Evenglow, 8x10-Sold

Evenglow, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

The Plowshares Festival  of a week ago went very well. Six painting have new homes, including an older piece that I decided to bring with me at the last minute.  I'm happy to say that there were five returned customers, so to those of you reading this, keep your mailing list up to date and never forget to let your customers know of events you are participating in. Most important, when sending a mass email invitation, protect and reassure your customers by putting their email address in the Bcc box .

As it often happens to me, I left framing for the last minute, and this time I found scratches on the glass in many of the small ready-made frames I had purchased. Fortunately I had other pieces to replace them with, but now I'm left with glass that will probably have to be recycled if I'm not able to cut smaller pieces from it...

Contemplation, 5 1/2 x 8"

Contemplation, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

   November 2013 will be a month that I'll remember for it's sunsets. There were so many cold days that our group went only twice to paint outdoors. Oh, but the sunsets seemed to compensate for the bad weather. So, it's no surprise that I've been painting sunsets, and there is still no sign of my getting tired of them.

  This one started with the idea of the dark sky and a limited palette.  The scene is a composite of two different places, and although I didn't do a preliminary sketch, somehow it worked. I'm thinking of painting it larger emphasizing the light on the distant hill... This painting will be among the new ones at next week's Plowshares Festival at Nottingham HS. If you are in the Syracuse area, this is an event you should not miss!

Early Fall in Tully, 10x20"

Early Fall in Tully, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   Nothing beats a beautiful day and  a great location to put an artist in the mood to paint.
This scene is from late October at the Grey Barn Farm in Tully, where our plein air group had painted just a month earlier.

   The weather and the light were great but the variable clouds almost got me into trouble. I would start painting  the orange afternoon glow in the distant hill only to see it disappear and then reappear somewhere else. After a few minutes I realized that I could end up chasing the light so, I took the time to look at the whole scene in an objective way and figured out the options I had. I settled for what you see here. Painting outdoors puts a lot of pressure on you only because one wants to end  the session with a finished work, and that is rarely the norm. Back at the studio I had more time to study this piece and fix some problem areas.

Pond at Stone Quarry Hill, 12x9" - Sold

   This is one of the paintings I did on location early in the summer at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.  I was satisfied with the results in the field, but back home I decided the focal area needed more work.
   I'm happy to say that it will have a new home after the show at Manlius Library.

Showing at Manlius Library until Nov 16

North Truro Moon, 12x9 pastel on panel by Adriana Meiss

I was asked by the Associated Artist of CNY if I would be interested in having a show at the  Manlius Library. Of course I said yes as artists should take any good opportunity offered to them.

The first thing for me was to take stock of what I had and and come up with a title for the show. I decided on Landscapes: Near and Far because besides wanting to show some of my recent work done on location, I wanted as well to show work from other places that has been in my shelves for some time.
This meant a lot of framing and as paintings dictate what kind of frames they look best in, I had to order new ones and deal with some delays.

Anyway, yesterday the ladies of Associated Artist of CNY showed how efficiently they worked: the exhibit was set in a very short time and I must say that it looks great. North Truro Moon above, is one of the 22 pieces in the exhibit. Even while hanging work, I had the chance to talk with a nice lady from NJ who told me that some of my paintings reminded her so much of the area she lives in.

The reception in next Sun Oct 20th from 2-4. The show will last until Nov 16th. If you are in the area please stop by.

Library hours:
Mon -Thu: 10:00 AM- 9:00 PM
Fri -Sat : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sun: 1:00 PM- 5:00 PM

Painting From A Demo Study

Studio painting from a demo, 9x12 on panel

 Last Sunday I did a demo for the Syracuse Pastel Artists at Barry Park, Meadow Brook in Syracuse. I was asked to talk about my approach to painting en plein air, and to emphasize the point that one of the many reasons for painting outdoors is to challenge oneself with a new scene, I chose to paint a path instead of the pond which I have painted so many times.

The pic below shows how far I got with it. I had prepared my own masonite board but made the mistake of sanding the last layer of Colourfix primer which resulted on a board that was so smooth that could not hold much pastel. The result was a very loose painting but with enough information for me to try reproduce it back at home.

