Gold Coast Cultural Exchange

detail, Last Chance

(SOLD)

My work will be representing me as an artist living and working in Fort Lauderdale as part of The Sister City Cultural Exchange between Fort Lauderdale and Gold Coast City, Australia. The works will also be included in future Cultural Exchanges with Sister Cities in Japan, Dubai, Taipei and China.

Southeastern Paint Out 2010, Day Five

Backwater Reflections

10x10,Oil/Linen Panel

SOLD
Coosa Sunrise II

8x16, Oil/Linen Panel

Sunrise Serenade

Chuck & Katrina Weber

Day Five of the Plein Air Festival set the new standard for My Ultimate Plein Air Experience... I met Gadsden Artist, Gina Brown, at the Coosa River at 5:30 AM to catch the sunrise... you can see her painting here. Hunstville Artist, Katrina Weber and her Husband, Chuck, pulled up shortly thereafter. As the three of us started painting, Chuck started playing his fiddle, serenading the morning as the sun was rising. He and Katrina are both musicians specializing in a beautiful style of music played for Contradances... You can listen to samples of their music here.

In 'Coosa Sunrise II', I quickly put in the important notes of color to hold onto the drama of the initial appearance of the sun as it rose into the quiet surroundings of the dawn. I was then able to block in the forms of the silhouetted trees and their reflections with just enough information to keep me from straying as things were quickly changing. I finished the painting with the accents of light hitting the undersides of the clouds.

For my second painting, 'Backwater Reflections', I met Gina at Jim Martin Bird Sanctuary on the backwaters of the Coosa River. For this painting, I once again just focused on finding the forms of the trees and the backlit vegetation as they reflected into the type of water that seems perfect for Catfish.We both worked quickly in order to be at the picnic provided by the local art association and then turned our final paintings in for the opening that evening... our work was done.

Southeastern Paint Out 2010, Day Four

How now...?

Dairy Farm Road

14x11,Pastel/Wallis Paper

Day Four took us to Wright Dairy to paint, a beautifully acred farm rumored to have the best Chocolate Milk in the state of Alabama... unfortunately, I was too possessed to stop painting and try some.

I did two pastels at the dairy. The first one, a 16x12 of a flowering field (which I failed to photograph) was a complex assortment of greens, yellows, and pinks with a good feeling of distance. After a hearty lunch, provided by the Gadsden Museum under a large pavilion, I started on my second piece. For 'Dairy Farm Road' , I put away the majority of my pastels to simplify my palette and my painting. I kept out an assortment of warm and cool greens, a small range of blues and a few intense darks to get the mellow brightness of the afternoon. This limited palette also helped me keep my focus on painting the forms...

Southeastern Paint Out 2010, Day Three

Turrentine Shadows

20x10,Oil/Linen Panel

Day Three we painted in the Historic Residential District. Turrentine Avenue is noted for its variety of beautiful old Southern homes and gardens, with several of the gardens being open to the artists for the event.

When I pulled in around 7AM I was immediately taken by the way the morning sun backlit this house... deepening its Puce tones to a shadowed purple and casting dark shadows on the vibrant yellow green lawn. Purple and green in a landscape... what's not to love?

As I began painting I found myself being curious about the draped table on the front porch. I was happily surprised as I saw a group of ladies come out and start arranging pitchers, glasses, plates and flowers. I then learned that several of the homeowners were each having small groups of the painters in for lunch that day. As it turned out, this was to be my lunch spot... right on the front porch, complete with Sweet Ice Tea and Deviled Eggs! Southern Hospitality is alive and gracious in Gadsden, Alabama... Y'all...

ps... I did two paintings this day but forgot to photograph the second one!

Southeastern Paint Out 2010, Day Two

Spring's Brilliance

10x8, Oil/Linen Panel

SOLD
Noccalula Morning

8x8, Oil/Linen Panel

Noccalula Sunrise

10x8, Oil/Linen Panel

My second day of painting at The Southeastern Plein Air Festival began at sunrise at Noccalula Falls. I got there just in time to slam up the easel and start painting as the sun peaked through these trees on top of Lookout Mountain. A generous use of Indian Yellow gave my view of the happening a very golden glow... may have gotten a little carried away...

Noccalula Morning was painted right at the edge on the side of the falls less viewed. The morning sun was illuminating a particularly strong and loud flow of water while keeping the overall background falls in shadow. I found the contrast of the cool shadowed falling water behind the warmly lit water very interesting in its limited palette.

Feeling the need to do another painting on such a beautiful day, I went into the Pioneer Village and found myself on top of some large boulders looking at the white Azalea and pink Rhododendron in Spring's Brilliance. I used bold and loose brushwork and layers of paint to find the forms in the dappled light of the flowers tucked into the rocks... it was interesting to watch the painting evolve out of not much structure.

Southeastern Paint Out 2010, Day One

Connie's Coneys

10x10 Oil/Linen Panel

SOLD

The Pitman

16x8 Oil/Linen Panel

The 2010 Southeastern Plein Air Festival sponsored by the Gadsden Museum of Art in Alabama was a fantastic week of painting with spectacular weather. It was great to be among my artist friends I made while there last year as well as the new ones I met this year.

My first painting was The Pitman... an old theater that had holds the memories of the movies we all grew up with... its marquee still boasts of being air conditioned. A young girl in a yellow T shirt and orange cap walked by at just the right time for me to quickly add her and call it finished.

My second painting, Connie's Coneys, was an opportunity for a quick and loose painting. There was nothing slow about these hot dog vendors and their brisk business here on Broad Street.