This is a good time to step back and reflect on my painting for the year 2015. The creative process depends on an interplay of action and reflection, and last year was definitely an time of action. Suffice to say, quite a lot of painting got done – I continued painting bucolic landscapes en pleine air, worked on two series of city and townscapes , and also experimented with color in an abstract way.

Carre de St. Anne
Montpellier, France
oil on canvas, 14×18
$450

#5 Rue de la Forge
St. Dionisy, France
oil on canvas, 14×18″
$450

As January  opened, I was continuing the series of French street scenes that I started in 2014 after a trip to Paris, St. Dionisy, and Montpelier. Architectural perspective was quite a stretch for me after the softer shapes of foliage and hills. I chose to use a brush, and a thinner application of paint than my usual palette knife empasto.

White Ibis Group
Adult and Juvenile
18×24″, Acrylic on canvas
$700

It was a harsh winter, so my husband and I spent almost two months in warmer places – first Florida, and later, Louisianna. We stayed with a  friend in Sarasota, behind which was an ecosystem filled with all manner of wading birds, ducks, raptor, and song birds. I rose at sunrise every morning and did 12×16” acrylic on paper studies of the sun coming up over the Savannah, and studied the birds, sketching and photographing. I returned to Ithaca feeling like I understood more about bird anatomy, and was better equipped to resumed work on the four 20X20 and 18×24 paintings of white ibis groupings that I started the spring before, after a trip to the Florida keys, where I saw ibis for the first time. I completed the first of them, which contained both adult and juvenile birds foraging on the bank of a pond.

At the end of April we were on the move again, this time to Breau Bridge, Louisiana, in the Continue reading

River of Time #3, Golden Moment. 20×20 oil on canvas

For the first two months of 2016, artists at the State of the Art Gallery will be showing works made in response to poetry. Sixteen poets were invited by Tish Pearlman, poet laureate of Tompkins County 2013-14, to present their poems to the artists, half of whom will show each month.  I will be part of the first half of the members showing in January. This show runs from January 6-31, 2016. Reception on January 8, 5-8 PM. Poetry readings by the poets Sunday January 17 at 2 PM.

My paintings, in a series of 5 panels, is a response to “River of Time,” a poem using metaphors of landscape and season. Michael Jennings describes a moment in the fullness of love, mature and deep, and wistfully recalls the innocent but passionate promise of spring. Winter is never mentioned, but by its very absence, declares its presence looming. The seasons — and ourselves — change slowly, subtly, and mostly unnoticed until we realize that “No one comes back. No one steps twice in the same body.” These panels represent the continuum of time with its colors morphing from the fresh pastels of spring, through the golds of August, into the stark midnight blues and silvers of winter and old age and death.

River of Time #5, Twilight. 24×20, oil on canvas

River of Time #4, Time Flows On. 16×20, oil on canvas

I started with the 3rd or middle panel, which represents the present, and then moved to the 4th and 5th panels – the direction in which I am headed. Last, I did panels #2 and #1, in that order, thinking of the past. Come to the gallery and see them all together.

River of Time #1 Nascent Dreams. 24×20, oil on canvas

River of Time #2 Transition Chaos. 16×20, oil on canvas

Treman Marina, August
oil on canvas, 12×12″

Treman Marina, August will be included in ART OF FRIENDS 10 at the First Unitarian Society, 306 N Aurora St, Ithaca NY. The show runs March 12 – April 16, with a reception on Saturday, March 21 from 4-6 pm. This is the tenth year that Diane Newton has gathered together the work of her ever growing network of friends who are artists. It is an eclectic collection of diverse media and styles, and always a treat to see and be a part of.  I painted this small boat scene last August at Treman Marina, and made some corrections in my studio afterwards. It was done entirely with palette knife.

