Entrittskarte

First Prize! Entrittskarte won First Prize in Mixed Media at the San Dieguito Art Guild for April!  Join us Saturday, April 14, 6-8 pm for the Artists Reception at the Off Track Gallery in the Encinitas Lumberyard. 

Entrittskarte is 11x14", acrylic media and collage on panel.

Path to the Dock

Path to the Dock: Toward the end of the day, the sunset slants so beautifully onto the path from the dock.  I painted outside in the Adirondacks every day I was there.  I also used oil, which  I haven't done  since December of 2010.  I changed to acrylic and collage in January 2011 for the Daily Painters Project challenge.  But oil is so luscious when you're painting en plein air.  Design-wise, I took a mosaic approach.

Path to the Dock is 12x16", oil on canvas.

Lakeside Rhythm

Lakeside Rhythm : I wanted to focus on design, even en plein air.  This is always tricky, because time is limited.  So I tried to  simplify.  A strip of sunset across the path becomes  a strip of yellow.  The riot of trees through which the water sparkles becomes  one or two shapes.   To do this in limited time, it is so important to get your value sketch working before you get into the paint. 

Lakeside Rhythm is 12x16", oil on canvas.

Shoreline Rhythm

Shoreline Rhythm : Again, I'm trying to focus more on the "rhythm" than on the "shoreline".  Don't paint stuff.  Paint shapes and values.  For fun, I've posted the photo of this scene here, too.  Did I simplify enough?

Shoreline Rhythm is 12x16", oil on canvas.

Near Green Bridge

Near Green Bridge: I paint here every year.  I think it might be the most gorgeous place in the Adirondacks.  

Near Green Bridge is 12x12", oil on canvas.

Shoreline, Noon

Shoreline Noon is 9x12", oil on canvas.

Opposite Shore

Opposite Shore is 8x10", oil on canvas.

Summer at Moose River

Summer at Moose River: The day was hot, humid and glorious.  It was almost too hot to paint outside.  But my daughter and I set up near the bridge and painted the river valley anyway.  I think the intense heat nearly splintered the light!   I was painting here one summer when my friend in her tomato-soup-colored  VW Bug stopped mid-span, and shouted out her window: "Betsy, look who's watching you!"  I turned, and gazing thoughtfully over my shoulder at my canvas  was a deer.  She pondered my work for a while, then ambled away.

Summer at Moose River is 9x12" oil on canvas.

Emerald Moonlight

 

Emerald Moonlight is 8x8" acrylic media and collage on panel.   

Homecoming

Thinking of the East in Summer!

Homecoming is 20x20" acrylic on canvas.

Orchard Morning

 Geometry of Orchards:  Why is an orchard endlessly fascinating to look at?  Maybe it's the dynamic combination of organic and geometric elements.  As we know, contrast rocks.  I've been trying for that vibration as I put together orchard-y compositions.  I'm still focused on texture and warmth in high-horizon "hillside" composition. 

Orchard Morning is 8x8" acrylic media and collage on panel.

Summer

Keep your appointment with the muse -  In her book "Art at the Speed of Life",  Pam Carriker talks about putting boundaries around your creative time.  "You need to give yourself permission to keep your appointment with your muse, " she says.   I love that.  I fight off dragons every day to keep that appointment!

Summer is 8x8" acrylic media and collage on panel.

Toward Home I

Geometry Swallowed my Metaphysics - This was said by abstract expressionist Barnett Newman about Piet Mondrian.   No, I won't be comparing myself to the rectangle-loving Mondrian!  But I confess I'm interested in experimenting with some geometry inside the organic-scape.  It's that contrast that's sneakily captivating.  Metaphysics, move aside!

Toward Home is 6x6" acrylic media and collage on panel.

At the Edge of the Fields

Live, Laugh, Love - and Clean Your Room This weekend as we put together a teenager-sleepover, one of the kids texted home: "Dad, what's the plan for tomorrow?"  Dad texted back "Live, laugh, love - and clean your room."  Isn't this exactly right?  We had a lovely time displaying our Daily Painters Project work at the Encinitas Garden Festival this Saturday.  We lived, we laughed, we loved.   Now it's time to Clean our Room/Studio and begin to paint for our next challenge; Olive oil, Italian bread, rolling vineyards, sunbaked olive groves.  I've begun to warm up my palette after the Blues and Greens of the past two challenges.  Here I am remembering  Italian vistas and Savoring the Flavor.  I'll be focusing more on reds and yellows this month, lots of warmth.  

At the Edge of the Fields  is 8x8" acrylic on canvas.

Fallbrook Spring

Not knowing?   Many artists discuss the importance of knowing what you want your painting to look like before you start painting it.  Do the value sketch and stick to it.  Other artists say they have no idea how the painting will look when they're done.  They just get started and see what happens.  About planning paintings, Richard Diebenkorn is quoted as saying  "If I already knew how the painting was going to look, I wouldn't bother to paint it."  Some would just prefer the excitement of finding the painting as they go along.  Some have no choice in the matter. Like me!  I start out with an idea, but as I go along I get other ideas and pretty soon...well, something else emerges.  It's a constant state of discovery!  So I embrace the suspense of the process.  Let the magic creep in.

This is another in my Fallbrook series.  I've used a cooler palette to evoke the freshness of spring. 

Fallbrook, Spring is 6x6" acrylic media and collage on panel.

Across the Meadow - Aqua Mist

Deja Vu All Over Again!  A further effort in my series, Across the Meadow.  A continued study of texture and simplicity of composition.  

P.S. Today is Patriot's Day in Boston!  Longfellow echoes in my ear: "Listen my children and you shall hear/of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere..."

Across the Meadow-Aqua Mist is 8x8", acrylic media and collage on panel.

Across the Meadow III