Stuck Indoors

...so I have to go deep into my resource files to find material to paint. That's the thing about Maine--if you're an artist here, you have to develop files of material to have in the winter months so you can keep painting. Like a squirrel hoards nuts, I suppose. Herewith some of the fruits of that labor.



Downeast Sunset
11" X 14" Oil on Canvas Panel

I bought a dozen canvas panels from Raymar as I like working on the firm surface. I had in the past used their linen panels, which I like even more, but they are relatively expensive, so I thought I'd try this less expensive option. I was in the mood to press on a lot of paint and I find the harder surface without the give of stretched canvas allows me to do that.
I have a wonderful book called "The Rockbound Coast" which chronicles a sail from downeast Maine (extreme notheast coast) to Kittery on the state's southwestern border. I've "borrowed" from it in the past and here I go again. This is from a photo by Chris Little. I took some liberties with it, pushed the contrasts and the colors.



Back to the Boat
11 X 14 Oil on Canvas Panel

Also from a Little photo. It was untitled so I imagined that it was people in a dinghy, returning to their anchored boat, before nightfall, from a shore excursion. The photo was very dark, so I lightened it up a bit and as usual pushed the colors. How 'bout that sky!



Beachfront Shacks
11" X 14" Oil on Canvas Panel

Still another from the book. I like the setting sun highlighting the front of the shacks. (Yes you can see a setting sun from many locations on the Maine coast.) I prettied the shacks up a bit as I felt they "read" wrong in a more dilapidated state. I wondered too if now, 20 years later, they are still there, or does this beautiful frontage on the ocean now hold a "MacMansion." I'll have to go see...

Sammy's Nocturne

Sammy's Nocturne
Oil on Canvas 16" X 20"

If you follow my work, you will soon discover that I delight in ironies and contradictions. This is an example, however subtle. Here is a mundane scene that's obviously urban, at night. To paint in daylight would be nothing spectacular, much less interesting. But on a lonely rainy night, the explosion of light and color invokes all kinds of imagination and wonder. (Whether or not I captured it well enough, I leave for you to decide). But there is light creeping out of doorways, looming dark shapes on the streets, blazes of color, shaded windows. What is going on here? Of course, Hopper was the master of this in work that is deeply psychlogical and compelling.
The story of this is simple enough. My son and his wife, whom I have mentioned before in these blogs, live on the upper west side of Manhattan on the fringe of Spanish Harlem. Look out the street side window of their apartment and this is what you see. I got to thinking about what this trite setting would look like at night in the rain--all those reflections--and asked him to photograph it on some rainy night. Some months later I received an email with the photo that inspired this painting. I started immediately, made the necessary "artistic license" kind of adjustments and here it is. Trite or profound?

Virtual Mexico

One way to deal with the oppressive winter here in Maine is to "visit" Mexico via painting spots and ideas experienced there during my fall visit. You'd be surprised how refreshing this is. So I offer a couple more paintings I had "backlogged" which I recently finished.

Dio des Muertes
Oil on Canvas 16" X 20"

The Day of the Dead is the most vibrant holidays of the many Mexico, and some other countries,enjoy. Here the living celebrate the lives of the dead--friends, relatives and just about everyone else. The people troop to the cemeteries where they decorate graves and party with food and drink enjoyed by the departed. In the city are elaborate floral altars and people parade around dressed in skeleton costumes and dance to music supplied by bands whose outputs mix with one another in an aural chaos that has to be heard to be believed. The church, which normally has an outlook on death that is pretty grave, gets involved, too. I see this as a time when traditions of all kinds come together whether or not they contradict and to properly show it, the contradictions have to be expressed. Hence this painting with the church lit up like a Cristmas tree, pennants and flags flying overhead, and apparition-like folk wandering about.


Atotonilco Churchyard
Oil on Canvas 18" X 24"

If you follow these blogs you'll remember that when I go to Mexico, I get together with Frank Gardner to paint. This day in October Frank took me to Atotonilco, a small town outside San Miguel. It is noted for this church which is visited by pilgrims from all over the country. Of particular interest to us is the church interior which is completely decorated with paintings done by a priest who devoted his life to the work. Most views of the church and other buildings in the complex are seen from the front. However, I thought this scene of the rear of the buildings and the ancient stone wall with its arches told a different story. It was high noon then, but I pushed the colors which were all over the palette making for a complex picture, for me at least.

