Showing posts with label landscape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landscape. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

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. 

pastel rocks, niagara river Niagara Falls state park

The Third Island at Three Sisters 12x9 pastel

Thursday, May 4, 2023

Saturday at Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival

Guests of the History Museum are checking out my work in progress on the Museum porch. I chose the Albright Knox and the new building in progress, seen behind the pink blossoms of the Japanese Cherry Blossom Garden. 

Only 5x7, this is the plan for the large oil painting below.

10”x20”, the two museums are separated by beautiful trees in all seasons. And a parkway, can you pronounce Squajaquada? 

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Same place, one year apart, different media

Sun and Clouds Picnic II, oil 9x12 2022

Autumn Sun Streaks, pastel, 9x12 2021

Monday, September 12, 2022

Painting in a rainstorm

I was excited to paint in Youngstown at the end of the mighty Niagara, it ends at Lake Ontario with two forts, several dozen sailboats and two marinas and Canada all in view.

And then it rained, in fact it poured and was 1" deep under the tent which also started dripping underneath. No good for pastel painters, but I was using oils. The red roof shed was a perfect collection of shapes, so I started my painting...not planning to have my view blocked by the blue sailboat 'lifter' which wheeled in front of my view. 

In Fall all the large and small sailboats are removed from the Niagara River and packed together, similar to cars at a busy mall on a Saturday holiday weekend. The huge masts create an aluminum forest, with ropes continually clinking on metal.

But, I persisted and happily completed my painting. How many more old buildings will I find?

I

painting in the rain, Kath Schifano, Youngstown NY
RCR shed at Youngstown Yacht Club 9x12 oil c. 2022


Thursday, September 1, 2022

Interpretation of Bonds Lake

Kath Schifano, fall path, beautiful weeds
Here is a painting in progress, nearly finished. A few more rocks and some long shadows and it was done.

We paint at least once a year at Bond's Lake and usually include the lake and the stunning colors of trees across the water in our pictures. Today I chose the path that is now blocked but leads to where we used to park. Purple loosestrife, a noxious weed, is nevertheless beautiful in late summer. Long shadows herald the approach of Fall as the sun appears low in the sky.


weeds, purple and green oil painting, schifano
Bond Lake's Loosestrife, oil, 5x7 c. 2022


Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Backyard garden flowers

That's my granddaughter Amelia in the blue hat, she painted next to me with her new set of gel crayons. I hadn't used my pastels for a while and went out to capture my July garden flowers before the August Black eyed Susans took over and the daisies faded. I hope the foreground marigolds last well into the Fall.

pastel flowers, rock wall, colorful flowers

The Summer Garden, pastel, 12x16

Friday, May 6, 2022

Annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival

Saturday at the Buffalo History Museum was a perfect Spring day and thousands turned out to see the blossoms. Five painters worked on a scene similar to this, set back from the crowds and walkways. Every painting captured sunlight, flowers and the joy of emerging spring. These trees appear to dance, with the classic architecture of the museum in the background.

Buffalo History Museum, cherry blossoms, Kath Schifano
'Saturday's Cherry Blossoms' oil, 12x16 c. K. Schifano

 Sunday was not as bright, in fact I was caught in the rain as I packed up. My easel was right under the tree with this particular flower right in front of me. I did the same thing last year but the breeze kept blowing the thin branch and it was a bit disconcerting to catch the details. This time, there was no breeze but a little girl jumped up and grabbed my flower. I reacted so quickly-and pretty loud-that I doubt she will ever pick another flower. Instead of seeing some of the centers the bunch now tipped down but I am still satisfied with the shape. Still wondering why, with hundreds of flowering trees and flowers she chose mine. 
'Sunday's Cherry Blossoms' oil, 12x16 c. K. Schifano

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Always Carry a Sketchbook

It looks precarious, but the hill isn't as steep as it seems, and it is raining lightly. Between my sun umbrella and the willow tree above I stayed fairly dry. This is on Lake Ontario, a lovely day spent with Laurene.


 This is my final Urban Sketch, but out in Niagara County, about 6x8" in my trusty sketchbook. It is a watercolored ink drawing. Some of these campers will live here until the weather turns and they leave to southern homes for the winter.

