Some recent work

Getting around to taking some photos, so I'll post some new and updated paintings.

First is a re-worked painting...initially completed as a plein air a couple of years ago. I'll have to see if I can find a photo of the original. I changed the cloud patterns and added the right hand section of trees with the small red barn...previously, the lower half seemed too evenly divided spatially. The colors of the trees came out a little too cool on this image.

"Windbreak", oil/canvas, 8x10

Two relatively recent studies, both done en plein air in December, before winter had set in. Winter took a while to get here this year, but now is taking forever to leave! Obviously I was in a "large sky, small land" mood during this time...

The first one was just a nice early winter day, good atmosphere with nice clouds. The second painting, something struck me about the loneliness of that single barn on the horizon, waiting for the first snow of winter to arrive. There's some nice subtlety in the sky that barely shows through in the photo.

"Early Winter", oil/canvas, 8x10

"Before the Snow", oil/canvas, 6x8

New Paintings at Shop One2 (RIT)

I've delivered 4 new paintings to Shop One², located on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Stop in if you're in the area - it's a wonderful little shop that features arts and crafts from members of the RIT "family". Paintings, pottery, jewelry, etc. I'll post 2 of the paintings...you'll have to visit the shop to see the others!

"Salmon Creek Spring", Oil/Canvas, 8x10

"Snow Flurries", Oil/Canvas, 8x8

Paintings Available at Memorial Art Gallery Store

I'm happy to report that I now have paintings available at the Memorial Art Gallery Museum Shop. This is the second time I'll have work there, last time they sold a large acrylic painting. Hoping for similar results this time. The gallery store is located at 500 University Avenue, Rochester NY.

Paintings available will include the following. I don't know how many will actually be on display, but all will be at the shop.

"Ford Street Bridge", Oil, 11x14 (sold)

"Le Roy Shadows", Oil, 12x9

"Quiet Evening Near Le Roy", Pastel, 9x12

"Snowmobile Tracks", Pastel, 6x12

"Indian Summer at Braddock Bay", Oil, 8x10

"December Snow", Oil, 6x8 (sold)

GVPAP Annual Show, 2013

I'm happy to announce that I had 5 paintings accepted in this years Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters show, which takes place in the community room (upstairs) at the Pittsford Barnes and Noble. The show runs through Friday, February 1. An opening reception and awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 5 from 4-6 pm.

Indian Summer at Braddock Bay,  oil/canvas, 8x10

The above was painted on one of the last warm days this fall...it was about 80 deg, and all kinds of critters were out enjoying the weather, including several snakes.

Red Barns, oil/canvas, 8x10 (sold)

Creekside Trees, oil/canvas, 8x10 (sold)

Snowy Morning, oil/canvas, 8x10 (sold)

Good Saturday Morning, oil/canvas, 6x12 (sold)

Now Represented by Finger Lakes Gallery and Frame, Canandaigua

I'm very happy to announce that my work is now available at the Finger Lakes Gallery and Frame, located at 175 South Main Street, Canandaigua, NY. Stop in next time you're in the area! Some of the paintings available at the gallery include:

 Break in the Clouds, 6x8, oil/canvas (sold)

Marina, Spring, 6x8, oil/canvas

Yellow Barn, Morning Light, 6x8, oil/canvas

Autumn Sun, pastel, 11x14 (sold)

Dave's Hay Field, oil/canvas, 10x8

Sunset I, oil/canvas, 6x8

"Salon des refuses" - Little Gems

Some additional "Little Gems" from 2011...the gallery didn't want these so I get to enjoy them at home. Unless someone else wants them!

"Marina, Spring", oil, 6x8:

"Humid Fields", oil, 6x8:

"Roadside Weeds", oil, 6x8:

"Little Gems" at West End Gallery

I recently delivered a number of paintings to the West End Gallery (Corning, NY) for their annual "Little Gems" show. As you might guess, the show features...small paintings. The largest I delivered is 8x8, the rest are all 6x8. If you're in Corning, stop and check out the gallery. The opening reception is Friday, February 3 at 5 pm.

"Break in the Clouds", oil, 6x8:

"Yellow Barn, Morning Light", oil, 6x8:

"Summer Tree Line", oil, 6x8:

"Snow Flurries", oil, 8x8:

"Stormy Sky", oil, 6x8:

"Cherry Trees", oil, 6x8:

"Garlic Study", oil, 5x7:

GVPAP Show, 2012

I wanted to take this opportunity to invite everyone to this years GVPAP plein air show, which is taking place at Barnes and Noble in Pittsford, NY. The show runs through January 27th. I have 5 paintings in the show and was fortunate to receive a Judge's Award for the painting called Streamside. Following are the 5 paintings in the show, some may have been posted previously.

