Nothing Lasts Forever, and update

"Nothing Lasts Forever"

       Earlier this year I posted a painting of an old barn that I painted in Door County last May.  I mentioned that the owner stopped by while I was painting, and said I may be the last person to paint this old barn because they were waiting for better weather to replace the roof with a new metal roof!  With that in mind, I asked all my readers to suggest a title for the old barn.  I got several suggestions, but my friend Sue, from Las Vegas, suggested the title, "Nothing Lasts Forever".
I told her I thought she "nailed it".

      This fall, while we were driving on Hwy 57 near Jacksonport,  we saw the "new" barn. It is obviously an improvement from a functional standpoint, but for an artist, it lost its unique appeal as an interesting subject.  I doubt that it will be an favorite subject for the Plein air painters in Door County!

Maybe this will "last forever" with new sides and a metal roof!

     It is always a little scary to sign up to do a Fall art show in Door County.  I have done shows in all types of weather from 30 degrees to 80+.  This year luck was on my side for the "Town Line Art  show at Fine Line Design Gallery.  The weather was in the high 70's and it brought many visitors for the 3-day Columbus Day weekend.  The next weekend was Fall Fest in Sister Bay.  Temperature was in the 40's and there were 40 mph winds for the vendors to deal with.  I decided not to do that show and, for once, made the right decision!  What s difference a week makes!

Town Line Art Fair

                        

James Richards Workshop

James with his value study and completed demonstration.

 We just returned from our annual October trip to Door County.  One of my" highlights" of the trip was taking a workshop from James Richards, a very talented plein air artist.  I have been watching James  paint around Door County for 5 years during the Plein Air Festival each July.  He has been a consistent winner each year and he has a very approachable manner.  When I learned that he would be teaching a workshop at the Peninsula Art School while we were there in October,  I enrolled in his class.  I discovered he is just as good of a teacher as he is an artist.  His demonstrations were very informative and his individual critiques were invaluable!                                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                         

         

Painting at Kangaroo Lake near the causeway.

    The weather was perfect and unseasonably warm. The fall color in Door County were beautiful.   The class was comprised of serious artists and one member was another well-known plein art festival participant, Tom Nachreiner.  Tom  has won several awards at the festival and yet he was a student in James' class.   It proves, no matter how accomplished an artist is, there is always room to learn new approaches to painting.   James works with a limited pallette and Tom was getting ready to teach a workshop and he wanted to learn from James how he teaches with a limited pallette.  

Here are some of the highlights, I took from the workshop.

1.  Values do all the work and color gets all the glory.
2.  Build values from greyed tones for the 4 planes, sky, ground, diagonal planes and vertical planes.
3.  Add color to the greys, warms and cools.  Build up to brilliancy!
4.  Leave things feeling unfinished.  Degas said, "if you say too much, you bore people."

Here are some of the paintings I completed at the workshop.  My approach was less controlled and more fluent.  I enjoyed working with a limited pallette, using softer edges.
Check out James website:  www.jrichardsstudio.com
   

8x10  Shoreline at Coyotte Roadhouse painted from the causeway

Small Birch painting
Sold at the art show! (Still wet)

The Causeway over Kangaroo Lake  11x14

Beautiful Baileys Harbor

"Baileys Harbor Morning"

Lunch among the Lilies

        This year, the Kansas City Plein Air painters had a hard time getting out of Baileys Harbor.  We spent 3 of our 5 mornings painting in Baileys Harbor.  Baileys Harbor's main street (Hwy 57) is dressed up with such beautiful flowers everywhere you look.  The buildings are quaint  and recycled instead of replaced.  It is nestled on a beautiful bay along Lake Michigan and has a feel of being "lived in" instead of  being"touristy. There is a painting everywhere you look.  The hard part is deciding what to paint!

Oil and Water #2

 

My "quick paint" entry.

