Show at the Wehle Gallery

The Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters are having a themed show this summer at the Wehle Gallery at the Genesee Country Village. The show is titled "Under Open Skies: Nature Past and Present" and is based on paintings about life in the Genesee Valley in the 1800s. Approximately 300 paintings were entered by members, with this total reduced to 152 during the judging process. The paintings will be on display all summer, with an opening reception kicking things off on May 10. I was very fortunate to get 8 paintings accepted into the show.

The painting here, titled "Hamilton House", is an 11x14 oil on canvas. It was painted late last summer/fall on the ground of the Genesee Country Village, specifically for the show. I think it required 3 visits to the site to complete to my satisfaction. I will post more information about the show in the near future, so check back for updates. You can also visit the GVPAP website or the Genesee Country Village website for more details.

Winter Paintings

It's been a tough winter painting-wise. Because of other commitments, I had very little time to get out. These 3 represent pretty much everything I did, except for the gouache studies in the previous post.

This is a 5x7 oil on panel. It was painted at one of my favorite spots, Burger Park, on a day sometime in December between snows. There was a little puddle, partially frozen over, that I turned into a creek...made for a much nicer composition. A storm was approaching, giving everything a very hazy appearance. I feel this is one of my more successful attempts at painting dried grass.

This 9x12 pastel was done in November, just after I returned from my trip to California. I did not get the chance to paint out there and was itching to do something. It was a race against the weather as light snow/sleet began to fall...this created wonderful atmosphere but is not the best for pastel. When it turned to freezing rain I had to quickly pack up and leave. I wanted to capture the lonely feeling of rural winter, and also liked the way the homestead sort of disappeared into the brush. I'll have to try something like this again.

A sunny day painting! Done at Salmon Creek Country Club, we had a deep fresh snow cover, sun, no wind, and mild temperatures (upper 20s). A great combination, but this one fell short of my intentions...couldn't get the color relationships in the sunlit tree masses right.