Day 5 - Lighthouse Keeper's Roof

Lighthouse Keeper's Roof

6" x 6". pastel

I am always drawn to the angles of roofs and gables particularly red roofs in contrast to cerulean blue skies. Maine, and coastal places in New England and New York, are full of these combos.
This is the Lighthouse keeper's home (which is now a fascinating museum) on Mohegan Island, Maine. I spent a rainy dreary afternoon exploring paintings, photos, historic items and other ephemera of the island, and it's residents and visitors.

Landscape Show at Huntington Arts Council And 30/30 Challenge

Firstly, let's get this out right at the top: I am honored and delighted to be a part of the (very exclusive)  Landscape show at the Huntington Arts Council from September 5 - 29. Please join me and the other artists at the Opening Reception, Friday September 5th!

Second, the marathon 30/30 Challenge is starting TOMORROW! And I am remarkably unprepared! 

Looking back to last year at this time, my workshop plans did not work out for Acadia, so I planned a trip to every painter's bucket list – Monhegan. Since the object of the trip was to paint, I killed two birds with one stone. And I did paint. Despite near constant rain and dripping fog. Despite the fact that with the humidity at 125% watercolors wouldn't dry. I now have enough photographs to paint Monhegan for quite some time, though, for the most part, I'll have to imagine the sunshine.

It was sunny when I got there and hiked out to Blackhead.

But I loved it. It's a beautiful place. It's not for everyone – too small, too not-modern, too much walking ALL walking, what the hell is there to do?, slightly grumpy year-rounders, an hour-and-a-half on the ferry, scarcity of credit card machines and ATMs, shared bathrooms, walking-up-the-stairs (no elevator???), no air-conditioning – are many of the complaints. (You can't believe the silly things people say on Trip Advisor!) But I loved it! 

I digress. The 30/30 Challenge. I will warn you now...I may not paint a full painting every day. I have a solo show coming in November, so I need to make some larger paintings (that clearly will take more than a day). But I will paint every day. And I will share the project here.

This year, I'll be finishing the 30/30 while in Maine. I'm so excited to be taking a pastel class with the amazing Michael Chesley Johnson at Acadia Workshop Center! YAY!

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to tell everyone that I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop. 

The mermaid needs some frames for the paintings in that solo show in November, so please help a girl out! (They sorta frown upon just sticking them to the wall with white tape. I don't know why.)

It will be an interesting month. Enjoy it with me.

PS: I'm relieved/excited/happy/ecstatic to tell you that The Art Guild of Port Washington is BACK in their home at Elderfields! Woohoo! We are planning LOTS of things, exhibits, classes and more...please check out our website! If you're an artist and on Long Island, please consider joining us! The Welcome Home Show is September 20 - October 19, with the Opening Reception on Sept 21.

Opening Reception - Annual Lighthouse Show - Open 'til July 20

It was a perfect evening in late June. A delightful walk along the boardwalk with my mom, music, wine, gentle breezes and wonderful artwork. (I love the march of the clouds in the picture above.)

Obligatory shots of the artist and her work. 

(After School Activities, Monhegan Schoolhouse, watercolor.)

(Click for information about this painting.)

Do I look sweaty? I feel sweaty. It's always hot in that building on opening night.

(In Memorium, watercolor)

There's so much to see - paintings are downstairs and there are two rooms of photography upstairs. Don't miss this wonderful show – at the Fire Island Lighthouse, on display until July 20. And don't forget, all the art is for sale and a portion goes to the Lighthouse Preservation Society (and the balance goes to an artist who probably needs the sale too!).

Looking back at the lighthouse as we leave.

Gorgeous clouds and sky and dunes.

The photo doesn't do this justice. We like to pretend that the clouds are faraway snow-capped mountains with the sun behind just turning their peaks crimson and gold as it sets.

Does anyone other than us make those imaginary landscapes?