Pastel demo, en plein air. 9x12 panel

Doing a demo while talking and explaining the process is very different from just painting for oneself.  For one thing, there is the pressure to perform. I tried to vocalize what was going on in my brain as much as possible, with the advantage that when I asked myself a question my audience helped with an answer!

My thanks to those present at the demo and those of you reading this post!

Garden Path at Baltimore Woods, 12x9"

Garden Path at Baltimore Woods, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   This is the second painting I did during the Carsten Workshop early this month.
   I wanted the yellow grasses at the end of the path to be the focal area (highest contrast).  The hardest part was painting the cone flowers at the bottom. I wanted them to be distinctive but without much detail.Again, I used one of my own boards.

The Green Gate, 12x9

The Green Gate, 12x9 pastel on board

   Last week and for the third time, I took a 3-day workshop with Robert Carsten.  He is in my opinion the best pastel instructor I have worked with.  Most students leave happy with what they have learned, feeling they have achieved something. The amazing thing is that he seems to teach something new each time.

   Since the workshop was taught at Baltimore Woods nature center in Marcellus, NY, I took the opportunity to paint outdoors. The painting above was my first one and the main purpose was to explore value contrast. It was also a good way of learning about color temperature in the foreground and how one can mix different colors in order to bridge the cool and warm areas.

   Fearing I wouldn't get some Ampersand boards on time for the workshop, I decided to make my own:
I bought a 4x8' tempered masonite sheet for about $13 and had it cut at the store in sections of 10" (for 8x10 boards) and 12" (for 9x12 ones).  At home I cut them in the sizes I needed by scoring both sides of the board. I also used a plain to remove the fuzzy edges. After giving the boards 2 coats of gesso on both sides I  applied a coat of Colourfix primer to the painting surface. I used a sponge brush because it leaves fewer streaks than a nylon brush, but in any case, the board can be sanded afterwards to remove any ridges. Doing this doesn't take too long, saves money, and you end up with a good surface in the sizes you want.

Summer Weeds, 8 x 10" -Sold

Summer Weeds, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   The plein air group I go painting with has been very active this summer. This pastel is from the second time we went painting to the Grey Barn Farm in Tully.

  This time it took me a while to find something to paint that was different from the previous visit there so I settled on the weeds. I had to set my box on a slope which made it painful on my feet and after an hour I had to call it quits.

   Once in the studio I had to make several changes for the painting to read well, like lightening the color of the hill and trees in the background, and getting rid of a distant tree. As it invariably happens, once posted here, I saw several things that needed more fixing, but in general, I'm happy with the atmosphere of the painting.

Field Sentinels, 10x8"

Field Sentinels, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

 
   This is the second paintings based on the same field of the previous painting.

   I'm really enjoying painting when I force myself to imagine different weather conditions and light for a scene. There is always a lot of thinking involved and one has to experiment with colors; and even if things don't work, one is likely to come up with a pleasing color combination that could be used in another painting.

Mandana Farmland, 13x13"

Mandana Farmland, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

On my way home after the Finger Lakes Lavender Fest, I slowed my car down and took photos of this field. I have actually seen it many times before and have taken shots of it, but somehow after this time I really felt the need to paint it right away.  I decided to be more creative with colors though and I'm happy with the results. I hope you like it too!

Under a Cloudy Sky, 12x9"

Under a Cloudy Sky, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

The Rose Garden at Thornden Park is one of Syracuse' summer jewels. One of my plein air buddies and I decided that even under clouds the place was great to paint. Selecting what to paint was tough though, as everywhere I looked offered painting possibilities. After spending almost an hour deciding what scene to paint I settled for this one.  This happened over a month ago. The painting has been on the shelf ever since, and I now I'm wondering if perhaps the hint of a person or a couple walking in the background could be a good idea... or perhaps that would better be left for a studio painting...

Variations on the Pamet River

Afternoon By The Pamet River,  12 x 9 pastel on board

 My  whole last week in June was spend it in Cape Cod with an artist friend. The purpose of the trip was to paint, take photo references, and visit galleries and exhibits. It was very exciting and productive. We got the chance to see the pastel exhibit sponsored by the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod.

