The Gorge from the Canadian side

I joined the Ontario Canada plein air painters on a glorious sunny Friday to capture the Niagara River gorge from the other side. That's where the whirlpool turns and I could see the Spanish Aerocar pass over the river. 

Without a shady tree my Plein air umbrella protects me, my palette and the painting. The bicycle rack was a perfect attachment spot.

Finished! Love this! Painting brings me joy. 

The Whirlpool from Ontario 16x12 oil c. K. Schifano 2024

Niagara Falls power

One more pastel before I return to using oil paint. It's a summer day and my friends are meeting at Three Sisters in Niagara Falls State Park for a warm day by the water to paint. There are so many angles at Three Sisters that are perfect for painting, so difficult to choose. 

On this day I brought art supplies to the end, where the crashing surf racing down to the Horseshoe Falls makes the most noise. A few years ago this area was upgraded with natural plantings and handsome fencing but that keeps us away from the rocky eastern sections of the third island. I decided to show the massive rocks on the shore beyond the fence. 

The Third Island at Three Sisters 12x9 pastel

Greetings from the wildlife at Niagara Falls

Too tired. 

While painting the first bridge at Three Sisters Islands I was surrounded by newborn geese as well as 1-2 day old Ones In the first photo, the newest babies had a hard time crossing the path with their new legs. The second shows a family of duck critics in front of me.

The last shows my painting and the actual bridge from my view. Unfortunately the cat on a leash who decided the shade of my easel would be a good nap spot escaped the photo opportunity.  

Regular critics. Quack 

The First Bridge  12x16 oil  

WWPO and a Wet Paint Wedding Purchase

What a traditional view of the cataracts! The annual WorldWide Paint Out, sponsored by International Plein Air Painters was a huge success. NFPAP had at least a dozen artists on both Friday and Saturday. I had not painted here in a while and it was so satisfying to be right at the rail. Working in the heat was difficult, the swirls of wind from the gorge made an umbrella unsteady and I should have had more drinking water with me. But, by persevering I could complete this beauty. After a summer of good experiences and practice, my brushes just danced on this canvas. 

The second WWPO day, we worked by Three Sisters Islands and I went into the shade near the first bridge. A bridal party appeared and had their vows to my left, across the water. Members of the wedding party came to see me at work and purchased the wet painting for the newlyweds. I took it home, attached it securely in a perfect pizza box and delivered to their hotel. They paid me, but included a nice tip for packing and delivering! What a wonderful gift and memory for this couple. And asking your local pizza place for a clean box 'for emergencies' is a tip for artists reading this.

September Morning Wedding

Work in Progress!

Three Sisters In sunshine

September brings the sun a little lower and the glare on the water is almost difficult to watch or paint. Having sold all the bridge pictures of Three Sisters at Niagara Falls State Park, I selected a 16x20 canvas for my favorite spot. 

As I painted this a group passed behind me and gathered across the water by the rocks and steps and I realized it was a wedding. Every painting has its own story and I enjoyed watching a very informal marriage ceremony as I painted. Afterwards some of the attendees asked to buy this painting. It wasn’t complete but we made arrangements to meet at their hotel later. I carefully packed the wet oil at home and signed it with their wedding date. The group had taken up a collection to pay for it and they included a tip! I’ll have to paint here again soon, these bridge paintings are my favorite and apparently others feel the same. 

September Morning at Three Sisters 16x20 oil

Can a Painting be photobombed?

 Look closely, notice the greenish coat on a painter, lower right corner? That's Ylli Hurani and he showed up to paint the Hermit Falls off the first bridge at Three Sisters at Niagara Falls State Park. I had been painting from the cozy front seat of my car and was nearly finished when I spied him at the end of the bridge. With artist license in hand I mentally moved him onto the bridge and put him in my painting. 

