Sap Buckets on Calendar Hill

I just completed a painting which you can see below in an early stage. Here,  the landscape has been brushed in quickly.

As I continued, I brightened the sky and added details to the under painting.  I decided to balance the composition by adding a limb so that the tree would seem to "pose" for her portrait.  This is the finished painting, now exhibited at ArtisTree Gallery in their annual "Mud Season" show....

"Sap Buckets on Calendar Hill"

acrylic on canvas - 14" x 18"

Below is the photograph I used for the painting.  As you can see, the background differs substantially from the photo.  Instead of the gray winter skies of my "Posted" series I cropped out the background and changed the mood with a blue sky.

There is a great advantage to working from photos--when it is too cold to paint outdoors, I can work in the studio.  As always, the landscape is open to interpretation.  I look forward to getting out to paint en plein aire soon as spring really arrives and the weather warms up.

Posted on Cobb Hill

I've been working on landscapes that speak winter and mud season here in Vermont.  Often we drive by trees sporting posted signs and these signs make a colorful statement in the cold and gray scene.  This is my second painting in this series.  Last week this is how it looked:

After removing an errant branch, cleaning up others, adding darker values to the sky and finishing the sign, this is the finished piece....

"Posted, Cobb Hill"

acrylic - 14" x 18"

Summer Studio and Gallery

It's been a lot of work but now I think I can say the Summer Studio and Gallery in our barn/garage is just about complete thanks to my dear husband who did all the cutting, nailing and painting!  Thank you, Rick....

We used homosote panels painted dark brown to hold smaller works....

When the doors are open, the space is filed with north light--a perfect spot to finish plein aire paintings....

Smaller, unframed pieces reside in bins....

And I found a great old drawing table at a used furniture store--with a bit of sanding it's perfect....

Just a few more finishing touches and we'll be finished.  Then, we'll have an opening and you're all invited!  If you'd like a personal preview, just email me and we'll set it up!

Too cold, too windy....

A beautiful sunny April day but too cold and windy to be out painting....  The unusual weather last month had us ready and raring to go, but we're back to more typical temperatures for a Vermont April.  
Below is a just finished painting I started in South Woodstock last summer.  It is good to have all last season's plain aire work completed now.

"Summer field, South Woodstock"

12" x 16" - oil

Today, I spent some time out raking flower beds and there are definite signs of life--lilies and daffodils and primroses poking up green shoots.  The sun is warm and the sky is blue--a lovely early spring day. 

Early Spring, North Road

There a giant benefit to this unseasonably warm weather for plein aire painters.  We can get out there and paint in March without sitting in the car or going to more adventurous means to be warm enough to paint outdoors.

So, yesterday, we went to Barnard and found a lovely spot in the shade looking off to the west across the valley to the distant mountains.  Dump trucks and friends came by and it was fun waving and chatting.  But more importantly, it was wonderful to be out there in the fresh air doing something we love.

"Early Spring, North Road"

11" x 14" - oil

Unfortunately, despite my attempts to correct the color, the painting here looks much more "turquoisy" than it actually is.  So, you have to use your imagination to make the sky and rocks a more soft and quiet blue....

What Happened in Classes This Week?

In drawing and mixed media classes this week, among other things, we were working with little still lifes of fruits.  Of course it's hard to draw them without knowing how dark and/or light parts and pieces of them are.  So we started by testing the softness and hardness of various pencils and then creating value scales like the one below.  It goes from white on the left to black on the right with all the intermediate steps in value in between....

Then, using little fruits each person made a small study of apples and pears, trying to use the full range of values in their drawings....

It looks to me now like I could have gotten a bit darker in overall value....

In mixed media class we attempted to create a drawing of the same fruits using Prismacolor colored pencils in only process colors:  canary yellow, process red and aquamarine.  By mixing these three colored pencils,  you can create a full range of colors as in this drawing.  It requires some patience, layering one color on top of another, mixing them together to get just the right color and value.....

Above is my attempt.  Give it a try--it's a challenge!

Mixed Media Class

I've been teaching a couple of classes at ArtisTree in Woodstock this term.  In mixed media class we played around with templates and quotations, creating designs similar to the two examples I put together below, creating a "path" for the words.  The first is a quote from Alexander Calder....

"I Paint with Shapes"

9" x 12" - mixed media

The second example utilizes the same materials:  soft pencil on gessoed paper using shape templates and  masking tape and a variety of shading and line to create good contrast between dark and light.... 

"Art Consists in Drawing the Line Somewhere"

8 1/2" x 11" - mixed media

It's fun playing with new and familiar materials, using them in different ways....

