Allentown Association Art Exhibition

The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves the elegant Ansley Wilcox house  on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. There is also a lovely restored carriage house which will showcase paintings of the Allentown area in early August, with a reception on Friday, August 2. This show is sponsored by the Allentown Association for its 50th anniversary and includes works of the area's features by artists who live, work or paint in Allentown.

One of my two paintings is this driveway side view of an elegant victorian home on Pearl Street, just a few buildings down from Allen Street. Painted this year, I was intrigued by the tans and browns of the structures hi-lighted by the forsythia bush and its glorious yellow presence.

I like to feature yellow flowers in paintings, it is a challenge for me, but it also holds its own on some of our drearier days, the yellow in nature paintings sparkles through the gloom of a long winter afternoon.

The second painting in this show is a colorful blue corner porch with morning glories winding up the column. It is a pastel, framed to 20x16. Pretty little bits of Allentown are making their way back to Buffalo from Grand Island for this exhibit.

Pearl Street Spring 14x11 oil,  2013

Carnegie Art Center Paintout on the canal

Saturday's intense gusts almost took out this setup several times, a collection of bungee cords attached everything in winds up to 50 mph. I set up in the shade of the railroad bridge, not realizing that I put myself into a windier place than an open site. I eventually moved under a tree and still had to fight the wind, all my available equipment was used to weigh down the easel. The red line in the sky is a hook attached to my easel drawer. I chose to paint the Remington Tavern because of the historic architecture [formerly Remington Typewriter] that was adapted to become a great restaurant, but also because of the beautiful flowers bursting forth from their canopy.

Working in shade allows colors to be recorded more accurately, if someone paints in sunlight, especially when the sun is on the canvas, the image appears dark when indoors.  Often my huge artist umbrella protects art in progress and the palette more than me. I could not use it here due to the high winds; otherwise boaters would be fishing me and all my supplies out of the Erie Canal.

The Carnegie Art Center sponsored this paintout in the North Tonawanda area to coincide with Canalfest. This Remington Tavern painting was displayed in the beautifully restored Riviera Theater where the giant organ was played to the delight of the crowds.

Breezes at Remington, 11x14 oil.





This is a link to a newspaper article by Jill Keppler, click to read it for my 'quotes' and a little bit of background on the day.

	Chasing light, catching shadows Source: tonawanda-news.com There are life lessons in plein air painting: It's all about location. Life keeps moving. Travel light. Embrace imperfection. Roll with the punch

Painting a House Portrait

For a long day, morning to night, I worked on this house portrait, indoors but with dreams of plein air. I had sketched it the night before and knew I would need a lot of time for all the nooks and crannies and landscaping. I left it outdoors to hasten drying while I grabbed my lunch. I was leaving Texas on a plane the following day and needed to complete the painting which was commissioned the day before. It is always interesting to see how a project like this progresses, not every home starts with the sky, and unless it is plein air they are never finished in less than a week.

The title is from the homeowner's beautiful red bushes, clusters of Texas flowers that can be planted like hedges.

The final picture had a bit more texture on both the roof and brick as well as stronger shadows in the eaves. I didn't get the final photo because...it was dark out and I needed southern daylight to shoot the picture. I am surprised the wet paint did not glare more than this.

Rocket Roses, oil on canvas panel 10x14, 2013

Texas architecture paintings

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My March 19 post contained a plein air painting I did in Houston. That outdoor excursion resulted in two new commissions, two similar homes in the Cypress area, both had many roof peaks and mature landscaping obscuring the beautiful architecture.

I often wonder why photos do not have layers; if only I could peel trees off the front to see what is underneath. Even with a handful of clear photos I had a hard time painting the whole shape of the structure. My habit is to paint the building and place the trees afterwards so some structure shows through.

An interesting detail by the architect was to include color variety with the brick, around the basket handle windows were outline layers of a different brick, orange, giving definition to the repeating triple windows. When I return to Houston I will look for more examples of two brick combinations. I have seen stone and brick as well as frame and brick homes here, but I had not noted the detail before, it breaks up the long facade and adds visual variety to it.

Park Island Spring, oil on panel 10x14, c. 2013

Painting Houston in the Spring

Azaleas are bright and beautiful in Houston in March, this lovely home caught my eye as we drove by. Fortunately there is a shade tree across the street so I was able to plein air paint there. When I went close to the azaleas the pink blooms were as large as roses and glowing in the southern sun. The pines were giants, scattered on the property providing shade and majesty to the pretty corner home that welcomes you to a lovely established neighborhood.