Adios, Mexico

We are now home after spending two months in sunny Mexico. I'm still trying to get use to the cold. This morning it was zero (wind chill), and though the beach where I walk was as beautiful as ever, it was good to get back in the house.

Of course, I painted almost up until the time we left San Miguel, so I show here some of the sketches I brought home to either refine or repaint in my more comfortable larger sizes. I did get out with Frank Gardner a couple of more times--always great--and Bonnie visited his studio with me and fell in love with a print which we bought and which Frank is shipping home for us.


Atotonilco Gato
Oil on canvas panel 9X12

Frank took me over to this small town not far from San Miguel where there is a church that is visited by pilgrims from all over Mexico. The entire interior--walls, ceiling were painted by a preist who devoted his life to the effort. I took a number of photos including one of this church cat which emerged from the shadows to get some sun and pose for us. I haven't done many animals, but the contrasts here were so complelling, I couldn't resist.


Path to the River
Oil on masonite 8X10

On the way to Atotonilco, Frank took a back road which ran along a river. We stopped a couple of times to take photos. The wild flowers were still in bloom affording some interesting views. This is one that I found particularly attractive as there was a path apparently to the river just behind the treeline. I imagine this was used by farmers to lead cattle to a watering place.



Path to Santa Julia
Oil on masonite 9X112

I came across this while wandering around my colonia(neighborhood). Here was a field loaded with wildflowers which were so profuse that they almost hid the pathway to the adjacent colonia, Santa Julia, further up the hill. The roads are pretty steep over there, but the views back toward the city are spectacular. This means that the Americans will soon buy up the land and start moving in. Progress, I guess...

I have a lot of work ahead of me here, so I hope to be posting more regularly than I have been. The yen to get back to San Miguel will recur as the winter deepens. But that's OK--I have all those paintings started or in sketch form, so I shall revisit often, and bring you along, too.

More Mexico!

Field of Flowers
Oil on Canvasboard 9 X 12

Las Fuentes
Oil on Masonite 8 X 10

Las Abuelitas
Oil on Masonite 12 X9

We’ve been here about five weeks and have had great weather, some adventures (and misadventures), and I already have reached my goal of having a dozen sketches to take home to Maine to work on during the winter. I’ve been out with Frank Gardner a couple of times, but not for a couple of weeks as we have had company, and I’ve limited my work to what I can accomplish in the casa. Not to mention the huge distraction of the election. I hope you are happy with the results of that!

I’ll probably get out with Frank a couple more times before we leave, but I also have a huge file of reference photos to use. The paintings posted here are taken from these photos, or combinations of photos that I’ve taken on this trip. Here’s a little background on what they are and how I might plan to use them.

“Field of Flowers” is adapted from a set of photos that I took while driving around the countryside with Frank Gardner. The flowers are pretty much gone by now, but for a period of a few weeks, they blanket the miles and miles of open fields that one sees in this high country. We thought we ought to at least have a record of them to reference for later work. I was attracted to this setting not only by the challenges of capturing the rich colors, but also by the dramatic sky. En mass, the pinkish flowers take on an unusual hue which I found was best reproduced by using the color magenta. I couldn’t get it by mixing my usual palette reds, so I caved in and bought a tube of it. This sketch will become a larger piece later, but I will need to add a subject, possibly a grazing horse or maybe a near up view of a few on the flowers (or both ).

“Entrance to Las Fuentes” is a scene I spied just walking around town.” Las Fuentes” appears to be some sort of apartment complex off the street. You never know what is behind some of these doors in San Miguel. I hit it just right with the bright light coming in from the high left. I didn’t have time to explore the place as I was headed to a lunch date, but the name “Las Fuentes” suggests that there are fountains within and I will check it all out to determine if this is worthy of a larger piece or another view.

“Las Abuelitas” comes from the Spanish word “abuela” which means “Grandmother” or “Granny.” I’m told that the word “abuelita” is an endearing term for the very old ladies one sees here in the markets and on the street. It means “little grandmother.” Those you see are often hunched over and just barely shuffle along, but they have a certain nobility and their wrinkled faces present a kind of ancient beauty. Here are two together, each with her own bag headed to market, helping the other find the way. This will definitely merit another larger piece. I left much of the background out, making just a few shapes for structure and spacing.

