Daily Artist 2016

The Current exhibit at ArtisTree Gallery in South Pomfret, VT, runs through February 11th.  It shows the work of twenty-eight artists who pledged to work at art every day for the year 2016.
Since the beginning of last year, as a part of Daily Artist 2016, I have been making an "inchie" a day--that is, a one inch by one inch drawing or painting prompted by something that happened that day.  Most of them are inspired by nature--many skies, landscapes, flowers.  And others are reactions to events in my life.  Some required an extra square to fit the image.  Some took lots of time and some very little.  They are all arranged on a large piece of gridded watercolor paper and at times (when we were traveling, for example) I created my inchies on separate little papers and attached them to the larger work when I got home.  Here is the composite of my year....

"A Year of Inchies"

mixed media - 17" x 20"

The inchies take me back to our 5 weeks out west visiting National Parks, the arrival of our new Portuguese Water Dog, Sea Sea, trips to Connecticut, Cape Cod and Rockport, MA.  It's a kind of visual journal.

In addition to my inchies, I decided to choose a favorite from each week to make larger.  These became my "weeklies"...

"A Year of Weeklies"

mixed media - 15" x 20"

I also am showing three slightly larger pieces--this is what my little section of the exhibit looks like...

ArtisTree Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 4pm.

Please come visit!

Happy New Year!

Here are a few more Daily Artist postings....

"A Walk in the Pasture"

"Yarn and Needles"

"Wreath"

"Clementines"

"On Route 106"

Today is a gray and cold January day.  I'm home with a cold, catching up and trying to take care of myself!