Finished?? TBD 10 '15

I think I have just about finished my painting of Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon, AZ . ( I am still trying to decide whether I want to modify the sky color). 

In the meanwhile, I am going to start working on a new painting of Cathedral Rock at Red Rock Crossing. This is one of the most photographed places in the world, so it will be challenging to see if I can create an interesting perspective.

Stan Sperlak Gogh Box 12'13

STAN SPERLAK GOGH BOX

Guess what arrived on my door step last night.....

 A Happy New Years gift of a Stan Sperlak Gogh Box

from my  wonderful  husband, Bruce.  

He'd seen me struggling to juggle my pastel equipment  out of doors on our last trip, and read my review of what I needed, then decided it would be easier to buy me a full kit with all the components than for me to try to assemble them. 

Resourceful soul that he is,  he checked through my Facebook  friends  for the equipment that other pastel artists were using (and probably checked my Yahoo bookmarks for art supplies) and decided that the Gogh Box looked perfect.

The only issue was whether I would get it in time.  Stan Sperlak's crew rushed it out on the Monday before Christmas so I would get it before the New Years.   A Huge Thank You to  goes out to  Bruce and to Stan and the Sperlak Office  Staff for going over and beyond.

I am so happy.  I can't wait toload it up with my pastels and do some plein air paintings in 2014

Lessons learned from St Augustine 12 '13

While my  travel kit worked well for a road trip, it did have some weaknesses that I will need to correct before I  pack to travel again..Here's what worked and what did not:

1.)  The value range for the mid range of my pastel set worked out well, but I really need to pack  a greater range of darkest dark  and very light  pastel colors.  Many of my dark pastels  are very large rolls which take too much space to travel with and don't break apart into smaller chunks easily.  I thought I could compensate by using dark watercolor under-paintings.  I was wrong. Nor could I use just a fine water color wash for the lightest lights.  I really needed some very a light pastels for the highlights.  Before I travel again  I really need to add  five or six small  very dark  sticks in each of the primary and secondary colors.

I really could have used a deep blue green, a  purples and  a deep reds

2)  My choice of  color selection based upon the web cams was fine for most of the local scenes I painted on the trip, but I really needed to have some medium perm green pastels on hand.  This is especially important for my travel set because I tend to stay at resorts on golf course.  No matter what time of year it is, or what color the native foliage is, golf course greens are always the medium to  lite perm green of early summer.   Three out of the eight paintings I did on this past trip were of scenes on golf courses which required these hues.  Since I did not have with me,. I wound up touching up all three paintings when I got home to make them feel like a real golf course.

 I was also woefully under-supplied on the red/brown earth tones range .

3)  I had gessoed 300 lb  5" x  7" ;" watercolor paper for my support.  While it is strong and durable, and the size worked well for the pure landscapes, I felt the deep dimples of the paper detracted from the paintings with architectural subjects.  In the future I will want to have some smoother textured  paper available as well
 

Dimples are clearly visible on the plain paper

became equally obvious on this architectural study.

My  Raphael watercolor set is only 4" in diameter

4)  My miniature Raphael watercolor set was the perfect size for this trip. I found that putting down pastel over a watercolor under-painting is much faster  than attempting to work directly on a pure white support.  While my husband loves my painting of the St Augustine Basilica, I found it took me twice as long to paint as the ones which had a water color  under wash.  This is especially important to remember when time is of the essence.

5)  I need to add an alligator clip to hold the pastel paper to the foam core.  The blue tape kept coming loose from the foam core and I would wind up holding the paper with one hand while trying to paint with the other.

6)  I want a more organized travel pack and  lightweight compact easel if I am to do much plein air work.  The set-up I thew together for this trip worked well for a car trip and for painting at the kitchen table, but was awkward to work with on site.  There were just too many separate containers to try to balance on my lap.  I would really like to get a small easel  with a  built in padded pastel case for the road.

St Augustine, Florida - Basilica of St Augustine 12'13

St Augustine Basilica

While windy and cold, the weather  looked like it would remain dry through the evening ,so we decided to do a walking tour of the old city of St Augustine.   I took my plein air equipment along ( just in case) . W e got there well before the golden hour so I had plenty of time to scout out a location.  While I got lots of good reference photos  It was the Bell Tower of the Basilica of St Augustine standing proud against the heavens above that really captured my attention.   

