Everything Going on at Once!

"September Afternoon at the Barn", 9x12 oil on gessoboard

      I have been away.  Just for a long weekend and I will talk about that in a moment but first I wanted to show you the finished painting that you could see on my plein air easel in the last post.  As I walked into the studio this morning and saw it sitting there along with the other paintings I did this summer I was struck by how bright, happy and up beat they all were.  You would think I had the most pleasant summer enjoying beautiful weather without a care in the world.  If you have been reading this blog then you know quite the opposite is true.  I shed a lot of tears this summer. 
     A comment was left on my last post questioning why art was so important to some of us. He asked for enlightenment from anyone out there.  I often wonder the same.  I sometimes get glimpses of why it is so for me.  I just made the observation that my paintings this summer were so different from my experience.  Clearly, for me, art does not always express what I am feeling but rather what I want to feel.  It was an escape for me this summer.  I missed painting so much.  I did what I could and when I did I wanted to be outdoors revelling in the light, colors and peace around me. I was not feeling peaceful but I found it in those moments.
       I have had two life long passions.  Horses and art.  My family and I have no idea why I have always adored horses and have needed to be near them.  I certainly wasn't surrounded by them in my childhood.  I lived just outside NYC in a suburban community and my mother had to drive me 45 minutes for a once a week riding lesson.  When I couldn't be near horses I painted and drew them.  I think I learned to draw because of horses. Owning a horse was out of the question. Again, it was something I didn't have but wanted and the drawings helped.  I could create whatever horse I desired.
      My mother had an easier time fanning the fire where my passion for art was concerned.  I had plenty of art supplies, art books and many trips to NYC to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Throughout my life my two passions have given me much.  They are somehow linked.  Sometimes more time is spent on the one rather than the other which was the case this summer.  However, I wonder how much the success of the summer paintings and the joy I had painting them was because of the troubles in the equine part of my life.

ON EXHIBIT:  A very busy fall is ahead.  I will give more information on these exhibits in separate posts but will mention here that I have been juried into the AUDUBON ARTISTS 70th ANNUAL SHOW and the AMERICAN ARTISTS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE 84th GRAND NATIONAL.  Both shows open the end of this week and I will post the paintings and give you the information tomorrow.
     
SUNRISE, SUNSET, at the Salmagundi Club, NYC is in its last week and the final day for placing a bid on the paintings I showed you in the earlier posts will be Friday the 5th. 

COMING UP:  THE ANNUAL MEMBERS SHOW at the Salmagundi which will open in November and
THE ANNUAL THUMB BOX SHOW at the Salmagundi which will open in December

      I mentioned I was away.....Thursday through Saturday we were in Ithaca New York which is one of my favorite places on earth.  Driving north was like driving through the seasons.  We left home in 80+ degree weather with green leaves on the trees.  By the time we were in Pennsylvania the temperature had dropped considerably and the fall colors were well underway. By the time we reached Ithaca it was 54 degrees and the leaves were almost at peak color!
      We were there both to see our granddaughter who is at Ithaca College and also to attend an event we sponsor each year at Cornell University.  I took so many photos with both my i phone and Nikon!  Everywhere I looked I could see a painting.  I have so many ideas in my head that I will have to start painting like crazy.  I will share below just two of the hundreds of images I took.  The two I show you here were taken on the inlet near the Cornell Boat House and we were heading out to the open water on Lake Cayuga.  Cayuga is one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York.  All are very beautiful and deep glacial lakes. I hope you enjoy these photos.

Early morning, the launches heading out to view the crew races. I am taking this photo from the third launch

Two of the crews rowing for home