"Images of Irene"

This month, I am participating in an exhibit "Images of Irene" which opens tomorrow at ArtisTree Community Arts Center and Gallery in Woodstock, VT on route 12 just north of downtown.  I hope if you are in the area on January 6th between 6 and 8 pm, you'll plan to attend the Opening Reception.

This exhibit reflects the work of six community members who participated in a photography class lead by Carla Kimball entitled "Telling Our Stories Through New Eyes".  Over the course of seven sessions at ArtisTree, students wove together photography, poetry and stories to chronicle each individual’s experience of Tropical Storm Irene. The exhibit presents both their visual and poetic narratives of the storm.  Through images and poems, the galleries will reflect the personal and universal expressions of Irene and its effect on ourselves, our communities and our land as well as examples derived from the new way of seeing the world through class exercises. 

Photographs will be for sale by donation and proceeds will be donated to the Sustainable Woodstock Flood Relief Fund. The exhibition will be available for viewing Tuesday through Saturday, January 7-21st from 11am-2pm or by appointment. For more information about Sustainable Woodstock’s Flood Relief Fund visit www.sustainablewoodstock.org.  

I hope that if you can't make it to the Opening on the 6th, you'll be able to visit the exhibit during Gallery hours through January 21st.

Note Cards are Finished!

It's been a long time coming but finally I have finished two sets of note cards.  The first is a set of four floral prints....

and the second is a set of pear watercolors....

These images are taken from the pear watercolor and floral print calendars just off the presses.  It is is an exciting departure for me--from fine arts into a bit of the commercial!  They will be packaged and for sale in the area in the near future....

After the Storm

It has been a long week, this week.  When hurricane Irene came through this state she did lots of damage.  We were fortunate to come through unscathed.  But lots of time was spent taking care of people whose lives were turned upside down by the flooding of virtually every brook, stream and river.  So many roads and bridges washed out.  So many houses damaged and lost.  So many lives altered dramatically.  Every morning folks met at the elementary school here in Woodstock to volunteer in whatever way they could.  What a fine community of generous, involved and caring people we have in Vermont.  I am so grateful to be part of that community.

And, finally, despite the storm, my floral print calendar is complete--here is the final print intended for November....

"Rose and Holly"

9"x12" -  soft cut linoleum print

"Rose and Holly"

9"x12" - hand colored linoleum print

At the moment, all twelve prints are being scanned and turned into a proof calendar.  I'm excited to see what it looks like!  I still need to make some decisions about typeface, binding, etc. after I see it.  But I'm almost there.

And then the question becomes what to do next?

One More to Go....

It has taken me much longer than I thought it would to create twelve finished prints for my floral calendar.  Buying one house, selling another, moving from place to place and then painting and renovating is very time and energy intensive!  

But I am now working on the last month of the calendar, involving roses, and here is the latest print, for the month of January. 

"Amaryllis and Paper White"

linoleum print - 9"x12"

"Amaryllis and Paper White"

hand colored linoleum print - 9"x12"

It is just wonderful to have time to work in my studio today and I look forward to more of it in the days ahead.... 

A Spring Flower Print

It's been a busy summer with not much studio time.  We've had a great vacation on the Cape, a wonderful visit from our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, lots of work on the house and normal, fun, summer activities. 
Here is a spring flower print, perhaps March....  I think the little bee in looks suspiciously like "Flying Piglet" and that entertains me!

"Daffodil and Crocus"

linoleum print - 9"x12"

"Daffodil and Crocus"

hand colored linoleum print - 9"x12"

Paintings at the Chandler

Here is an excerpt from Dian Parker's review of the current Area Artists Exhibit at the Chandler Gallery in Randolph, VT where I am exhibiting plein aire paintings.  I am pleased that my painting, "Swimming Hole on Locust Creek" was singled out by her for favorable comment...


"Saturday, June 11, 2011
REVIEW: 50 Area Artists on Display at the Chandler Gallery in Randolph

Every spring the Chandler Gallery offers an opportunity for area artists to exhibit their work. This year 50 artists display more than 140 pieces of their art in the expanded gallery. You’d think it would be impossible to show that many pieces without the gallery feeling crowded, a mish-mash of art. Instead the show is a wonderful surprise. Not only is the show pleasing as a whole, there are also many different genres of art displayed. To consider each of the artists is not possible so I have selected only a few.

"Swimming Hole on Locust Creek"

12" x 16" - oil

Two landscape artists, Kathleen Fiske and Katherine Ravenhorst-Adams, have 3 paintings each in the show and they alone would be worth the visit. Fiske’s Swimming Hole on Locust Creek, oil, is striking with its meandering stream with sunlight splashing across the water, and when seen from a distance takes on new dimension."