The show is open 'til July 20 (Did I mention that?) and I highly recommend spending the day at Robert Moses State Park, walking the beach or the boardwalk, seeing the show, climbing the tower, walking into Kismet to The Inn or The Out and having lunch, or relaxing with a book on the beach. 

Need more info? Go to the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society for directions, hours and more. 

Fire Island Lighthouse Show - June 26 - July 20.

After School Activities, Monhegan Schoolhouse

watercolor, approx 10x14, $350

In Memorium

watercolor, approx 10x14", $350

I am proud to announce that for the sixth year my work has been accepted into the Fire Island Lighthouse's Annual Art Show. (The two paintings above.) 

This show means so much to me for so many reasons. In addition to being the first show I entered after  beginning to paint (as in "fine art" paint) it is one of my absolute favorite places.

Growing up on the south shore, the Fire Island Lighthouse was the first lighthouse I knew about - the only one I could see from out little town beach. There it was winking at me across the Great South Bay, every 7.5 seconds, "Hello....hello...hello..."

When I was about 10 or 12, the Junior Audubon Society took a trip over there and we stood under its (crumbling) magnificence. The guide explained how, once-upon-a-time, the end of Fire Island was less than 200 yards from where we were standing (it's now approx 5 miles away). How the mail and supply boat could pull right up to the base of the lighthouse (the bay is maybe 200 yards away now). I was fascinated – and hooked.

By 1973 it was decommissioned and the beacon moved to the Robert Moses Causeway water tower to the east. There was serious consideration to knocking it down. I was heartbroken – how could they? Luckily, local outcry got results and they stopped the plans. Long story short, in 1986 the Lighthouse was recommissioned.

Today it's part of the Fire Island National Seashore, but much of it's day-to-day funding and the maintenance of the beacon itself, comes from the work of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, a non-profit that gives tours, puts on events and collects donations to keep the place running. It's still one of the prettiest places I know of – far from the hum of suburban life. Few cars are allowed here – the salty air is filled with only the call of red winged blackbirds, gulls, and other birds, the crash of waves and the occasional happy "ting!" of a bicycle bell. It is peaceful.

So – I would be delighted and honored for you all to join me (and about 100 other artists and their guests) for the Artist's Reception, Thursday June 26 from 6 - 9 pm. (Details HERE).

Painting Updates: After School and Mermaids

Great South Bay Music Festival 
Poster 2007

(Prints are available for sale...somewhere...in storage...ask me if you're interested.)

Don't get your hopes up - I still can't show you the mermaid. Sorry :-(.  BUT I am taking pictures and writing notes about the progress so that at the end, when it's DONE, I can share the process, and the thinking behind it, with you.

Above is the VERY first poster the very first year of the festival! We stuck with this image for a couple of years. You'll see, in future posters, that we changed the look of the festival grounds through the years. The carnival eventually was taken out, a BIGGER stage was added, and the "craft area" moves to the other side. This was made easier because the four main pieces of the poster were painted separately – the festival grounds and water, the sky, the mermaid, and the moon. This was to allow me to change the proportions for ads in various newspapers, magazines, flyers and postcards (always different sizes and proportions). Some alterations were made only in photoshop and sometimes I had to repaint things.

I will show you a little more of the "After School" painting and how I solved a lighting problem.
(Click here to see where we left off.)

Here goes...

Here are a couple of close-ups of the painting with colors sort of blocked in.

I moved the sunflowers from under the window to the right to "cover" 

an electrical box on this corner. 

That chicken kept popping up everywhere. She was very inquisitive and bold.

As I said in the last blog post, the early evening became very overcast (and rainy) shortly after I sat down to work on this scene. When I started to work on it at home, I really wanted there to be some late afternoon/early evening color in the sky and reflected off the building. In pictures (taken when the sun was actually out on Monhegan) the northern sky is quite gorgeous with pinks and lavenders and the ocean horizon line is a cool blue.

