Painting the Mist on Day 2

This is the second post of my 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge.

It was sunny when I left the house to paint, but as I approached the Falls, clouds were rolling in and I took the turnaround on Robert Moses Parkway to paint the Canadian skyline and Horseshoe mist from the Power Project intakes. I had photographed here in the winter; today I realized that I was driving on the sidewalk for quite a distance that day, today I would have to hike to the chosen spot with my supplies. A true plein air experience carrying easel and pochade today, not one of my favorite lazy paint outs next to my car.

Having experimented and contemplated grays and muted colors recently I found the soft colored buildings of the distant Canadian Niagara Falls a good subject for trying the duller tones. With westbound traffic blocked and construction at the end of the parkway in progress the bright orange traffic signs put a punch of color on the road (enlarge the painting to see them.)  $65

Calm Before the Rain, 5x7 Gessoboard, c.2015

Calm Before the Rain

Unframed $65.00 USD In Plain frame $75.00 USD

Easter painting

Just a perky bunny pausing for a moment but ready to run. Having friends who have accepted the challenge of making 30 paintings in 30 days and eager to get back to regular outdoor paintings with the change of weather, I am going to try it. 30 paintings in 30 days. 

These will mostly be sketches, an opportunity to try new ideas and experiment, but each will be my best work, and probably small. watch for more, here and on Facebook.

These paintings are for sale as soon as they dry, a week or so, paypal, cash, check and credit are all accepted, email for info, ks@kschifano.com  This little guy can come in a frame. $65, unframed, $55
"Ready, Set, Go" 4x6 oil. c. 2015

Ready, Set, Go

Unframed $55.00 USD In Plain Frame $65.00 USD

'The Plume Over Three Sisters'

This is another bridge painting at Three Sisters islands at the Niagara Reservation State Park, now hanging in Dr. Marrone's Dental office along with another of my falls paintings showing the power of the upper rapids. I started it as a bridge picture with emphasis on the plume of the Horseshoe falls in the sky. The early Fall colors and the light and shadows of the bridge took over and the mist is a smaller part of the painting than I first imagined. Something about the bridges, I love being there.

I have used this composition as a reference for a much larger pastel, a good experience taking a plein air to the studio.

The Plume Over Three Sisters. 9.5x12, oil on birch panel, 2014

Another Croton, this is an oil at the Botanical Gardens in Buffalo.

Over the years, croton colors begged to be observed and recorded. I have made several paintings in different media and each has a different personality. This day, a new path had opened to the north inside the Palm Dome at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens, I couldn't resist.

A little reminder, every one of the images and paintings in this blog belong to me, I retain copyright for all of them, sold or not.

Another Croton, 9.5x12, oil on Arches oil paper, 2015

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

A southern tier home sketch

  

This was drawn in pencil for a friend from a series of family photos and a little help from Google Earth. It was her childhood home and she wanted a picture to coordinate with an old drawing of her grandfather's home. The house has many changes since then, including being surrounded by mature trees, but I was able to capture the roof lines accurately from a street level view from Google maps.

An 'indoor Plein air' at Buffalo's Botanical Gardens.

It is 'back to the gardens' season. Too cold to stand outside on ice covered ground in the swirling snow with wind chills hovering around zero, my Thursdays at Frederick Law Olmsted's 1900 Botanical Gardens are a relief from winter house air. Oxygen, green tropical plants, fragrant flowers and happy visitors make for wonderful paintouts-indoors.

  

Orchids and Amaryllis, oil 9x12, 2015