Fearing coming back home with just photo references, I set myself the goal of producing  three paintings every day. I know it sounds crazy, but that goal helped me at times when because of the heat, rain, or tiredness I felt like doing nothing.

 Our home base was in N. Truro and the area being new to me, provided lots of subjects to paint everywhere I looked.  The painting above, was done on location, by the post office in Truro, a place almost hidden by tall grass. I don't think I did justice to the light and the haze of late afternoon.

The following two paintings are variations of the one above and they were done indoors the last day of our stay, simply because it rained the whole day. When I find a place that speaks to me, I like to imagine what it would be like under different weather conditions.

Lazy Afternoon By The Pamet River, 7x5 pastel on board

Fog on the Pamet River, 7x5 pastel on board-SOLD

 Did I fulfill my goal? Of course I didn't! But I produced eleven paintings, most of which still need some work.

Grazers, 8x10"

Grazers, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

  
   This painting has been sitting on the shelf for months. Not being familiar with painting animals, I saved them for last.  I did not want to give them much detail though, in order to keep everything loose. But now I wonder how dark I should make them...

2nd Canandaigua Plein Air Festival

Sunday's Pressure Off Painting: The Red Boathouse , 12x 9"

I'm still so excited from the past four days that I don't know where to start!  I did not come back home with any awards nor anything like that, but I feel that I gained so much in many ways. I made new friendships and learned so much from fellow artists.

Wed June 5th, Registration Day
Having to deliver some paintings for an upcoming exhibit in Cazenovia, NY, I did not leave Syracuse until 5:30PM. I arrived at the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery in Canandaigua towards the end of the artists reception, but got all my Ampersand boards stamped for next day.  We were given a bag of goodies (including a nice apron and hat), maps, instructions, and an envelope with labels for the maximum of five paintings we would be allowed to hand in at the end of the second day. Before heading to the motel I scouted the surrounding area for possible interesting scenes for Saturday's Quick Draw.
At the motel I was staying with my friend Lori -who wouldn't arrive until next morning, I met three women artists, who kindly invited me to hang out with them out on the porch. We had wine and relaxing conversation. Then we each went to our rooms to get a good rest for the upcoming day.

Th June 6th - Day One
The weather refused to cooperate. There was rain, rain, and more rain from 8:30 AM on.
Reminder to self: next time read instruction carefully.  Being an early riser I could have been able to produce a decent painting before the rain started. As it was, I thought we were supposed to start painting at 8:00 AM!

Being told there were several parks down East Lake Rd. I headed out in that direction. I found Ontario Beach Park and tried to paint the view facing south, but pretty soon it got foggy so I switched to the view facing north. I wasted precious time figuring out if I should risk setting up my gear near a picnic table or if I should paint inside my car. A few rain drops convinced me that the car was my best bet. With the parking lot being almost empty I positioned my car so that I could have the best view and be able to paint with the hatch opened. The painting below was the result. I'm not happy with it so this one will likely end up being washed off.

PA #1, Marina at Ontario Beach Park, 9x12"

After 2 hours of work and tired of painting crouched in the back of the car I went back to the motel and had lunch. Afterwards I went to the pier to see if a scene would speak to me.
I debated whether I should paint Squaw Island, a landmark, because I don't like to paint cliche scenes, but the beautiful contrast of a tree with a bright foliage against the dark spruce decided me to go for it. I also liked the misty background. While painting it inside the car, one of the photographers for the event came over; he said the island was a rookery for the seagulls and  told me that he had kayaked around it and found it quite smelly due to their droppings. I thanked him later for providing me with the title.

PA #2, The Rookery, 9x12" - SOLD

Feeling like I could squeeze one more painting that day, I moved the car a few yards down the road. The colorful boathouses are another landmark, but I did not want to paint a row of them. So I found a beautiful boat that became my focal area, with the boathouses in the background. The rain had stopped so I set up my gear on the sidewalk, but a few minutes into it a real downpour forced me to put everything in the car and I finished working there, hatched closed, having to use my roll of paper towels as defogger.
While I like the painting and the colors, I'm aware that I need to put more effort into loosen up when painting structures that are not the focal area. This one needs more work.

