First Prize

I enjoy the challenge of painting water.

Once in a while a plein air show is juried. Our NFPAP annual show is an art exhibition, but this time the Impact Artist Gallery put a call out for plein air art work, to be judged for entry as well as for prizes.

I spent quite a while deciding which paintings I should put in, frequently changing my mind, until I determined to choose these favorites, as neither had been shown before.

Lo and behold, at the reception I was awarded First Place, with a prize of a solo exhibit for my ocean panorama, but also was given Honorable Mention for my flume. This was the pastel I did in the rain, standing on a huge round boulder, surrounded by poison ivy. When the water seeped through the fabric of my umbrella I realized I should get out of the rain and poison ivy and dry off, preferably in a safer spot as the water coming down the creek was steadily increasing. Quickly finishing the forms was all that was necessary in this Adirondack scene frequently painted by the Hudson River School Painters.

This Long Island jetty was my subject for a week last summer, and the fisherman was there whenever the tide was right for fishing. The largest work I completed in oil, it has a calm but humbling mood to it. When he saw my painting, he offered his lunch to me, sticky rice and seasonings wrapped in a leaf and tied with thread and was quite tasty. I gave him some of mine, which was probably PB&J. We didn't share languages but had a fairly good conversation about the day, our camera and painting. And then I took a first prize for my experience.

Slippery When Wet, pastel 12.5 x 9.5
FIshing for a Big One, oil, 12x24

Youngstown Yacht club 'Art on the River'

Last week, the Youngstown Yacht club hosted 'Art on the River'. I often paint there, so I joined the event with some samples and had a lovely evening. After setting up I took a little cruise along the river to find a new spot to paint a sailboat commission. I'll be back next week to do that, and next year to set up at the club!

2014 art calendar

The annual assembly line was hard at work last week, the newest calendar pages were printed and picked up, and we had three days before the Lewiston Art Festival 'unveiling'. 

All I needed to do was assemble 14 pages in backwards month order, open the calendar cases by the dozen, insert the packs of pages, close the cases, insert into the celo envelopes and rip the glue cover off, fold the seal and stack. Kind of easy, but it took all day, thanks to a lot of dealing pages and collating by Carl I am ahead of schedule. In the foreground is October, the blue ones are January, ready to be packed. If you follow me online, you can order by mail through my website, KSchifano.com.  Locally they will be available at Castellani Art Museum, The Book Corner, Studio One, Quaker Bonnet, and 464 Gallery.