I did a little more work on this after the photo was taken, some shadows and lights on the lawn and trees, straightened a few lines and details on the building. This painting was too wet to travel as I really piled paint onto the azalea hedges and my white is a very pokey dryer. Since I will return to work through my "must paint around Houston" list in the fall I left the wet canvas on Robin's mantel, and it looks pretty nice up there! I will have several dry paintings ready to varnish then.

There are no giant towering hardwood shade trees in Houston like we have up north, but the various palms and fruit trees are delightful to see and do create shade. This palm was way above the house across the street, just waving in the breeze and capturing the light. I painted this little panel from a comfy deck chair with 3 year old Amelia painting with watercolors beside me. We had a lovely afternoon together until she decided her bubble lawnmower should go down the slide and painting was interrupted. 

March Azaleas, 8x10 oil 2013

Afternoon Shade, 5x7 oil 2013

Painting Grand Island

Too cold and gloomy to paint out,  I have just finished painting a studio commission. This is another one of those 'surprise' paintings that I say I won't do anymore. Surreptitious drive-bys with my camera balanced on the edge of the car window just makes me paranoid, someday a wary homeowner will send an officer after me. "But officer, I just want to paint that house, not rob it!' 

Fortunately Malynda got into the spirit of the commission and gave me a variety of photos of different times and details. The look of Spring here is completely contrived as we started the planning after leaves fell and frost-or snow-was abundant. Her beautiful labs are near the front door in their usual positions, sitting and lounging.

The title refers to the windows, lamps and especially the two dogs by the front steps. 12 x 18 oil

Lights of our Life, oil 12x18 on board c. 2013

Spectacular Chicago brownstone

This 24x12 oil painting started with a snapshot on a gray day but my info was supplemented by an excellent image in street views on Google maps. It is a wedding present of Jason & Jaime's first home; the challenge of documenting historic brownstones continues!

Chicago architecture has many features found in Western New York, double porches, brick constructions, 100 year old beauties. This yellow 'brownstone' has more of the qualities of Brooklyn without all the matching end to end neighbors. These residents have lovely windows and daylight on all sides, a real bonus in this historic building.

Chicago's Brownstone, 24x12, oil c. 2012

Glorious painting day

'Autumn on the Ridge' is a 12x18" oil painted yesterday on Lower Mountain Road, at a Shaw Barn paint out. I started with a 5x7 plan which sparkled in the morning light, it was mostly overcast for the rest of the day when I worked on this, but the brilliant Fall colors stood out against the farm buildings. I thought about naming it after the profusion of purple asters along the fields in the painting and the ride through Sanborn.

Flying wet painting

The Towpath Plein air weekend paintout was held in Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, in the area of the Erie Canal. My painting named 'Morning Canal',was donated to Partners in Art Gallery for the Carnegie Art Center fundraiser, and was sold. Making the spirit of painting work, by supporting local projects is a goal to keep in mind.

The day this was painted was fairly windy and I often put my hand up to keep the easel steady in the gusts. Frequently, we step back from our work to see how it is progressing, one of those times it took off in a gust, tumbling end over end like a miscast frisbee and landing about 10 feet away, 'butter side' down on the lawn. A boater, watching just below me on the dock stood frozen with two hands up to her face as she watched it take off, muttering loudly, 'ooooh, ohhhh'. To me, it was just another plein air event to deal with and the painting bears some evidence of its adventure, a little dirt and some grass lines that add to the honesty of the art. I suppose if I was painting a bit closer to the canal I would have learned whether old wood houses can float.

Morning Canal, 10x8, oil, 2012

Beaver Island State Park Casino

Kath Schifano c. 2012

Beaver Island State Park, at the south end of Grand Island is an artist's playground with boardwalk and beach, golf course, woodland trails, mature evergreens and hardwoods, busy marina and sports facilities.

Years ago, the 'Casino' was a big old historic log built clubhouse with fireplaces big enough to set a table for 6 on its hearth. About 10 years after it burned the state built this smaller building with large lovely side porches. There are frequent weddings here and the music spills outside from the lovely dining room.