PA #3, A Quiet Day at the Pier, 9x12"

 At night, we were treated to a demo by David Lusier, the judge of the event. One of the things that stuck with me is that he said it is best to start with your darks because that way you will know how far you can push your lights.

June 7th - Day Two
The day was cloudy with chances of rain. I headed off to the Muar Lakes area nearby and found Lagoon Park across from where I had parked the car. There was a large gazebo by the pond so I went back to the car to get my gear. Fortunately for me, I found my scene right there. All I needed to do was to decide how to paint the changing sky and clouds. It was so nice to finally be able to work standing up for a long period!

PA #4, Peaceful Morning, 12x 9"- SOLD

After lunch I headed to the residential area near downtown, scouting for something to paint. The night before, event organizers had given us some addresses of people who would allowed artists to work from their porches. Nothing clicked so I went to Sonnenberg Gardens. There were beautiful views to paint near the greenhouses but they offered no protection from possible rain, so I went to the mansion. There, I found another artist under the large porch facing the Italian Garden. The wall of large spruces in the distant and their colors in the mist won me over. I worked at it until closing time. I took artist's license with the foreground and removed many small trees.  The hint of the gazebo and the statue of Jupiter were enough to place the scene. I will need to take a better photo of it though.

PA #5, Italian Garden at Sonnenberg, 9x12"

 Back at the motel, I started framing. One of the things that I did at home which also saved me time here was to number the glass panel corresponding to each frame. A lot of people use one single kind of frame but I think that it's the paintings who decide what frame and color they will look best in, so I brought seven different ones with me. Despite all the work done ahead, it took me over two hours to frame four pastels.

June 8th, Day Three - Quick Draw Day
Early in the morning I handed in my paintings. Cloudy with chance of rain. I needed to find a place to paint before 9:30AM where I could work from the car in case of rain. I found a parking space by the market, and facing the hatch was my scene, an alley. With some time to spare I even did some shopping right there. I had brought with me different sizes of boards to choose from depending on the scene, and this one, having large shapes and being relatively simple, I thought it best to work in a large format so I could keep things loose. Taking with Lori the night before about color, value, and general trends in plein air painting, got me into paying more attention to what I was doing. Fortunately, the rain held off so I worked standing up. I finished before 11:30 AM, put the board without glass in the frame, and took it to the Commons where the paintings were going to be displayed. I got very nice comments about my painting and the composition. I'm happy with the results and my effort to keep the colors subdued. Now all I need to do is to fix a few things.

Quick Draw, The Alley, 16x12"

That night was the  award ceremony and preview sale. My friend Lori won the Artist Choice Award for a beatiful close up painting of a boathouse. We were treated to a nice dinner and had the chance to meet the other artists. I think the weather made us all comrades in adversity so people were more inclined to share their experiences with others.

Sunday June 9th - Public Exhibit and Sale
Having all morning to do whatever we wanted, we decided to go painting. (Hadn't we had enough?) The painting heading this post is my effort of that morning and I did learned a lot from it. I tend to think sky reflections as light blue, but when you place such color next to a light yellow they are almost the same in value so I had to find darker and darker blues. I like this one a lot. All it needs is to darken the building on the right.
At the exhibit I met two nice ladies, each of whom went home with one of my paintings. It's always nice to hear someone say " I saw it (the painting) and it spoke to me."

The event was well planned and it promises to get better. My thanks to the organizers, donors, and the volunteers who made it possible, and to the artists and people, with whom I had the chance to exchange ideas and good laughs.

En Plein Air Painting - Some Successes and Failures

The Deer Place - 6th painting, on brown Colourfix paper, 9x12"

 Next week it's the Canandaigua Plein Air event, and being one of the participants, I have been preparing for it by painting outdoors as much as I can.

Painting outdoors could be fun and easy if you have the right set up and are prepared. With practice, you learn to think on the spot. Very fast you learn to determine what the best composition is, how you are going to handle the masses and the values in the painting, and even where to place your set up. In addition, you learn to foresee the possible questions that passers-by might ask you, so you have an answer ready. 

