Summer schedule

I'm finally getting things back in order after the epic trip from Pennsylvania to California back to Montauk NY and finally back to PA. California was a blast and I had a great time painting. Competition was of high quality and I feel honored just to have been in the same event as these highly skilled artists. Here is a link to see all the paintings that were hung for the event http://www.carmelartfestival.org/ just click all paintings on the left. Also I'll link to my website where all 4 paintings I completed can be viewed http://www.brianeppleypaintings.com/carmel.html

The outdoor show season is in full swing and I have some new shows added to the list. I've been extremely busy wrapping paintings, labeling, organizing and all the other stuff that goes along with transporting paintings.

I intend to get back to painting this week and have decided to incorporate some thick juicy brushwork. I'm going to really stress directional strokes and see where it goes.

Finally, here is the first piece I did in California. I'm happy to say it has found a new home.

Carmel Art Festival

My apologies fellow bloggers. I have abstained from painting and viewing paintings in the past weeks. I was intentionally building desire to peak for this competition so I avoided all things art related. It worked. I am now in California and have one day under the belt. The pent up aggression to paint is now released. I'm posting some pics of works in progress and will post more detailed images after the jurying is done. I will build a page on my website documenting the trip across this great country as soon as possible. I love California and can't wait to paint tomorrow! Cheers and I'll catch up soon on everyones work

Lakeside

6"x6" oil/panel


Well the studio tour is now over and the remaining paintings are back home. It was an absolute gem of a weekend! Felt like summer and we all set up our booths alongside David's pond/lake. With some mature conifers providing shade and the close proximity to the water, conditions were fantastic. Not to mention the fact that David's wife supplied endless traditional Thai food for the whole weekend. The artists and viewers were well taken care of!





There were very few slow times, but when I had the chance I kept working at a little painting on site. I can't say this is a terribly focused painting. Between watching the schools of fish swim by and keeping an eye on the booth I just kind of had fun with this one. It was warm and green things were rapidly appearing.

I'll soon be getting caught up on what everyone's been up to.

Enlarge this one and try to find the Chester County bugs within the paint. There are several sacrificial critters that got a little too close.

steeple at twilight

I've been busy lately preparing for the Studio Tour (see link to the right)

I don't expect everyone to get this painting. For me, I'm finally feeling it. With all disregard for reality I'm finally laying down paint instinctively. I shouldn't say disregard for reality but this is my interpretation of reality. It is really about finding freedom. My take on life as I see it. This may sound selfish, but really what artist isn"t self indulged? That's the beauty of art. We discover ourselves. No?

p.s. the sun had already set while doing this one.

sunset steeple

8x8 oil/panel

I was able to sneak in an evening painting. Went back to where I did a scraper last night. Decided to focus on just the steeple. The sun was setting. I did this around 7 pm.

I have to say I have been quite frustrated lately. I made a decision to only paint from direct observation indoors and out. Well, it's much "easier" to turn out a serious piece in studio. I hate to say easy because there are still many years of painting involved to do a good studio piece. At any rate my goal is to produce work as strong as I can in studio on site. I think it's coming around. As far as taking a small plein air piece and building upon it in studio. I can no longer do that. I am a victim of my mind and my mind says if I do it once it's done. This proves quite difficult to complete a large piece in lowlight conditions. If I were able to return to site on multiple occasions with the same light this could be possible. The future proves inspiring.

House on Italian Lake

12x12 oil/panel

I tried a few things with this one that I normally don't like to do in landscape. One is including a house that is read as a house and two is centering an object. Since the panel is square and the water was creating a nice reflection it seemed to create an acceptable arrangement of masses. I especially liked the blossoming tree surrounded by dark spruce. For me, it is interesting as an abstraction. I did struggle a bit with getting the proper color relationships for time of day. I didn't know how to act. It was a beautiful morning and I got wrapped up in the experience. I thought while painting I was managing warm and cool properly, in fact I still do. However, I think I could have used better or different colors. Oh well, I have the rest of life to try and figure it out.

Zembo Mosque

8x8 oil/panel


Snuck out for a quick study. I was heading for Italian Lake but when I saw the Mosque bathed in light I knew I had to paint it. Beautiful day with spring colors. Yes, I pushed the pink a bit.

Dillsburg Street

8x8 oil/panel

I actually painted this yesterday from inside my car. I wasn't sure why but something inspired me to tackle this scene. I was cramped and uncomfortable. I resorted to an old mistake I used to frequently make. I took way too much time sketching in the cars and buildings to get an accurate rendering.

I was very dissapointed with the result and today scraped down the painting. This left a reasonable result. I began to see what attracted me. The abstract quality of the masses and the effect of good light. Ha! Isn't this always the case? In studio I carefully controlled color temperature and was able to see the painting develop. The result is a mix of thick and thin paint, pencil marks and scrape marks. I'm much more excited about it now. Above is the end result.

Orange at night

6"x6" oil/panel

Finally was able to get another quick sunset in. This time the sun was still above horizon. I plopped down behind a tree, blocking the sun from my eyes, held my panel and painted rapidly. This scene was absolutely beautiful while I painted. The river was very much alive as were the trees around it. I was very focused and calm while painting. In fact this is the best I've felt while painting in awhile. No wind! I know, yet again I've fallen behind on the award duties. I'm working on it and will say that one thing I love is painting the Susquehanna River.