I’ll get out another blog before we leave Mexico (on Thanksgiving Day) and as always welcome your comments.

"Home" in Mexico

The Road to Celaya
12 X 9 Oil on Masonite

El Rancho
12 X 9 Oil on Masonite

El Rancho Field
12 X 9 Oil on Masonite
First, I apologize from my long absence from this blog. Too much on my plate for too long...

But now we are back in San Miguel, Mexico, so things seem to have returned to “normal” and I have regained my freedom to paint and write. So let me share some of that with you.

This time of year here is the most beautiful, in my opinion. The rainy season has left us with green and lush foliage and vast arrays of flowers that can’t be described in words. And colorful festivals of all kinds. A painter’s dream... I’ve done a dozen or so sketches so far and I plan over the winter back in Maine to use them for larger pieces that I hope inspire us during the grim gray days of January, February and March. I’ve also gotten together with good friend Frank Gardner a couple of times for work in the field. This time of year the greatest challenge is to pick that one scene to concentrate on vs. the many that present themselves to you. So I show you some of the ones resulting from our work together.

“On The Road to Celaya” is a pasture that caught our eyes in the low morning light. One often comes upon these fields that are “down and up” off the road. They fascinate me because of the effect of less-than-normal atmospheric perspective (the result of the high altitude). So the effect of distance and scale is experienced with unusual clarity. In other words, distant objects appear to be closer than they are. Frank handles this really well as we all know. In this picture I used grays to make the far sections recede and to heighten the color contrasts of near and and far.

“El Rancho” is about 5 miles from San Miguel, underneath the mountains that surround the area. Frank knew about it because his daughter takes riding lessons there. It’s a beautiful place, and the owner, Holly, rents a couple of the casitas to visitors. I picked a view of one of them looking to the east into the mountains. The setting lent itself to a nice composition and several interesting plane changes–even if it is still just a house.

“El Rancho Field” is from the same spot as the above with a 90 degree turn to the right, facing south. Such wonderful colors and even more striking planes of light

Frank and I plan to do more together while I’m here, with others joining us, and we will probably return to Holly’s rancho a time or two. I’ll endeavor to keep up with all this on the blog, though finding an internet connection isn’t always easy. So bear with me.

Oldies But Goodies--Part II

Martha's Runnunculas
Oil on Canvas 18" X 14"
I stole this from Martha Stewart's book on entertaning (don't tell her). I loved the dreamy old-fashioned feel of the image and in fact, pushed it even more that way. Never got a nibble at a show, but I love it.


The Toast
Oil on Canvas 16"X20"
I adapted this from a photo in a cookbook on Tuscan cuisine. I gave me a chance to work on hands. They came off kinda "hammy"



Seaglass Mosiac I & II
Both Oil on Canvas
I was given a book about seaglass, got interested in the subject and made some paintings from photos in the book. Loved the reflections/refractions in the colors and how they varied so much within each piece


Ensemble
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"
From another cookbook, this one published by the U. of Michigan Musical Society. It was filled with dramatic photos of musical instruments. I combined a couple of them in this


As we prepare to go to Mexico for two months, I have been in the mode of blocking out new paintings to work on in the studio when I get back and the outdoors is less artist-friendly. I also plan to paint in Mexico, occasionally with our mutual friend Frank Gardner and on expeditions of my own creating. These will be mostly sketches which I will bring back. So I should have a good slug of work to do over the winter. I have a library show in December and another one in April, so I have to be sure that the work is fresh and the "repertoire" doesn't overlap.
I also confess that I sense my style is evolving toward a looser, more painterly style, with more expanded interest in color and value range, less detail, more intimacy in subject--a whole lot of things. I think this is the way for me to go--to look at naturally-occuring options--and to refine what I'm trying to do and to make the most of it. I also have an interest in face and figure work--more interpretive than literal--so I have to find a way to study more of that as well.
So regard the above paintings as something of an hommage to my painting past and a bit of a review of some of the off-beat subjects I've tackled.
I'll try to blog from Mexico as well, as well as keep up with those of my correspondents. Adios!