This year a friend and I have formed a plein air group of sorts. There are 6 of us now, and we have been painting at least once a week in the last month. I'm very happy at the level of commitment we all seem to have.
I'm going to share with you my failures (because that's how it started), and successes of what I have painted on location so far this year.

 First One:
There is no doubt that one gets rusty during the winter months! I really forced myself to paint outdoors and not wanting to go far I decided our orchard was a good place to start. However, for a first attempt, the scene was too complicated and the sun was in front of me. A simplified version or a close up of the flowers would have been better.

1st One on La Carte paper

2nd One: 
This one was painted with the group at Franklin Square. Nice, encouraging atmosphere and wonderful colors. While painting I felt I was nailing the scene down. Back home I was so disheartened!  Could it be that I was painting under too strong a shade? Maybe with some work I could fix it. Or...I could use this as a reference for a larger scene. Well, not all effort is wasted as I really enjoyed that day.

2nd One at Franklin Square, Colourfix paper

 3rd One
This one was done at the Green Bridge, Old Forge, close to noon time with my friend Joann and a friend of hers. The bottom version is how I fixed it back in the studio. I'm still not happy with the tall tree on the right. Wallis board 12x9"

 

By the Green Bridge, 12 x9" Wallis board

4th One
 These two were done at Labrador Pond with the group. There were so many beautiful scenes but there was vegetation obstructing the view.  It was cloudy but peaceful and the birds were singing.

 After the first one I felt like painting this other view. By switching to Canson paper I automatically felt less pressure: it was going to be a "drawing" more than a painting. This one will be a good reference for a studio version.

5th One
At Green Lakes State Park with the group. There were too many choices to paint but not one of them struck me as great, so I settled for this location under the shade. I consider it "a painting for the sake of painting."

Poison Ivy, Ampersand Pastelbord 12 x 9"

6th One:
It's the one on top, and also from Green Lakes State Park. I fell in love with the place the first time I saw it when the group went scouting for other areas to paint. While painting it, the small bush on the right started to get more and more important with the light hitting just the top.
Here is a pic of my set up, the Art Attack3, which unfortunately is not manufactured any longer by Willow Wisp Farms.

If this post encourages you to paint outdoors, I've done my work!

The Overlook, 7x5" - Sold

The Overlook, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

    I have been painting a lot but almost everything needs still more work to even consider taking pictures of it.  That's why I'm posting this little study which I did for last month's OAG sale. I'm happy that a friend of mine owns it now.
    I'm working on a larger version of it, but as my tendency is to paint night scenes too dark, now I'm at the stage where I have to carefully push the lighter values so that  I don't end up with a dark rectangle on a wall.

The Red Pine, 10 x 8"

The Red Pine, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

   This is a very simplified scene from a very busy reference photo, which had willows and bushes in the background and lots of joe pye weeds in the foreground.

   For some reason I just wanted to paint the crooked pine with the open field behind it. To give it an air of mystery I added the cloudy atmosphere and subdued colors. To me it speaks of comfortable loneliness. I'm interested in knowing how it makes you feel.

Pompey Sunset, 9x12" - A Progression -Sold

Pompey Sunset, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

This Friday is the opening of the St David Celebration of the Arts, and this is one of my two submissions.

When painting, I often get so immersed in what I'm doing that I forget to take photos of the progress. In this case, I was working with a very dark photo reference which forced me to work slowly and to take shots now and then to see if the painting was working. So, below are the main steps.

1. Getting rid of the white

 1. The main areas were first barely sketched with a light Nupastel. When working on a white board, the first thing I do is to get rid of the white by using broad strokes with the side of the pastel sticks; then I blend the different areas with packaging peanuts.

 

2. color scheme

2. At this stage, I took my time selecting the colors and figuring out how light I could push some of the greens.

3. The foreground, the composition

 3. If I had done a good sketch before starting, I probably wouldn't have had so much trouble with the foreground. This is the point where I can check if the composition is really working: the row of trees in the middle ground had to be shortened.  Looking back, I think that more earth tones would have been nice...well, that will have to be another painting.

