"Pastoral Dreams" (Pabst Farm)

This is another from the Oconomowoc Mid-Summer Brush Plein Air event. We happened upon this marsh-ey pasture and jumped out of the car to paint it. I wanted the challenge of creating a sense of depth and space while hinting at the water trailing through the pasture.

8"x10" oil

"Oconomowoc Wild Flowers"

For the past couple of days Karen Phipps and I participated in Oconomowoc, WI 3rd annual plein air event called Mid-Summer Brush. We'd never been in this area which is between Milwaukee and Madison. Since we're both enthusiastic cityscape painters we thought we'd be painting their pretty town, wrong. We fell in love with their gorgeous countryside which was in full bloom with prairie wild flowers and breath-taking vista scenes. This is definitely a place we will return to and spend many more days painting.

This painting was created down a rough road probably created for farm equipment. Hopefully we didn't ruin the alignment on Karen's car. The sun seemed to fly across the open sky so I used my largest palette knife while trying to capture the breezy flowers/colors/atmosphere. It will be on exhibition through mid August in Oconomowoc, WI. (14"x16" framed, Oil $450. )

"Shore View"

I painted this around 9am. My point was to give a good peek of the shore. Plus the dunes and the water are my two favorite beach elements.

All my paintings done while traveling are small, 5x7 to 6x8. I'd like to work larger but I don't have the strength to carry more than a small backpack of gear. Sometimes I see something that I think I'd rather tackle larger but the hassel of carrying a large canvas just hasn't been worth it. Oh well, isn't there a saying, "good things come in small packages."

6"x8" Oil on Linen (artist collection)

"Rushing Tide" (sold)

I'm really drawn to the abstract in nature. But what I'd like to see in the finished painting is that fine balance between abstraction and realism. In other words I don't want to give all the answers but hope the image is interesting enough/worthy enough, to merit a look that gives you the whole experience.

The ocean is so noisy. I painted this at about 5:30am and could barely hear myself think. Normally I love the early hours for the quiet peace but even though very few people were on the beach it was LOUD. I think the noise is the oceans way of saying, "Look at me and respect me. I'm more than huge. I'm gorgeous, proud, and powerful."

"Rushing Tide" Oil 6"x8" painted with a palette knife. ($145.)

"Avalon Freeze"

"Avalon Freeze" is a 6x8, oil study on linen, mounted on 8ply archival museum board. ($145. framed)

I tore myself away from the beach and missed out on a yummy pancake breakfast with family and friends to paint this little landmark. I find the raw urban-ness of the utility poles a real must to the quaintness of the custard stand. My number one challenge was painting on a bright but overcast day because it lacked the drama of contrasty shadows and lights which I normally would rather paint.

My second challenge was painting in a high traffic area. I had lots of people stop by to chat. It did slow my painting process but I got over my self-consciousness. And I didn't even mind when an excited person knocked my easel over. It was all part of the plein air painting experience.

"Push/Pull" 6x8 oil sketch ($145. framed)

These two paintings were painted at different times of the day and weather. This first piece was painted around 7pm in rather high winds. The waves were really pounding in and pulling out with great power. In order to get the curve of the shore I was in ankle deep water when the waves rushed in. I loved how that felt. I hand-held my paint box because the wind would have blown over my plein air set-up. I went after capturing the emotional feel of the moment rather than worrying too much on the formal issues. Still, a simplistic yet strong composition was very important as I hoped it would help hold everything together.

"Morning Calm" 6x8 oil sketch

This was my first beach scene and morning out to paint. The early morning air held a bit of fog/humidity and was very calm. In the distance I could see just make out Wild Wood, New Jersey. I was trying to capture the expanse of sky, sand, and water. Maybe I should have left out most of the sand???

"Heading Off" (Sold/Private Collection)

Painted this on the Jersey shore in Stone Harbor at the end of the afternoon. I was attracted to the shadows created by large clouds moving across the beautiful blue sky. It was tricky as the light changed from cool to warm but I felt it was predominately cool shadows and warm light.

