This Weekend's Work

"Storm Clouds Over Morven Park" 24x30 (in progress)

     Saturday afternoon I got back to work on "Storm Clouds" and took this picture when I had to break for the day.  It is all falling into place very easily.  Sometimes they just flow from beginning to end and happily this is one of those paintings.  I will have to take a close up when it is done as you can't really appreciate the texture when seen from a distance.  I am using both brushes and palette knives and working quickly and spontaneously.  I have my sketch for reference and sky photos to refer to as well but mostly this one is in my head.  I had plenty of time to stand and imprint it on my mind while grazing Gypsy.

Still in Progress on Sunday

     Today, Sunday, I made quite a lot of progress and would have finished it if the light had not died on me.  It was time to stop and prepare dinner and rather than go back to work after dark I thought it best to wait until tomorrow to finish up.  This photo is a little dark because I wanted to take it without the studio lights on which would have given quite a golden cast to it. The colors in the clouds to the right are more like you see them in the photo from Saturday.
      There are at least two more paintings from this series that I will do in progression.  I know for sure I have another linen canvas this size but I might not have a third.  I would like all three to be 24x30 and I have already decided how I want them framed.

Framing!  That is something I really have to spend time on this week.  I have ordered more materials, I have the frames but not the offset clips, tape or paper backing.  They should arrive tomorrow which would be great because I need to send three up to the Salmagundi for the next show...."Sunrise, Sunset".  I have plenty of paintings to select from that fit that theme but would like to send very small ones so I can get all three in one box and not spend a fortune

GYPSY UPDATE:
She is progressing really well and keeping busy eating to make up for all the weight she lost.  I hand walk and hand graze her every morning and she gets stronger every single day.  So much so that she really has to stay tethered to me so that she doesn't go for a run.  She just knows that she feels better and Mother Nature hasn't informed her that she is stitched and glued together.  Yes, glued!  Tissue glue (like Super Glue) was used to close her up rather than traditional stitches.  I am being a "helicopter mom":)

Gypsy with her head in her feed bucket with her friend Diego for company

                                                       
www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com
www.salmagundi.org   Visit the online exhibit "Summer Pot Pourri" and check pages 13 & 14 to view my paintings. "Evening Descends on Black Pond" and "Winter Gold"

"Storm Clouds Over Morven Park", first strokes

Left side of the studio with the start of "Storm Clouds"

     I am ready for some new beginnings.  I reorganized my studio in anticipation of the work station I was purchasing from an artist friend who works in pastel.  She found that the Todd Rieffer work station did not suit her needs and wondered if I would like to purchase it.  I jumped at the chance!  It works perfectly for me.  Temporarily I am using my plein air palette but I will be purchasing a sheet of glass to cover that entire space you see the palette, sketch book and can of knives sitting on. That will then be my palette area.  I am the perfect distance from my easel and there is a roll top that covers the open space you see.  That helps to keep the paint on the palette space moist as well as providing a great surface to do some framing on.  I now have everything I need in easy reach plus I have added to my storage space.  I am a happy camper.
       That is the left side of the studio.  I have left the center of the room empty so I can walk back and forward as I paint.  Below is the right side of the studio with my small taboret and table top easel.  I have a chair on casters that I use when painting at that station and I can zoom back and forth across the room on the chair.  I love this!

sketch for "Storm Clouds Over Morven Park"

         In the first photo you can see the beginning of my latest painting, "Storm Clouds Over Morven Park".  I had toned the linen canvas with yellow ochre and this afternoon put in the first couple of hours work on this painting.  To the left is the graphite and Prisamcolor marker sketch I did for the painting and you can see this small study sitting on the work station in the first photo.  Morven Park is in Leesburg Virginia and is the property immediately adjacent to the Marion Du Pont Scott Equine Medical Center.  As you have already read below, I spent 19 days there with my horse Gypsy.  When I was finally allowed to hand graze her I found myself surrounded in every direction by magnificent vistas.  Paintings began to form in my mind.  I will definitely be going back there this fall to do some plein air paintings but meanwhile I have plenty of material to work from in the studio.  This is just the first studio piece in that series.

"Storm Clouds Over Morven Park", 24x30 oil on linen

      This is where I left off this afternoon and I am happy with this start.  I hope to show you more tomorrow.
                    Please take a few minutes to view the online exhibit at the Salmagundi Club in NYC (47 5th Ave. NY, NY) at www.salmagundi.org  The exhibit is "Summer Pot Pourri" and I have fall and winter paintings in that pot pourri, so no, it is not a selection of summer paintings.
                    Still no time to update my website.  I am not lazy folks, just too busy and I have to prioritize. Please stop by anyway....www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com

A Return to Routine

Gypsy, Ariana and Me

     After 19 days at the Marion Du Pont Scott Equine Center I was able to bring Gypsy home on Monday.  She is as happy to be home as we are to have her.  That is not to say she wasn't happy at the Center.  Once out of isolation she enjoyed being in one of the barns with other horses and regular activity around her.  I was there everyday.  Still, home is home.  The photo to the left was taken today by Ariana's mother whom I have known since she was a little girl. Like Ariana she too attended summer horse camp and grew up to be an avid rider and now a doctor.  Sometimes I feel older than dirt!

