Back on the streets! Youngstown

What's the big deal? After two months of recuperation from a knee replacement I'm finally driving myself to a painting event and seeing friends I've missed this Spring. 

This is tiny Youngstown and the famous Jug, home of great music for decades. 

Brown Jug or Ontario House? 9x12oil 

Pansies!

Gosh we love Spring. The colors, greens and flowers, birds and warm weather are delightful. A pot of cool-loving pansies graced the porch for weeks before it was painted. Bluish blooms turned lavender and white faded to yellow. A still life that kept moving  

Pansies 12x16 oil

Collecting local artists

This is part of a wall in my living room. It is dedicated to WNY artists with a few others added over the years. We try to support younger artists as well as established names and have had to slow down as I am not prepared to take anything down to mont new ones. There are two archways in this room and there is a collection of small ones over each arch. someday I will create a grid of al the paintings and label it with artist name, title and how I obtained the art.

Workers on the street

Across the street a crew worked on a new gasline to the neighborhood. How could I resist? Trucks, dirt, commotion, workers and traffic cones. Enjoyed doing this one right from the shade of my garage! Big hole with workers getting in and out, shouting instructions.

 Fieldstone Gas Line, Oil, 8x10 2024

Painting in Amsterdam

Our return trip to The Netherlands was primarily to paint in Amsterdam with a group of 12,  sponsored by Workshops in Yorkshire. (Rosemary Brushes)

Of course April was tulip season and they were blooming everywhere indoors and out, and Spring was sparkling. The city is a grid of canals and packed with bicycles, cafes and art. We spent time in the Rijksmuseum, VanGogh Museum and Rembrandt's House. City Parks, Tulip gardens and an outing to the Rembrandt Paint factory with a behind the scenes tour filled the days between paint times. 4 finished paintings, two sketchbooks of watercolor and ink and a camera packed with images completed our 12 day trip. I cannot imagine a better planned and organized trip.  My memories and images are precious.

Hortus Botanicus

6' Below Sea Level 

Keukenhof Tulip Garden

No Parking

 

What is Urban Sketching?

I don't always have time or materials to complete paintings when I am inspired by a location. Fortunately, I always carry a mini sketchbook and pen. 

Urban sketchers are a formal group that may meet or work independently to capture a location, usually with drawing materials. Sometimes these are long works, others are quick sketches and often contain notes on their location, or other comments the artist makes. 

I'm not sure if I am an actual Urban Sketcher Artist, but these are a few recent urban sketches from my mini notebook. It is a great way to experience a place and create memories. And it is amazing how many mini notebooks I have filled with drawings.

Waiting for dinner in Amsterdam, April 2024

From the harbor in Antwerp October 2023

Another Antwerp view

Hoorn Harbor, Netherlands October 2023

Shanty Choir in Kvasir

Lockport NY Train station ruins 2023

Botanical Gardens, February 2023

Lytle Preserve

 It is a treat to find a new park or location to bring my paints. We were invited by the Art Trail to paint at an event in Lockport. Families (and visiting goats) walked the trails at beautiful Lytle Park. The variety of greens was staggering.

Having had a recent Total Knee Replacement, I settled for a scene near the car, while other painters went down the trail to find a bridge, wooden walks and lovely views. This is a park I will return to!

Lytle Preserve, Lockport, oil 9x12 oil 2024