The Language of Artists

Today I was talking to a woman about painting. She is not an artist but she's always wanted to learn to paint. As we talked about colors and brushwork and different styles of expression, her eyes lit up and she grew animated. We were speaking the same language even though she had never painted! It occurred to me how important it is to spend time with people who speak your language. They Get it. Painting is such a solitary profession. Even though I'm surrounded by supportive family and friends, I usually see their eyes glaze over when I'm enthusing about some great art observation or discovery. They don't hear or see the same language.
It's interesting that the French Impressionists who were friends with each other in youth and even painted the same scenes side by side, worked in isolation as they got older. Monet even asked his dealer at one point to not reveal to Renoir where he was going on a painting trip so that he could work alone. Yet they still would get together in Paris from time to time to hang out and talk about art and artists. I suspect that they left these dinners renewed and re energized and ready to get back to work. 

April Rain in the Valley of the Oaks

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Over? Really?

I can't believe I did it! If someone had told me I could finish 23 paintings in a month, I'd have said you've got to be kidding! But  I did it and the feeling of accomplishment is really good. And this is no time to rest. I'm using the momentum to set myself a new challenge. 4 paintings a week in a larger size .The challenge will be to not get bogged down in each but continue working quickly, with an openness to discovery and keeping my self out of the process as much as possible. Can I do it? We'll see.

All of these paintings are available for purchase directly from my website . Thanks for looking!

From the Back Burner - Day 30 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Today's painting is the last one I'll be posting for Leslie Saeta's painting challenge. It's been an amazing and productive month. I met a lot of fellow artists and discovered that I can work faster and looser. I still prefer to work larger but this was such a valuable experience that I'm going to continue making small works along with the larger ones. My new goal is 4 paintings a week and I'll continue posting them, and talking about them.
I'd love to go outdoors to paint but it's been too cold here in New Jersey. The photo I chose to work from is from the Grand Canyon. I was like a crazy woman with the camera so there are many I could have chosen, but I really liked the abstract shapes the canyon rocks made in this photo and their blue and orange colors. I originally had it blocked as a completely abstract design. I could have left it that way but I wanted to see what I could make of it. Hope you like it!

Canyon Rocks - 9x12 - oil on linen panel
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From the Back Burner - Day 29 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Among the stacks of photo reference that I've been meaning to get to, are bunches of photos of the Grand Canyon. A quick stop there was part of my cross country trip 3 years ago. Though it was May first, it was snowing as we set up the camper. This was the inaugural trip for the camper. We had gone from summertime heat in Texas to high wind and snow at the Grand Canyon. On the first night in the canyon, it was 28 degrees, and the heater broke. Ah well. What's a trip without a little adventure? It was pretty hard to get out of that nice warm sleeping bag the next morning but I had never seen the Grand Canyon and I was ready to hike! I spent the next day and a half absorbing as much of the incredible scenery as I could.
This is a little painting of trees on the South Rim, a short walk from my campsite.

Trees on the Rim - oil on linen panel - 9x12
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From the Back Burner - Day 24 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Well, on challenge day 24, I have just 20 paintings. But I'm not going to beat myself up too badly. That's 20 I didn't have a month ago. Participating in this challenge is one of the best things I've done for my art  in a while.
 Today's painting is from a spot in my neighborhood. In fact, it's right on the other side of my backyard. The house that overlooked this view, was destroyed in a hurricane. For years the lot stood vacant and was a routine stop on my evening run. The sunset over the bay can be spectacular! The painting below the challenge painting is one from the same spot that I painted a few years ago. The challenge painting is a tiny 6x8. The other one is 30x40.

A Quiet Evening - oil on canvas panel - 6x8
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Sunset Over the Bayou - oil on birch panel - 30x40
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From the Back Burner Day 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

My challenge painting today is again from the California Coast. Every time I visit, I take a drive on highway one through Big Sur. I like to leave early to make the most of the day outdoors. The road is very winding and hilly and around each bend is a vista more beautiful than the one before. In the morning a dense fog hangs over the coastline and roadway. Gradually the light becomes brighter and finally you're rewarded with a glimpse through the fog of an impossibly blue sea far below sparkling like crushed jewels. By noon the fog is gone and the views are a painter's paradise. I could spend years looking at the ocean from these mountainside perches and never grow tired of it.