Saturday, September 5, 2020

A true nocturnal painting

moon painting with oil paints in the night sky


As the seasons change on a particular day, a solstice or equinox, I try to paint outdoors. This nocturne painting has been photographed dozens of times, to capture the crimson glow in the horizon sky as well as the blue of the moonlit evening sky. 'The camera never lies' does not apply here as the camera has not been able to capture the truth for nearly three months. This is a summer equinox painting and it has a gloss on the surface that my paintings do not normally exhibit without varnish. Perhaps working in the dark has mixing color problems? The canvas has a more even blue shade across the top of the sky.

Settled on the porch, facing south, trees blend into the colors of night while the sky glows overhead. Studying the night sky values ahead of time and careful color arrangements on a palette made this a fun challenge. Every month the full moon has a name. June's name is 'Strawberry Moon' the time when the berries are ripe and sweet. All summer we have enjoyed the distant planets in our night skies.

Saturn, Jupiter and Strawberry Moon, oil on panel 9x12 c.2020

Monday, August 24, 2020

Adirondack Plein Air Festival

After months of Covid 19 lock down, I was crushed to have my acceptance and first appearance at this prestigious outdoor competition cancelled. However, it was changed to a virtual exhibit, so the artists who could come to the park had three weeks to paint alone and submit their work digitally. With the gracious hospitality of a good friend available, I quarantined before my trip. No way would I want to bring the evil virus to the pristine air of the Adirondack Park. A five hour drive there was liberating after being mostly cooped up since early March. I relished the pine air, clear skies and dramatic mountains. I didn’t see any other painters and we all missed the celebrations, dinners, client parties and seeing each other's Art. But I painted in the mountains and found great joy there. These are my three submissions. 

'Pine Carpet in the High Peaks, (Keene)’ 9x12 pastel. A high altitude view of other mountains. 
‘Adirondack Rocks', 16x12, pastel painted during the heavy rains of hurricane Isias-from a porch
'North of North Creek', 10x20 oil. The water is the Hudson, way up where it starts
 

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Looking through the cattails

 From the left side and close up.

Starting out.

Final painting.



Italy. Tuscany.
I was offered a month residency at an exclusive Michelin starred estate as their resident artist. From a stocked and charming studio, called the Artist House, I painted gardens and farms, animals and flowers, ancient stone buildings and classical architecture.  

Liking a hard surface for my brush, I attached linen to boards and used a portable box for oils and brushes. The picture here shows my view at the studio, where a covered marble chip patio had three outdoor couches and a large stone table. My first painting in the shade there was this wisteria vines bridge, thick with impasto and water lilies. It is named the Monet bridge.

My joy was unbounded in the summer sunlight, surrounded by waterfalls, white ducks, peacocks and a frequent visitor, a giant blue heron. What beautiful surroundings to inspire and enjoy. A speaker attached to the music on my phone made it even more special. Music accompanies painting like a comfortable old friend. 

A few days later, I realized that the vines were flowering and I added a few hanging purple blossoms, as well as more light and shadow.  "Song of the Water Lilies" was purchased on my last day, to a collector in California.

Song of the Waterlilies, 16x12 oil on linen. C. 2019

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

A bit of Magritte

The artist Magritte played with images, some serious, others were whimsical. My favorites are when he has a painting overlapping a picture, the image behind the canvas is on the canvas. I tried it. 

This is a view and of the lower Niagara River on my easel, painted from Canada overlook by the Whirlpool. I lined up the painting with the view.  It’s harder to photograph than it looks. The painting is the image on this month's calendar page.


This is a sample of painting by Magritte, all of it is paint, including the easel and curtain.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

‘Calm’ A pastel at Tifft preserve.

Calm 12x16 pastel Kath Schifano
Beautiful, lush, quiet, peaceful, and natural Tifft Wildlife Preserve is a jewel of a place, formerly a massive and useless brownfield in South Buffalo. It used to be a busy railroad terminal for industry, full of crisscrossing tracks and the junk associated with a zillion old trains. With a great deal of help from  the community and government it is now a large sanctuary open to hikers and interested people. Nature has totally reclaimed this place. A few years ago you could see rust and grain elevators in the distance, as trees grow, that view disappears.

Love to paint here, I think some of my most peaceful moments painting happen here, every painting has a story. Ask me about the turtles. This calm pond sometimes has egrets and herons on the shore, it always has ducks and turtles and fish. Bring the kids, find peace.


Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Burchfield Nature Park

Buffalo Creek and Burchfield, 9x12 pastel c.2018

Sharon Fundalinski and Peggy Walker introduced me to this park at least ten years ago and every time I return it is a lovely day with slowly rippling water, little kids with grandparents, people walking dogs and peaceful nature sounds. Many of the stately trees are gone as the creek has the potential to become fast and furious and the trees roots are eroded, year by year as they age.

There are still a few massive trees that may have been painted by Charles Burchfield. He lived directly across the creek from this one.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Out The Window and Fresh Snow

Winter plein air paintings are exciting. And FAST! However, I have become progressively lazier when it comes to painting outdoors in the winter. It was a weird winter season in 2017-18, sometimes cool, sometimes cold, but almost always the days were mostly gray. No shadows and no heat equal no incentive to paint outdoors. It was an easy winter to do errands or take a ride, but without the contrasts created by my friend The Sun, painting a landscape like this took a backseat to studio work this year.

This is my 'go to' subject which is the woods behind the house. A brilliant sun after a light snowfall inspired me to set up inside at the dining room window. I've been watching these cut tree logs since the neighbor cut several trees (which are permanently preserved in many earlier paintings). They seem to change each day, each week, sometimes like they have moved themselves. Naked trees quietly surround them, like mourners for a friend. I worked with color to distinguish the slices, to give them dignity in their sad state. The brilliant shadows of hibernating wetland giants slowly passed across the field as I painted.

I can still see what was there a year or two ago, and wonder about the title. It's a lovely calm winter painting but to me it is a requiem for the fallen trunks.


fallen trees, forest, winter, purple and blue

Standing Tall For Me, oil 12x16 on linen c.2018

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Using Pastels on Autumn Days

As the days grow short and evening comes earlier, the shadows seem darker and are definitely longer. It's the best season to paint, because shadow creates form and landscape painting is the process of making a 3-D form look real on a flat surface. The shadows and reflections are the depth makers in a picture, besides using perspective, overlapping and diminishing sizes. Oh my, sometimes my brain hurts trying to keep it all together, but it is a good kind of hurt, like rewarding and satisfying work. 

Therefore, my fall paintings have a distinct set of values and colors different from summer. These two recent pastels illustrate this, the sunlight in the trees is at a lower angle....because the earth is curved and my northern latitude is tipping away from the direct rays. Working on them, I also considered the depth of shadows in the background and between and under trees. The sparkle of summer flowers and green grass is gone when shade takes over.


plein air


Red and Blue by Bonds Lake 9x12 pastel
Willow by Little Beaver Island 9x12 pastel

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Sunflowers!

 Wow. I saw pictures on FB, a lovely color spread in the Buffalo News, how could I resist? 

A few weeks ago my favorite painting of sunflowers was purchased for a presentation at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. When I saw photos of this field I knew it was time to paint more sunflowers. A chance to see another field involved several hours of driving so I didn't go. Now I could find one 15 minutes from home in Sanborn.

This field was just an idea last year, farmland owner Louise thought planting sunflowers would be novel but had no idea it would turn into a media event. I met her kids and friends as well as dozens of people stopping on the road to take selfies and family photos, a pro photographer was shooting a model with reflection umbrellas and Channel 4 news appeared. (I was interviewed) Cars lined both sides of the street and the mood was jubilant, how could one not be overjoyed to engage with acres of yellow?

Yellow isn't a common color to use  a lot on my palette when Plein Air painting, yellow items often look more tan unless it is fall leaves. This was an opportunity to collect all my out cool and warm yellow sticks, some hot golden orange with some purple for shadows, light blue to capture the leaf lights. Why ever I selected terra cotta red for my background is unknown but I love the contrast. 

This pastel painting is still taped to the board, waiting for the decision, stop now or keep working. It's looking pretty fine in my house right now.
Louise, responsible for this lovely event.

 A panorama that doesn't do justice to the size of this field of flowers. 

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Beaver Island lagoon

 Our painters met near the sledding hill of Beaver Island Park on a weekday morning. I chose to capture the lagoon instead of the mighty Niagara for several reasons. I had painted a similar scene here last year, early in the Spring. It was a lovely misty morning and the silver maples in the distance glowed light blue from across the lagoon. I was working a bit larger that day last year and I didn't finish it due to wind and weather. I had returned afterwards but so much had grown in that I would have changed the entire painting, and additional misty spring mornings had eluded me. It remains incomplete.