I have also painted from the porch, but on this occasion I liked the Spring colors in the flowering trees against the deep color of the building. I gave my previous Casino painting to Jamie and Mike Fortunate as their wedding there last year was beautiful and the reception was fantastic and lively.

Beaver Island Casino 9x12 pastel

A tale of two house portraits.

Several years ago, I painted a newly landscaped DeVeaux home (shown below) for Michele Altman, she wanted to surprise her husband for Christmas.

She called me this Fall to paint it again, same size, same view, this time a night painting and with snow on the now grown trees and bushes. Of course, this was the year that the first snow came in January, so I had to fake it. Having lived through 40 1/2 winters here I did not have difficulty with the snow, its colors or reflections, but I was challenged mightily by the colors of night, what happens to white as the lights go on, the trims and wall colors of a building that is light in daylight.

It took about 6 night trips to establish the values by sneakily sketching from my car and the last time I went I thought the jig was up. Glen had sauntered out of his house, very slowly, then sat in his car in the driveway for a long time as I guiltily waited in my car across the street. Since my car was off, I thought I was safe, but realized the headlights had remained on with a key in the ignition. Finally, he drove away. SLOWLY. Then showed up driving right next to me, I didn't look up, just pretended to be writing instead of drawing, but it really spooked me. His car went back in the driveway and Michele hurried out to the car, head down. They sat in the driveway longer than you can imagine with the engine on, finally backed out and verrrryy slowly drove down the block. Seconds later, their car was stopped next to mine. I didn't look up as she should probably recognize what I was doing. Adrenaline racing, vigilantes gathering, pistols drawn, police called, my imagination was racing and I was more than stressed. I was a stranger in their neighborhood, looking in people's windows, watching for...

They turned left and I went right, to head back home, obviously upset, when I realized the car was following me. I waited for the sirens as I followed every traffic rule and tried to casually race myself home and lose the tail. Hooray for red wine and a sympathetic husband at home, hours later I was finally composed again with that bad memory.

Finally. I spoke to Michele who said "Oh, then? We were admiring our Christmas lights."

WIth a little research I gingerly added the correct constellations for December in the night sky. The wet painting was delivered on December 24 and made a great Christmas more special for all of them. And I am promising myself AGAIN, not to paint any more surprise commission paintings from my customers.

December 10pm, oil 24x24 2011
Altman Home, oil 24x24 2007

Buffalo's Wheeler Grain Elevator Requiem

RIP Wheeler Grain Elevator 

The photo of this pastel painting was taken today. I don't shoot every painting but this one became 'famous' this week, after it was framed. In August the plein air 'Fairweather Paletteers' painted in the new downtown Buffalo area called Festival Park. It is a reclaimed area that has been landscaped with paths, benches and trellis enclosures right on the river.

From a comfy new bench in Festival Park I painted the GLF grain elevators and buildings across the river. The center forner Wheeler grain building was undergoing demolition inside while we painted, with lots of racket and activity indoors. This weekend it came down, with a crash, some of it falling into the water.

Now that this painting is posted we have one more structure that exists only on paper and in our memories. It's significance lies in the fact that it may have been the last elevator of its kind, a transitionary style between frame and concrete towers. Only one. In the world.

Our overworked preservationists are not fooling. The historical remnants of Buffalo's glory days will bring glory back. I have studied and taught enough architecture to truly appreciate the breadth of history here as the former gateway to the west and the thriving metropolis Buffalo was. Yup, they are old rusty buildings, but they have the historic beauty and value to bring tourism. Shame on us for losing so many significant buildings to strip malls and flimsy warehouses.

Festival Park's Elevators, pastel 12.5x9.5. August 4, 2011

Whitesville House

 Mike White turned 50 this summer, Carl designed an invitation to the planned pig roast birthday party, and I had an opportunity to bake a crazy birthday cake, camouflage icing, pig relaxing on a chaise lounge, dirt (almonds) around the sides. I just copied Carl's invitation and treated frosting like paint, mixing various muddy colors with my spatula. Off we went to Wellsville with cooler and my paint sets.

I always liked the view of Monica's pond and the woods behind it, but this hot afternoon it was particularly moody and cool looking. I settled myself in the shade of the house with my pastels to capture the scene, hoping that one of the balloons from the balloon rally that weekend would soar overhead and be reflected in the pond. That didn't happen, although there were balloons to be seen.