Defining the trees and the sunflowers behind the chicken. 

I had to be careful to not make a blob of darkness in the dark areas of the pine tree/s and keep them interesting. The window screens are very dark too – darker then the other windows. But, this is sort of where I got stuck because my reference photo of the building is very grey – the western side is darker than the front of the building – and that's just not right if the sun is setting. Soooo what do I do?

I started looking through my other photos to find clues about the light. Despite the cloud cover, I was lucky enough to have been treated to late afternoon sun on my first day there. The goal was to find a similar building at a similar time of day. I found this picture of the lighthouse keeper's house in the late afternoon.

Granted this is looking south, with the west to the right, whereas the painting is looking north with the west to the left... 

but if you flip it...you can see the similarities more clearly. I did check Google maps to verify that the two buildings are at the same angle. (There's even a pine tree in nearly the same spot!)

Original photo (as a reminder): 

BIG difference!

Looking forward to painting those shadows behind the sunflowers (a la Sargent).

Pay No Attention To That Mermaid I'm Working On!

Sundial

watercolor

SOLD!

...And can't show you! Nope! Not yet. I'll show you everything at the end – when it's done, and we send it out into the world.

In the meantime, I'll distract you with two things. Firstly, the above painting I sold to my dear friend Roni. I painted it mostly (and when I say mostly, I mean 85ish%) plein air at Planting Fields Arboretum. It's a wonderful place in Oyster Bay, NY. I have to confess that I watched a woman paint a fabulous version of this, in acrylic, the day before. I liked hers so much that I went back the next day and did my own painting. This painting showed at the Port Jeff/Bridgeport show Port-to-Port, and at the Love Of Art Show at the Atria in Roslyn.

Secondly, with something I started in the waaaaay back. The sketch for this watercolor was actually done at the schoolhouse on Monhegan Island, Maine. It's called "After School" (or something like that). I started painting it in October.

Here's the beginning. I ALWAYS forget to take the very FIRST picture - of just the sketch. (Oh and look – there's the Sundial right underneath!)

I went to Monhegan in September of 2013. It was an artist's bucket list trip (check out the blog posts starting here) and overlapped with the start of a 30/30 Challenge. The weather started out lovely enough, but once I was on island it rapidly became a grey, dreary, drippy three days punctuated with momentary glimpses of the sun. I'll explain as I go along what I'm doing to this painting to bring out the sun!

Here are a couple of the original photos:
Day 1 on Monhegan. Notice the clouds rolling in. 

Day 3. The sun came out and I got my hopes up. Ran back to the hotel, grabbed my gear and went to the schoolhouse. But, the sun disappeared and though I could have toughed it out and painted fog and grey clouds, the misty rain returned again. You can't really paint with watercolor in the open, in the rain. 

So I took pictures of chickens and the side of the building and thought about how I was going to brighten up the scene with some sunlight.

Here's a second picture of the painting in progress.

More to come!

Time to Paint! Back to Monhegan with Henny Penny

Henny Penny checking things out

Flashback: 

After nearly two full days of drippy, foggy, 103% humidity, decidedly non-plein air days (too wet to even paint on a porch or under some sort of shelter) the sun broke out!
The sun!  Whaaaat's thaaat, in the sky??!
I ran back to the hotel to get my easel. "I can finally paint! Outside! In the sun!" I thought. By the time I  got back to the hotel (drippy from my hike) ran up three flights, got everything thrown in my pack, back down the stairs, across the village, set up and sketched the scene, the fog bank had rolled back in, the light was gone and humidity was about 99%.

Henny Penny & Friends

I did enjoy watching the chickens hunting for bugs, especially one buff hen who went exploring off into the thick shrubbery and poison ivy and would pop up in the bushes beside me, in the grass in front of me and right at my feet. (Miss Henny Penny was the subject of one of the 30/30 Challenge Paintings as well.)

