Winter Recedes

The winter of 2010/2011 marks the first time I drummed up the courage (and invested in the clothing) which allowed me to get outside and paint in the cold and snow. And we had cold and snow this past winter…plenty of both. All in all it was a great experience and I don’t regret a single moment of it.

But I love to see the grass come through the melting snow! The promise of warmer weather; no more snow shoveling, no more cold, getting the herb garden going and grabbing my gear to head out to paint while feeling the warm sun and the warm breezes and breathing the fresh un-frozen air. Plein air painting is a year round pursuit and I love every aspect of it. I just happen to prefer the warmer weather.

We are not there yet but the accumulated 30+ inches of snow that we received this past winter is melting, leaving wonderfully juxtaposed patterns of cold white and warm fallow orangey greens. It is nature’s annual promise of better things to come.

This wonderful view is not a bucolic farm field in upstate NY. In fact it is far from it. This is just off of the South Service Road and within sight of Route 495 better known to us locals as the Long Island Expressway. The LIE bisects Long Island horizontally and runs straight from the Queens end of the Midtown Tunnel (which runs under the East River straight into New York City) all the way out to Riverhead which sits in the crotch of the North and South forks of the Island. One of those little jewels of old Long Island farmland which now overlooks one of the busiest highways in the country.

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.

Moonrise

40F! On the last day of January! Painting weather, so, naturally, I headed out to Caumsett State Park on Lloyd Neck to paint with a couple of my painting buddies. I even left my heavy insulated coat at home because I just didn’t think I’d need it which turned out to be true.

The hard part was getting to where I wanted to paint which is about a mile, or halfway to the beach, up what’s called the Fisherman’s Road. However, the Fisherman’s Road had not been plowed which is great news to the many, many cross country skiers and snow shoe enthusiasts but not welcome news to a somewhat overweight ex-smoker of over 30 years further bogged down with an easel a backpack and wet panel carrier.

We followed the tracks left by the snow shoes which were somewhat packed down but every ten feet or so one or the other of my legs broke through the packed snow and I sank in to about knee depth. Believe me when I tell you that it doesn’t take long before you get tired of this happening. I feel like I pulled the muscles in both legs!

If you read my blog often then you know that I don’t mind exerting unusual effort to get to a good painting spot and yesterday’s location did not disappoint. Great color and composition awaited me as did those wonderful two hours of painting in the muffled silence of a winter’s day.

However, there then loomed the prospect of the walk back…

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.

Clear Creek

This was fun for me to do. It was painted from a photograph taken by my friend Jack Sasson who lives in Colorado. Our families have been friends since before I was born. In fact I still call his folks Aunt Hilda and Uncle Jack. Jack shoots great images out in Colorado and he and I recently hooked up on Facebook where we get the chance to mutually admire each others work.

I am also friends with a number of plein air painters who live near where Jack lives. Because of the way Facebook works the painters were able to see Jack’s photos and have taken to inviting him along when they go out to paint. I am thrilled to know that they have all gotten together but just a bit frustrated that I can’t join in! I was in Colorado once and remember it being one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I look forward to the day, hopefully soon, when I can join them.

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.

Plein Air Still Life

I would like to be a better still life painter but find that I suffer from one major drawback in this area…I hate setting them up! I hate finding elements that I think will look nice: perhaps tell a story, getting everything arranged, getting the light just right, etc. It all feels phony and contrived. I much prefer to stumble on elements that are in their natural setting, that have a perfect light upon them and that do tell a story simply because they are where they are supposed to be and at the precise time when they are supposed to be there.

I wondered if the fact that I can’t really be bothered to take the time to compose and set up the elements to make a perfect still life suggested that I had a streak of laziness running through me. But I have decided that this cannot be the case as I am willing, instead, to wrap myself in every warm garment I can lay my hands on (including my father’s old sailing coat which is a USCG approved personal flotation device and, as such, is the most wonderfully insulated coat ever conceived!) and head out into cold temperatures and even colder wind chills in the hopes of stumbling upon my perfect plein air still life.

I think this is why I have been doing all the tree paintings of late. The primary reason is that I love trees, I love their character and the way light hits them and how they all have such stories to tell. I have also decided that I am tired of always looking off into the distance for a wide panoramic view when there might be something just as beautiful right at my feet.