Below is my  rendition of St. Augustine Cathedral  (5" x 7" pastel)

Prepping for painting in St Augustine, Florida 12 '13

As a belated Hanukkah gift to one another, my husband and I are heading to  St Augustine, Florida  tomorrow for a weeks vacation.   Bruce wants to do some golfing at their two famous courses -The Slammer and The Squire, AND The King and the Bear.  I want to find some place warmer than South Carolina and hopefully find something interesting to paint.

Assorted pastels sorted by value and temperature

 I usually bring along  my oil painting equipment on road trips, but often find that it is impossible to fit even a two hour plein air session into our whirl-wind site seeing day schedule,.   So this trip I am taking a cue from the traveling artist guru,  Karen Margulis, on packing light and painting small..

Aceo size, 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" home made pastel paper

After studying  some web cams in the St Augustine area for their current local colors, I chose a small assortment of  pastels that seemed to fit the area.  I snugged the pastels between some foam pads in a cardboard box.  I also took a tiny watercolor kit to use for quick studies or to use as a ground beneath the pastels.  I then cut up some water color paper into 5" x 7" sheets then brushed several coats of clear gesso on the paper  The clear gesso stiffens and waterproofs the paper, while adding some tooth for pastels to grip.  Add a couple of water color brushes, a sheet of foam core and a small role of painters tape ( to attach the  pastel paper to the foam core while painting), a pack of hand wipes, some paper towels and a canvas bag to carry it  all, and I am ready to go.

New Painting of Cheraw State Park 6 '13

 

Last weekend my husband and I took a trip to Cheraw State Park. I am still deeply engrossed with painting South Carolina's State Parks. and hoped to get some good reference photos for the series . The trip turned out to be a travel "adventure": we got hit by rain, tornado warnings, and both the RV and the two vehicle broke down on the way home. Never the less I was determined that some good would come from this adventure, When I got home I started working on a painting from a quick sketch and a photo I made of two people in a canoe in Lake Juniper at Cheraw State Park last weekend. The blurry photo  above  is the way the camera saw the scene. The second image  below is the painting I did once I got home. As you can see, the scene was a lot more vivid in my minds eye.

 

Working Large Workshop: Friday 3 '13

When we walked into the studio on Friday morning, Bill had the large canvas he had stretched the day before, toned, and set up on his easel with the reference photo below it.

He immediately began  applying blue lines for the design and blocking in large blocks of color

All the while he answered questions about materials, techniques from the artists in the workshop.  I learned a lot from the demo... like how to thin the oil paint  with Liquin and stand oil, and how long to let a layer on a large painting dry before moving onto the next layer..  That my sound simple, but it can mean all the difference between having a bright vibrant painting or having mud.

Bill coaching Patty with her painting

 After the demo,  we were instructed to work on our own painting  for the remainder of the day In the meanwhile Bill went from person to person coaching them on how to solve the issues their painting presented.

30" x 40" painting when I stopped working on it on Friday pm.

In my case, Bill encouraged me to  let the paint set up a bit on  my first painting by starting a second painting. I agreed to let the first could dry overnight..  By the time the day ended I had a good beginning on a 18" x 24" painting from a different reference photo,

and had worked up a hearty appetite for the wonderful group dinner we had at the Purple Onion in Saluda  that evening.

What is all that white stuff? 3"13

What is all that white stuff? I got snowed on Wed. nite in North Carolina. Big surprise... caught me totally unprepared. I was late to the workshop the next morning because I couldn't see through the ice on the windshield, and I didn't have an ice-scraper in the car, so it took me an extra twenty minutes of using the defroster on high to clear the windows enough to drive safely.

Working Large Workshop Reception 3'13

I am in Saluda, North Carolina for the  William Jameson workshop

"Working Large Without Fear"

Jeannette, Maryann, Anne, Judy, Patty

The workshop opened on Wed. evening  with a reception hosted by Ann and Bill Jameson for all of the artists and their families .

