Painting Selected for an Award

"Are You Allowed Up There" oil on panel, 30x15

While Plein Air painting this Fall scene in Letchworth State Park, I was asked by many visitors if they were allowed up on the railroad bridge. I didn't know the answer-until the train came and the answer was obviously no. The bridge was very old, probably quite rickety and when the train came it went very slowly. Nevertheless, I had to paint very fast to capture it. Probably the first train I've painted from life while moving!

I had not shown it publicly until the opportunity to enter 'Artists and Friends' at Niagara Arts and Cultural Center in Niagara Falls, New York in December. I had every intention of attending the gala reception that the NACC has for this winter show but had to change my plans. A family trip to Houston had to be changed to an earlier date. Facebook was how I learned the painting was awarded an Honorable Mention prize and I feel badly that I was not there to receive it in person.

The Townsend Gallery at the NACC