'First Snow' oil, 8x10 c.2022

Hallwalls MidWinter's Draw

 I was invited to film (on Zoom) a timed 45 minute painting. It is for Hallwalls annual fundraiser. I've attended the drawing rallies the past, an event with lovely food and drinks and dozens of artists working while we watch. After 45 minutes the works are posted for auction and new artists take their places. At the end of the evening the winning bidders take their art home. 

The 2020 summer event was held online and bidders had several days to view videos of artists producing their art and to bid. It allowed for a wider audience than when people had attended the events. This "Winter Night"s Draw" will also be a virtual experience with several days to view online before the bidding ends.  Bidding will be February 24, 7pm and close on February 28 9pm.

I am THRILLED to have been invited and be a part of this annual event.

Here is a smidgen of the my work. It's a good one, bid high.

Castellani Art Museum 20/20 Vision

I am so pleased to be included in this comprehensive exhibition of art representing women artists from counties in the western part of New York. 

The Castellani Art Museum exhibition '20/20 Vision' reception will be on February 20, 2020 at 5pm-7. I expect a crowd! Nearly 200 artworks by Western New York artists are displayed through August. The large central gallery room as well as the double gallery on the north side will be filled with examples from women of varied styles and levels of expertise.

My painting of the American Falls from the hurricane deck is included in this comprehensive exhibit. Most of the artwork is for sale and in support of women, and businesses run by and supported by women have been  requested to support the artists by purchasing work.
Be there, 02/20/2020
Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University

Beyond the Rock of Ages, 15x30 oil on canvas

Same old angle, new view

Rainbow Mist, looking towards Canada

I can walk along the Niagara River and see views of the mist rising from the bottom of the gorge for close to a mile. It never fails to amaze me and I have painted it from slightly different angles in different sizes and media.
This particular painting is unusual as I included the skyline of Niagara Falls Ontario. Usually, manmade structures are omitted or barely visible.

Rainbow Mist, 9x12, oil on birch panel c. 2018

Sitting here to paint these rocks=Perfect Day!

 This is just one little piece of the fabulous Niagara Reservation State Park. Three small islands in the upper rapids provide spectacular views of the rapids, but sweet views are abundant as you walk across each of the bridges. Check my post on 3/23/2012 for another island view. I've painted, but not posted, this same boulder several times. When I returned a week later the bushes in the foreground had grown so much that this view was no longer visible. This is one of Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters favorite painting spots. I schedule us there every year.

In progress 'Between Bridges"

Between Bridges, 16x20 oil c. K Schifano 2018

Finally, I resolved this problem

In October 2016, I posted this painting in progress, incomplete and still on my easel at Three Sisters Islands. There was something about it that kept my interest but also bothered me. I finally figured it out this summer when I stood closer to the rock and studied it. I needed to paint the transparency of the underwater part of the rock. In one minute in the studio I added a few drops of paint and it was done. And I like it much better.

The 4th Isle at Three Sisters, 16x20 oil on canvas panel c.2016

Summer Tourist trapped!

Friday on the Overlook

I stole an afternoon and paid the dollar entry fee to paint on the overlook bridge by Prospect Park at Niagara Falls with Rachelle. Apparently a zillion tourists had the same idea.

We nestled against the tower elevator wall, out of sight to many and out of everyone's way as well but they found us. As usual, kids had the most interest and were often pulled away by parents eager to see the waterfalls but not interested in leaving their children behind. 

Rachelle Duzynski at work with pastels

One particular family spent time watching, asking questions and sincerely admiring Rachelle's pastel of the American falls. She hadn't painted in a very busy public area before and wasn't hearing the conversation, I wasn't aware how intense the crowded bridge was for her. The Granddad said his 42nd anniversary was coming and wanted to buy her (very unfinished) painting as a gift. Suddenly aware, she thought he wanted mine. It wasn't until the child was sent to get money from Grandma that the reality set in. What fun, first time in a crowd and her first sale off the easel! 

