"...and the forecast calls for..."

I guess the lesson here is that one can never trust a weather forecast! I had a one day plein air workshop scheduled for this past Saturday in Smithtown, NY but we cancelled it because the weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain and cold damp winds for both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say I never saw a drop of rain and Sunday was one of the loveliest days I can recall since last autumn.

The element which made both days memorable for me was the incredible sky that the passing cold front left in its wake; massive fair weather cumulous clouds moving majestically up from the south. Nothing makes me more excited to get out and paint than the presence of this sort of very busy sky.

I left early on Saturday morning to head over to Centre Island Beach because I know that it is a spot where I can get a bit of water and some distant trees in the foreground yet have my canvas be mostly devoted to a good sky painting. However, I never made it that far because, as Bayville Road makes a sharp right-hand bend, you get a view across Long Island Sound towards Connecticut and I was amazed at how beautiful this sky was. The plein air mobile made what the faint of heart might consider to be a rather treacherous left hand turn into the beach parking lot. I got out of the car and looked to the west and saw the kind of view I normally only see in my dreams, lots of blues and grays in the water and in the tumultuous sky and a wonderful pink beach house which was brightly illuminated and would serve as a wonderful focal point.

"End of Summer~Stehli Beach" is available for sale. Click this link for details.

Idyllic, right? Well, not exactly. If you know the area then you are aware that I was set up just across the street from a somewhat new amusement park which I think is called the Bayville Scream Park. Among their other attractions they apparently have a pirate themed ride. To lend the proper atmosphere to the ride they have a loud recording of a very British sounding sea captain exhorting his crew to fire upon the dreaded enemy. The recording is repeated…over and over and over again! I began to root for the pirates, hoping they would get in just one shot which would send the annoying British flagged frigate to the bottom of the sea!

Not being one to look a gift sky in the mouth, I ate lunch, did a few errands, grabbed my rig and headed out again. I returned to Rottkamp’s Farm where I had painted last week for just the same reason as before…a bit of foreground to act as an anchor for a sky painting. And finally, early on Sunday evening, the clouds lowered, blocked out the sun and any blue sky, and raindrops began to splatter on my palette!

"Early October Sky" is available for sale. Click this link for details.

In truth, conditions would not have been very favorable for some of my less experienced students. Both days felt a considerable cool wind and the clouds intermittently blocked the sun causing subject matter to be illuminated, thrown into shadow and then illuminated again. Variable conditions while painting outdoors can be maddening even to the most experienced painter. But this was one day I will never forget!

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.

Primary Ingredients

A word of warning…never set up to paint the ingredients you plan to use for dinner that night!

I have grown to really love cooking. I love all of the shapes, colors and textures of the ingredients and the feel of the tools. I love all of the preparatory work and the act of cooking and then sitting down to eat what I have made.

It occurred to me that a “food” still life might be just the ticket. Everything is gray and brown out doors and after looking for someplace to paint on Saturday and early Sunday I decided to instead move indoors and set up a still life.

I had already been shopping for what I was going to make Sunday night and had many different ingredients to choose from. I grabbed my cutting board, my old Chicago Cutlery knife, some fresh parsley and a lemon, a tomato and garlic and set it all up in my studio.

The problem was that I had intended to get the painting done “alla prima” or in one sitting thus making my ingredients available later for dinner. Unfortunately this was not the case but I thought this was OK as all I really had to replace was the lemon. I ran to the local food market just as they were getting ready to close, bought my replacement lemon, and headed for home confident that my troubles were over.

Wrong again! I started to get set up when I remembered that my cutting board and favorite knife were still set up downstairs and could not be disturbed. So, no problem, I can improvise. I used the back side of my wooden pizza peel as a cutting board and my less than favorite inexpensive Sabatier knife. Everything was moving along fine until I came up about a tomato short of the required 2 cups of diced tomatoes. As the local market was now closed I had no choice but to raid my still life for the necessary ingredient.

Monday morning found me at the market early to purchase my replacement tomato and the painting was finished without further inconvenience to either my self or any of my “models”.

The title of the painting, “Primary Ingredients”, refers to the fact that the three so called “primary colors” red, yellow and blue are all present here at full strength.

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.