This time, the day was bright and the wind was a breeze. Fish were spawning along the edges of the shore and I painted to the sound of loud and frequent splashes and the sight of fins and tails writhing in shallow water. The shoreline was muddy and the current ran to the river, ringing the area with tan.

There is a camera mounted on the perch centered in the lagoon and apparently herons are nested there. Other than an occasional car, it was a silent morning, interrupted by those crazy fish splashing in the shallow water. Wish I knew if they were salmon!

Calm in the Lagoon  9x12 oil on canvas panel c. 2017

Thursday, June 15, 2017

It's a long story

This is "America Rocks in Sunrise". It's a view of the American Falls in oil, 24"x24 and had been purchased by Ilse Franklin for her husband Tom. She selected this one from a group of my larger Falls pictures. They placed it on the fireplace mantle, with a lovely spotlight on it and I was floored the first time I saw it displayed there, I was at their home with my book club. The large windows in this room face the gorge of the lower Niagara River but the picture is the new centerpiece, as far as I'm concerned.

The title refers to 'America Rocks' in a good way, including the music that I paint to, and the Falls' light and shadow as the sun rises in the morning. 

Now this story continues.

A few weeks ago an artist friend held a 'paint night' in their Lewiston neighborhood and both Tom and Ise went. He loved it, his painting had been hung on their wall and I was pretty impressed that it was a paint night that used the river for its subject. It was a true plein air experience as well as a paint experience for the group. His painting was actually quite well expressed, various colors were in the sky as well as reflected on the water, the green trees and lawn were varied and the trees and stone wall looked pretty spiffy as well. I told him I was impressed and he was emphatic that he wanted to paint again, he really enjoyed it. I have to thank Gabe Porto for being such a great paint teacher, especially when I learned they had just the 3 primary colors to work with. Tom must be a good listener because he had learned so much about process and color mixing.

He didn't have to work hard to convince me to come back the next week. I had been wanting to paint their spectacular view of the Niagara river and Canada for a while.  I packed a portable easel, some acrylics and various panels for him as well as my oil pochade but Tom was a little upset when I arrived. He hesitated to tell me he wanted to make a copy of my painting instead of the view, "I've been studying how you did it, I get up close, keep looking and think I can do it, I hope you don't mind, I really love the Falls" 
I thought we would work together to paint the same landscape and I would pass along some hints and techniques to add to his earlier experience in the neighbor's yard. Well, I'll still paint the scene outside and he can copy my painting, no problem there! 

After a fun career teaching art and solving other people's color and composition problems I considered giving workshops or having students but quickly decided I just wanted to paint. For me. To push paint around, start and stop on my own schedule. Everyone knows I'll answer paint questions, give advice and critique but choose not to take students, give classes or accept most workshop offers. Suddenly, I had a student copying a picture, but I still wanted to paint my own plein air. [To my artist friends, I had 3 trees, a cliff and forests in Canada across the river to paint in oil and was trying to guide him with acrylic paints and completely different colors and scene. I almost had a brain fog trying to keep the two separate in my mind and my oil brush out of the acrylic palette. No surprise that I had a margarita for lunch.]

The day was a success, I had to finish mine later in my studio, but Tom's second painting ever, of the American Falls came out quite well. I think we have one more candidate for our Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters, he just needs to do a little shopping for paints and a brush. 
Tom with his copy of my work, and the original painting on the mantle
My plein air of our view
Calm on the River, 12x16 oil on birch panel, c. K. Schifano, 2017



Sunday, May 21, 2017

Miebohm Gallery accepts a window view

Grace Meibohm, East Aurora gallery 

After a lovely long season of plein air painting outside I was attracted to making a larger painting indoors. My corner windows in the gallery room look upon the woods and a huge set of 5 trees in the neighbor's yard which lean over the property lines and shade the roof for half the day. The long tall windows frame ever changing views in all seasons and distract me every time I pass the door. 

Using the window as a frame for my composition I moved my big easel from the studio and set it on a drop cloth to capture the colors of autumn as they rotated from green to yellow, orange, red and brown. 

This painting has been selected by Grace Meibohm into the Meibohm Gallery on Main Street in East Aurora. She is mounting a juried show of 'The Art of Native Plants' to benefit the Western New York Land Conservancy.

The exhibition is up now, the reception is June 10th and will be there until July 29. Half of my commission will go to WNYLC.

Lights of Fall, oil 30x15x3 c. 2016