susquehanna summer

16"x20" plein air

20"x16"

plein air

I had to get back to the river for some plein air work. I've been doing alot of studio work and will now be doing even more. I'm exhibiting at Martin Sacks in Linglestown PA. September through November. I just talked to the organizer and she said they have big walls so bring big work. I'll be checking the site this week to see just how BIG. As I've mentioned I'm doing larger scale work for the outdoor shows and they are about to really kick in for me. I'll be showing practically every weekend from mid August through early October. I've also been asked to exhibit in a 3 person show at Lynden gallery, Elizabethtown PA. The theme is 3 different styles from 3 direct observation painters. More on that show as the details get ironed out.

The posted paintings were both done yesterday. The horizontal first the vertical second. I was very focused with the first one and very happy to be back in a familiar spot painting. The second painting had less light and I stuggled to find form in the tree mass. The sky began to grab my attention. The humidity was extremely high so the variations in value were diminshed and with the decreasing light the scene was almost flat. I mixed colors on my palette and added straight stand oil right onto the palette mixed in with colors. I used knife to apply then brushes to orchestrate the arrangements. The focus put into painting one affected me in painting 2. I got a little sloppy.

The Louvre

36"x48" oil/canvas


I went to the quickdraw competition at Plein air Easton yesterday. I severely struggled with the painting. I chose to paint the local church with backlighting, including the office. It has a great roof pitch over the door. The natural effect was great, but my painting was not. You have 2 hours to paint and 1 hour in I scraped it down. I took on too much subject matter. I decided to narrow down to just painting the office with the interesting roof. Well this just wasn't working and spectators were coming by to view the artists at work. Normally I'm fine with that but I WAS STRUGGLING BIG TIME. In frustration I wiped my effort away with about 10 minutes left to paint. I packed up and drove home not even seeing the awards or any other work for that matter. A tough day. I did get to view the week long participants work at the museum. Incredible work. This is probably the top show in the country and the work proves it. There are some incredible painters there.


I dug through some photos when I got home. I found one of the Louvre in Paris. I took the shot years ago. I was just as interested in mass and line then as I am now. The photo had 3 figures almost dead center on the canvas. Frankly, they were one the most compelling things to me. I painted them in and was happy with the loose, gestural result. The problem was they were centered and equally distanced apart. I blocked them out visually and realized they were not helping the piece. I painted them out. I think they would be good enough subject matter by themselves. Just as at Easton most times less is more.

Los Laureles Lodge

48"x36" oil

Here is a large painting (for me). The outdoor shows are conducive to big paintings. I dug out an old figure painting to cover with some fresh paint. The subject is Los Laureles lodge in Carmel Valley. Our favorite place to stay in the valley. This is from studies during a stay there several years ago.

I knifed in the darks first. After most darks were in I had to establish sky. Painting over paintings is incredibly interesting for me. To try and establish values with this old painting screaming out makes me dig deep. To see a person vanish into a landscape is quite intriguing.

Wellfleet Harbor Again

20"x24" oil/canvas

Here is another studio piece based on materials collected on the cape trip. These 2 boats are standard fare in Wellfleet harbor. In fact many boats resemble these all the way to Provincetown.

I'm heading to the Westport Fine Art Festival in Connecticut friday. Tomorrow I'll be packing paintings, etc...

This will be the last post for awhile.

Wellfleet Harbor

12"x24" oil/board



Another studio piece done from material taken on the cape. These boats are in Wellfleet Harbor. A popular painting destination for good reason. Again, I knife in masses then use brushwork.

Cape Cod study

28"x32" oil/canvas sold



The East Hampton show was a good one. Made some new friends and saw some great work. I just found out that I'm in Paint Annapolis this year. This is a great event and I'm very excited to be in it 2 years in a row.It is a 3 day plein air painting competition with participants from all across the country. Only 24 people are juried in so I am grateful for the oppurtunity.
This is a low light study of Wellfleet harbor. The subject will be quite useful in Annapolis.

Day 4 on the Cape

both pieces 11"x 14" oil/board

The final day of the trip Paul Gallo and myself went to Stage Harbor. We had sun and I found the active harbor very exciting. I took a bunch of photos before starting painting. There were people sailing, clam hunting, fishing.... A very active place. My paintings this day are a bit lackluster, in my opinion. I felt so excited about the environment that I'm not sure I could capture that on site. After all most good compositions are well thought out, planned and executed with certain laws applied. This is hard to do in a new exciting environment. I think I have enough material to do some good studio work in the near future. As for now I'm preparing for the East Hampton Fine Arts Festival. The show runs Sat.- Monday. If anyone is on Long Island this weekend please stop by and say hi!