     Being back home means less time on the road traveling to visit Gypsy and we are able to get back to our usual routine.  Mornings are spent at the barn and afternoons in the studio.  Today I took some time to get organized.  I need to be ready to enter paintings next week for the annual Landscape Show at the Art League Gallery and I just spent time getting photos of my paintings together for an update of my website this week.  I signed works I  had forgotten to sign and while doing that I realized I had never shown you the last painting I did at the workshop at Willow Pond Lavender Farm.  I can't believe that was only a month ago!



Morning on Willow Pond, 16x12 oil on linen panel

 You can check under June to read the posts about that wonderful weekend.  The Hickory Bridge painting was of the farm where I was staying and the other two were both painted that Saturday at Willow Pond Lavender Farm.  This one was painted on Sunday morning before I left for home.  I think I posted an image of it on the easel and then I just finished it up later that week after I got home.

I pulled it out today to sign it (as you can see I had forgotten to do that) and when I did I took out one from last August that I had forgotten about and never signed or uploaded to my website.  It was painted from the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Maryland and I was looking towards Virginia. I do remember posting about it because that was one of the paintings that the wind picked up and dumped face down in the dirt.  In any case, I photographed it for my website because I decided I liked it and it looks good with the rest of my summer paintings.



The Blue Ridge, 11x14 oil on linen panel


ON EXHIBIT:  The Salmagundi Club's first online members exhibit "Summer Potpourri",  My paintings "Winter Gold" and "Evening Descends on Black Pond" can be seen by visiting www.salmagundi.org   Follow the menu prompts for that show.  I think my work can be seen on pages 13 and 14.  There are many beautiful paintings to see. Until September
 ON EXHIBIT:  The Art League Gallery, All Media juried show, "Two Red Boats" and "The Dock at Jacks".  Through Sunday, August 5th
www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com  Check towards the end of the week. There will be new work on the Small Landscapes and Black and White pages.

She will be coming home!

"Gypsy in Clover" 11x14 oil on panel

      It has been an extraordinary 10 days.  Life has been turned upside down and finally we are right side up.  Gypsy will be coming home!  She has survived and will once more be in clover as she is in this painting. It is hard to belive that day was just a short month ago. 
       Friday was the turn around day and she has made rapid progress since.  She is still in isolation but as soon as we get three negative readings on the cultures taken yesterday she can leave isolation, be in a regular stall and we can plan to take her home later this week.  I know it will be a busy time when she comes home and it won't be business as usual for some time yet but I don't care.  I am so incredibly thankful to have her back.  All thanks to the best veterinary care I could ask for!  My vet Nancy Voytosh made all the right calls and then Gypsy was passed into the amazing hands of her surgeon Dr. James Brown who has also been there for both Gypsy and me every single day.  He walked a real tight rope with her and brought her through. The caring staff that was with her 24 hours a day at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center knows how hard isolation is for a horse and they saw to her needs and gave her lots of TLC.
      
       I took some wonderful landscape photos while I was there and plan to do some paintings from them soon.  At some point I will go back and paint on site but not for awhile.  I need to stay close to Gypsy so the next plein air pieces you see will probably be similar to the above.  There is still a lot to paint here at her home barn and I look forward to some more cool days like today to set up my easel.

     ON EXHIBIT THROUGH JULY; At the Art League Gallery in Old Town Alexandria...."Two Red Boats" and "The Dock at Jack's".
     ON EXHIBIT IN AUGUST:  At the Salmagundi Summer Online Show, Wednesday, August 1st through Friday, September 28.  Link to be provided soon.  Paintings exhibited; "Evening Descends on Black Pond" and "Winter Gold"
http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/  http://www.salmagundi.org/

The Roller Coaster Ride Continues

Where I sit during my visits

     However, today the ride is heading in the right direction.  Hope brings elation!  I know the story can quickly change but she has shown some improvement and all vital signs are stable.  I honestly thought she was going to crash yesterday and I could read the concern on my surgeon's face and hear it in his voice.  He made his usual morning call to me at 8:30 AM and I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice immediately.  I took care of my dogs and headed to Leesburg.  I could see the change in Gypsy's attitude as well.  She is beginning to eat a little more on her own but we still have her hooked up to the plasma.  She has also begun to drink on her own and if that continues we can start cutting back on the IV fluids.  I know Gypsy has some fans among you so I wanted to post this just in case the power goes out again as we have strong storms bearing down on us.  I am relieved to know that Gypsy is in an airconditioned space and is spared from the intense heat. Today it was triple digits with a heat index of 110.  Even if the power goes out there are back up generators at the Center.  This is not the first time I have been thankful to have such a state of the art facility just a half hour away.  It is sort of like having the Mayo Clinic in your backyard:)

