Sunflowers! Celebrate August Joy

Sunflowers by Kath Schifano

Sorting the studio and moving artwork I discovered that by painting every year at the sunflower fields means I have sunflower paintings to brighten my shelf. I do love being at Sunflowers of Sanborn for hours, among happy visitors and surrounded by (smiling) yellow and orange flowers. 

Top Row-I've Got Secrets, Wind Dancing,  Conversation, and oops, Niagara Falls, 'A Peek at the Plume'

Middle- Faces in the Wind, Truckin' in Sanborn, Some Rise Higher (which will have a mat, glass and frame), A Model in Austin

Bottom- Another View of the Sun, which is colored pencil a picture before the sunflower farm opened.

Just another August weekend

Lightened the car load and brought fewer framed paintings to the Lewiston Art Festival this month. I like when my clients choose their own frame with local framers. Displaying a variety of affordable unframed works  means more people can own original art. Painting with standard sizes means they can also purchase ready made frames if they like.

With so many events cancelled this summer many more people came to shop at Lewiston Art Festival, all of the artists expressed 'a better weekend' plus it DID NOT RAIN!

Grace Millar Knox Mansion

The Junior League of Buffalo Showhouse is presented biannually in a different local mansion. Decorators transform each room and artists contribute paintings making the house an amazing collection of talent and beautiful ideas. The money raised is used to support local charities and organizations.

I am thrilled to have been invited to exhibit ten paintings in this former home, soon to be the offices of Cellino Law.

EDIT-10/3 Although paintings are hung throughout the mansion, there is also an Artist Gallery, shown here. Paintings are available to purchase right away. I am pleased to have had four large works sold as well as several small paintings sold through the gift shop.

Only 4 are mine, can you tell which ones?

Summer and Pastels in Buffalo

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is a prime painting spot all year long.

The first problem is choosing a site, followed by some housekeeping. Will I be in the way of visitors? What is the best view of an artist on site? We have to choose how the scene is viewed, is it on the side of the canvas or over the top? Considerations include keeping the sunlight off both the canvas and colors on the palette. In this instance I was under a dense tree, keeping cool on a hot Buffalo day. With the easel set in a lowered position, some of the foreground was blocked for me. It had rained and the greens were brilliant and flowers were blooming freshly.

South Side Garden at Botanical Gardens

Every corner and garden is fresh whenever I go back to visit or paint. These flowers are as large as dinner plates and the whole plant is taller than I am.

 

Art on the River

Two days before the Lewiston Art Festival the Youngstown Yacht Club invites some artists to display and sell. It’s just a few hours, a lot of fun and a way to check all my supplies for the weekend. 

Usually I paint the sailboats or the lovely restaurant but I decided to chat and enjoy the evening as I had painted earlier in the day. Laurene visited with me and brought the wine. What a great idea! 

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.

Mike Randall interviews us at Lewiston

 

Click to Watch the WKBW news report

Mike Randall from Channel 7, WKBW, came by Lewiston and the Silo Restaurant to see us painting and inquire about Plein Air. What a lovely report!

Here it is, still on the easel. nearly completed.

Buffalo Garden Walk Painting Invitation Step by Step

 The annual Buffalo Garden Walks offer opportunities for artists to paint in various gardens. At Vermont Street and 17th there is a public vegetable and flower garden and I reached out to NFPAP members to join me and Buffalo Society of Artists on a sunny July Saturday. The many visitors and especially children were fascinated to see us at work.

The back view of the tall Yarrow flowers drew my attention this time. Compared to the brilliant yellow flowers on top the underneath stems are deep rich greens and even blue in the shadows. I sat to paint to observe this view under the yellow Yarrow flowers.

Step by step in the community garden

Under the Yarrow, 9x12 oil

Elevator Alley

Look carefully and find the source for the title. "3 Kayaks in Elevator Alley" 

Pretty breezy so I hid my palette and paints out of the wind on a pedestrian walkway. The coolest, sweetest kid was mesmerized, I had painted enough that he could see the relationship to the real view. Kids always want to look, but the little ones never last as long as this guy watched, absolutely engrossed. I always wonder what the takeaway is for little people seeing an artist working for the first time. Martha Rogala sent me the photo. It was suggested I paint the photo of him watching me paint, maybe next winter. 

Three Kayaks in Elevator Alley, 9x12 oil, c.2021

Back to the Marina in Buffalo

 Whenever I have an opportunity to spend time near the Buffalo Marina I say YES. The freedom of water for sailing, cruising and jet skis, the docked boats filling slips and the impressive skyline of old and new Buffalo buildings as well as tended flower gardens, the skyway and dome of the Sabres. Which way to look? 

I returned to the lighthouse, lonely on its bit of land, challenging me to create a decent composition of horizontal land and vertical tower. I introduced new shapes by exploring the shapes on my side of the water. 

One more icon painted. 

Buffalo Marina Lighthouse pastel, 9.5x12.5 c.2021

Do I match my painting?

