Bison on Antelope Island - WIP

This is a new piece I am working on. Obviously, there is a lot more to do. I don't think I'll put as many of the bison in as in the photo. I am having difficulty with making my brown paint splotches look like them.  There were many in the herd (also known as buffalo).

Antelope Island is on the Great Salt Lake, near Salt Lake City, Utah. Great place to visit. I'll keep working on this painting for the next few weeks.  I changed my photo around and put different mountains in the background from another photo taken on the same day at a slightly different view.  There was only a little bit of snow on those mountains on that day in November. It was overcast and very gray. Not sure how my painting will turn out. I will probably darken the sky more at the end.

Happy holiday and happy new year to everyone.

View from the Lodge

Full disclosure -- I am not a downhill skier. However, I enjoyed watching the skiers from the lodge on Thanksgiving Day.  I painted this from my photo.  I spent my holiday this year with my daughter in Utah and we had a wonderful dinner at the lodge at the Alta Ski area in Utah. The lodge is about 9000 feet in elevation (3000 meters), the mountains are much higher.  There weren't many skiers out as it was getting to be late in the day on the holiday.

Acrylic painting on canvas, 8" X 10".  I will probably make a few cards from this one too. If you are interested in purchasing the original, or cards, please feel free to contact me.

The Old Gate (again)

I think this is finished now. I worked on the posts some more and glazed the ground (grass) a little.  I touched up some of the leaves and tree branches too. I'll let it dry for a week and decide if I'm done fiddling around.  I have another canvas ready and I need to move on.  It's tempting to overwork a painting and I'm hoping not to do that.

The Old Gate

This is a 9" X 12" acrylic painting done from one of my photos taken in Utah while I was there recently. I didn't have a small canvas in my studio and didn't want to do a large painting of this scene, so I took one of my old paintings, tried washing it off (that didn't work), let it dry, then painting on a layer of gesso, let that dry, then a layer of neutral gray and let that dry.  That worked and covered up the old painting and I have some other canvas boards that I am unhappy with and can use that process on too.  Meanwhile, I had a chance to buy more 8 X 10 and 11 X 14 canvas boards so I don't have to go through that process again. It's good to know that it works and I can recycle old boards and make new paintings.

This scene was at the Fielding Garr ranch on Antelope Island (Antelope Valley State Park).  My daughter and I had a wonderful day there, saw lots of bison, mule deer etc. The ranch was quite interesting too and we spent some time walking around and learning about ranching.  This island is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.  They were able to ranch there (and the bison herds are able to do well there) because there are natural springs with fresh water on the island. (See Nov. 20 posting -- last 2 photos.)

My painting of the snowmobile won "Artist of the Month" at the Manchester Artists Association meeting this week and is on display at the Bedford (NH) public library this month.  (See Nov 1. posting for photo.)

Dinosaurs and more

I spent a wonderful day at the natural history museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The view from the terrace is of the Wasatch Mountains.

The previous day, I toured Antelope Island which is on the Great Salt Lake. Here are a couple of photos from that tour.

Perpetual Student

painting

canvas on the easel

brushes and paints set out

is this who I am now?

an artist wannabe?

 

back in school again

university this time

not just art class

waking up my brain

relearning verb tenses

vocabulary and more

reviewing Spanish

starting to remember

 

I say I’ve retired

when people ask

but that is the wrong word

I need a new word

for this time of my life

as artist, poet, wife, mother

and perpetual student

 

©Linda H. Feinberg

I haven't done much writing since we came back from Israel in the winter. I was concentrating more on my art and now on my Spanish classes. I took out my notebook again last night and it felt like the right time to start writing again.

 

As an art update my drawing of Inside the City, Jerusalem, (6/7/2012 post) was accepted into a juried show in Boston. It will be at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery for the Alumni & Faculty Show from November 15, 2012 to January 15, 2013.

Winter Trails

I'm looking forward to winter and cross country skiing this year. Last year we were away and there wasn't enough snow when we returned in March. I painted from a photo of a snowmobiler taken the year before, when we were skiing in Auburn, NH.  There are lots of trails nearby and we have our own equipment so we don't need to pay fees. We do have to watch out for the snowmobiles and the dog sleds (they have the right of way), but there are still many quiet places to go where it is not crowded with machines. We also hike on these trails during the other seasons.

This painting is almost done. It is 16" X 20" acrylic paint on stretched canvas.  I am leaving it up on my easel for now to see if I want to do anything else to it.  Once I've made my final decision I will varnish it. Meanwhile, it's still fall here and we have a big cleanup of the fall leaves from the storm. We were lucky and did not lose our electricity with the hurricane, but it is a mess here. Last year we did not have power for 3 days (and it was cold then) due to the surprise October snowstorm. I don't mind cleaning up the leaves and I can wait a little longer for the snow.

Oak and Maple Leaves

 

Blessed is the One who transforms one season into another.