    I returned from Door County a few weeks ago,  and I have trying to put into words what I discovered about "oil and water".  First of all, there is no better place to learn about painting water than Door County.  There are so many different types of water all in one place!  There is calm water, with its interesting reflections,  choppy water with lots of busy shapes to work with, and all sorts of water vistas in each of the unique villages nestled along the beautiful shoreline.
    I watched many of the 40 invited artists interpret water on their canvases.  I could see what they were looking at and then see how they handled what they saw.  What a learning opportunity!  One night all 40 artists were at a lakefront park in Sister Bay, all painting the same sunset!   What a smorgasbord of ideas and approaches to the same subject!
      I set out with my KC painting buddies and painted several types of water myself.  I decided what creates the transparency in water is the changes in values the reflections
and the light provides.  I also learned once again, that "less is more".  It is impossible to interpret every little ripple or reflection, so the artist has to decide which ones he/she needs to add that will enhance the composition and eye movement.
When working fast in a plein air setting, I found I had to separate my values and be decisive with a few stokes.  If I overworked my water, the light and darks values mixed together and turned grey.  I found the less I feared painting water, the better results I had.  I am happy to report that I sold 2 of my waterscapes (posted below) while in Door  County, so as far as I'm concerned, "mission accomplished"!
       

"Waving Glory"

"Eagle Harbor Sunset"

The Sentinel

Zoey, the Sentinel       6x8

    I don't consider myself an animal or portrait artist.  I think those two subjects require a concentration of very specific skills, in order to do justice to such "personal" subjects.  I love to add animals and people in my paintings when a particular likeness is not that important.

     This painting of Zoey was done as a thank you to the couple who extended their hospitality to me when I was participating in the Augusta Plein Air Event in April.  I could tell  Zoey was a very important part of their lives, so I took some snapshots of her "standing guard" in front of their home.  I noticed that Zoey had an unusual way of sitting with her hind leg pointing outward.  I caught shot of her with the sunlight dappling the driveway and her sitting with this special position.  When I returned to KC, I decided to attempt a small painting of Zoey to send to the Hoefts as a special thank you.  I enjoyed painting this subject so much, I may attempt some other four-legged subjects.

Oil and Water

"Falling Waters"  11x14  

        For many years, I worked exclusively in watercolor.  One of the things I loved about watercolor was the sense of realism I could achieve with a transparent medium when suggesting water in a painting.  In recent years I have changed my primary medium to oil paint.  I started to paint outdoors  and I found watercolor was too difficult to manage in an outdoor setting.  The paper dried too fast and handling the larger paper that I liked to use with watercolor was cumbersome.  

        One of my new challenges with an oil painting, is suggesting the transparency of water with an opaque medium like oil paint.  In June, I found this waterfall at the arboretum so I decided to try the running waters with my oil paints.  I had difficulty with the foamy areas especially in attempting to create a focal point near the  top.  I ended up letting the lower areas dry and placing a blue grey glaze over the frothy water so that the focal point  near the top of the falls, would stand out.

       I am going to attend the Door County Plein Air Festival again this year.  I am going to set a goal to learn more about painting water with oils.  I will watch the invited artists paint water on their canvases and I will focus my own work on water scenes.  I will post my results when I return and I will let you be the judge as to whether or not I have improved.

       

     One other item:  Several people have  replied to some of my posts asking about prices of the work on my blog.  When I set up this blog, I decided I wanted to use it primarily for sharing and getting feedback on my work, so I do not post prices on my blog.  I do have a "Blog Paintings" button on my website and I have prices posted there.  I have sold paintings that I have posted on my blog, so I am very happy for the response I have received. If you wish to get to my website, you can use the link on the bottom of this post to go to my blog.  There is a link to my website on the right side of my blog.

The Wheels of Time

" '28 Model T"  16x20

"Tractor Graveyard"  11x14

      While Gary and I  were traveling in April and May, we came across some old cars, trucks and tractors in Wisconsin and Missouri.  We took pictures of them and moved them into my picture file.  I have noticed that several of the winners in recent plein air competitions have been "old trucks and cars".

      I spent some time last week in my studio and decided to give these seemingly popular subjects a try.  I thought if I tried to paint a few of my photos that maybe the next time I saw one while painting in a plein air event like Augusta, maybe I wouldn't be to intimidated to try one.  They were fun to paint and I like the warm and cool color schemes they provided.  What do you think?