Several people came over to watch my drawing evolve that afternoon. Later in the evening we got into a conversation with Linda and Buck who have been updating and restoring the Whitesville House restaurant, tavern and hotel since 1992. I remembered this building from a great meal we shared with Monica and Mike during the snowiest winter. It is right on the Pennsylvania border and I had known Whitesville as a town occasionally mentioned on the TV weather.

They asked about painting an architecture portrait, so the following weekend I packed a variety of my materials and canvas sizes, spent 5 hours drawing and planning the painting in unbelievable heat and worked a bit more back in Wellsville. I returned the next day and 7 hours and gallons of water later went to my car at 6pm to see that the shade temperature read 101'. No wonder the paint was so sticky!

This old lady has great architectural bones and details and they have done an amazing amount of work to develop the porch, outdoor area, stone wall and waterfall, flower boxes and even more indoors. The hardest part (besides the heat) was the foreground, every time a car pulled out of a space, a truck would pull in so I could not ever see the entire front. I just ran back and forth making sketches and taking pictures. Although it was started as a plein air, I had to bring this into my studio to paint the rest of the wonderful details, the windows with beer signs, the flowers, red and white sign, porch rails. I am very pleased to have created a wonderful record of an historic building, it was built in 1826 as a hotel and you can still get a nice room there.

So if you are in the southern tier of NY, do stop at the landmark Whitesville House, a bit of history, great character, excellent food and wonderful caretakers.

Afternoon Delight 18x24, oil 2011

Rivershore colors

This Cayuga Island home portrait has been in progress on my easel for nearly 3 months and it is leaving me as a surprise gift to the homeowner. I had promised myself to never do another surprise house painting because there is little opportunity to spend time sketching the building and generating a personal relationship to develop the composition. Cameras flatten images and the eye is more honest. It happens to be cited on the water, surrounded by mature majestic trees so it was easier to select a view.

However, there are many details to any house and I did several 'drive-bys' to take pictures. The neighbors wondered what was going on, the kids playing hockey in the street just stared. It felt like I was lurking and clicked photos from the window of my car since someone always seemed to be home.

I took the first pictures in early Spring when trees were bare; this let me paint the sky, lawn and entire house and place the trees and significant branches. As the foundation plants grew in and trees claimed their shapes the portrait could continue. A fairly large painting, this is a lovely heirloom that commemorates the energy the owners invested in creating a lovely home.

There is always a little feeling of loss when another painting leaves. Now, what's next!!??

Rivershore Colors, 22x28 oil, 2011

Delaware Park Rose Garden

Slipping off to Buffalo to paint the beautiful Delaware Park Rose Garden doesn't bring the Albright Knox Art Gallery to mind. All of the other painters-there were about 8-headed for the beautiful colonnade, surrounded by steps, columns, roses and trees. I had spent a full year painting only roses, so I was up to this challenge and liked the idea of varicolored bushes, clusters, longstems and bunch roses.

As I perused this lovely location, the sight of the Albright's E. B. Green 1905 building peeking over the end of the gardens grabbed me. I turned my easel around and accepted the challenge. Having painted on the grounds and having a profound respect for the institution, I did appreciate this distance view.

However, I ended my visit with about 50 new rose photographs, with all the varieties and colors one could imagine.

Look What's Growing in the Rose Garden, 11x14 oil on masonite 12x18

Photo; in progress plein air painting

THE ELECTRIC TOWER paint out

This summer I had the opportunity to ascend 'The Electric Tower' to paint, it's the dramatic building where the outdoor New Year's Eve party & fireworks is centered in Buffalo. Built as the terminus for long distance electricity from Niagara Falls for the 1904 Pan Am Exposition, most of it has served as offices, the first two floors used to be an elegant store for electric household tools-vacuums! Waffle irons! Electric lamps!

The current owners (ISKALO) have been restoring the dignity of this round building and converting it to offices & condos. We were invited to paint on the 15th floor & quite a few Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters took this opportunity to 'see the sights' 2/3 of the way up the building where the white section starts. This level was due to be renovated, so we were able to explore original boardrooms totally carved and decorated with dark wood, built in furniture and secret doors in the panels. Each painter selected a different window, our floor was small enough with all the walls and dividers removed that we could talk to each other about whether it was really plein air painting or not! The windows were huge, but we were protected from the wind and sounds of the city.