The Painting

This weekend I pulled out that painting I started at the schoolhouse on Monhegan. I can't believe I didn't take a photo at the schoolhouse of the preliminary drawing with a few very basic colors blocked in. It certainly will not qualify for "plein air." My main reference photo is the one at the top of this post. 

I took the photo and brightened it up and posterized it in photoshop. I also duplicated the sunflowers and flipped them around to the corner of the building. I'm not sure I love the color of the building...I'll make some adjustments.

In general, I'm taking some liberties with the color - brightening up the sky, making it early evening. I'll move some hens into the frame as well. Changed the horizon line a bit (it was out there somewhere in the fog).

Close up of Henny Penny

Close up of Henny Penny's friends

I'll post more of my progress in the coming days/weeks.
Please let me know what you think!

PS: For the progression of this painting click here.

Day 22 - 30/30 Challenge - Wide Open Pastels

Wide Open

pastel, 6" x 6", $35

Available in my Etsy shop! 

And...back to Monhegan! Well, in this case, on the way to Monhegan. This is a quick pastel I did last night. (For Day 22 - as opposed to being AHEAD for once. Yes, today is Day 23. Working on Day 23 later!)
I was working with some ideas I got from the Doug Dawson workshop and playing with the dozens of new pastels I bought at Blick. Unisons. On Sale. Mmmmm. Nice.
I can confirm that they are delicious and superior to the Blicks and the Rembrandts I have been  working with.

Day 11 - 30/30 Challenge - Still Virtually Visiting Monhegan

Monhegan Lighthouse Buildings, Sunrise

6" x 6", pastel, $35

Available in my Etsy shop - just click here!

Monhegan Lighthouse is such a "photogenic" lighthouse. With commanding views of Mañana Island as well as the coast of Maine (on a clear day), this is one of the most popular places to paint and photograph on the island. The light and shadows on the angles of the buildings - the walls and the roofs, the sky – are just fabulous. I love the blue of the sky, the red roofs, the weather worn white buildings and the green, green grass. 

 I could probably paint on this hill for a month. Just delicious.

Day 10 - 30/30 Challenge - Shed on the Edge of The Marsh

Shed, Edge of the Marsh, Monhegan

6" x 6", watercolor, $45

Available in my Etsy shop - Just click here!

As you can see, I changed the colors of the kayaks from this reference shot. I love the golds and greens of the marsh as fall approaches and the fog adds a softness to the landscape. I like that the owner of the little grey brown shed added a bit of whimsy with the smiley fish plaque on the door.

Ice Pond supplied the island with ice. The ice was cut, stored and used all summer.

Grey dreary skies dominated my stay on Monhegan. It was impossible to paint outside using watercolor. I noticed that not even the bravest of oil painters tried. Heck, it was hard to paint INSIDE with 100% humidity! (See Day 3. That was torture! It simply would not dry!)

Beautiful spot overlooking a cove, just north of Ice Pond.

So, when your painting trip turns out to be a hiking and relaxing trip, you gather info, take pictures, visit the (few) shops and galleries, and imagine - as hard as you can - that the sun might come out!

Pretty overlook, at the corner of someone's yard, just up the trail, past Ice Pond

This is a road on Monhegan. Heading north.

Day 9 - 30/30 Challenge - Henny Penny Goes to School

Henny Penny Goes To School, 6" x 6" watercolor, $45

Available to purchase in my Etsy shop - just click!

One of the charming things about Monhegan is the chickens that sort of pop up all around the village. In someone's side yard or garden, or in the shrubs and weeds next to the road. You're walking along and out pops a chicken! Oh, Hi!
This pretty buff girl and her sisters hang around the schoolhouse, wandering under the apple trees and picking at insects. I really enjoyed watching them. They struck me as pretty world-wise for chickens.

The Ladies of the schoolyard.

Spot the Chicken.

She's a character. She pops up everywhere.

Exploring beyond the picnic table and the flag pole.