Schifano-Simons paint adventure

 I am not the only artist here. As I captured the majestic towering palm in a neighbor's yard on my little canvas panel, Amelia joined me to enjoy the shade on the deck and paint the afternoon away. Her watercolors were full of life and expression, the composition was beautifully and naturally arranged and we sure did have a good time, alone with our art, together with our experiences.

I was working to make the picture show the light and breeze of the afternoon and the camera recorded a better view of this palm than my painting did! My painting is a bit less bright and sunny than the picture in the next post, but the day and the memory are perfect.

Painting Houston in the Spring

Azaleas are bright and beautiful in Houston in March, this lovely home caught my eye as we drove by. Fortunately there is a shade tree across the street so I was able to plein air paint there. When I went close to the azaleas the pink blooms were as large as roses and glowing in the southern sun. The pines were giants, scattered on the property providing shade and majesty to the pretty corner home that welcomes you to a lovely established neighborhood.

I did a little more work on this after the photo was taken, some shadows and lights on the lawn and trees, straightened a few lines and details on the building. This painting was too wet to travel as I really piled paint onto the azalea hedges and my white is a very pokey dryer. Since I will return to work through my "must paint around Houston" list in the fall I left the wet canvas on Robin's mantel, and it looks pretty nice up there! I will have several dry paintings ready to varnish then.

There are no giant towering hardwood shade trees in Houston like we have up north, but the various palms and fruit trees are delightful to see and do create shade. This palm was way above the house across the street, just waving in the breeze and capturing the light. I painted this little panel from a comfy deck chair with 3 year old Amelia painting with watercolors beside me. We had a lovely afternoon together until she decided her bubble lawnmower should go down the slide and painting was interrupted. 

March Azaleas, 8x10 oil 2013

Afternoon Shade, 5x7 oil 2013

Painting Grand Island

Too cold and gloomy to paint out,  I have just finished painting a studio commission. This is another one of those 'surprise' paintings that I say I won't do anymore. Surreptitious drive-bys with my camera balanced on the edge of the car window just makes me paranoid, someday a wary homeowner will send an officer after me. "But officer, I just want to paint that house, not rob it!' 

Fortunately Malynda got into the spirit of the commission and gave me a variety of photos of different times and details. The look of Spring here is completely contrived as we started the planning after leaves fell and frost-or snow-was abundant. Her beautiful labs are near the front door in their usual positions, sitting and lounging.

The title refers to the windows, lamps and especially the two dogs by the front steps. 12 x 18 oil

Lights of our Life, oil 12x18 on board c. 2013

A Lesson in Painting

The first of several deliveries here last week was a paper wrapped bunch of...mini orchids...just what I needed! My sister, Bobbie Peters had sent them, she knew I would arrange the flowers and probably use them for a painting. I had been to florists twice in the past looking for this particular flower so I was especially pleased.

I had already signed up for an artist workshop with Thomas Kegler a week after they arrived and one of the items on the supply list was objects for a still life. I grabbed some tomatoes, peppers, oranges, ribbons, small boxes to stack under the drapery and half the original bouquet to head to East Aurora and the Roycroft campus on a frigid Saturday. Three years earlier I had made a '5 year plan' of personal goals and attending an art workshop was on the list. Check! His Hudson River painters traditional style attracted me, particularly the way his surfaces are developed with glazing. Although using the Hudson River painters techniques are not on my short list, my experiences painting at historic locations in the Adirondacks these past two years have piqued my interest.

Tom's friendly attitude and open sharing of technique made the 8 hour class valuable to me, as a self taught oil painter I have read articles and books and painted next to many painters, but this was a challenge to actually follow someone else's instructions. Using odorless mineral spirits for an underpainting was the first big change, my mind kept going back to his demonstration and trying to follow his different approach to working on a canvas. Having already finished my 'first thousand paintings' it took effort to adjust what I already do, but I was able to experience painting in a new way for the day and had a lot of fun in the process. Overall, the biggest thing I learned is not in this picture yet. Final glazing with thin color adds warmth to the picture and brings out some texture in the brush strokes. When I do that I am going to try it first on another picture that was waiting for a finish, then come back to this one.

Although I have painted still life pictures and flowers in a vase before, this will always remain special to me, my sister sent the flowers and they are in memory of Martha.

Roycroft Still Life, 20x10 oil on wood panel 2013

Spectacular Chicago brownstone

This 24x12 oil painting started with a snapshot on a gray day but my info was supplemented by an excellent image in street views on Google maps. It is a wedding present of Jason & Jaime's first home; the challenge of documenting historic brownstones continues!

Chicago architecture has many features found in Western New York, double porches, brick constructions, 100 year old beauties. This yellow 'brownstone' has more of the qualities of Brooklyn without all the matching end to end neighbors. These residents have lovely windows and daylight on all sides, a real bonus in this historic building.

Chicago's Brownstone, 24x12, oil c. 2012

There is no Planning for Customers' Tastes.

During a Christmas season a few years ago I sold quite a few Niagara Falls area paintings, they are often sought after for gifts by local residents.

Last year landscapes and scenery with wide views were the favorites, but this year close up botanicals in both pastel and oil were selected. I looked at my studio display wall at the end of this season and all I could see hanging was....water paintings! My thought was that  Niagara and rapids paintings would sell well again but this year's customers were looking for more color and vibrant compositions. These are three sold examples while the painting mentioned in the last post was also bright and closeup.

It is a good thing that I paint for myself, choosing sizes, colors and subjects according to my location and media. Not having awareness of current styles I always stick to what I see and like and I had better keep that attitude.

Fortunately, people like what I do and choose to own and live with my paintings. My customers have excellent taste and have removed quite a few precious favorites over the years. Thank goodness they do because there would be no room to move around here if they did not. Except for a very few pictures, I know where each one lives, and I like knowing that.

Pond Plant, 20x16 pastel, collection of M. Irby

Pinot Noir, Not Ripe at Warm Lake, 20x30 oil, collection of DiCamillo family

Greenhouse Croton, 24x18 pastel, collection of Rusert Family 

Art Dialogue Gallery Members Show, 2013

The first shows of the year are often group exhibitions at many galleries. In fact, group show season starts with December gift exhibits, when galleries carry smaller works and crafted items for holiday gift giving. One of my favorite 5x7s got away from me this year and I have no photo of it, anywhere, at all. I can't even find it listed on my OCD calendar of what was painted when, size and media. It was nice to carry home a check, but I wish there was a photo of it in my camera. I usually have wonderful record keeping skills but I let it slip through the studio before it was documented!

That little jewel was a plein air of the front of Beaver Island Casino, showing just the garden and in a furniture grade mahogany frame. If you saw it in my studio you know why I call it a jewel, I expect the new owner is very pleased with their purchase.

On the other hand, the current show at Art Dialogue Gallery is self selected; artists choose one work to represent them for the month of January. It is usually very interesting to see different work from artists at this show, often pieces are experimental, different media or subjects. I chose this stately tree trunk painted at Sonnenburg Gardens in Canandaigua, NY last June. It was raining hard when I started so I nestled under an elegant archway in the Japanese gardens section. This tree was gripping the ground with the knowledge of a century, pulling up the earth and dwarfing boulders at its base. The sun came out at the right time and created contrast between the wet rocks and tree trunk and long shadows in the sunlit grass. Water continued to drip all around me from giant trees, but I remained dry with my pastels in the shelter

Aging Gracefully, pastel 16x12, 2012