View from Mount Willard

I finally finished and varnished this painting. You can see it on my easel in one of the photos of my studio below. This is the view from the top of Mount Willard in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, looking down at the roads below. Mount Willard is in the Crawford Notch area and is a moderate hike. You are inside the treeline all the way up to the top ledge.  The views are of the presidential range of mountains in New Hampshire.

This painting is 16" X 20" on stretched canvas, acrylic paint.  I put it up for sale on my website and will show it at the next craft fairs that we are doing in November and December. I am getting more comfortable working on these larger canvases and have started a winter scene with a snowmobile now. I did a small watercolor study first to help me with the composition.

I did darken the background on the amaryllis painting (post before this one) and I think it looks more dramatic.

It's very beautiful in New Hampshire now. I love the cooler temperatures and the fall colors. We had a small earthquake (4.0) last night, but no damage.  These are trees in my yard:

Amaryllis

This painting was a bit more experimental for me.  I had a panel that I had painted with a burnt sienna undercolor. I wasn't happy with the canvas texture on the panel and did not feel that it was suitable for a landscape. I had some nice photos of my amaryllis flowers (grown in a pot) from last year.  I like red and had recently sold another painting of red bougainvilleas. I thought it was time to paint more red flowers.

I poured various colors on the surface and spread them around with a palette knife. I scraped in a rough idea of the flower petals in some places where I had some yellow ochre (and some places show up the burnt sienna undercolor).  I was trying to get a sense of movement since these were live flowers, not dead ones (even though they were inside out of the wind).  I let that dry.

Then I painted and played with the flowers.  When they dried, I felt that the background was too pale.  I glazed the background with viridian mixed with the glaze (to darken it) and let everything dry again.  I added more details and highlights. I'm happy with the results and I'll look at it for the next week or so before I varnish it to see if I want to change anything else.

Acrylic on artist panel, 11" X 14". This painting can be framed (or not). There is a hanger on the reverse.  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing.  I will be making some cards from the image as well to sell at the next craft fair (November 3, 2012, Brookside Congregational Church, Manchester, NH).

Artist of the Month - October 2012

Photo by Tom Wright

 

 

I am a member of the Manchester Artists Association and won one of the Artist of the Month certificates this month. My painting of Tower Hill Pond is on exhibit for the month of October at Bentley Commons in Bedford, New Hampshire. I received lots of nice comments when I went there to put it on the easel in the library.

 



Tzfat (Safed), Israel

Just a little pencil drawing this past week. I was too busy to paint. I was involved with Jewish holidays and family.  I hope to have time this week to finish the mountain painting I am working on. I also started a drawing for a painting of amarylis flowers. That will be on a smaller panel.

This drawing was from a photo I took while out walking with my friend during the winter months on our trip to Israel. Tzfat is on the top of the hill which makes for interesting walking up and down many steps.  It was and still is the town with many mystics. Tzfat is in northern Israel, not too far from the border with Lebanon (and Syria). It is spelled many different ways in English.

Open House/Open Studio

On Sunday we hosted an open house/open studio for friends, business associates, neighbors etc. This was the first time I thought of doing this and it was very successful. I cleaned up my studio a bit, found old art to display along with new pieces, set up my card racks and enjoyed my visitors. I sold lots of cards, one print and one original painting (bougainvillea). You can see it in the 3rd photo below (the red flowers - next to the window).

We are starting the craft fair season soon and this was a good start for both of us. Joe is celebrating the publication of his fifth book "What Keeps You Going" and has already received positive feedback from readers. I'm very proud of him. Some people don't know what to do when they retire, but that has not been a problem for either of us! Joe set up his books in our dining room upstairs and was happy with his sales too. (My studio is on the ground level of our house, a raised ranch. This is my old bookkeeping office.)

 

 

 

 

Rosh Hashanah

Painting Dorrs Pond - 2 ways

I felt like working a little with pen & ink and watercolor.  I had a beautiful photo from last year that I liked, but did not want to include the pond in my sketch, just the building this time.  I didn't like the composition enough to actually do a larger canvas with acrylic paint, but I did enjoy doing the little sketch (9 X 12). 

I used Higgins black India ink to start and a dip pen. I usually use the Micron disposable or similar pens for pen & ink work, but I wanted to try something different.  I did get one big blob of ink in one spot, but since this was only a little sketch, I wasn't worried about it.  I used Photoshop to get rid of the blob in the top photo. I may just use this sketch to make a couple of cards for my next local craft show. This was on Strathmore 140 Lb Cold Press paper (on a block).  I also used some Derwent Inktense pencils in a few places.  These are water soluble ink pencils. You can wet the paper a little, then sand down the tip of a pencil so that the particles fall into the wet area.  This helps give a little texture.

