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Saturday, May 14, 2016

For the last day of the event we were asked to paint in the town of Wayne. I had painted the movie theater almost every one of the nine years I had done this event, so I wanted to take a unique approach and decided to get there early, just as the sun was coming up behind the building. It was very early for me to be a painting, and I was very proud of myself.

Since I was there so early I also decided to do a larger scene and use up as much of the paint on my palette as I could. All the painting that morning went well and I was pleased with it except my trouble area, which is always the foreground. After lots of scraping and pondering and discussions with the many artist's that wondered by, I called it finished.

Paintings had to be handed in by 2 o'clock in the afternoon so we had time to relax before the 6 o'clock opening reception. In the main gallery each artist was allowed six paintings. As the evening went on it was thrilling to see red dots appear on all six of my paintings that were in the main hall.  This has only happened one time before, and I must say it is quite a thrill. The two pieces that were hung in the hallway are still available.

Sunlight on General Wayne - 16" x 20" – Oil on linen panel

May 13, 2016

The weather was not good, in fact it rained all day. I had some errands to run and then met up with my friend Elainne Basa. We had a wonderful lunch and cup of tea at Margaret Cho's. It was so relaxing that I just decided to take the whole day off. I've never done this before during a plein air event! At first I wasn't very comfortable with the plan, but as the day progressed I decided it was a great idea!

 After a dinner hosted by the Wayne Art Center, I began to feel like a real slouch. Doing the night scene in Philadelphia was so much fun that I gathered up my energy for a night scene right there in Wayne.

All of the cafés were glowing and it took me a while to pick one. By the time I made a decision, it was already dark. I chose Teresa's.

Evening at Teresa's – 10" x 12" – sold

May 12, 2016

 On Wednesday the sun was supposed to come out, and I was very excited. I woke up early and got to Chanticleer Gardens right as they were opening the gate. After a quick walk around the beautiful gardens I settled on  this view from the bottom of the hill looking up at the building with the sun behind it.

I knew the sun would rise quickly and the roses would begin to glow. What I didn't know was that all these people would show up, but they did, and it was a good thing because it seemed to add to the painting.

Chanticleer Morning Chat - 12" x 12", oil on panel

 When I finished the painting above, I was standing in the beaming sun and it was quite warm. So after a relaxing lunch in the shade, I set my sights on a more covered area under the trees looking toward another building with picnic tables in the forefront. The sun basically disappeared so this became a study of greens. Green is a very difficult color to paint when it is everywhere. Luckily I could overemphasize all the values. Two different couples sat at the picnic table while working on this painting, so it's a combination of them all in one. Their bright colored clothing created a focal point.

Symphony of Greens – 16 x 20" – sold

Tuesday, May 11, 2016

 This was the second day of the plein air event.  I had decided earlier that I would spend the first two days in Philadelphia doing city scenes.

Elfreth's Alley was a place I had never painted, and I had never seen anyone paint it in the nine years I did this event. I arrived somewhat early and found a parking spot close by. I set up my easel at the far end of the alley planning on painting the whole scene and the people as they arrived.

Deciding on a large, 18 x 24" I sketched in my composition rather quickly.  Then the trouble began!

Comparing the colors and the values I realized IT WAS ALL THE SAME!!

Everything was brick, the sun wasn't out and everything was the same value.  Tourists were arriving and I learned a lot about the alley.  It is the oldest continuously inhabited Street in the country... I also met a few of the people that live there, even used the tiny bathroom of one sweet woman who left me in.

The trouble continue all morning. I gathered my lunch from the car and sat there pondering it. After slashing away with my palette knife and scraping and adjusting colors until almost 4 o'clock I called finished! I then realized why no one had ever painted it!!

Elfreths Alley – 18 x 24 - SOLD

 Deciding that traffic would be horrendous leaving the city at 4 o'clock I decided to stay and paint a nocturne of my favorite restaurant on Rittenhouse Square, Parc.

I found a place to park, walked around for a bit, decided to eat an early dinner at Parc, and then gathered my equipment and set up to paint. Of course it was not dark yet, not even close! I set up where I thought it would be a good view. I sketched in the whole composition with my brush and then waited.

It seemed to take forever until the street lights went on and the restaurant took on a warm glow.

While I was waiting I had many conversations with passerby's. When finally darkness was approaching, I went to town with my palette knife. It was so much fun trying to capture the waiters as they hurriedly rushed to and fro.

It was exhilarating and so much fun I wanted to stay and do another. But common sense prevailed and I packed up and drove back to my host family in Media.

My set up on Rittenhouse Square.

Parc Lights - 12" x 16" - SOLD

 May 10, 2016

Today was the first day of the Wayne Plein Air Festival. There are over 30 artists involved in this event from across the country.  The area we have to paint in is within a 20 mile radius of Wayne.  Philadelphia is within this range and I chose to start my day there. Rain was in the forecast and I planed accordingly. My original thought was to paint The Union League building on Broad street... but when I arrived I realized there was no interesting view except from the middle of Broad Street.

After driving around a bit I realized the only place I could paint under cover from the elements was to stand under the awning of the Wilma Theater. I had stood there a few years ago for a painting and knew I would stay dry. 

This 12" x 9" panel had to be finished before my parking meter timed out, so I aimed to simplify and paint only the main characters - the people and City Hall.

Philly Rain - 12 x 9 - oil - SOLD

After warming up with a healthy lunch at Whole Foods Market I took another drive and settled on The Waterworks behind the Philadelphia Museum.

This 12" x 12"panel took very long because of the complexity of the buildings and because I had to dodge the frequent bouts of rain drops all afternoon – one of the downfalls of using solvent free oils – Raindrops WILL effect the oil paint!

Surveying the Waterworks - 12 x 12 - oil - SOLD

These photos were taken from my iPhone and need to be reshot.