Revisiting...

Baughman Barn  oil/canvas board   12 x 12

a dry work has both advantages and disadvantages.  Rhythms and brushwork, often determined by the current mood of the artist, will be invariably different.  I have to feel that my time will be well-spent in returning to the work.  These are not studio paintings.  These are plein-air works that were "finished" (but often not to my satisfaction) on the spot.  I am gradually learning how to paint in one session which requires a maximum amount of thought and a minimum amount of paint.  Otherwise, the colors all become murky, in a mid-value range.  Revisiting allows for corrections in color temperature and in value...reestablishing the darkest darks and the lightest lights.  If the draftsmanship is off, I won't even bother.  "Baughman Barn" was revisited yesterday to my satisfaction.  Although the yellow-golden quality is gone and the color temperature has shifted to cool, I believe that the work has been improved.

Farmers Market/Framers Market

The Apple Seller   oil/canvas board   12 x 9

The Saturday morning Hudson Farmers Market is an absolute delight....that is where I perched under a tall pine tree Saturday morning during the drizzle. The smells that wafted from the chef's demonstration were tantalizing. The colors of the fresh produce and flowers were stimulating. I was initially drawn to a flower seller, but soon realized that she bounced around too much for me to catch a likeness of her figure. The apple seller was more stationary under his umbrella.....I was satisfied with that. Just across the green from the market is Hudson Fine Art and Framing....a framers market, so to speak. I enjoyed both that day!

Making Hay while the Sun Shines

Baughman Barn   oil/canvas board   12 x 12

The Friday morning of the paint-out poured! So.........I spent the morning on the covered porch of Hudson Fine Art fine-tuning paintings from the previous day. I hope that some day I will be satisfied with my impressions from just one session. The afternoon turned hot and sunny so I spent it at the Baughman property, a renovated arts and crafts house that drew quite a crowd! Although the house was amazing and the gardens quirky and creative, I decided to focus on the barn.....that is so funny, in that 20 years ago, I swore never to paint a barn, as I felt that they had reached a point of redundancy-plus in terms of paintings. I guess it was because I was dying to use my square canvas and the barn was perfect for that. Plus, my goal was to improve upon my ability to use purer color and harder edges earlier on in the process. I usually put those things off until later in the process, after some time for consideration. Alla prima requires more immediate decision-making. We are always learning..............that's why the whole thing is so stimulating! "Baughman Barn" is the result. Although it has a nice mystical quality, I think that, in considering it this week, that it would benefit from a few harder edges and, perhaps, the addition of another color.

Blue, blue, blue

Endless Summer   oil/canvas board   12 x 9

As I drove down College Street in Hudson looking for my next painting site, my attention was grabbed up by some awesome hydrangea bushes....their blueness stood out among the endless greens. The century house behind was captivating, but difficult to paint with so much cut-work around the porch. The owner stopped by and told me that the bushes were new and promised to bloom all summer.....the variety called "penny mac". If I had been able to come into the painting for a second pass after several days of dry-time, I would have come back in with some purer blue pigment. Ah.....regrets. Too much mucking around in oil paint creates nothing but mud....the same as with watercolors. "Neverending Summer" is my resultant painting from that Thursday afternoon.

....and did I mention rain?

The Learned Garden   oil/canvas board   10 x 8

The paint-out in Hudson was exhilarating! Dodging the ever-present drops added to the level of excitement.......it is difficult to paint in front of people, to be sure, but I found it to be less threatening than it used to be. One of the problems for me is the overwhelming complexity of gardens. In order to create an interesting composition, I need to be able to include a larger, simpler form. I also need to tweak the color palette away from the given, the local color, in order to enhance the process and harmony. My first attempt on Thursday morning was a garden next to a guest house. Things fell into place. I usually count on another painting session after drying is near to completion....that is when I add strokes of more pure color as well as enunciating strokes to firm up the movement in the overall composition. As this step is simply not possible in painting plein air, I have had to make adjustments by speeding up the problem solving and trying to foresee conclusions more quickly. "The Learned Garden" was completed in 2 1/2 - 3 hours on Thursday morning. These paintings are available for purchase through the end of June at Hudson Fine Art & Framing.