"New England Landscapes" Exhibition at Norman Williams Public Library

My current exhibit, "New England Landscapes" is now showing at the Norman Williams Public Library.  It will hang until December 6th.

Please come to the Opening Reception
this Saturday,
November 10th at 5 pm.

The Mezzanine Gallery holds seventeen paintings done in Massachusetts and Vermont.  Several of them are plein aire paintings in oil, some are studio works and there are also two watercolors of barns, one in Rochester and one in Randolph.

I hope that if you can't make it to the Opening on Saturday you can stop by to visit during open library hours: 

Monday through Friday 10 to 6

Saturday 10 to 5

"Local Color" Exhibit at Artistree Gallery in Woodstock

It's that time of year up here in Vermont--leaf peeping time!  And in keeping with the season, Artistree Gallery hangs "Local Color" a fall exhibit of works by artists from the Upper Valley.  The three paintings I have entered are below.

The "Local Color" Opening is this Friday night, September 28th from 5:30 to 8 pm--and you're invited!

"Sailboat on Silver Lake"

9" x 12" plein aire oil painting

"Randolph Barns"

9" x 12" plein aire oil painting

"Twin Trees"

9" x 12" plein aire oil painting

Unfortunately, my photography skills leave something to be desired and these paintings look much better in person!  So, come see them at Artistree Gallery, here in beautiful Woodstock.

1206 Route 12

281 Barnard Road,

Mount Tom Building

Woodstock, VT 05091.  

The exhibit runs from Friday, September 28th through Saturday, October 13th, coinciding with the Fall Vermont Open Studios the weekend of October 6th.

The Summer Studio and Gallery

It's been a lot of work but now I think I can say the Summer Studio and Gallery in our barn/garage is just about complete thanks to my dear husband who did all the cutting, nailing and painting!  Thank you, Rick....

We used homosote panels painted dark brown to hold smaller works....

When the doors are open, the space is filed with north light--a perfect spot to finish plein aire paintings....

Smaller, unframed pieces reside in bins....

And I found a great old drawing table at a used furniture store--with a bit of sanding it's perfect....

Just a few more finishing touches and we'll be finished.  Then, we'll have an opening and you're all invited!  If you'd like a personal preview, just email me and we'll set it up!

Too cold, too windy....

A beautiful sunny April day but too cold and windy to be out painting....  The unusual weather last month had us ready and raring to go, but we're back to more typical temperatures for a Vermont April.
Below is a just finished painting I started in South Woodstock last summer.  It is good to have all last season's plain aire work completed now.

"Densmore Hill, South Woodstock"

12" x 16" - oil

Today, I spent some time out raking flower beds and there are definite signs of life--lilies and daffodils and primroses poking up green shoots.  The sun is warm and the sky is blue--a lovely early spring day. 

MUD (Season) Exhibition at ArtisTree

That time to be cautiously optimistic is back, inspiring the creative sap to flow!   Please come to view how local artists interpret the season by looking ahead, thinking back, and...

looking down.

MUD (Season) Exhibition

March 31 to April 2, 2012 at ArtisTree Gallery, Woodstock.  

OPENING RECEPTION

Saturday March 31, 5:30 to 8 pm.

Early Spring, North Road

There a giant benefit to this unseasonably warm weather for plein aire painters.  We can get out there and paint in March without sitting in the car or going to more adventurous means to be warm enough to paint outdoors.
So, yesterday, we went to Barnard and found a lovely spot in the shade looking off to the west across the valley to the distant mountains.  Dump trucks and friends came by and it was fun waving and chatting.  But more importantly, it was wonderful to be out there in the fresh air doing something we love.

"Early Spring, North Road"

11" x 14" - oil

Unfortunately, despite my attempts to correct the color, the painting here looks much more "turquoisy" than it actually is.  So, you have to use your imagination to make the sky and rocks a more soft and quiet blue....

What Happened in Classes this Week?

In drawing and mixed media classes this week, among other things, we were working with little still lifes of fruits.  Of course it's hard to draw them without knowing how dark and/or light parts and pieces of them are.  So we started by testing the softness and hardness of various pencils and then creating value scales like the one below.  It goes from white on the left to black on the right with all the intermediate steps in value in between....

Then, using little fruits each person made a small study of apples and pears, trying to use the full range of values in their drawings....

It looks to me now like I could have gotten a bit darker in overall value....

In mixed media class we attempted to create a drawing of the same fruits using Prismacolor colored pencils in only process colors:  canary yellow, process red and aquamarine.  By mixing these three colored pencils,  you can create a full range of colors as in this drawing.  It requires some patience, layering one color on top of another, mixing them together to get just the right color and value.....

Above is my attempt--a challenging and interesting exercise in drawing....