6"x8" Oil study ($145. framed)

"Avalon Dunes" 6"x8" oil

My next few post will highlight some of the oil paintings I did while vacationing on the Jersey shore. Although I'm really glad to live in this high-tech age, I discovered living without a computer and cell phone was really nice, for a while. Instead of grabbing a large mug of coffee and answering emails, I headed to the beach and worked on 2-3 paintings every day. Most of the paintings were palette knife pieces because an excited on-looker kicked over my turp. can (and easel) but this ended up being a happy accident. I really liked how painting with thicker layers of paint forced me to focus on accuracy and kept me from being tentative. Besides trying to get accurate values I'm pushing how far I can go with abstraction and yet still be representational.

Lottie's

The morning was hazy and gray, or was it just me. I don't know what happened but I seemed to have greatly exaggerate the atmosphere of the morning. Maybe I need a break from Chicago? So I'm off to the Big Apple and the wonderful sounds of the Jersey Shore. Be back in a couple of weeks with hopefully a large handful of ocean-scapes.

8"x10" Oil on Linen

"Riverwalk"

Karen Phipps and I arrived at Cedarburg just in time to get our canvases stamped before they closed for the morning. We immediately headed to the Cover Bridge Park to find a beautiful shady place to paint. I think we both prefer cityscapes but the heat and humidity was near 100 degrees so we decided to wait until later to paint their main street. Once I got here I knew I had to tackle my nemesis, thick greens. The bit of blue on the muddy river was reflected from the sky and gave me a mental relief from the heat. This is mostly palette knife as the canvas is larger than what I have been painting. The larger canvas gave me elbow room to use a palette knife.

11x14 oil

"Private Retreat" (Quilt Farm & Museum, Cedarburg, WI)

This painting didn't make it into the Cedarburg Plein Air Exhibition because I wasn't satisfied with it at the time. I painted it the last morning. The sun was playing hid n seek which means I had to depend on my poor memory skills to created the beautiful dappled light. The strong patterns of light and shadow is what initially drew me. I also enjoyed the challenge of the abstractness of the leaves.

14"x11" Oil on Linen

"Suspended Animation" (Floral Expressions, Cedarburg, WI)

The Cedarburg Plein Air Competition and Exhibition was great. Karen and I had an excellent time painting their beautiful town and countryside. Next year we plan on staying two nights so that we can make more paintings. As it was, we each painted four and scraped away one. My big problem was painting in +100 degree temperatures and humidity. This painting happens to be my favorite because I love painting at night. The atmospher is just right for me. Few people are around, the town is at rest, the temperatures have dropped (a bit) and the lighting from neon and street lights creates wonderful glows. That's why I call this "Suspended Animation." The artificial lights make what is illuminiated pulse. Now if I could just carve out the time to hit Chicago at night I'd be a really happy camper.

12"x9" Oil on Linen

"Peony Buds" 14"x11" Oil

Karen Phipps and I are participating in the Cedarburg Plein Air Competition and Exhibition. Wish us luck that we don't melt in the heat.

I tried to paint fast to catch these in bud form. I really liked the way the white peonies glowed against the dark background and wanted to recreated this in paint.

"3 Oaks" 8x6 oil on linen mounted

The past few days I was invited to participate with a group of nationally recognized artists called the "Fernwood Ten." It's a by invitation only plein air event ending in a gala reception. The proceeds from the sales of the art, which we created at Fernwood Botanical Gardens and surrounding area, help found this non-profit organization. If you're near Niles, Michigan, stopping at this botanical garden is so worth your while. Although we had high winds, thunder storms, --typical dreaded weather for plein air artists, we all were able to create paintings which we were happy with and pleased our audience. Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph my paintings which all sold at the silent auction but hopefully one of my fellow artists will have and then I'll post them on my blog later this week.