People passing by said I matched my painting as I worked. Later, a friend sent this photo of me painting. Now I get it! 

Pink Lilies at Reinstein, 9x12 oil on canvas

Art installations at OMI in Ghent NY-Oh My!

Palenville and a view of Kaaterskill

Kaaterskill Mountain, of the famous falls, is down the road a piece from our AirBnB. Our hosts told us about the hotel that used to be in view, and the funicular that carried visitors up the mountain. Love learning about history. Seeing the falls, and the treacherous drive there was high on my bucket list. Check that goal off! 

New York State Parks posted our photos!

Painted today at Three Sisters Islands, 

Later I found a post about us (NFPAP) on the Niagara Falls State Park Facebook page. Peg, me, Joan, Liz

March 20 on the porch

 This little painting is my Spring Equinox contribution. Hellebores flower buds lay under the snow, starting in December and visible whenever the snow melts. Just a bit of sun and Spring and they perk up. My plant is particularly large and the flowers change colors over the weeks they are blooming. Creamy pink to start, they turn rosy and then a peachy tan. When the Japanese Maple overhead starts to leaf it provides cooling shade and my flowers are upright and beautiful through June. 

Hellebores-2021 Equinox, 7x5 oil c. K. Schifano

As an aside, as I was sitting on the concrete porch a friendly garden snake joined me in the sun, sunning itself just beyond my feet. After a few minutes it slithered away with an attitude.

Spring springs at the Botanical Gardens

Yesterday was sunny with a bit of afternoon rain and this morning the number of freshly blooming leaf buds on bushes in my yard was staggering. Overnight Spring had encountered the earth and plants had responded. 

I had signed up to paint at the Botanical Gardens and went despite threatening skies and a gloomy forecast. Part of me was excited to be out and painting and the other part looked forward to greeting friends who had been painting indoors since Fall. What a pleasurable day as our vaccinated artists kept their distance without masks outside and caught up friendships.

I didn't have far to go to find a scene, I opened the easel right next to the car and used the opened back trunk and an art umbrella for a few minutes of sprinkles. Although I worked from what I saw, the picture wasn't complete until that evening. I finished in my studio with the still wet palette and added the branches of the red tree and gave the evergreens shape. That tree had attracted me to the scene with the Basilica in the distance. I couldn't get the shapes to lightly draw over the wet paint of other shrubs when the paint was very wet earlier.

I am really satisfied with this one. However, I won't choose a square canvas again, it was the hardest thing to get the right composition into a square., but I do have the perfect frame for it.

Buffalo Peace Garden in Spring

 The Peace Garden in Spring 12x12 oil c.2021

Filling sketchbooks, one story at a time.

I like to use art supplies and my brain. I don't need to make oil paintings or pastels, I just need to draw to satisfy myself. As a member of Buffalo Urban Sketchers we find ourselves limited by Covid to not being in a lobby or cafeteria to draw. Like the rest of the world, we have started Zooming together and our first Virtual Field Trip was to Acadia National Park in Maine. This is Jordan Park Trail which is familiar to Acadia visitors. I used Google maps to explore the park and choose this site.

A little bit of Christmas in my studio inspired this. My big artist nutcracker and a fake tree were joined by a poinsettia and some garland to make me feel festive in a time when no visitors or parties were on my horizon. This is a good candidate for a future Christmas card. 

I have a painting of the poinsettia that I keep fiddling with, changing the direction of light, the background and also the color of the plant and its leaves. There is a pile of paint building up but experimenting is allowed at all times. I don't paint for business, I paint for myself and my soul. The plant continues to thrives on my good studio juju.

Practice for A Midwinter NIght's Draw

This is NOT the Hallwalls painting to be auctioned from Hallwalls in Buffalo at the end of the month but it is the practice painting I did to measure my time. This is a bit smaller and a slightly different view but it sure is similar! Trying the painting in advance helped me prepare for the official film for the event.

I will post the auction painting when the auction opens February 24, until then, all the artist's pictures are out of sight. But this one is available now.

Morning Cataract, 12x16 pastel c. 2021

UPDATED!

Here is the final donated painting.

I hope I am informed about the buyer, there were 11 bids on this before closing Sunday night.

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.

Reading Alla Prima by Richard Schmid

I found a link to Alla Prima II by Richard Schmid that I could download and read online as a pdf. This book in 3-D is a valued reference and frequently resourced by artists but I didn’t own it. I would like to hold the real book, to investigate the many color reproductions and flip back and forth to the footnotes and resources. Although I usually read library books online, this pdf didn’t change pages easily and is presented as one single long document, not as book pages. It’s a big book to read this way.

The copy I had didn’t have good color reproduction but I was thrilled to read Schmid's philosophy and approach at a time I needed to start thinking deeply about my work. The spontaneity of his brushstrokes are an illusion. Each stroke is planned and purposeful, each value is carefully measured to the adjoining ones. 

