Sometimes they come easy

Edge of the Pasture 12x16 pastel, copyright 2012

Our neighbor's property has an open view to the west, and on clear evenings the sunset lights everything up rather dramatically.  I've taken dozens of reference photos from our driveway trying to capture that moment.  Most of the time I've focused on their red barn, but this time is was a large maple tree that caught my eye.  And despite my struggles the past few weeks and the difficult subject matter that trees make, this one didn't give me too much trouble.  The hardest part was in reminding myself to not do too much.  I actually started painting in all the little branches on the maple and all the bushes and trees in the background.  It became obvious rather quickly that so much detail would take forever to paint and would only serve as distractions.  Keep it simple is the best philosophy.

In the news, the annual Art Association of Randolph County juried show is this month, and I've entered two pieces:  October Fields and Morning Mist Near Alexander Bay.  Experience has taught me that larger, more dramatic work is more likely to get noticed, especially in a show as crowded as this one gets.  The reception is next Thursday the 8th at 7:00pm.  I plan on going, assuming the weather holds up.

Morning Mist near Alexander Bay

Morning Mist Near Alexander Bay 20x10 pastel, copyright 2011

I was finally able to get a piece finished to my satisfaction by returning to summer vacation, this time along the St. Lawrence River.  Alexander Bay is a pleasant little resort town in the Thousand Islands region.  It was raining when we arrived in the evening, though the clouds broke up near sunset and a rainbow made a brief appearance.  In the morning we took a tour via paddle boat.  It started cool and misty but was quite warm and sunny by the time we returned to the hotel in the early afternoon.  The photo I took in morning of just a few of the 1700+ islands was the most intriguing one of the trip - I'm thinking of saving it for a photo exhibit.

This painting was a bit different for me since I usually prefer bright sunshine and saturated colors but the challenge of capturing the mood was too much to resist.  The most difficult part lay in making the water look like water rather than snow and ice.  In the photograph the water is too chopping and the lighting too poor to show reflections - but what works in a photo is not always the same as what works in a painting, so I took a bit of artistic license.  The size is also a bit unusual, but it seemed to fit the linear composition.