I set out a bit late in the day this past Saturday to do some painting. As I drove to my location there was a nice warm sun throwing great light and shadow on the trees and the snow. However one glance at the sky was enough to tell me that the sun wouldn’t last long, that it was just a temporary break through some gathering clouds. I had to get off of the plowed road and hike through some knee deep snow to get to the location that I felt offered good prospects for a nice painting. I had just about finished setting up when I noticed this wonderful warm glow in the sky beyond my horizon trees and I worked very quickly to get that established before it disappeared. I only had about an hour on this small painting as when the light started to diminish so did the temperature!

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.

Full Time

Noted landscape painter Stapleton Kearns recently wrote something to the effect that if one is an on site landscape painter and one only works during the warm weather months then one is only working part-time!

I loved this quote and took it as a challenge. I read the above in an article Kearns had written in one of the art magazines about painting outside in the winter. In the article he made many suggestions, both of a technical and practical nature, to help make what could be an arduous and very uncomfortable experience more comfortable and productive.

I followed a lot of his advice, not the least of which was the purchase of a pair of boots which are so well insulated that they claimed to keep my feet toasty warm in temperatures as low as -94 F! I also purchased my first ever pair of glomitts which are a kind of mitten that folds back to expose finger-tip-less gloves.

Clad in my new boots, my fathers old sailing coat (which is actually a well disguised personal floatation device and, as such, is incredibly well insulated) my earmuffs and my bright orange wool cap I set out last Sunday for The Planting Fields Arboretum which is not far from my house. My thermometer read 29 F which is not too cold…well within the advertised range of my new boots…but there was a stiff breeze, which I estimate to have been in the 20MPH range, bringing the wind chill down into the teens.

All in all I was outside of my car for two hours. I painted for about an hour and a half. Unfortunately the view which really inspired me also called for me to face straight into the cold northwest wind but, if I like what I see, I set up and paint it and worry about the comfort consequences later.

I am happy to report that my feet never came close to feeling cold. In fact the only parts of me that did get cold were my face and my fingertips and the fear of frost bite finally caused me to pack up and head for the warmth of the car.

But what a brilliant experience I had! Standing out in a field alone, painting on a cold January morning with a beautiful snow covered view stretched out before me. This is something I have thought about mustering the courage to do for quite some time and I am so glad that I finally did it. Thanks Stape, now I’m a full-timer!

Shown here are the sketch (above) which I did on site that morning and the same view worked up in the studio (below) which I painted while working from my sketch as well as photographs shot that morning.

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.

Apples and Sherry

If you live where I do on the North Shore of Long Island then you are aware, as am I, that everything outside is brown. Just brown. Certainly I could go down to the water and find some different color. Perhaps I’m being lazy? I am in the process of getting myself outfitted to paint outdoors in the winter but am not there yet. If I thought I could withstand the elements for 2 hours I would be doing just that. I miss the outdoors.

But I also love the way light falls on things. It doesn’t matter much to me what the thing is as long as the light is nice. And I love to paint apples! Boy do I love to paint apples! I am not, nor will I ever be, a sherry drinker but we have this bottle in the house as a substitute for rice wine for stir frying and I liked the shape, value and color.

So, let me say it now…I no longer wish to paint from photographic reference. I want to spend the rest of my days painting from life. I think of myself as a landscape painter but, if the landscape is not exciting me, I will set something up in the studio and paint it.

And I am happy with it.

But I am waiting for it to snow outside!

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.

Planting Fields

The leaves are down. The vibrant orange and red colors of autumn have come and gone. A sad time for landscape painters? Not in the least! In fact this is a very exciting time for me because I love trees and I love them even better when I can see their “skeletal” form. I love the way they come up out of the ground and rise high in the sky and I especially love the way they grab the warm sunlight and reflect that back to me. Surrounded as they usually are by cool mauves and grays they seem to radiate heat which is a welcome feeling on a cool day.

Both of these paintings were done on the grounds of the Planting Field Arboretum which is only a couple of miles from my house. “The former estate of William Robinson Coe and his wife, Mai, Planting Fields spans more than 400 acres and includes the estate house Coe Hall and other architecturally significant estate buildings, greenhouses, vast woody plant collections and the woodland trails”. It is a magnificent place to wander through and look for the right composition.

“In the Valley of The Giants” was painted at the westernmost end of the park where many grand old species of trees grow freely.

“November Lindens” was painted just off of the main path not far from the entrance. There is a row of about 6 beautiful lindens which line the path along with an old and very picturesque split rail fence which is in various states of lovely disrepair.

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.