Monhegan Interlude

 In September I joined some of my artist friends on Monhegan Island for a brief painting excursion...
Most of them were there for a week, I was just there from Sunday through Wednesday...
 Nancy Bea Miller, Alexandra Tyng, Dianna Ansley and Mary Walsh all rented a house up the hill from the town, and Eliza Auth and I had an efficiency apartment down by the water.

On Sunday afternoon I started this painting down by Fish beach...
above is sketch on site, on the right is the finished painting..

This painting was started Tuesday morning. It was the view from the balcony of our apartment. An elderly couple across the way sat on their deck and discussed everything from the weather on the island to health of the national economy... I finished it in the studio.

Morning Conversations

sketch for "Ferry Arrival"

 Here I am attempting to catch the afternoon light on the docking pier of the island.

Ferry Arrival  11 x 14

2 other artists ... the island was crawling with them!

I ambitiously set up to paint this view of the beach by the fish market... It was incredibly windy and I was freezing in the shade... but I salvaged my painting later in the studio:

Windy morning at Fish Beach  11 x 14

Camphill exhibit at Rosenfeld

Promised I'd post the final images of the paintings I did for "Plein Air for Camphill" (also known as PAC 2010!) For more info on this event, check out
 http://www.camphillspecialschool.org/plein-air/PACGallery2010page1.php

Artist in the Garden  9 x 12 (sold)

Red Tool Shed  8 x 10

Red Umbrella  11 x 14  (sold)

Back to Still Life

Apples & Pears wtih Plant, 12 x 16

I took a workshop with Christine Lafuente in March. I love the looseness and freshness of her compositions. Sometimes the interactions with artists in a workshop situation can help get you out of a hole with your work. As a teacher, it is also helpful to see how others run workshops to help tune up your own teaching process.  This painting, done in the workshop, is certainly looser than my typical style, but lots of room for more...

So I started to work on the fruit in the studio...

Two Pomegranites, 8x10

 I loved the planes of light and color I found in these pomegranites. This painting will be in the Wayne Art Center's Feast for the Eyes exhibit, opening October 24, 2010.

Apples & Pears with Pitcher, 16 x 20

Peppers, 8x10

Three Pears 9 x 12

Plein Air at Camphill

On Saturday August 7, I was privileged to be part of Nancy Bea Miller's 2nd annual "Plein Air for Camphill" day of art... http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=12827&id=130988316937820&ref=mf

More than 50 artists worked on paintings on the 80 acre campus of the Camphill school for special needs' kids, and the results will be on exhbit at the Rosenfeld Gallery on Tuesday October 5th. Last year the event was a mob scene, with more than 100 pieces of art sold. Nancy has done a fantastic job of coordinating this effort for the 2nd year in a row. She is a fantastic artist herself and mother of an autistic son who attends the school. Her website: http://www.genrecookshop.com/nbm/index.html and blog: http://nancybnews.blogspot.com/
I began 3 paintings on site which I will post here when they are finished!

Contrasts in Paris................I'm not sure this painting is finished as yet. I have been fiddling with the figure in the foreground, my son Peter, because my daughter pointed out that his butt was too big, (see below in the earlier version). I also removed the orange section of sidewalk because I thought it was distracting from the rest of the composition... in any case it is still not finished!

More Italian Market............I recently made 2 trips down to the Italian Market, one of my favorite painting locations in the city. Here are some of my recent studies- 
Watermelons on 9th Street 8 x 10

Lobsters & Crabs 14 x 11

Men at the Market 9 x 12

Anthony's Cafe  8 x 10

Most of these will be part of my upcoming exhibit at Artists' House in October... 

Landscape into Abstraction

I am very pleased to be one of the artists selected by Marianne Mitchell, artist and curator of
"Landscape into Abstraction" exhibit at the Chester Springs studio in June. The Opening is June 6th, which I will unfortunately be unable to attend... The painting above will be included in the exhibit... It is "Winter Tree Shadows" 30x40, oil on canvas. It resembles my parents' backyard in Connecticut, (where I grew up) on a winter evening...

Art of the State

One of my paintings was selected to be part of the "Art of the State" Pennsylvania 2010 exhibition at the State Museum in Harrisburg, June 27- September 12, 2010.

Boathouses at dusk

This is a plein air sketch I had done last spring- down at the boathouses.

The crew teams from all the local highschools were returning en masse when I took this photo:

I decided to use this composition as reference for a larger painting. I taught a 4-week workshop - "Large Composition " at the Main Line Art Center in March where I showed the group how I worked through each stage of the painting making changes along the way.

Here is the initial sketch...

and the final painting! 30" x 40" This will most likely be part of my October show at Artists' House Gallery

Trains

Here's the first painting I did in the new studio... from a sketch and photo taken in Jim Thorpe, PA in the fall... Two trains sitting off the track that caught by eye.

New Studio

March, 2010
I have been told I MUST start a blog if I want to improve my visibility as an artist, so here goes...

So I am writing for fans of my art...if you are reading this, I hope that's what you are! I plan to post interesting perspectives on what I'm working on, like how I decide what to paint, news on shows and workshops offered...

I moved my studio back to the Mill in Manayunk in February... (where I was for 15 years before moving to East Falls for 2 years, then regrouping and working at home for the past year.) I love it!  It's great because it's on the 1st floor, no more steps to lug things up and down! About 300 sf, decent north light. I installed halogen track lighting and built a new work table. Nothing like new space and new furniture to get the creative juices flowing...