Warm Lake Estates in Niagara County makes a lovely Pinot Grigio wine. As part of a weekend wine trail event, I was invited to paint at the winery and I set my easel on the deck. Scattered clouds left light & dark areas on the grapes & a biplane practicing rolls over the field was a bonus. The tiny figure in the foreground is another artist at an easel.
Warm Lake Estate Grapes 10x14 oil

Sunshine & Lake Air

Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters met in Olcott to paint on Wednesday the 15th. It started out overcast & I foolishly chose to stand in a treeless area-in front of a glorious forest of full grown sunflowers by to the Riverwalk area. Well, the sun came out & I nearly wilted in the heat; not only was I hot, but the sun was on my canvas & palette-I know better-so I took frequent shade & water breaks under the eaves across the street to evaluate my progress.
These sunflowers consumed more of my yellow paints than I have used in the entire past two years, and I thank Youngstown Carol for donating some medium and some juicy opaque 'sunflower' appropriate yellow hue.
Working in the sun? I came home & the harmless house was suddenly downright scary-so my [no more than]15% change involved adding a pink light glaze on the facade-and window details to take away the haunting. It worked.
Sunflowers in Olcott 20x16 oil.

Living on an island

North North Bridge, pastel 11x14

100% of the bridges on Grand Island are rated below poor by the Thruway Authority. However, artistically, I would rate them higher, the arches and the curve are quite graceful, and the views are amazing in all seasons. My favorite time is early morning in Spring, when the river haze diffuses the colors of dawn and the horizon is just not there. The only color is brilliant, blinding gold reflected on the water where the sun breaks through.
Everyone is talking about the bridges to Grand Island; their truss support system is the same-but older-than the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis.

Taking Inventory

For the past two days I was at my first outdoor art festival. It was wonderful to see friends and meet people talking art talk! The outside section of my tent with local paintings of the Niagara River views, boats and harbors was a people magnet; some identified their own boats and homes on the rivershore, and they spent time looking for other familiar places inside the tent. It was a lot of fun-except the rains came on Sunday and we packed up early. I always hesitated to have an outdoor show because of the potential for damage to artwork and frames. Fortunately, most of the weekend was gloriously sunny and the crowds were constant.
My studio is now clean and organized, framing and preparing for the show is over, so it is time to paint. Something big is in the works!