Classic cars committed to canvas

Nearly finished

My assignment was to use individual color reference photos of two cars, combine them with another image of an old building and make it into a realistic oil painting. What’s involved? Considering the scale of the different items, their angle of view has to match, and shadows and light were corrected and accurate for each part. With help from Carl and photoshop the composition was adjusted and established and I enlarged the plan to a 16x20 canvas. Normally, I paint on the entire canvas at the same time-for example in a landscape, a bit of blue paint from the sky lands in the water and on a flower or a shadow's edge. But these are cars so other than the chrome colors they were separate paintings. I did use touches of their colors throughout but that was a forced practice. There is the merest suggestion of one reflecting color onto the other.

This commission from a 2nd cousin is headed to Georgia. I believe it was Facebook that allowed us to be reunited online after many years. We had several phone conversations about the details of these cars, our mutual relatives and parents and memories of being kids. 

Knowing what is important to a client helps a commission become successful. The convertible was restored by him and had belonged to his parents. I chose a WNY sky on a bright day, using cloud shapes to draw you into the composition and mirror the car angles.  It was a welcome challenge to paint summer light as winter closed in and Covid lockdowns were cancelling our holiday plans. Fortunately for my sanity (painting keeps me sane) it took more than a month, not constantly painting but evaluating, doing research and correcting. This was a first for me, I’m usually attracted to rusty tractors and barn equipment en plein aire. It was a pleasure to do and I’ve enjoyed having it nearby and 'watching the paint dry' before shipping the painting.

Ready for shipping

"Where's the Key" 16x20 oil c. 2021

Published in ‘Outdoor Painter’-Again!

https://www.outdoorpainter.com/best-plein-air-easels-for-artists/

An article about various kinds of plein air equipment by artists from all over includes a photo of me with my Guerrilla box, painting in a sunflower field in Sanborn. I am so pleased to be in the company of 'name brand' artists from all over the world in this international art magazine.

My box holds all my equipment as well as the finished wet painting. All I need to add is a tripod and my lunch. I have purchased several different size setups from them and am happy with each one.

 Click the link to see various easels and setups that Plein air painters use. I’m the one in the sunflower field. 🌞

Summer Memories

Perhaps the nicest day since the pandemic began was an opportunity to attend live music by Sharon Bailey and the X-Statics in Youngstown. Just a small, well spread out group, sunshine and great music. 

A value study of the inside of the barn behind a musician.

Ric and Sharon with Bob on drums.

Did I mention it was perfectly lovely there?

 A view from my front row seat. (There was only one row, lined up against a fence, just a few in this audience.

Sing along time

An Ode to Plein Air Painting
(to the tune of "My Favorite Things")

By Casey Cheuvront

Sunshine on water and shadows on rushes,
New RayMar panels and Rosemary brushes,
All of the insights a good workshop brings -

These are a few of my favorite things.

Finding the right trail when GPS fails you;
Hiking in though there's a storm that assails you.
Finding that one view that makes your heart spring -

These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadmium Orange and fresh tubes of yellow,
Chatting with hikers who stop to say "Hello",
How good it feels when your painting just sings -

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the cap sticks,
When the rig falls,
When the weather's bad -
I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don't feel
so bad!

Finally Paintng at Knox Farm State Park

Knox Farm is a fairly new state park, in East Aurora, New York. This was the Knox family home and farm. That's the family of the original Albright Knox Museum and former owners of the Buffalo Sabres. It was a perfect day to wander before I painted, there were so many directions to face, buildings and fences, paddocks, gardens, and fields. I eventually returned from my walk and chose this view which is near the parking lot and the car. 

My painting has a LOT of sky, actually too much, and I wasn't about to add birds or storm clouds that I dd not see.  However, I was asked if the image could be 'borrowed' for the park's Facebook page and omitting some of the sky to fit the circle worked well. Next time I will spend more time on my planning and hold the canvas horizontal for a scene like this.

It's always an honor to see my work used, one way or another. As I recall, the hills and distance beyond the buildings were part of the attraction to me, it felt like we were closer to the sky. I will go back.

SUNFLOWERS 2020

Some really are taller than others, generally around 5-6 feet tall, there is an occasional plant 12 or 15 feet tall. I love how they demand attention. I created a collection of paintings over the years at Sunflowers of Sanborn but this may be the first that includes a group of buildings and the field. Mostly, I like closeup views of flowers in various positions. 

Some Are Taller Than Others, 12x16 pastel

Unity Island

Drive down bumpy Niagara Street towards downtown Buffalo, find the elusive Unity Island entrance, wait your turn for the one way railroad bridge (5mph, please) and there it is. Before I entered the quiet park I knew this would be my view. I was attracted to the water seen under the bridge, and the shore of Canada across the river. These little ink drawings colored in with my travel watercolor set are fun and good for the spirit. I took photos of everyone else to post on the NFPAP blog, Diane took a photo of me.