This review first appeared in the Randolph Herald on June 9, 2011.

Here is the link to the complete article....  http://vermontartzine.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-50-area-artists-on-display-at.html

"Trillium and Bloodroot"

Two weeks ago I was sitting in my chair in the garden contemplating--an assignment given to me at Shambhala as part of my "Wisdom in Everyday Life" class.  "Find a meaningful place outdoors and sit and contemplate there for ten to twenty minutes every day."  During that week, each day was different in the garden.  The birds sang, the sun shone (or didn't), the hawks soared around high above, the little brook burbled along.  

And as the week went on, the bloodroot came and went and the trillium came and stayed.  Beautifully.  Not often have I just sat.  No weeding,  No drawing. Just contemplating.  I highly recommend it, because I fell in love with the trillium and bloodroot during those contemplations, and they became my latest prints....

"Trillium and Blood Root"

9" x 12" - linoleum print

"Trillium and Blood Root"

9" x 12" - hand colored linoleum print

I discovered that wild flowers are more about the leaves and less about the flowers.  The wild trillium leaves feel like they could fly and the quiet bloodroot leaves are like little fans of joy.

Cyclamen and Snow Drop

Just finished are the latest prints in the flower series.  "Cyclamen and Snow Drop" will be January in the calendar.  Here is the black and white original....

"Cyclamen and Snow Drop"

linoleum print - 9" x 12"

And the hand colored version....

"Cyclamen and Snow Drop"

hand colored linoleum print - 9" x 12"

The cyclamen plant itself will grace our dining room table now that its work in the studio is complete.

"Daisy and Balloon Flower"

Today, I put the finishing touches on the latest in my floral print series, "Daisy and Balloon Flower".  Now that it is complete, it reminds me a bit of "Foxglove and Black Eyed Susan" which I created last fall and which is one of my favorites.  Here is the finished print...

"Daisy and Balloon Flower"

linoleum print - 9" x 12"

I discovered that balloon flowers come in many colors including pink, blue, white and purple.  I thought about coloring a sunset sky of golds and pinks but decided to stick with shades and tints of blue in the sky and use pink balloon flowers to contrast with it.  Here it is...

"Daily and Balloon Flower"

hand colored linoleum print - 9" x 12"

I hope to enter three of these hand colored prints in Chandler Gallery's Area Artist Show in May.

"Tulip and Pussy Willow"

Here is the latest in the flower print series, finished this week.  First, the black and white version...

"Tulip and Pussy Willow"

linoleum print - 9" x 12"

And then, the color print...

"Tulip and Pussy Willow"

hand colored linoleum print - 9" x 12"

It is lovely and meditational mixing and blending the Prismacolors to get the shades and tints just the way they fit together best.   

I am rounding for home now with 7 prints in the series of 12 completed for next year's calendar.  Spring and summer months are much easier than fall and winter months.  So I still have to do January, February, October and November.  But June is underway!

Finished "Poinsettia and Berry"

This morning I finished hand coloring the latest in the floral print series and here it is....

"Poinsettia and Berry"

hand colored linoleum print - 9" x 12"

I may go in and darken the background a bit more, but basically I am pleased with the finished product....

Another printing plate....

I've been working on "Poinsettia and Berry" and thought I would document what happens when the initial print isn't what one hopes it might be.  Here is the first artist proof:

"Poinsettia and Berry"

linoleum print - 9" x 12" - artist proof

It looks pretty good and I wanted some black areas--maybe even more than show here.  But I hated to lose the red of the leaves to solid black.  I decided I could always darken them when I hand color the print.  I did some more cutting and this is the result....

Poinsettia and Berry

9" x 12" - linoleum print 

I may have given up some graphic strength in service to texture and color, but I like it.  We'll see how it works....

Starting Over...

How can it take so long, require so much energy and eclipse everything else to move from Gaysville to Woodstock?  It's barely 25 miles but it might as well be 2500 miles because everything you own has to be picked up, considered,  discarded or packed, moved, unpacked and installed somewhere in the new house.  And that's after the new floors and walls have been sanded, patched, painted and painted again.

The most fun painting was the dining room floor which was painted with a checkerboard "rug" using the colors of the walls in the living room, dining room and office.  Here's Sandy working on the Rockport Gray squares (thank you Sandy!) using Carol's little stool (thank you Carol!).

And here is the finished product....

Now that the really necessary curtains are up and only a little tweaking here and there is required, I am back in the studio.  Two months and fifteen days since I last posted, I am starting over!   And having a studio at home again will be lovely....