Intersection, 9x12"

Intersection, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

 
    A few years ago my daughter and I went on an exploring trip to neighboring Madison county, mostly to see the numerous windmills that dot the area.
    This view of a half hidden barn captured my attention, but it wasn't until very recently that I finally had the chance to paint it. I pushed the colors to give the idea of a warm afternoon.

Canandaigua Plein Air Competition

Roses on Main, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 9x12" by Adriana Meiss

Yesterday was the last day of  the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition in Canandaigua, NY,  my first en plein air competition event. I'm still exhausted but it was worth it! Not only did I produce four decent paintings--three of which sold yesterday during the award ceremony and sale, but I got also an invitation to show in the Finger Lakes Gallery! I couldn't ask for more...well, it would have been nice to win an award but after seeing some of the great work I realize that there is a long way to go.  Other pluses were the chance to meet other artists, some whose work I have admired for some time, and seeing all the work produced in one place.

The painting above was my first one in the early morning. My friend Linda and I were heading to Sonnenberg Gardens but the place was not open yet so we painted in the surrounding area. For this scene I kept on thinking how Lois Griffel would had painted the fence and that kept me from giving it too much detail.

I Love Roses, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 12x9" by Adriana Meiss

-- SOLD

 Painting #2 was at the entrance of Sonnenberg Gardens. The plan was to go to the Japanese Garden, or the Rose one, which we had visited two weeks ago, but the profusion of color in this area captivated us, besides, it was noon and we where looking for a sheltered are from which to paint.

Fast Moving Clouds, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 12x9: by Adriana Meiss--SOLD

Day 2 was cloudy and threatening to rain at any moment. My friend and I went along the west side of the lake looking for a location that would allow us to paint aerial perspective. We ended up at the south end of the lake in Woodville and settled for this peaceful scene.

Pier 1, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord  9x12" by Adriana Meiss--SOLD

Back in Canandaigua we went to the pier to have lunch and decided to paint the colorful boathouses under a still cloudy sky. Just like the previous day, there were lots of artists painting. I wanted a different view from what I had seen other people paint so I settled on this scene. I did not look that difficult to me until I realized that I had spend one hour just painting the roof tops and checking their angles and their line up with each other.

All in all it was wonderful and it whetted my appetite for more vents of this sort!

Peaceful Night, 10x8" - Sold

Peaceful Night, 8x10" pastel by Adriana Meiss

This painting happened by chance. I had painted a sunset with very warm pinks and yellows, some trees in the foreground and a field of daisies in the middle ground. I wasn't that sure of the results and after looking at it for several days I just did not like it anymore so I took it to the sink and washed it off.

A ghost was left on the board and fearing that some of the tooth might have been lost, I applied micaceous iron oxide to the board. This liquid acrylic produced by Golden, dries as an iridescent gunmetal color due in part to the mica particles. It did not completely cover the previous ghost, but that was to my advantage because the idea of a night scene immediately came to mind. This piece became a conversational piece at this weekend show when people commented on the sparkle of the night sky.