A Summer Change of Pace

'Summer Tapestry" 6x12 oil on panel

"Summer Flowers. Evening" 6x12 oil on panel

"Hydrangeas in the Afternoon" 6x12 oil on panel

      I have often said that it is unusual that I hardly ever paint gardens. It is unusual because I am a graduate of the Landscape Design Program at George Washington University in DC and ran my own design business for years.  I used to call it painting with plants.

      Lately I have been doing a lot of planting and beginning to redesign my garden which will become a larger undertaking in the upcoming year. Landscape design is a lot like painting in that I am thinking of composition, color and texture. In the summer months I have 6 huge planters on my deck and I mix perennials with annuals and herbs. They are my color laboratory.

     While sitting outdoors enjoying a comfortable evening a couple of weeks ago I felt compelled to set up my plein air easel and paint some of the flowers. The first two paintings are of the flowers in two of the planters on my deck. The third is a little study of the front garden and my enormous Annabelle Hydrangeas.
      Enjoy!

Le Diplomate

"Le Diplomate" 24x36 oil on panel

    Last week I completed this nocturne of a very popular brasserie at the corner of 14th street and Q Street in Washington DC, Le Diplomate. I passed by it one rainy night and found the colors and warmth of the place very inviting and the many reflections interesting and beautiful. By day the place makes a strong statement. The deep red brick of the Romanesque church provides a powerful backdrop to the restored, one time corner laundry. Primary colors dominate the scene and contribute to the cheer.

    For my night scene I used a primary and secondary color palette. I chose several blues, reds and yellows. The blues dominated (lately they always seem to with me) ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, cobalt and indigo. My reds were cadmium and alizarin and my yellows were ochre, cadmium yellow light and naples yellow light. While it appears in the photo that I used black for things such as the lamp posts, it was actually a mix of indigo, alizarin and ochre. I used white very sparingly and it appears in some of the headlight reflections and on the street signs as well as the lights beside the door.

    A friend commented that he found this an upbeat, cheerful nocturne which is opposite to the mood that most nocturnes set. I appreciated the comment because that is precisely what drew me to the scene. I wanted to be inside enjoying the food, wine and life while watching the rain outside. It may be a street scene but it speaks to the life within.

ON EXHIBIT: "The Noble Nocturne Exhibit at the Salmagundi Club NYC. My painting "Indigo Sky" will be on exhibit there until June 17th when the show closes. The Club is located at 47 5th Ave. NYC

Picking Up Where I Left Off

"Georgetown"40x30 oil on linen

     I finished this painting two days ago and it was a joy to be working large again! I plan on continuing with works 24x30 and larger for quite a while. Small works are fun and a great way to work out new ideas but I painted LOTS of them this fall and winter and it is time for a change.

     I am sure you recognize this view as the same from two posts back, hence the post title. Standing on the north end of the terrace of the Kennedy Center and looking west provides this wonderful view of Georgetown. I have had fun painting it as a rainy nocturne, a deep blue nocturne and now at the moment between dusk and the descent of night. I love this particular moment that lasts just for that long. The color fades really fast so writing it down and committing it to memory is best because I am never able to capture exactly what I want with my camera. I did a small color study painted to scale in my sketchbook and that is what I worked from.
     A daytime photo gave me all the information I needed about the placement of the buildings and the rest was from my mental picture. I prefer the freedom of working that way.

     Looking around my studio it is clear I am drawn to blue. I go through tubes of it in all different hues. When painting nocturnes I like to have at least four different blues on my palette and the colors that are mixed from those varied blues help capture all the nuances of color in the night

    ON THE EASEL: A painting titled "Le Diplomate" 24x36. I just started it today and the subject is the restaurant of that name on the corner of 14th Street and Q Street. It is a nocturne after a rain. Once again, I am working from a sketch and a color study both to scale in my sketchbook. I hope I will be posting the finished painting soon.

The Salmagundi Club Award!

"Snowy Night, 5th Avenue at 48th St." 16x12 oil on panel

     Every year since 1878 the Black and White Exhibit has taken place at the Salmagundi Club on 5th Avenue in NYC. In the 19th century newspapers depended on the skills of illustrators and many of those illustrators were members of the Salmagundi Club. The exhibit was established to showcase their work. Over the years, centuries actually, the show evolved to include all media but with the rule that all be either black and white or sepia and white ONLY. No color accents allowed. I very much enjoy participating in this exhibit and the unifying element of the extremely limited palette always makes for a strong display.

      This year the show is particularly exciting for me because my painting, shown above, has received the Salmagundi Club Award! Am I happy and honored? You bet!

