The Meadow at Stella Niagara

A bit of American History-the large meadow across from Stella Niagara Education Park is the only level landing spot on the lower Niagara River all the way to Youngstown.

Now it is a public park and WNY conservancy land and maintained with native plants and an occasional mowing on the long winding path for walking.
The photo is from my painting vantage point. It seems small but I could see the window and details clearly. 

Darwin Martin House Pergola

Darwin Martin chose Buffalo for his business selling soap. He became the first paid employee of the Larkin Company, worked his way up, innovated record keeping, and was instrumental in getting Frank Lloyd Wright to design the famous Larkin Company office building, open, airy and worker friendly space. The Larkin Company provided household items like soap which came with points or certificates. Households would exchange the certificates from the laundry soap and other purchases for various items. It expanded and rivaled Sears and Roebuck. I have a faux pearl necklace my Mom ordered with coupons from there.

Martin supported Wright during Wright's lean times and had him build his home on Jewett Parkway in Buffalo, as well as Greycliff in on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie in Derby, NY.  

I have painted the front facade of the Darwin Martin House before; this is the side and back view, just part of the long pergola that extends to the back of the property and attaches to the neighboring Barton home of his sister.

Since 2002 the entire complex, including the demolished gardeners cottage and the conservatory and pergola have been under restoration, now completed. The gardens are recently restored, sculptures have been placed in the lawn but the whole complex is now closed due to Covid 19. I'm hoping to see crowds return here soon. I did enjoy the quiet on the morning I painted this from the side street.

The Pergola at Darwin Martin House, pastel 12x16

Carl Judson visits Niagara Falls

Guerrilla Painter and Judsons Art Outfitters are well known suppliers of plein air materials. Judsons is a family businesses, you deal directly with them when you place an order. Carl Judson often travels to conventions, art events and paintouts in his very cool personalized truck. Several years ago I invited him to stay with me and speak to NFPAP while he was in the area, visiting Hyatts and Partners in the Arts. He joined us again on this trip east. We were lucky to meet Sarah this time, she had joined him for part of his trip.     

The evening they arrived, we took a walking tour of Niagara Falls to see the nightly fireworks. It was a warm and misty summer night and the occasional breeze from the east brought a soaking mist which left us fairly drenched at the Horseshoe Falls. The air was filled with static and our hair stood up straight, except for Carl Judson who was smart enough to wear a hat.

Carl and Sarah Judson, Me, Carl Schifano

The next morning, Kelly Buckley hosted us at the radio station for her WJJL talk show and WNY heard about his roundabout experiences leading to the design of his first plein air box, or pochade. It is always a treat to talk to Kelly, on the radio and off and I am glad this opportunity occurred.

Carl Judson at WJJL interview

That afternoon he gave an art talk at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center. He presented many slides of new and familiar painters and the styles they used, talking about expressing personal vision and showing plein air as a natural progression in art history.

It was a day of torrential rain and my phone was texted, "our car turned around with a broken wiper" and "I can't get through the deep water on my street". I think our enthusiastic but wet crowd of 25 might have been much larger without the unusual weather. Driving with Carl in his truck, there were moments of no visibility even at very slow speed. After the presentation there was an interesting question and answer discussion.

          

Charlie Hunter's painting made an appearance

Before the Judsons left, we talked a bit about my own work, this oil painting was displayed in my hallway and it went with them to Colorado. One of my favorites (I have many favorites), it is "From the Porch at 39 Ohio".  After a week of painting ocean and jetty paintings I was charmed by this morning view of sunflowers across the street. It inspired me to make one last painting on the day we left the beach. Returning there this year, there are only two sunflowers left, a lawn was planted and all that remains is this picture.

Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea. Who hasn't picked up the classic battle of man and fish and time? Cojimar, where Ernest Hemingway kept his yacht El Pilar is a small fishing village east of Havana. I was eager to paint on my first day, stepped off the bus and set up overlooking the harbor and a decrepit Castillo, one of many seaside fortress buildings from Cuba's storied past. The day was sunny and the air had a slight breeze, but the eastern sky was dark and foamy. I knew I had to paint quickly and 20 minutes into the picture I had my elbow wedged on the palette and hand firmly on the paintbox as the wind increased. Rain started and there didn't seem to be any blue sky anywhere, the light on my subject had gone and I needed to find shelter. Behind me was a small main street with an overhanging porch and I set up thinking I could keep working. After the palette I was gripping took off like a frisbee twice I became aware I was no match for the wind and the sea or the sideways rain. Chilled and wet, I packed up. It was only 40 minutes since I had arrived.

La Terraza is a small restaurant on a side street which was mentioned by our guide before the bus parked. Walking the tiny village I stepped in to see the 'famous' restaurant and warm up, and several members of our group were at a table enjoying mojitos and coffee. On the wall was a painting of Hemingway, the floor to ceiling windows had huge wooden shutters, the bar stools were full and a mariachi band was drowning all conversation. I heard 'Hotel California' played for the first of many times in Cuba. I sat with new friends and we discussed the price of a few squares of tissue in the ladies room, named the instrumentals by the band and rated the overpriced drinks. It was my first full morning in Cuba.

The back porch had an assortment of tables set for lunch and a stunning view of the harbor, pilings from old docks, churning waves and a small lighthouse. In a corner a set table had velvet ropes and a small sign explaining that it was where Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea. He lived in Cuba from 1940-1960 and is considered a folk hero, his haunts are celebrated and one Havana restaurant proclaims 'Papa never was here'.

Hemingway's table

A pavilion with a bust of Hemingway, Castillo on the left.

Same spot, after the storm

Placid water after the storm

In the collection of the Burchfield Penney Art Center

I am now personally in the collection of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, or at least this photo of me. David Moog is creating a series of photographs of Western New York artists for the museum. One of the uses will be for a 100 year retrospective, 2115! Be there. 

David Moog (b. 1944), Kath Schifano, 2015; Archival inkjet print, 20 x 15 inches; Gift of the artist, copyright David Moog, 2015

Emily Carr

Emily Carr is a 19th century artist, an explorer, fearless and brave, willing to undergo extreme discomfort, ravenous bugs, slithering and biting things to document the totems of native people of the northwest as well as the landscape of towering trees, majestic mountains and streams. She was driven to capture expression with her paintbrush, finding a compliment in being labeled a Fauve.  Her work is a historical document of ancestor poles that were sold, ruined or stolen. She is considered an honorary member of the Group of Seven in Canadian art history.

This scene from the East side of Tuscarora State Park was painted with Emily Carr in mind. I hoped to show respect for our mature evergreens and the meadows of wetlands in rich and loose color, painted with a brisk wind at my back and a serious chill in the day.

Channeling Emily Carr, oil on board 14x11

 The book The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland is an embellished novel of her life as a painter, her travels into the Northwest and into Alaska in search of carved totems to draw and paint. The week after I painted this, I drove to Pennsylvania to paint and listened to the book on CD. Totally inspiring, but coincidental that I had just completed this painting.