Morning Fog - oil on linen panel - 9x12
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From the Back Burner - Day 11 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

The gymnastics I went through today to photograph my challenge paintings, would have done Bela Karolyi proud. The light has been throwing so much glare on the paintings that the colors don't show up properly. Today I found myself balancing atop a chair, while clutching the tripod and trying to shoot the work flat on the ground. Still no luck. So until I set up a new photography station, I won't be posting these paintings on my web page.

For today's challenge painting, I chose a photo from my absolute favorite place to be - the central California coast. It's a different experience for my east coast eyes, to see the sun set over the ocean. Another thing that fascinates me is the way the waves come in from way far out with a lot of space between them and over such a far reaching expanse of sand, that you can walk way out and still be only ankle deep in water. At sunset, the show is especially spectacular. It's like walking through liquid jewels in a dazzling light. Magical! What I would give to be able to spend months out there!

West Coast Sunset - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
$325

Here is yesterday's challenge piece. Please contact me if you are interested in either piece.

Afternoon Shadows - oil on canvas panel - 7x9
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From the Back Burner - Day 20 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

For today's painting, I chose another photo from Perdenales State Park. The basin that the Perdenales River runs through is wide and full of the most amazing rock formations. I spent hours climbing over huge boulders, and discovering little ponds and waterfalls among the rocks. There are warning signs posted telling people to leave quickly in stormy weather, because flash flooding can fill the basin in minutes. I've never seen a flash flood but the pictures of this very wide and deep basin completely filled with rushing river water are dramatic. Later on while hiking a trail in the campground,  I was amazed to see flood debris high overhead in the trees. On this sunny warm day, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

River Basin - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
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From the Back Burner - Day 18/19 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

 This challenge painting took two days to finish. It's a painting I've had in mind for a while.Two years ago, I had just made my first and so far, only trip to Monterey and Carmel. After a day of touring these two spots, my husband and I had just enough time to stop briefly in Pacific Grove. This beautiful town has stayed vividly in my mind ever since. The waterfront is a painters dream with rocks, jewel-toned water and carpets of flowers everywhere. Craft style houses, my favorite architectural style, line the coastal roadway. The late afternoon light on that day was warm and inviting. Another California Paradise!

Pacific Grove - oil on canvas panel - 12x16
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From the Back Burner - Day 17 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

One of the many things I like about central California is the eucalyptus trees. They're unlike any tree on the east coast. They look green, silver and red all at the same time and the rustle they make in the wind is almost musical. I discovered that there are a few different kinds. My favorite have long oval leaves like the ones at William Hurst Memorial Beach which inspired this painting. As soon as I got out of the car there, I asked what is that amazing scent? They have an unusual scent as fresh as the ocean. I wanted to take a piece of that home with me to Florida so I went to a plant store to try to buy one. I could have spent all day there wandering among the flowers and plants that don't exist in Florida. When I found the plant expert and asked about buying a eucalyptus tree, he laughed and said they grow like weeds. No one buys them. I carried some cut branches home with me to paint but away from their home, the magic was gone.

Eucalyptus Trees - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
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From the Back Burner - Day 16 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Three years ago, My husband and I drove from Florida to California.This trip gave me my first view of California and my first drive through the western states. I couldn't believe  how much space there was out there and I promised myself my next home will be somewhere in the western third of the country. I saw types of land I so different from what I was accustomed to that I took a zillion pictures to try to remember it.
 We left the Florida Panhandle at the end of April, which is already beach weather there. We didn't pack any winter clothes thinking we wouldn't need them in sunny California, but once we'd passed western Texas it became so cold and fiercely windy that I had to stop to buy a winter jacket .Somewhere between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon it began snowing so thickly you couldn't see through it. Snow on May first! I loved it! This little painting is from the shots I took that day.