Afterwards, I added a bit of warm color to the river and the mist, not shown in the first photo. And yes, the Maid of the Mist is that small by the tremendous Niagara Falls.

Our view of both waterfalls from our spot

Rachelle Duzynski"s painting, sold to a Texan tourist.

December Solstice

The change of seasons is always a good excuse to paint. This December was ridiculously warm and I brought my smallest paintbox to the Falls to celebrate the sun's solstice. Being the shortest day of light wasn't a problem, it was overcast and the light stayed the same until it suddenly darkened and the rain started.

I had not actually planned to paint, it was a last minute choice to grab the paintbox, I had on my good 'going out to dinner' clothes and jacket. Normally a neat painter, I had no apron, no chair and not much to lean on so I stood and balanced the open box on the overlook bridge railing which happened to be diagonally sloped and very round and slippery. The next issue was this tiny box has no lid hinge, I usually use it on my lap in the car, the steering wheel is a great support for the lid.

Picture this. Dressed nicely, I am holding a cigar box open, the lid at 90' resting crooked on the rail, two wet brushes and a palette knife in my hands and I need to open the tube of white paint. Foolishly, I tried that trick. A favorite brush loaded with color did a cartoon like swirl up in the air when my sleeve knocked it out of the other hand. Of course it striped down my my coat as it frisbeed in the air, but my concern was to keep the brush from rolling off the bridge and into the Niagara River, headed for Ontario and the north Atlantic. Got it.

And then it started to pour. There was fresh wet oil paint on my sleeves and coat, 2 brushes wet with paint, palette knife, wet painting, open box and mixed paints, open tubes. I skedaddled the 1/4 mile into the visitors center with everything askew. The lovely ending was a vacant table near a window where I cleaned up the messes, touched up the picture and dried my gear out. It really was a lovely day, I love this little painting and celebration of the Winter solstice. I'm ready for longer days. And sunshine.

Despite the Rain, oil, 5x7 c.2015

'Cool Mists' at 24 th annual Regional Artists Exhibition

The annual Regional Artists Exhibition is a juried show, judged from original work, and all of it is delivered in a two hour period on a Saturday. By arriving during the second hour I can see many of the 'hopeful' paintings. The walls were covered, the floor had layers of paintings and the competition was fierce, so many great works waiting to be judged by the new curator in town. Always pleased to be included in this show at Artists Group Gallery in Buffalo.

Cool Mists 18x24 oil

American Falls from the base

Going back to this site, if I could reproduce the day, I would make my 30 seconds of video quite different. Alas, this is what I did, and here are the two paintings, still wet, that I completed at the base of the American Falls.

My year has been good for painting, although I have thought my work would be a bit more abstract by the end of this season, realism creeps back in by itself. I call myself a Realistic Impressionist.

WIth friends in town to ride the Maid of the Mist I paid my $1 to go down the overlook elevator and set up beyond some massive boulders while they appreciated the park. These garage size rocks stopped most of the mist from landing on my palette. Although some mist doesn't particularly affect the picture, if enough gets on the painting the brush starts to slide and paint will not stick. It only took a moment to decide to omit the staircase and tourists in blue plastic raincoats who can climb to meet the water. It seems that leaving out the manmade structures is usually my first reaction in nature. They just would have been tiny bits of brilliant blue slapped onto the cliff edge, this waterfall is respectfully massive, dwarfing all scale references.

Looking up at the American Falls, Morning light 8x10 oil

Looking up at the American Falls, Afternoon light 12x16 oil

That's my umbrella, and I am standing back to check my painting from a distance. Photo from the cliff above by Darice Lang.

Summer Plein Air

Allentown garage in Arlington Park, Buffalo

Center and 7th in Lewiston, NY

Considering a Cruller, the Niagara Falls Hiker

Summer is outdoor painting season whenever there is time and decent weather. Each of these three paintings had a different reason to be made. The 'Fairweather Paletteers' of East Aurora met up with Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters in Allentown for the garage view.  It had a red tricycle in the driveway but the scale was wrong, so I overpainted it and hope to find another tricycle to put it back, larger this time.

