Art Show Coming!

However, this painting will not be in the show! Glory in the Common Spaces will open July 7 and run through August 2 at the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center. Please come and see landscapes painted from 2009 through June 2011.

Why post this little still life? I don't think I have posted it anywhere and found it in my desktop file of images. This little painting, 8 x 10, is painted on top of an old painting (recycling as well as utilizing texture) by using a palette knife (my usual technique) to spread on oil paint, scratching away to reveal previously applied color, whether dry or just painted. I like how the process is not controlled and surprises happen. I use this technique almost always in my landscape paintings, but not often in still life. This was the first painting of fruit that I painted in this manner and felt that no one would ever buy it. It's been stuck in a back bedroom for four years and I don't often see it or think to display it. Still a personal favorite. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting!

deer path

Caught this image of light striking trampled grass while hiking in West Virginia - I'm assuming deer made this pathway as it led to nowhere in particular from the hiking trail. This painting is 24 x 36 inches and while the underpainting (ranging from cadmium orange to alizarin crimson) was applied with brush and solvent, the oil paint was stroked on, scraped off, gashed and swirled with a palette knife. Up close it is a mess of color and texture and patches. Hopefully the image from a distance conveys the light and color of evergreen hedges and long grass.

a poem lovely as a tree

quoted my husband when he saw this, my most recent painting. This canvas is 24 x 36 - I find that I am challenged by working a bit larger, but it's a pleasing challenge. I titled this Maple Glory - it is the tree featured in many of my recent work, at full foliage in summer.

summer maple

I love this particular tree on our farm because it stands so bravely on a hill. Other trees are sheltered on low places or in groups. I have painted this maple tree before (Maple Hill) in autumn colors; this image is from last summer, with the sunshine backlighting the tree, the far grass lit up by strong sunlight, the shadow cast by the tree changing the color of the same grass to cool blue-greens and a touch of violet.

Glory

is the title of this painting, from a photo I took while jogging along my road last summer in the morning. I loved the way the light skipped over tall trees and hit the front of this large cedar.

plein aire trip

I painted this outside in Sperryville, Virginia, at the end of October. I have since adjusted some details, and will probably go back and work on the colors of the pathway some more. But I have been conscious of neglecting my blog and wanted to post!

Two more paintings are being finished and I hope to publish these on the blog before our annual trip to Arizona next week. Happy New Year!

prizewinner

This painting, Bluemont Vineyard, won third place at the 2010 Gala Exhibition Juried Art Show in Elkins, West Virginia, last week. Even better than the ribbon was the nice check that went with the award!

I did few paintings the past few months - gardening with heirloom seeds and getting inspired by local organic farms kept me busy outside, then a desire to have serenity in the house spurred me on to organizing and purging stuff, and finally, teaching duties started again several weeks ago. But, but, but, all the while I have been letting ideas simmer on a back burner of the mind, absorbing views outside, musing on the main theme of my work, which boils down to light. I have sketches and photos and blank canvases, and now, after the excitement of participating in an art walk in Orange, and attending two receptions for art shows and gathering even more inspiration from other artists' works, I am ready to paint.

I look forward to sharing here soon, and often!