This is an acrylic painting I started in the spring, then put away because I was not happy with it.  I finally pulled it out and finished it, changing the color in certain places.  This is also Dorrs Pond in the fall. It is a small acrylic painting (6 X 12) on a panel.  The texture of the panel is different than working on a canvas. I don't think I would do a bigger piece with this type of panel.  I didn't really enjoy painting on that type of surface.  I have one more 11 X 14 panel in stock and I am procrastinating on painting on it.  I started another 16" X 20" canvas and that is more interesting (a mountain scene). I will work on that over the weekend. I'm also trying to finish up another small painting (desert/rocks) I started in the spring and it is almost done. I will post that one next week.

Tower Hill Pond

My first large acrylic painting and I am happy with it. The watercolor sketch of this one is in the previous post.  I enjoyed working on the larger canvas. It just took a little while to work up my courage to do this size (16" X 20"), now I have bought two more to try out.

This is a beautiful pond to walk around (takes about 1 hour 20 minutes) and is part of the watershed area that feeds into Manchester's water supply.  I like the idea of making a small watercolor sketch first to see if I really want to spend the time on a bigger painting and I think I will do that again.

Tower Hill Pond

I have been looking at a photo I took a while back on one of our hikes and trying to decide if I wanted to do a large painting of it.  To help with the decision making process, I made a 9" X 12" watercolor.  I enjoyed painting it and have started on a 16" X 20" acrylic painting on canvas board.  This is the largest size I have tried with acrylic paints and I am enjoying painting.  I'll post the finished one when it's done.

Meanwhile I started back in school  to review Spanish.  I haven't studied the language or used it in over 20 years so I am hoping to wake up my memory cells.  I still read and understand the written language fairly well, but need to work on my speaking skills and understanding of the oral language. The state of New Hampshire has a senior waiver program for those over 65 and I am taking advantage of it.  I only have to pay the registration fees and book fee.  Since I am auditing, I do not have to pay for the credits.  The class is small and I hope we will move through some of the boring grammar quickly. This is at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester.

Just a little sketch from Sunday. I enjoy sketching while we are listening to the music at Stark Park. This was the last outdoor concert there for the summer season.

Art Process (continued)

I am at a stopping point now where I need to think about the painting more before I decide what I should do next. I probably need to lighten some areas, darken others to make the instruments stand out a bit. I think I will leave out the maracas and castanets from my original plan. There is enough going on here.

Here are some of the steps along the way.

Starting out I took my underpainting (burnt sienna) and put it up on the easel with my shapes sketch and the piano music.  I tried to keep some rhythm and sense of movement with the curving lines. I took a good look at my actual piano and studied the keys a little before I painted them.

I started putting in the guitar shape and realized that the raw sienna/yellow ochre mixture was not opaque enough to cover the piano keys. I added more layers mixed with titanium white.

I brought Joe's drum into my studio and used that as a model for the drum on the left (djembe). The others came out of my imagination and memory. I decided I needed more color and mixed some phthalo blue (green shade) with white and a little yellow ochre for the drums.  I added some more detail to the guitar.

I added the saxophone and clarinet, using images from the internet and manipulating them a bit. I changed them around a little from my original sketch.  I felt that I needed more color and did some splashing and brushing. The top photo shows that I darkened the background on the painting and that I wrote the words (using a calligraphy pen) from the sheet music. I enjoyed the process, but still prefer to paint landscapes. This has been a good challenge and, as I mentioned above, I'll probably make some more changes to the painting.

Art Process

It is definitely harder to design a painting that is coming out of my thoughts and feelings, rather than a landscape or still life that I can see.  These are the shapes that I have come up with after making several designs, pictures follow.  I am not sure that this is my final design, or if I will change it while I am painting.

Below is my first original idea, just sketched on newsprint. I was thinking about my family and how we passed on our love of music from generation to generation.  My father used to listen to classical music and opera on WQXR radio in NY during my childhood. We also had a record player and I took classical piano lessons.

Then I passed my love of music to my children.  They took music lessons in school, one on clarinet, another on saxophone, another on piano and guitar.  I continued playing piano.

I added more information, music notes and some of my thoughts on sketch #2, which was done on white sketch paper.

I wasn't happy with sketch #2 so I started a new sketch #3 with more changes.  I wanted to keep the curves and flow.

I took out the castanets and maracas (I might put them in again on the final, I am undecided). I added some color notes. I moved the clarinet and saxophone down a little. This is the design I am working from for the painting.  You can see the shapes better in my outline sketch done in ink on tracing paper at the top of the post.

And finally the musical inspiration.  This section of Chopin's Funeral March is very beautiful, not sad or somber like the beginning. My father always loved this piece when I played it and I do as well. Two of my children have continued as semi-professional musicians and are involved with bands.

The underpainting is done and I hope to start my actual painting today. This will be an acrylic painting on canvas mounted on board.

Maine

I had an enjoyable time in Maine this week at Poland Springs resort in Poland Springs, Maine. I did a little hiking, a little swimming, a little relaxing and enjoyed the views of the Presidential range of mountains in New Hampshire. Beautiful sunsets.

Museum of Maine State Building. Originally built in 1893 for Worlds Fair, then moved to this location.