In addition, few of us had ever painted anything by looking down for the whole painting. This created perspective & compositional challenges; most buildings were much lower than us, roofs full of electrical systems, the lake and Canada in the distance, hockey & baseball stadiums within a few blocks.

I selected to paint a long view-the old first ward and grain mills with windmills & Lake Erie in the distance. As an outdoor painter I have discovered so many new streets & hidden treasures in downtown Buffalo, side roads off Ohio Street take me to 'Elevator Alley' a majestic remnant of 19th century glory when Buffalo was one of the largest cities in North America and the gateway to the west. Now these river alleys are quiet with age and home to geese, boaters and tugboats instead of crowded with great lakes ships.

Where I Like to Paint, oil 15x30 2010

The Electric Tower photo from website http://www.electrictower.com

Phyllis Stigliano Gallery

A Jetblue airfare sale and a quick painting trip to NYC enabled this plein air of a lovely Brooklyn brownstone in the historic district of Park Slope.

The image will be used by Phyllis Stigliano for cards at her art gallery on the first floor. The title was inspired by the large number of serendipitous events that brought Phyllis, Charles & I together, as well as the ambiance of the afternoon that I painted. The sun shone and neighbors gathered as I was challenged to capture decorative details, fleeting light and the elegant mood of this grand old building with a quick brush.

Accustomed to wide open spaces and infinite vantage points when I work en plein air, this was painted from across the street by perching on a neighbor's wall, the only spot that afforded a view between towering trees. It might have been more difficult if the recent tornado that blasted this area had not torn down small branches and many leaves to give me a better view.

This is my second longest (time) on site painting; learning the scale and proportion of protruding windows, multiple columns and solving perspective from close range was a genuine challenge that I enjoyed all day. Now that I have challenged and conquered brownstone style architecture I'll find additional opportunities to paint in the city.

8th Avenue Serendipity, 14x11 oil 2010

Escarpment Drive Painting

Answer: Exactly one month, plus about 20 years of practice.

Question: How long did it take to do that painting?

I put brush to a gessoed canvas on September 5th, after several visits to take pictures, choose lighting & a bunch of drawings to choose composition & resolve scale for this commission. Although I plan to add a signature & a few dots & dashes for depth, it is a finished painting on October 5.

So, all things considered, including prep and framing, the real Answer: 2 months, + drying time to be varnished [3-6 more months].

Escarpment View, oil 12x24 2010

Lights in the Garage-a Tonawanda portrait

Commissioned as 'the house I grew up in', Colleen Sullivan's parents still live here. The house faces north, so it took a number of visits to figure out the best sun light. It turned out to be 6:30 pm in August, when tree shadows appeared on the side walls & as a bonus, the flags are shading the entrance. However, I wanted the trees the colors of Fall so it is a creative jumble of references. As many times as I drove by, the car was always in the driveway & I felt like a stalker taking reference photos while her parents watched tv in the summer room/garage. Therefore, they are here & silhouetted in the painting.

The second dilemma to create this painting was...what color is the house? Seeing the photos taken in evening light added a lot of gold, but it looked very true blue as well as nearly black at other times. Imagine my surprise when Colleen said it was a greenish charcoal--and I had painted it dark blue. It was an easy change which worked out better than if I had planned it, glazes of cadmium yellow toned the blue to green & emphasized the elusive light while creating additional texture. Success!

Lights in the Garage, 18x24, oil 2009

Buffalo's Old First Ward & Grain Elevators

Last May, Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters came to this site-grain elevators in south Buffalo, the Old First Ward. It was windy, cold, & unworldly for a May day. We returned to paint again in September-what a difference! Warm, no wind, relaxed. There is very little growing to change the view here, so the compositions were similar but with the sun a bit lower in the sky. Layers of unused industrial buildings create strong geometrics, while the sun quickly changes the shapes of shadows.

 It's called 'elevator alley', & the Buffalo tugboats are moored to the left of this scene. I have painted them with pastel as well. To the right is the river leading to the Ohio Street bridge and another massive collection of grain elevators-a subject for another day. Sharon Fundalinski & Peggy Walker have painted this scene many times with & without me & scheduled this paintout for us.

Shadows of Elevator Alley 9.5x12.5 pastel 2009