Well, I’ve been away for a while, meant to get this posted before leaving, then meant to post from the road, but managed to forget to bring along my thumb drive with the required images. I spent the last month in Florida, painting the sunrise In Sarasota and taking photos of exotic birds. Much fodder for new paintings. Oh, well. First things first: These two paintings are up at the State of the Art Gallery until the end of this month. They are part of the series that I did from August Through October around Cass Park and the Marina.

Orange Maple at the Marina, 14×18″, oil on canvas

Friday Behind the Hangar, 14×18″, oil on canvas

Secondly, I have two paintings of French street scenes from the series that resulted from my trip to Paris and the South of France last spring. They are hanging in Decorum Too in the Dewitt Mall and will be up for several months. I went with a group of painters, photographers, and a cyclist, organized by Terry Plater.  We painted in the mornings, and toured various points of historical and/or artistic interest in the afternoons. I worked on these paintings in my studio, using acrylic sketches done on site, and photographs for reference.

Fountain at the Clock Tower Square in Sainte Dionisy, 14×18″, oil on canvas

Courtyard in Calvesson, 14×18″, oil on canvas

4 Trees & a Bush, oil on canvas, 14×18″, sold

I am a little late in posting my news for November, as this is the last week for the member’s show at the State of the Art Gallery, and I have three new paintings on display. They must be good, because two of them will be going to new homes at the end of the month. So… this is the last chance ever to see them, unless you are friends with their new owners.

Four Trees and a Bush is the second plein air painting of the Summer Dozen this summer. I went up to the Cornell Arboretum, with the Fair Weather Painters, and painted the view from across the small pond. I was not very pleased with it when I was done, so there were extensive revisions to make in my studio.I liked the way I painted the trees in the top half of the painting, but the dark reflections and pond scum of the bottom were not working to make a composition. My inclination was to call this one a scraper and toss it, but being busy, it stayed on the wall long enough for me to realize that if I invented the tree reflections, I would have a nice play between the vertical elements and the horizontal/diagonal elements. I also eliminated another bush that I painted just because it was there, adjusted the

Four Sailboats, Treman Marina, 16×12, oil on canvas, sold.

intensity of the ground cover around the pond, and voila, it just snapped into being.

The second painting, Four Sailboats, was a fun painting for me on a very hot July day at the Treman Marina, looking back across the marina towards the bath house. I was painting with the Fair Weather Painters again. It was very congenial company. I loved the way the white sailboats were lined up, reflecting in the water. As in the painting above, I chose a very small segment of a large landscape, and totally avoided putting in any sky, so it is clearly just about those four boats. It was a new subject for me, and the perspective of the boats was tricky, but I managed to stay loose, and free in my mark making.

The third painting was done in September, after the weather turned rainy and chilly. I almost canceled out of that painting session, but this time, I had put out an invitation for the Fair Weather Painters, and I did not want to miss an opportunity for congenial company. After a rainy start to the day, the sun came out, and I set off for the marina. No sooner did I drive down Cliff Street, but it started drizzling. I was still hopeful that it would pass. When I got to the Marina, it was still drizzling, but there was a patch of clear sky over Lansing, The wind seemed to be blowing from that direction, so I was hopeful. I settled on this scene because I was intrigued by the way the land swung around the water in the marina. The lack of sunshine created a situation where the colors were soft but intense. Damp, gray, with a ferocious wind, I was painting very quickly, spreading very thin applications of paint with the largest palette knife. I was wearing

Beyond the Marina, Cold and Wet, oil on canvas, 16×20

several layers of fleece, and a raincoat, but the wind was sucking the heat out of me. After a bit, I was shivering, but I wanted to at least cover the canvas once. By the time I was done, I was seriously shaking  and my teeth were chattering noisily. I couldn’t believe that my companion was still painting in the field beyond. I hastily threw my things into my car, made arrangements to meet for some hot soup and headed off to the Island Cafe on Taughannock Blvd. to warm up. I was pleased with the way this painting turned out, and made only very few minor revisions in the studio.