Naural Light: Paintings by Ohio Plein Air Society

"Looking West, Hollow Road", 6" x 8", Oil on Canvas

I am pleased to be exhibiting five paintings in this

curated exhibition alongside the works of

15 other artists/friends who are also members of OPAS.

This curated exhibition is at the prestigious

Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery (details below).

All paintings were completed in Ohio.

 

Surrounding this exhibition are a curator talk, two workshops
and a poetry reading. Info on these extra events are below.

"Looking West, Hollow Road", 6 x 6", Oil on Gessoboard

“Natural Light: Paintings by Ohio Plein Air Society”

Curated by Jane Black, Dayton Visual Arts Center
July 28 – October 16, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, July 28, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

CURATOR’S TOUR
Friday, July 29, Noon – 1:00 PM

Riffe Gallery
Downtown Columbus
Vern Riffe Center for Government & the Arts
77 South High Street, First Floor, Columbus, OH
Use the State St. entrance on Thursday evenings. Saturdays and Sundays.

Gallery Hours:
Tu – 10-4Wed, Fri – 10 – 5:30Thu – 10 – 8Sat. Sun. 12 – 4Closed Monday and State Holidays

Phone: 614-644-96241-800-750-0750

E-mail: riffegallery@oac.state.oh.us

 

 MODEL PAINTING WORKSHOP with Debra Joyce Dawson
Tuesday, August 9, 9:00 am – 5:00 pmIn the Riffe Gallery
Register at www.riffegallery.org
$50.00. All materials included.
Between Monday, July 18 and Monday August 1.

FREE FAMILY WORKSHOP Sunday, September 18, 2:00 – 4:00 PM

With Joe Lombardo
www.riffegallery.org
Between Monday, July 18 and Monday August 1.

POETRY READING AT THE RIFFE Thursday, September 22, 5:30 – 6:30 PM
Four distinguished Columbus poets in the Riffe Gallery.
Free and open to the public. No reservation necessary.

Also check this link for further info: http://www.oac.state.oh.us/riffe/exhibitions/2011/NaturalLight/NaturalLight.asp

Door County on Facebook

Me painting last Wednesday.
"Happy Day, II" - 9" x 12" - Oil on Panel

I found this photo of me on the Peninsula Art School's Facebook Page. It's posted under the heading for the Quick Paint, which took place on Saturday morning - two days ago. I was happy to see it for sure, but it wasn't my 2011 Quick Paint. I did this one late afternoon on Wednesday, in Fish Creek's Clark Park. Several artists had signed up to paint in Clark Park that day, but I wasn't one of them. Friends called to tell me they were painting there, so I met them. That day was the hottest day of the festival, and I had a cooler filled with cold water and diet 7-Up. I passed that around and made them all happy.

As I walked around checking out the other artists, I was excited and pleased to see my odl friend, Happy Day, a white boat with a turquoise interior. Five year's ago it was sitting in the water, this year it was shoved up out of the water and resting in some tall grass. I walked all around that area to see if I could get a good location to paint it. Finally I thought, I'd go to the spot where I'd seen it for the very first time, a small strip of concrete on the side of the marina. It gave me a side view of the boat, and the best view of it that I saw.

Much to my surprise, I had the pleasure of finding a very fine artist named Neil Sherman working on a painting with Happy Day in it. I'd not seen Neil since the 2007 Inaugural Door County Festival Quick Paint.

It was interesting to me that I found him there because, after five years, we were meeting in almost the exact same spot where I'd last seen him - near Malibu Moo's, behind the kayaks. We'd both found something that first year that we wanted to paint, but we'd have been in each other's line of site, and Neil was gracious enough to let me have that piece of real estate for the 2007 Quick Paint. It is a nice place to hide.

I wasn't trying to hide that time or this, but those kayaks offered some much needed shade. And of course, Happy Day just happened to look great from there!

Gala Preview Opening Tonight

'Reserve Paintings Room'
40 artists x 4 paintings each on the wall.
But you can't imagine how many paintings are in this room,
waiting for a chance to come out of the box! 

Well, it was a busy morning! But I have four paintings on the wall and four in reserve in the backroom pictured above.

We were invited to a wonderful dinner last night in Sister Bay. Several artists were there, enjoying the company of the wonderful people of Door County who open their homes to host an artist or two, sometimes three or four, if they have the room.

Mary Ann put out quite a spread. I was happy to see "Austin from Houston". She's a great lady from Texas who has come up to visit her sister during the festival.

After four days of painting, Frank Gardner was saying that we really could use another two days of painting. Strangely enough, the rest of the artists agreed. We are just in the swing of it, and let me tell you, there is a stunning show on the wall at the Peninsula Art School, just waiting for the public to receive the full force of what 40 artists produced in this beautiful county. I think they will be pleased to see their county, once again, through artists eyes.