The beautiful grounds of the Marion DuPont Scott Center which is located at Morven Park in Leesburg

      I felt encouraged enough today that the painter in me came alive again and before I left I managed to take some photos.  I knew the storms were building so it was important to get on the road and beat them home.  The beauty of this place is something I would like to paint on one of these visits but I will hold off on that for now.     http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/                                          

Life Sends a Real Low Point

Gypsy in the Isolation Ward last Friday

     I have mentioned my extraordinary mare Gypsy on a number of occasions and talked about my dual life long passions of horses and art.  Those of you who are regular readers of my blog have been aware that I am once again missing in action.  This time it is not because I am travelling or too busy out painting to sit down and talk about it.  This time I am occupied with helping Gypsy fight for her life. 
      Last Wednesday she was taken to the Marion Du Pont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg Virginia for emergency colic surgery.  It was a complicated one.  She survived it.  That was exciting news.  Unfortunately the first day's elation soon evaporated when we realized the recovery was not going to be an easy one.  My surgeon has been wonderful, the techs and all the support staff have been as well.  It is a balancing act and a waiting game.  We are leaving no stone unturned, running every test, making adjustments to medications, trying new ones anything to give her body a chance to recover.  Tomorrow it will be a week post surgery.  She took a downward turn today.  She is baffling us all.  I am there everyday and sit for hours outside the glass doors through which I took this photo.  I cannot touch her.  She knows I am there and every so often comes over and presses against the window.  I know that if she does not improve soon there will be further complications and her body will just crash.  The next couple of days will be crucial. 
     It is after midnight and I cannot sleep.  I know you come here to read about my painting but I can't write about it right now.  I can't pick up a brush.  I had no intention of writing about this here but I find I need to.  This has all happened so quickly and I didn't see it coming.  I keep wondering what I missed, how could this happen.....

Where I want to be!

                              



     

Almost on a Roll....

"Two Red Boats", 11x14 oil on panel

    Well, that was quite a storm!  Here I was finally being a good blogger all enthused about blogging about my wonderful weekend in the lavender fields.  Eager to show you the paintings on my easel in the field as they were underway and then the finished product.  Then the derecho struck last Friday around 10:30.  The WHAT?  Yes, I had never heard of a derecho and you would think that being alive as long as I have I would have experienced such a storm at least once.  I am quite certain I haven't.  It was like a category 1 hurricane smashing through in a half hour with no notice.  Actually we had about a minute's notice.  We were watching tv around 10:30 when the program was interupted to announce the imminent severe weather bearing down on the Washington DC metro area.  The weatherman never finished his sentence before the power went out with a blam!  The power stayed out.....for us until late Monday afternoon.  Sadly, there are still homes without power.  Besides the power we lost phone service both land line and cell until Sunday morning.  I think that was the worst.  People couldn't even get through to 911!  Add to this we are in the midst of one of the longest extreme heat waves in recent history.  Triple digits all week.  Relentless.  Until this evening.  We are having more storms but mercifully not severe and it's cooling down. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.  I am becoming a little superstitious.  Enough about the weather.

          I haven't taken photos.  I haven't painted this week.  I DID tear apart the studio, dump a load of junk, reorganize and purchase a Todd Reiffer work station from a friend who is a pastelist and for whom the station did not work.  I have been coveting one for some time.  I was right to as this is the perfect addition to my studio.  Now I am really psyched to get back to work.  I will upload photos.  Really I will. Unless there is another derecho and power outage.  There I go again!

        ON EXHIBIT:  The little plein air painting above was juried into this month's show at the Art League Gallery.  It was painted last September at Fletcher's Boat House on the Potomac.  You can see it on the easel on the banks of the river if you go to archives and read the September 3rd 2011 post.

"Jack's at Key Bridge" 9x12 oil on panel

     ALSO ON EXHIBIT:  For the Bin Gallery at the Art League this month I submitted this painting of Jack's Boat Rentals under the Key Bridge.  I painted it either last July or the July before, I honestly don't remember but the date is on the back.  I thought it was a good theme for this month.  I love the colors and activity at Jack's and it was fun to paint it.  The arches of the Key Bridge make the location special and a desirable subject.

      SO, WHAT'S NEXT?  The show at the Salmagundi Club just closed and so has the Club.  Renovations will begin in earnest and this was the last exhibit in the main gallery until the work is finished. Therefore, instead of a summer exhibit in the gallery we are having one online.  I will have two paintings in that show and will let you know when, what and give you the link.  I am still trying to decide which two I want to enter.  I also just sent two entries off to be juried for the Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional show which will be held in Bennington Vermont this September.  I sent my two New York paintings from the Ratner show and I have my fingers crossed.  Then in August the "Scapes" show takes place at the Art League gallery and I am also pondering which paintings to enter there. There's plenty going on and plenty of plein air outings looming so if I can nail myself down to the computer I will let you see what is being produced....soon.