      Adding to the pleasure is the fact that the truly gorgeous International ARC Salon (Art Renewal Center) exhibit is taking place in the Main Gallery at the same time. Due to that this year the B&W show has been hung in the adjacent Parlor and in the Lower Gallery. My painting is hung in the Parlor near the windows overlooking 5th Avenue which I am delighted about given the subject of it. Also, the forecast for the end of the week will have the Avenue look much as it does in "Snowy Night". :-)

    2016 HISTORIC BLACK AND WHITE EXHIBIT : Monday, January 18th thru Thursday, February 4th 2016. Reception Thursday, January 21st 6-8 PM (open to the public). This exhibit is free of charge.

     THE INTERNATIONAL ARC SALON EXHIBIT : Same dates as above. This is a traveling exhibit of paintings by the finalists in the  2014/2015 ARC competition showcasing the work of some of the finest contemporary realist painters. The show was most recently in Madrid. There is a $15 charge to see this exhibit.

Singing the Blues

"Indigo Sky, Georgetown" 12x12 oil on linen panel

      Can you tell that blue is my favorite color? So many beautiful shades to choose from and I am finding those making up the night sky particularly enticing these days. This is the same view as "Rainy Night on the Potomac" from my last post. This one is larger but still a small painting and I wanted to explore a new range of color. I had planned these as studies for a larger piece but for now I think I will stop and perhaps paint a larger one later. I feel I have pretty much said it all in this one.
      Both of these were painted from memory of the view seen from a corner of the terrace at the Kennedy Center. I had planned to go back with my camera and take photos but perhaps it is best that I didn't. I would have had to zoom in for this shot and I am sure there would be many details that literal me would have gotten hung up on while painting. I painted this one with a palette knife and brushes and it is already more detailed than the little one I did with the credit card, palette knife and large bristle brush.
      Today I blocked in another cityscape on a 24x30 linen panel. This too will be a nocturne but it will be a street scene, Pennsylvania Avenue again and I suspect I will continue singing the blues!

Winter ????

"The Willard Hotel, Winter Night" 9x12 oil on panel

     I have been off the grid for about a month busy with the holidays, a large family and my menagerie. However, the painting continues if not my blogging and Facebook postings. We have been having an extraordinary December here in Washington and I am loving the springlike weather. I know there are those wishing for cold and snow more appropriate to the season.  I am not in that camp! BUT, when it comes to winter paintings a little snow can be an asset. Back on October 11th I posted a little painting called "Willard Hotel Nocturne" which was a memory from a balmy summer night. The painting above is also a memory as any snow this December could only exist in the mind :-) My husband and I have spent many a pleasant evening dining at the Willard Hotel the front of which sparkles all winter. This beautifully restored Washington landmark is full of history and for me, wonderful memories. So here is the Willard on a snowy, slushy night.
This painting as well as those from the October 11th post have all found new homes. Perhaps the buyers have good memories of their own.

       The little painting below, which I painted last week, is much more in keeping with the weather we have been experiencing.The night was warm, rainy and a little foggy. I experimented with a different, limited palette. I used Indigo, Cadmium Turquoise, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre and White. I used a palette knife, a credit card and a one inch bristle brush to paint this as I wanted to keep it loose.

"Rainy Night on the Potomac" 8x8 oil on linen panel

THE 87TH GRAND NATIONAL, AAPL

"Monday Morning on H Street" 24x20 oil on panel

      I have been extremely fortunate to have one of my paintings juried into the American Artists Professional League's Grand National for five years in a row!  This year is the 87th Grand National and once again it will be held in the beautiful Main Gallery of the Salmagundi Club in NYC. This Washington DC scene is the painting that was accepted. I am particularly pleased to have a cityscape in the exhibit as they have been my focus this year and this is the first to be in a national show. The exhibit opens next Sunday, November 8th and runs until Friday, November 20th. The Salmagundi Club is located at 47 5th Ave. NYC. You can see all the paintings at www.americanartistsprofessionalleague.org or read more at www.salmagundi.org

     I have been busy getting ready for upcoming small works shows and just finished a seventh small painting which will cover the two shows I am entering. This one is of the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson connecting NYC to New Jersey. It was a pleasure to paint it and I wonder why it is the first time I have done so. I have crossed that bridge easily over a thousand times in my life. First as a child visiting relatives or doing holiday shopping in NY, then as I grew older going to the city with friends and after graduation commuting to work from New Jersey to downtown Manhattan. I vividly remember the views which are beautiful and the bridge itself which is so graceful. I also remember thinking how exciting it was to have the lower level added in 1962. I have the feeling I will be doing more paintings of the GW Bridge!

"Sunset, The George Washington Bridge" 6x12 oil on panel