High Desert Snowstorm - oil on linen panel - 6"x 8"
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From the Back Burner - Day 15 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Here in the northeast, I haven't seen the sun for more than two weeks. Maybe that's why I'm dreaming of sunny California. Today's painting , A Piece of the Rock, is from a photo I took in Morro Bay. There's a huge rock there sometimes referred to as the Gibraltar of the West. You can see it from miles away. In fact, I frequently stop at a high point on the way back to Templeton, to see Morro Rock in the distance bathed in mist and the pink light of sunset beyond ridges of green hills. But that's another painting waiting to be made. As large as Morro Rock is - my painting shows only a tiny piece of it - It's actually the relatively small plug of an ancient volcano. The remnants of part of that volcano form the shape of the coastline of Morro Bay. At one time, the rock was quarried. Now it's a sanctuary for sea birds. A narrow drive goes about three quarters of the way around the rock. It's amazing to look high above and see hundreds of birds perched on ledges like people on the balconies of a luxury high-rise. 

A Piece of the Rock - oil on linen panel - 9x12
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From the Back Burner - Day 14 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

It's day 14 of the challenge and for the first time, I've fallen behind. I finally crashed after 13 days of painting til dawn. I made it to 3 AM and with my painting only half done, I went to sleep.
Managing my time is turning out to be for me the most difficult part of this challenge.
I'm still playing with the store-bought linen and canvas panels that I was getting ready to throw in the garbage early in the challenge. I won't buy them again but I have found that they are much easier to work with by using soft sable brushes instead of bristle brushes.
Today, it was dark and grey as ever, but I made an interesting discovery. I took day 13's painting outside to photograph it, and was surprised to find that the colors showed up as well as on a clear day. So, here it is. The photo reference is from the town of Cayucos. Every chance I get to visit the family house in Templeton, I make sure to include a visit to Cayucos and Morro Bay. Have I said how much I like it there? - I'd have moved to the coast yesterday if I had no ties or duties.

Cayucos Sunset - oil on canvas panel - 12x16
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From the Back Burner - Day 12 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Day 12 found me with very little time to work. Managing time is turning out to be the biggest hurdle of this challenge. I did have a tiny canvas on hand though that I haven't used because it  seemed too small for anything. Last night it was the perfect size.
This little scene of a pond in an old neighborhood near my Florida home, is a spot I've brought my students to. They painted in the morning light of a tropical summer day while I snapped a few photos of reeds and waterlilies.

Reeds and Lilies - oil on canvas - 6"x6"
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From the Back Burner - Day 10 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Today was one of those brown and grey winter days in the north. In the country, a day like this can be beautiful  with the shapes of bare trees silhouetted  along hill tops. But in suburbia, it's just plain dreary. It's been so dark all day, that there wasn't even a chance of photographing my day 10 painting. For day 10 of this challenge I headed out yesterday to a nearby park to work plein air. My usual method for plein air work is to work large, getting as much of the scene down as I can and returning as often as I need. Then I finish it to my satisfaction in the studio. It's a method that has worked for me since I first began plein air painting many years ago. But lately I've become dis-satisfied with the amount of time it takes to finish a work. Sometimes I even lose enthusiasm for whatever it was that inspired me in the first place. So I've started to work  more quickly entirely on site even if that means having to work smaller.There's truly no substitute for working from life. Everything is different. There are subtleties of color and light and shape that photos just don't capture. My painting which hopefully I can post tomorrow,  is a study of trees on a lake edge in the late afternoon light. The water kept changing every two minutes and each change was more interesting than the last. I finally had to choose just one option and stick with it. 