Susquehanna evening

6"x6" oil/panel

I was able to get to the river at sunset. And I mean sunset. I had about 20 minutes to get a representation. Painted very quickly and went with a tiny panel knowing my light window was minimal. The only warmth was the sky so I made that predominate along with a bit of warm reflection on the water. The computers may or may not do justice to the colors, I can't tell. But I will say the variations in real life are so subtle that I doubt my photography skills are up to par with the paintings. In fact my paintings aren't up to par with the scene. This is the best I can do currently and am inspired to improve with these lowlight scenes.

susquehanna morning

8"x8" oil/panel

Haven't had anytime to paint recently, however I got a quick sketch in this morning. Sat on the steps along the river with the sun directly behind and barely up. The sun was striking the distant hills and islands but not the water in the foreground. I couldn't quite figure out how to vary the light in the water. It seemed all similar reflection whether in sun or not. It was darkest near me and brightest in the center where the distant buildings seemed to pull reflected light to the waters surface. Thats what I went with.

Windy River

8"x8" oil/panel

I walked out my front door and thought, hhmmmmh a pretty nice day. Two blocks later I arrive at the river. A consistent 20 mph wind and bright sun. Both in my face. My eyes were watering to the point I had to remove my glasses and find some clean cloth to wipe them.(There is always a chance I have oil paint on my hands so I try not to use them directly for wiping my eyes).

Set up sitting on a park bench facing north. Wind and sun brutal. I've recently been holding my panels in my left hand and painting with my right. This way I don't need an easel. It feels very free and few people come around to watch. I just sit down and paint. So I did this one in a very uncomfortable state of being. I stuck to it and changed very little back in the studio. It is a raw piece done on a raw day! The spring green grass is very deceiving. It didn't feel like spring.

Susquehanna Rocks

12"x 12" oil/gessobord

Been very busy again. Finally got out to paint this afternoon. At least it wasn't raining, although we could use it. With my latest hesitation to paint bridges I firmly planted my feet on the banks of the Susuehanna with the mighty Rockville bridge BEHIND ME! Yes, I faced upriver and picked three rock masses to anchor the painting. The mountains here dive steeply towards the river making composition challenging.

On another note I was tagged by Jala Pfaff. I promise to get to my tagging duties very soon.(I promised Loriann too, I didn't forget Loriann). I will get to tagging some folks soon! Not sure that came out right?

Backlit Bridge 2

I had issues with yesterdays painting. I made the mistake of having 2 things that interested me. One was an interesting backlighting of the island ( i know, what island?) and the moody lighting of the bridge. 3/4's way through I messed up the island and mixed warm and cool colors on the canvas. This perturbed me but I kept going.

After a nights rest I couldn't forget this error and realized the problem. Upon further investigation I saw that my distant island looks like a close up weed grouping competing with the bridge. Well the trusty knife came out and scraped the unbelievable island into oblivion.(also known as a paper towel). The bridge, while not being an accurate linear rendering, I felt stuck with my original color and light attempt and sufficed as a focal point. Again I'm going for light and nothing else. I hate reworking but this needed something.

I'm beating a dead horse and won't attempt another bridge painting for at least...... a day.

Backlit Bridge

8"x8" oil/panel

I can't think of anything easier to paint than a backlit bridge at sunset. Not!!! But i tried it anyways. I spent many years drawing architecturally accurate renderings of buildings and bridges and the like. Slide rules and t squares were standard fare. In the end they have no life. Just a drawing. When I drive or walk along the river I get a sensation of the river. It is subtle. These are not sensationalist paintings. I am trying to capture the river or whatever I paint as a real moment in time. I struggled alot with this one. Constant construction/deconstruction. The only thing I felt was right was the initial horizon line. The more I sketched in the less I liked. I finally decided to just paint, ignoring the majority of the sketch. Constant struggle. There were moments I felt good things were happening but very few. Most of the time it felt hopeless. I didn't have a composition even! Then I just tried to " feel" the scene. Convinced it was a failure I let loose and addressed the few thoughts entering my mind. Back to the basics. I applied paint as my past has taught me in vague planes. Really breaking it down. After bringing it into the studio I made very slight adjustments but I think they helped immensely. After what I thought was a worthless venture, I now think I made progress. It is beginning to feel like the river, not a rendition of the river.

Spanglers Mill

14"x 11" oil/panel

I've rediscovered a spot where I fished for trout many years ago. It's an old mill along the Yellow Breeches Creek. The dam has been removed. I'll say that every direction I looked this afternoon could have been a painting! I tried to capture the height and uniqueness of this place. The towering forms in an almost abstract manner, all the while bathed in wonderful sunlight which is at a premium these days.

susquehanna afternoon

6"x 6" oil/board

another day along the river. It became overcast when I started.

Susquehanna Sunset 3

8x8 oil/hangable panel

Another sunset, yet doesn't appear to be. Total clear sky, so I looked south down river. Came up with this image. I honestly am not sure what happened here. The time of day appears completely wrong yet while painting I was pretty sure it was accurate. I'm going to study the river till I get it right. Ouch, painting is tough!

Susquehanna sunset 2

6"x 12" oil/hangable panel

Another quick sketch of the river at sunset. Can't say if the sun moved by circumference or diameter, obviously both in degree. A cold front moved through today and the sky showed it. Temps today were 50s but the sky shows whats to come. Cooler tomorrow.

Travers Farm

6"x12" oil/hangable panel

Mid 6os this afternoon. The farm has finally thawed out and the grasses are rapidly becoming more and more of that spring green color. The cut corn fields are turning into fields of mud and the birds are calling all around. Went with a scene looking into the sun. Almost backlit but the sun was high enough to allow a touch of warmth in the dark areas.