He Ram from Door County

Our painting flag and name badges on the beach in Ephraim.

Listening to He Ram He Ram sung by Anuradha Paudwal and chilling out!

There is time for one more painting this morning before turning in all the paintings for the festival by noon. But, I am framing and touching up paintings. It's been an intense four days for painting, made more intense by the heat factor. Record high heat in the high 80's and low 90's, and HUMIDITY!

We had a couple storms, but honestly, the weather has been great. It had the decency to rain only at night while we were sleeping. If you could get it, wind off the water was a great thing.

The front seat of my car.

Last night I was required to paint in the park in Egg Harbor. I had had it with boats, water, scenes, etc., etc., so I painted people. I was going to paint a yello jeep in front of a blue wall with orange day lillies in front, and started to set up, but suddenly said, "Stop, that jeep will move in the middle of your painting."

I asked several people whose attire I was excited by if they wanted it sit, but they alll turned me down, so I looked around for something that took my fancy. Finally! I red baseball cap in the sun! What a thrill. A couple were sitting listening to the concert in the park. They were sitting in blue and white striped canvas chairs. Sunlight and shade on grass, what could be better, with a sunset behind them. That was my subject.

The back of my Prius!

Of course, after the man finished his hotdog, and they found an opening, they moved. But I had the drawing down and had painted the hat and some other things to set the light and did the rest from memory.

Later they came by and saw the painting. They Lionel and Judy. I loved the names, and that is what I'll call the painting. Everyone loved the painting. I think it's a bit crude, but hey, not bad for them sitting there 15 minutes with people stopping and standing in front of them.

So now back to the framing and tweaking of the paintings.

Sunset, Door County

Good Morning from Door County.

We got out canvases stamped on Sunday at 2PM.

I started painting here on Saturday. Below is the start and finish of the first painting I did at The Door.

It's not eligible to hang on the wall, since this isn't stamped. I started out small, just 6" x 6", since I hadn't painted in three days. I worked beside Mary Ann Davis, my roomie from 2009.

Just a place we glanced off the side of a road.

Under painting is in Transparent Red Oxide.

That has been my tone for a couple months now.

In the past I have used Cad Red Light or Quinacridone Rose to tone a panel, but for some reason, right now, I am using the Oxide Red. It's very similar to Burnt Sienna, but maybe more transparent.

Below is the finished painting.

And a photo of me with the painting and the scene.

This is day three of four days of painting. Everything has to be on the wall by Noon on Friday. We HAVE to have four paintings on the wall for the Gala Opening, and we were required to have at least one on the wall by Tuesday, 5PM.

Doesn't sound too hard, does it?

The heat has been tremendous and also the humidity.

Trying to stay hydrated and remember to eat!

I painted a cracker of a painting of an old boat the morning before we got stamped, but that painting also doesn't count for this festival. I will post it next time I post.

After we got stamped, I did TWO DOGS in a row.

Had to get it out of my system and calm down.

So on Monday, I started to paint more sanely.

Yikes, day three, got to go out and hit it all over again.

We have had two kicker storms here, and some rain, just to keep that humidity up, but you just grin and bear it, answer questions from the public, and first and foremost, you just keep painting, even if you think you just can't do another one.

Myself, I was feeling guilty after 8 hours of painting for not painting a night scene.

Several artists were on the streets of Fish Creek last night.

I should have been out there.

But it was a real pleaasure to watch Colin Page & Frank Garden.

Gotta got paint!

Oh, and one last thing, my new Prius was hit by an old guy who backed a boat trailer into it! And I lost one set of car keys! Yes, this is what can happen at a Plein Air Festival!

"The Door"

 My computer died suddenly when it ran out of battery power in Mojo Rosa's in Egg Harbor, Door County, Wisconsin. That was Friday afternoon, yesterday. Today is the first time I have had to get back to this blog since then.

I was writing to you from Mojo Rosa's Cantina and Pub
in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin.
I arrived on the Door Peninsula at around 10:30am, Wisconsin time.

I stopped to take a few photos to share with you.
Wisconsin, home to . . .

spotted cows.

And the New Glarius Brewery

(which is far from Door County, but their great brews

with wacky names like Fat Squirrel, Moon Man, and of course my fav, Spotted Cow

are sold all over Wisconsin.)

Magnificent cherries!

Sour Montmorency Cherries,

the kind I used to pick with my sister for Granny to

make into pies. In the Door,

they sell pies, dry cherries, cherry granola,

and they also make a cherry flavored beer.

Colorful flags! and I hope - not promise -
to get a better photo of a flag with the sunlight coming through it.
These flags were very welcoming to me the first year I was here, and are often used as 'signposts' for someones driveway into deep woods. How else would one know where to turn?