The second was a demonstration painting at the Lewiston Art Festival, a view of their wonderful street gardens. It took two mornings to get the light right as I was facing west and the sun moved the shadows quickly.

The last was painted in the park across from the NACC in NIagara Falls, included two well known landmarks. Freddie's Donuts has been there longer than I have lived in this area, and the Hiker was placed early in the last century, at the corner of Portage and Main Street. I hope no one decides to clean up his gaudy blue patina.

Allentown Garage, 11x14 oil on canvas

Center and 7th, 7.5x10.5 oil on Arches Huile

Considering A Cruller, 9x12 oil on Arches Huile

Third Street mashup

  Annually, the NACC has a fund raising auction of paintings created on selected Sunday evenings at Wine on Third. This year I had planned to capture some of the building architecture up close but when I arrived the tents were up and the sidewalk was full of painters and friends as well as patrons. I decided to work across the street.

Originally interested in the perspective view of Third Street, I became attracted to the signs. As long as I have lived here, there have been complaints about signage, especially for tourists. This was my view and the painting in early progress. It is a sanded canvas, originally a picture of Chautaqua Lake swimmers and boats which I turned upside down-you can see a boat and docks where the 2 hour sign will be, and a bit of the tree line on the bottom of my painting. Fortunately I was across the street from the crowd. People who saw this work in progress were quite confused about me and where I was headed with 2 pictures happening on one board. Not every painting is worth keeping and my power sander helps me reuse those boards.

 I am considering a few details yet, such as larger bolts on the signs and maybe some of the reflected light on the signs. Or maybe not.

Falls View 12x18 oil on board  c.K Schifano

The Falls at Water Level

I discovered a new access to the water level of the lower Niagara. Close by parking and no climbing necessary, I expect to paint here often. Perhaps in early Spring we will have a larger glimpse of the Horseshoe Falls, the trees and leaves will not be as dense on the cliffs but I will have to bundle up. The lower river stays full of ice and very cold water for quite a while.

This is at the winter dock storage for the Maid of the Mist ships. The seasonal docks are just beyond the trees. The water here is the Horseshoe Falls.

At Water Level, 11x14 oil on birch panel

Niagara Falls Red Coach Inn

Near the American Falls there is a grassy hill overlooking the rapids. I went there to paint the rush of a zillion gallons of water but again turned around away from my intended subject. The late morning sunlight on the famous Red Coach Inn was irresistible. I had to put in the shadows first and study the light and darks intently as the sun was heading around the building quickly. Early morning is the best time to 'catch the light' when painting but my cup of tea or coffee with breakfast and a newspaper is a treasured time and often delays my start. 

Red Coach Inn 12x16 pastel. 

A plein air inspires a studio painting

On March 28 I wrote about an oil painting that was about to be installed in a dental office. It was quite recent and I really liked the captured colors of Fall and the rising mist of Niagara over the first bridge at Three Sisters Islands at the Niagara Reservation. Only on the brightest, sunniest high pressure days will the plume rise so high.

At the time, winter was still raging and I was not interested in returning, so I quickly sketched the picture on a large pastel sheet, in fact it was a UArt paper which I had wanted to try for a while.

Pastels caused my wrist injury and the surgery was not six months back, I was feeling reticent about diving into a pastel composition, however, I missed using the rich and reactive sticks I had pushed aside a year and a half earlier. By pacing myself, working in little bits of time, the picture remained on my easel desk for several weeks as I worked back into holding and coloring with my pastel sticks. 

Finished, it is mounted with museum glass, flush to the frame and glass and it looks like a painting. Not the same as the oil it was modeled after but it does capture the sparkle of fall color at Niagara.

Studio Work from plein air painting

Mist Over the First Sister's Bridge, oil 18x24 pastel, c. 2015 K. Schifano