Marsh, Early Spring, oil, 6x12.:

Autumn Sun, pastel, 11x14:

View From Skates Hill Road, pastel, 12x16:

December Snow, oil, 6x8:

Streamside, oil, 6x8:

Some winter studies

I just realized it's been 2 months since I've updated the blog. Time flies! I have been working on larger studio paintings this winter and have several in various stages of completion. The sizes are not huge, ranging from 14x18 to 16x20...but definitely larger than I'm used to painting. I'm finding this to be more difficult than I expected but hopefully I'm learning from it. I should have some images to post very soon, and need to get them done and out of the way as outdoor painting season is about to heat up.

Because of the studio work, I haven't painted outdoors much this winter. The days I have gotten out to paint have featured challenging weather - with associated time constraints and pressure. It's either been snowing (or raining), or about to snow...so dealing with snow or rain getting into the paint, or changing atmosphere...and the resulting paintings have not been overly successful. I've been challenging myself to paint the "atmosphere" associated with rain or snow, and not worrying about composition so much. I figure I can work that out in the studio later on...

First painting: "Grain Bin Through Snow", 6x8 oil...Light snow was falling this Saturday morning, and even though we were set up under a park pavilion, snow was blowing onto the palette...making the paint difficult to work with. Colors were very muted and there was beautiful harmony in the scene.

Second painting: "Wet Marsh", 6x8 oil...it was raining lightly, which again provided great atmosphere with all the moisture in the air. I was standing in knee-deep snow on a frozen marsh...didn't see much there in terms of composition so concentrated on the color and value relationships especially between the sky and distant tree lines.

Third painting: "Approaching Snow, Genesee County", 8x10 oil. The sun was barely peaking through the thickening clouds this morning, and as we painted the distant hills gradually disappeared in the approaching snow. I really was drawn to the sinuous tree trunks and limbs in the foreground and could envision something like this as a larger painting.

Snow-topped Bushes

Here is a little 6x8 plein air oil study done in mid December. After several snowfalls, snow had accumulated on the tops of bushes and shrubs. I found the patterns interesting and thought the large clump of snow made a nice focal point, especially against all the surrounding darks in the brush. The morning started cloudy with very flat lighting, but during the painting session the sun broke through, illuminating parts of the snow clumps and further enhancing the patterns. Haven't been able to come up with a good title for this one, still thinking...and may use it as the basis for a larger studio painting.


In other news...I received a "Judge's Award" at this years GVPAP plein air show, for my painting "Finger Lakes Morning". The show continues through January 27th at the Pittsford Barnes and Noble, stop in if you get the chance!

GVPAP Show (2011) and End of Year Thoughts

These are the 5 paintings I submitted to this years sixth annual Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters show. I'm happy to report that 4 were accepted , only the smaller one in the upper left was rejected. I believe all of these have been posted on this blog previously, except for the one in the upper right called "Windbreak". I forgot to get a good close-up of that but will do so at the show reception, which takes place on Saturday, January 8, from 4 - 6 pm. Hope to see you there! The show runs through the 27th of January and is located at the Barnes and Noble in Pittsford.


It's been an eventful and productive year for me. I received several best of show awards, including the one at the Artist Row festival in September which I'm particularly happy about. Perhaps the biggest event was having my work accepted by the West End Gallery in Corning. They've already sold one painting ("January Thaw" which was previously posted) and are using one of my images on their postcard for their upcoming "Little Gems" show. I'll have a bunch of small (6x8 and under) paintings at that show, so stop by if you're in the Corning area.

I'm not typically one for new years resolutions, but I do have several art-related goals for the upcoming year. A major one is to become more focused and serious about my painting. I'm going to concentrate mainly on studio work for the next couple of (winter) months, and try to develop some larger paintings based on the many plein air studies I've accumulated. I'm also planning to participate in at least one plein air festival this summer, and attempt to get some work into a national show, probably through OPA. I'm looking forward to these challenges and will report on progress along the way.

Finally, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best for 2011. I truly appreciate all of the supportive comments I've received, and hope to have many more paintings to share this upcoming year.