I had to stop and take this sign, just because!

I did some of stopping . . .

but, I didn't buy one of these, or any of the other garden things that were at this interesting 'antique' shop.

Instead I went for the bling!! Rhinestone bracelets, colorful and gaudy enough for India, in the shapes of a skull, cobras, lizards and one that is really quite pretty. Pretty or not, put them in great light and they glitter to all get out. Look out Barbie Barbell!

Here is where my computer battery died.
I spent the evening with Larry Rudolech and Mary Ann Davis, artists and friends, both from Indiana. We had a wonderful fish dinner, and some Spotted Cow! After dinner, we drove around and around the peninsula scouting painting sites and taking photos. We then went back to the Countryside Cottages, where we were all staying. I posted the photo of my bed - an unfolding chair - really a thick foam piece that folded out to sleep on. Thank heavens I am trained in sleeping in horrible places. Some of you might remember the bed at the airport hotel in Mumbai, India that I wrote about in my Indian journal. In monsoon season, the mattress and the pillows were all soggy from the damp, made this foam rubber seem like a king's bed. So no complaints from me on last night's bed.

I completed two paintings today. The photos need to be downloaded, hopefully tomorrow, but the event starts in earnest tomorrow, when we get our panels stamped at 1pm.

Larry had problems with his brakes today, and had to rent a car. Mary Ann lost her glasses, but . . . they were found in my car. Me, so far, I am doing well, and having a great time.
Met Mark Hanson in the coffee shop in Fish Creek this morning and had a nice time chatting with him. Later we talked to Kami Polzin, and then ran into two artists that Martin and I met in the Adirondacks. So 'the gang' is gathering, and I hope to just have a ton of fun this week.

The moon tonight was stunning. I'd just put my easel away when it started to rise over the lake. It was large and red, like a sunrise or sunset. Unfortunately there was a cloud cover so you could see a piece of it. Later driving back to my very nice cottage, it was in full view high in the sky and lighting up some clouds. Just gorgeous. I was sorry I hadn't stayed to paint it from the spot where I saw it rise, but it was getting late, and it is pitch dark here. My phone GPS doesn't work here, and finding your way around in the dark takes all your attention you can give it.

IMG00054-20110715-1611.jpg

My bed 4 2night! Yikes

On the Way to Door County

Good Morning, no photo this time since I am using the hotel computer. I was too tired last night to power mine up and download a few photos that I took on my drive from Pataskala, Ohio to Racine, Wisconsin.

I listened to National Public Radio the entire way. It was an interesting trip, and I sure can understand why a certain faction of the American Public would want to take away funding from this venue! Just imagine exposing me, or worse yet, YOU - I know that you are delicate - to interviews like the one I heard with a software developer who is working on a contact lens with electronic sensors in it that allows you to look at something and send info to your I-Phone from that contact lens! WOW! 'Dr. Who' kind of stuff! The developers  think, as well as helping us, that this contact lens will become useful for Law Enforcement when they stop someone and need some immediate identification of the person they have at hand.

Then there was the story of a man who is OLD - how old, I don't know - but American Treasure age, and a pioneer sound guy. I was pumping gas, so I didn't hear his name either. He has worked on high-end productions for with Presidents, space projects, movies, TV, radio, things that we have heard of and never think about. His story started with him talking about his deceased granddaughter. He had taken "sound bites" from recordings he made from the second she was born - her first cry - and continued to record her voice and conversations with her from ages 'first cry to age 14' - when she passed away. It was never said how she died, and I am still wondering about that. But he liken this project to a a photo montage, only with sound. He always had a microphone suspended over her crib to record sounds as she woke up! They played the entire thing and it was marvelous.

Along the way I passed signs saying:

STAY OUT OF HELL!

REPENT

Jesus is the way.

and

HELL IS REAL!

Come to Jesus.

Then I came to the most marvelous of sites, a wind farm! I've seen wind turbines before, but never this many, and they were gently turning in the breeze of a wonderful day. It's a wonder I didn't kill myself trying to see watch them, and still stay in my lane with traffic whizzing by at 80 mph.

Well, I would write more, but an elderly lady with coffee in one hand and a plate of toast on it in the other, just came to ask how long I would be here. She looks dangerous, so I told her I'd be here no longer than 15 minutes. I said she could come and kick me if I was, but I am reminded of how long I waited in Cancun trying to get one of the six computers away from the six teenagers that were playing games and Facebooking their friends.

So, I bid you farewell for now, and continue my drive to Fish Creek, Wisconsin his morning. I hope to get in a painting or two today, and meet up with Mary Ann Davis, my old roommate from 2009. I am sleeping on a fold down, or reclining chair in her room tonight. Will make the Super 8 look good, I expect. The things we do for art.