"Sunscreen" and "Farmall" have been juried into the upcoming 5th Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition in Ware, MA.
Sunscreen
Pastel
13.5" x 24"
Farmall
Scratchboard
9" x 14"
Show Dates and Times:
September 23rd to October 8th, 2023
Fridays | 4 to 7 pm
Saturdays & Sundays | 1 to 4 pm
Opening Reception
Saturday, September 23rd | 1 to 4 pm
Awards, 3 pm
Workshop 13
13 Church St
Ware, MA 01082
Back to the river view with railroad bridge and power plant, this time in watercolor. The second pic is what I was able to get in about an hour on site, blocking in the main shapes and noting the ripple patterns on the water. The details were added later from memory.
Rooting around in the dusty archives I came across this early landmark in my artistic career. "A Vermont Farm", pencil on lined notebook paper, done when I was in fourth grade and probably should have been paying attention to long division. It won first prize in the 1962 NSA (yes, that NSA) Children's Art Show.
Another depiction looking south from the North End Bridge overlooking the Connecticut River in Springfield MA. There were dark and light clouds scudding across the sky and plenty of atmospheric haze at ground level. My usual practice is to try to keep the lights and dark separate, with paper tone as the middle value, but this time I tried scumbling the white gouache over the dark ink wash to indicate the haze in front of the distant trees. I used a similar approach to suggest the water, which had still, reflective areas interspersed with opaque ruffles.
While my daughter and her entourage were selecting her wedding dress(!) I went out behind the shopping mall in search of something to sketch. Satellite imagery had shown that the mall backed up on the Connecticut River, separated by what appeared to be a strip of rough grass; on the ground this turned to be a very high levee, which is a good thing as the river has been running high and there has been a lot of flooding in the area. Anyway, I went ahead and did this watercolor of the levee and the line of darling violet flowers shining in the sun against the dark tree shadows.
I revisited this access road in a wooded area I had sketched back in May, now with even more intense light and shadow in the shimmering heat. I could feel the sun burning my sandaled toes, so I didn't stay very long, and finished it at home from memory and photo ref.
