A Treasure Trove of Art. . .Now at Haynes Galleries

Haynes Galleries is holding their small works show, and it promises to be a sellout. A Treasure Trove of Small Things opens November 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

I urge anyone who can get to Nashville to attend the opening, or at least the show, before it closes. Judging from the artists whose works will be displayed, this promises to be a sellout show.

Three paintings of mine will be in the show. They are all plein air landscapes, painted this summer.

 Breakfast at the Huttchen, oil on linen on panel, 10.5" x 12"

 Three Roofs, Horn Hill, oil on aluminum panel, 7.5" x 15"

  Whitehead looking towards Gull Rock, oil on linen, 18" x 14"

Some Paintings from the Monhegan Trip

Gull Cove To Whitehead, oil, 16" x 11.5"

Face-to-Face Trucks, oil, 11" x 18"
Houses Down the Hill, oil, 12" x 18"

Dawn Prenumbra, oil, 8" x 10" (this was a fifteen-minute sketch of the sunrise color)

Monhegan Madness Again

The MLG Painters 9/17-9/24, Clockwise From Left: Judy Carducci, Sue Braswell, Linda Brandon, Greer Jennison, Alex Tyng, Diana Cobb Ansley, and Carrie Lewis.

In September I headed back to Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine, to paint for a week with the Maine Landscape Guild. The Guild has expanded: Linda Brandon flew in from Phoenix Arizona, Sue Braswell came from Virginia, Judy Carducci and Carolyn Lewis from Ohio, and Greer Jennison all the way from Nevada! We also split into two houses plus a few staying at the Monhegan House. And to make things even more complicated, another group of MLGers (Eliza Auth and Mary Walsh) came the following week.

Judy and Greer painting outside the Red House.
Diana and Sue painting on the rocks at Gull Cove.
Linda painting Manana from our front deck.
And here I am at Gull Cove, trying to figure out how to salvage my fog painting.
Another one of Diana and Sue from where I sat on the rock.

The weather wasn't always "drop dead gorgeous" (as Diana Cobb Ansley is fond of saying), but the varying weather patterns made for some interesting cloud formations and even some days of fog. I tried to paint the fog at Gull Cove, but made a miserably dull mess. The master of fog painting was Judy, who produced some wonderful pastels, one from inside the hotel during the worst weather. We all got together for dinners, wine and cheese, critiques, and some great conversations.

One foggy afternoon, Linda and I decided to try painting each other. We each posed for half an hour.

Linda's painting of me--what a speed demon!
My painting of Linda. Sue and Diana were amazed at how differently we mixed paint and approached the work.

There was a propane shortage on the island when we got there, and people were eagerly awaiting the next shipment from the mainland. We had to conserve fuel, which meant no hot showers for the first couple of days! Boy, were we glad when the delivery man arrived to hook up a full tank!

Sue, Diana, and I were up on Horn Hill behind our house painting when the delivery truck arrived. YES!

We walked up to the lighthouse museum, and again the curator was kind enough to show us the wonderful portraits by Alice Kent Stoddard. In all it was a truly wonderful week, a perfect ending to the summer's painting adventures.

Painting on an Island in Maine

Last week, I and two other artists, Ellen Cooper and Alyce Grunt, were marooned (not really, but it was fun to pretend) on a small Island off the coast of Maine, We had our painting supplies, of course, and some food, and all the necessities.

It was a very small island. If you like lots of distractions, it probably wouldn't suit you. If you can't be without internet service, it would definitely not suit you. But if you like to paint, there's almost too much to do. Everywhere we turned, there was a painting waiting to be painted. As the light changed, or the weather, the possibilities multiplied. I've visited this special island many times over many years, and I've never been so constantly busy.

I've always liked painting both landscape and architecture, and when the two are combined I think the tension between natural and man-made forms makes an especially interesting painting. On a technical level, I am interested in how different brushes, and brush-marks, can be used to express these forms. Walls are straight yet a structure can feel organic; tree branches grow in curves and forks, yet the patterns are predictable. A rock and a tree trunk can be painted using almost the same color, but what makes them look like what they are?

Color makes a fascinating study. There are many colors in nature, but an artist can mix them with few colors on the palette--or many. I especially enjoyed painting the white buildings on the island, because the different facets of a white object are the best and purest indicators of the color of the direct light and the halftones at different times of the day. A photo will only approximate the colors you see in real life.

When we weren't painting, we cooked, read books, talked (a lot) and just hung out. We even went to the mainland and visited some galleries and the Farnsworth Art Museum. Being in Maine, even for a short time, gave us a break from the stresses of work and everyday life, and put us in touch with what is really important in life. Hopefully as we head into fall we can carry with us memory of our island trip to help us put things in perspective.