In addition to this plein air event, the Fernwood Ten has sixty paintings on show (& sale) at the Clark Gallery until August. Once the show was hung and I saw all the art work, I was so impressed. My fellow Fernwood Ten artists are truely great artists exhibiting inspiringly compelling paintings.

This painting posted today was dash out quickly before the gala reception last Friday night. I was most interested in the high wires in relation to the low buildings. I hope to paint this again and do it better justice. It's a bit stiff and blocky but I did it this way as notes to myself.

"Mickey's" 8"x6" Oil on Linen

I love this austere-looking corner pub for several artistic reason but also because it contrasts with the "fellowship" which happens within its walls.

This morning I had the company of two other Plein Air Painters of Chicago, Ellie and Karen Phipps (check their blogs for their take on this location). We had to paint very quickly as the lit side soon move into the shadow side of the building.

Although the bright morning sun made the shadows in general cooler, the red brick was relatively warmish with a purplish cast. The shadows on the sidewalk and road were much cooler than the shadow-side of the building.

Normally I don't sketch first rather I start with large masses of color and value. But for this piece I did "draw" with paint to create and redesign (just a bit) the angles of the roof tops to enhance my design. I really liked how the buildings pop against the sky.

I used two differnt sizes palette knives and my largest round bristle brush. No medium, just lots of lovely oil paint.

We still plan on getting some night painting done so please stop by again soon for those postings.

I'm off to paint with the "Fernwood Ten" in Niles Michigan. If you click on my events listings you'll see their beautiful website. In addition to a paint-out, the Clark Gallery will be showing six of my landscapes through the summer. Preceeds from these sales assist in operation costs of the Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Forest Preserve.

Student Art Works From Spring 2009

The following paintings are not mine rather the oil paintings of my students. I am so pleased with their results that I just had to post them. All paintings were done from life, not photos. We created still life set-ups in the LaGrange Art League studio. Some students haven't painted in years and decided to tap back into their creative-side, others have studied with me repeatedly. I think the results from this class were particularly stunning. I hope they all continue to explore oil painting because their discoveries and successes are simply wonderful, don't you agree


Terry
Oil
11x14












Nina
Oil
11x14













Michael
oil
11x14











Mary
Oil
9x12











Nina
Oil
11x14












Maxine
Oil
11x14













Maxine
Oil
18x24












Mary
Oil
12x9

River Side Findings

Last night I was again at my new favorite spot to paint, along the river's edge. The river has finally receeded to reveal the rocks and the ground dry enough for me to walk. It was a nice surprise to see these wild flowers blooming in more than a foot of water. Just you in case you can't tell, the blops are suppose to be rocks. I think these rocks were placed here to prevent the riverbanks from washing away.
It was dusk when I started so I painted quickly with a palette knife and hoped my first strokes were accurate because there wasn't time for correcting.
6"x8" Oil on Linen

Cabaret Pub

Early Saturday morning Karen and I painted in the peace and quiet of the day. I enjoyed the challenge of the quickly changing shadows and light on this blocky building. But I'm wondering if, since being a neighborhood bar, if we should return on a busy night and capture the buzz of a Saturday evening??? I'm thinking yes.

8"x6" Oil on Linen ($145. framed)

"Scalawag Onion" (sold)

I love shopping at neighborhood farmers markets because they often have veggies that I normally don't see in my local grocery. Although green onions are very common these were so wild, fresh, and colors intense that I thought they'd make a nice study. The roots were long and had a life of their own which inspired the title of the painting. This is mostly a palette knife painting although I did use a brush in areas were I needed to tame down the rougher palette knife strokes. 6"x12" oil on linen

"Purple Splash"

The model was doing quick poses all morning. She ran out of the standard poses which was really great because then she got playful and her poses looked natural to her body. I wish it was longer and I had used heavier paint but if it was a long pose I'd would have lost the simplicity. Still wish I'd used heavier paint in some areas to add more of a pow.

12"x6" oil on linen ($145.)