Afternoon Shadows - oil on canvas panel - 7"x 9"
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From the Back Burner - Day 9 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

A couple of years ago I visited  Fairmount  Park just outside of Philadelphia. It's a hilly, wild park with rocks, woods and ravines and a landscape vastly different from where I live in Florida.  At the entrance to the park were 3 or 4 small buildings set back a bit from the roadway. They sat  quietly in the winter day like dignified relics of a time long gone. I began to read about them and sure enough the buildings were what was left of a tiny settlement dating back to the early 1700's, and are the site where the country's first paper mill was built. The woods had grown so thick around them that it was impossible to get back far enough to get an unobstructed  photo with all the buildings in it. Even so, the photo interested me enough to try it as a painting with the quiet feel of a winter day and a time past.

An Old Homestead - oil on canvas panel - 14x11
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The past two days have been difficult for photography. Both this painting and the one below from yesterday, have some interfering glare. I've posted them anyway to keep up with the challenge. When the weather permits, I'll re-shoot them. The scene below is another one from Perdenales State Park.

Winter Meadow - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
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From the Back Burner

A few years ago I went camping with family members who live in Austin. They took us to Perdenales State Park to a campground with the most spacious sites I've ever seen. As with all places I've never seen, I was wide eyed with appreciation for the beauty of the land. Every place I turned, was material for a painting. I came upon this little cave while climbing through the rocky basin that the river runs through.  It looked like it had just enough head room to carefully fit a kayak under. I'll bet there's a story too behind the branch that looks it's propping up the boulders. I have no idea how far back the opening extends but it had enough mystery to excite my imagination.  I know I'll get back to that park with more time and a lot of canvasses.

Water Cave - oil on linen panel - 9x12
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From the Back Burner - Day 6 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Continuing my experimenting with painting panels, I tried a canvas panel for this painting. This panel worked a little better than the linen one I tried the other day, but it's still too thin and smooth and without enough tooth. I'll stick to making my own. They're a little heavier but the painting surface allows for a better more interesting layering of paint. I also worked larger for today's challenge. It's 12x16. Too me, that's a pretty small size yet I wasn't able to finish it in one sitting. I'm also finding that the earth brown I've been playing around with is a bit too warm for my liking. It's a version of pigment red 101 that has somehow been turned into a dark warm brown. I use browns mostly for making greys by mixing them with blues. I like the burnt umber I usually use better. It's a little bit cooler.
This week the weather is expected to be unseasonably warm here. I'm going to take advantage of it to do some plein air works.

Backwater - oil on canvas panel - 12x16
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From The Back Burner - Day 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Continuing my exploration with things I've put off, I treated myself to a new work surface. Or at least I thought it would be a treat. Usually I work on a rather heavyweight canvas with a bit of tooth. When I want a panel, I make my own archival product. But I've heard such great things about working on linen, I'd thought I'd try some linen panels. I bought 6 oil primed linen panels after reading rave product reviews about what a pleasure they are to work on and how well they hold colors.
Well, I couldn't have been more disappointed. The panels are so smooth and slick that it's like painting on a sheet of waxed paper. The key words in the product description were "non-absorbent surface". I can see them working quite nicely for someone who paints in thin layers. I work by layering on top of the underneath strokes. Since the paint skims the surface of these panels, there is nothing for the next layer to react with. I found myself painting on top of un-anchored strokes and fighting the surface the whole way. I kept persevering though and this day 4 painting is the result.

The Sound at Night -9x12 - oil on linen panel
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I know I will not be using the other five 9x12 panels. If there are any artists out there who want to conduct their own explorations with these panels, I purchased them on sale and will pass the savings on to them. For today's painting,  I'll be trying yet another panel. Wish me luck!

From the Back Burner - Day 3 - 30 paintings in 30 days

Everyday at sunset, people gather near the point of Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola to watch the sunset. The sailboat resting peacefully, seemed to accent  the calm beauty of the evening.

The photo reference for this painting was another from the pile that I intended to get to "one of these days". I'm still playing around with a palette of Ultramarine blue,  Alizarine, Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre , a muted dark orange and an earth brown. I also threw in Viridian Green for this one.

Resting - oil on canvas - 12x12
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