Winter Solstice 2010

Our local plein air painting group has an annual holiday tradition - painting on the day of the winter solstice (December 21). This year we were fortunate to have deep snowcover, a rarity at this time of year (this is actually the first year since we moved up here in 2003 that we're having a real "White Christmas"). The sun actually was out, another rarity, and the moderate temperatures (upper 20s) and light winds made for a very pleasant winter painting experience. I set up at Northampton Park in Spencerport and painted a field of wild dogwoods. These plants have the most amazing red-colored stems and twigs and they absolutely glow in the sunlight. This plein air study is 9x12, oil on canvas. I'm thinking it will probably be used to develop a larger painting in the studio this winter. Note there is some glare on the lower left of the image, I'll have to see if I can re-shoot and eliminate that.

Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for a wonderful new year.

"Finger Lakes Morning" and West End Gallery

As the snow is falling, I'm thinking about warmer times...like the day depicted in this painting, called "Finger Lakes Morning". This 10x12 oil painting was completed en plein air late this summer at Vitale Park at the north end of Conesus Lake. Beautiful cloud formations created an almost "reverse sunset" experience which I tried to capture. Most of this painting was actually done after the clouds had cleared away, but the vivid colors left quite an impression as you can tell! This may be used as the basis for a larger studio painting this winter.

In other news - my work was accepted by the West End Gallery in Corning, NY! I've got several pieces hanging in their annual holiday show which continues through the end of December. Even better, they've sold one - "Altostratus" which was posted a while back. I'm very happy to have my work in this excellent gallery - stop in if you're in Corning to visit the glass museum (less than a mile) or the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

Summer on the Farm

Been busy lately and haven't had time to upload some recent paintings, so here's one from late summer. This 9x12 oil was started on site, but required considerable re-painting in the studio. A day of beautiful clouds, so I chose the low horizon to accentuate the sky. This was painted at Burger Park in Greece, one of my favorite locations. This actual scene does not exist at that location, but most of the elements are there. I just had to move and piece them together to make the foreground more interesting. Getting better at that!

Ignore the vertical join mark on the right side, I had to join two smaller scans. However, I've just obtained a new digital camera, so hopefully I can go back to using pictures rather than scans.

Purple Haze

A tough one to get a good scan of...this 9x12 pastel done in late August at a friend's farm. One of those magical late summer mornings with haze/mist in the air which gave the distant trees a strong blue/violet appearance - which was enhanced by the contrast provided by sunlight glowing through patches of early fall foliage. OK, I may have gone a little overboard with the violets here, but it was fun and captured my impression of the morning.

Passing Storm

This is an 8x12 oil painting that was completed en plein air (with only very minor studio touch-ups) in early September. We were set up in a field and I wasn't feeling overly inspired...it was a typical late summer field, with clumps of trees here and there and an empty blue sky. As I was setting up I noticed clouds building up in the distance...they rapidly grew and created a beautiful backdrop for all those greens and golds. I knew what I wanted to paint...but the clouds passed very quickly. I was able to get enough blocked in to finish the painting. Ironically, during most of the painting time, the sky was completely clear.

Dave's Hay Field

A couple of paintings from late August/early September, both plein air. Same location, but the first one was painted just after the hay had been cut, the second after it had been baled. View toward the west in the first, toward the east in the second.

"Dave's Hay Field", oil on canvas, 10x8:


"Curtis Road Haybales", oil on canvas, 6x8.

Artist Row - Best of Show!

Finally getting my act together after 2 weeks of hectic preparation for the Artist Row festival. It all paid off, as I was fortunate to receive the best of show award! Not for an individual painting but for my body of work. I was able to sell some paintings as well. Thanks to everyone who came out to the festival, and especially to those who purchased paintings! I look forward to participating next year, and also am thinking about participating in the Clothesline Festival. Stay tuned. I'll post some pictures of my setup when I get them off my wife's camera...

In the meantime, here is one of the paintings from the show. It's a 12x9 oil on canvas called "LeRoy Shadows". This was painted about 3 weeks ago en plein air, with just a minimal amount of studio touch-up. Interesting story...I was with my Saturday morning painting group, and when we set-up the light was actually behind this building, so it was all in shadow. Several others started painting the building right away but I decided to wait until the sun came around, and worked on another painting for a couple of hours. But the whole time I was thinking about this painting, and how good the building would look in the sun. So of course the first painting didn't turn out well, but then once the sun came around - I painted this one in about 20 - 30 minutes. It essentially painted itself, I guess because I had been thinking about it for 2 hours! Meanwhile my painting partners were unable to make their paintings of the building work, I think because the light was so dull when they were painting.


Here are a couple of pictures of my booth...click to enlarge!