Eddie and Bill

It was a great chance to get to know one another and the spouses. 

and to learn one another's skills

Then Bill gave  us a tour of the studio space we would be working in, and gave us an overview of the next three days' agenda.

Bill, Patty, Ron, and Veronique

He also showed us samples of his work,

and what he means by working large.

I must admit... The latter revelation was more than a bit intimidating.

Oh Well, one can's progress unless one tries. Right???

Twin Falls in Pickens Co SC 10 ' 12

Twin Falls, Picken Co, SC

This is Twin Falls (aka Reedy Bottom Falls, Rocky Falls, Eastatoe Falls, ... it has more aliases than an escaped convict) and finding it was our second adventure of the day. Bruce nominated it as his favorite excursion of this trip. It involved navigating through the curvy backwoods country roads, past biker bars, and bear hunters (which are out in force this time of year), driving through private property, and finally hiking up a unmarked narrow trail along side a beautiful gurgling stream, to locate this lovely 200 foot Twin Waterfall. Definitely worth the effort.

Colleton South Carolina State Park 10 '12

Colleton is a South Carolina State Park situated Along the Edisto River. Ive been wanting to check it out The Edisto River is still and slow moving so there is good potential for beautiful reflection photos for my State Park series of paintings. Great Find!

Jekyll Island GA 3 ' 2

You may remember from an earlier post in 2010 that we had stopped  overnight at Jekyll Island  while we were en-route to Florida.  We had been favorably impressed with what we saw then,  and had vowed to come back and spend more time exploring this Georgia State Park Sea Island. 

 One of the things we did not have time to see during our first pass through of the Island  was it's historic district. In 1886, Jekyll Island was purchased to become an exclusive winter retreat for America’s most elite families, known as the Jekyll Island Club. For more than half a century, the nation’s leading families, including the legendary Rockefellers, Morgans, and Pulitzers, came to Jekyll Island “to secure an escape.”  Many of their "cottages" are still here. 

Today, the Jekyll Island Museum tells their stories, giving an inside look at what life was like for both club members and their employees. 

 Offering exhibits, tours, and a museum store, the Jekyll Island Museum provides an introduction to the vibrant cottage life of the National Landmark Historic District and important landmarks beyond such as this colonial era tabby structure.

 or this Plantation Oak which is estimated to be the oldest Oak on Jekyll Island.

 While we did not take any of the formal tours, we did spend a significant amount of time riding our bicycles through the historic district homes and gardens 

  stopping to read all of the historical markers along the way.

The island has an extensive set of  well maintained bike trails  which allowed us to traverse the entire length and breadth of the island without the use of  a car .

Many of the bike paths are under the shade of the massive heritage oaks making it not just a  beautiful place to ride ones bike but a comfortable one as well

The bike paths not only go through out the historic district, but

 the harbor, 

the maritime forest, 

 The maritime forest

 the marsh 

  and  even through the dunes onto  the beach.   

 We were very impressed with the measures that the State of George has taken make such treasures accessible to the public, while protecting these same areas from use.  E.g. look at the viewing stations set up on the dunes so that people can watch the sunrise without trampling the fragile dune vegetation.  They are a perfect place to photograph or paint the seashore.

 All along the way there are bike racks for those that want to stop to explore an area of the island a bit more. We took full advantage of this , especially when it came to exploring the beaches.

We had seen the Boneyard Beach on our previous visit, but had not had time to fully explore it.

This time we were able to park our bikes 

 and walk completely around the north eastern leeward end of the island 

along the river

having a picnic along the way

then back across the marsh to where our bikes were parked

On a different day we explored the opposite end of the island checking out the river

and the small marina under the Talmadge Memorial Bridge

 Most early mornings were spent on the beach watching the sun rise

 and taking pictures of the beautiful dunes for a series of paintings CC is working on

 

Evenings were spent back in the historic district dining in one of their many fine restarants, 

 

  and walking their beautifully lighted gardens.

It's impossible to name which area of the Island CC enjoyed the most, but

I think it is fair to say that we will be back to visit Jekyll Island again some day