Poppies and Irises, 7x5"

Poppies and Irises, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

  This small painting and twenty six more of mine will be at the Onondaga Art Guild Spring Show and Sale this coming weekend.

  If you live in the area, stop by and support the local arts. It's really a nice show and there will work from thirty artists.

Two Small Pastels (5x7")

Sunlit, pastel on Ampersand Pastelboard by Adriana Meiss

   For quite some time I have been thinking of painting the scene above. The arrival of spring finally pushed me to the task. This painting and the one below were intended for an upcoming guild show and sale at the end of the month, but I like them so much that I'm not sure I'm ready to frame them yet.

Golden Hour, pastel on Ampersand Pastelboard by Adriana Meiss

I often tell myself not to fall in love with my own paintings because the best ones are yet to come. Sometimes it's hard to live by your own maxims... What do you do with your best ones?

Evolving Style

      

The Backyard II, pastel on watercolor paper by Adriana Meiss

  Once in a while I feel compelled to take a photo reference I have used before and paint a newer version just to see how I would handle it this time. The painting aboves is my latest example. The reference came from a Wet Canvas challenge from 6 years ago, and below is my first version for comparison.

The Backyard, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

   It makes me feel I have come a long way, but the funny thing is that I remember feeling so proud at the time because never before I had used purples and blues on the trees.

   It's so easy to look back and feel embarrassed of some of the things I produced years ago, but I have to accept that those paintings represent a different stage of me as an artist and without them I wouldn't be were I am.

Marsh on a Cloudy Day, 5x7" - Sold

Marsh On A Cloudy Day, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

 The colorful branches of the willows in winter and the pale yellow grasses surrounding a mall parking lot were the inspiration for this painting. I imagined there must have been some open water before the mall was build...  I'm not sure the water reads as such; maybe a few ripples is all it needs. In any case, I tried to make sure its color did not compete with that of the sky.

Sunset in Mauve, 8x6" - Sold

Sunset in Mauve, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

     At the end of April the guild I'm in (OAG) will have it's annual spring sale. In my effort to avoid framing like crazy at the last minute, I have been working steadily for the last month, mostly producing small paintings. Some are already framed after having passed the test of seating on a shelf for weeks without any little thing screaming to have it fixed.
    The reference photo for this painting was an irrigation channel from a nearby town, but by changing the vegetation I turned it into a scene that could have been from the Adirondacks.

A Quiet Finale, 13x18"

A Quiet Finale, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

This is a reworked piece and this is how it came about:
    Early this year I was asked by Gallery 54 to bring more paintings to replace two that had sold that month (yeah!). I really did not have anything ready in the sizes they wanted so I started working in  several pieces with the hope of having them ready by the end of the month. As often happens, when you are in a hurry, things don't work the way you want them or take longer than you think, so instead of ruining work by trying to finish it fast, I looked at old so-so unframed paintings I had put away.

    I found this one from 6 years ago, which at the time I liked, but never framed because I had taken the idea from an ad in a magazine--maybe you've seen it, anyway I consider it a good exercise but that was it.

Exercise done in 2006

I figured that with some work I could really make it "my" painting.
First, I questioned the composition with the repetitive forms (three groups of trees and three marsh banks in the middle ground), and the lack of a focal area. I also felt the need to get rid of so much blue so I opted for sunset colors. As I reworked and did sketches, ideas from places I have seen came to mind (in particular the area of Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge), and that way I was able to finish it feeling that it was my creation.

Barn at Night, 9x12"

Barn at Night, 8x10" pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

Last December, I had some paintings on exhibit at a local library and instead of  having a reception I thought that a pastel demonstration on how I approach painting night scenes would be more interesting.

The night before, doubts crept in and in panic mode I felt the need to do a small version of what I planned to paint:

Barns, Study, 5x7" pastel on board

 Next day, feeling more confident, and taking into account that I had just an hour and a half to do the demo, I decided to simplify the scene. This is a far as it got:
 

Barn, Demo

  Back home, I made further changes in color and composition to the demo painting. I had forgotten to leave enough space between the silo and the top edge so in order to make it work I had to reduce the size of the main objects. I'm happy with the result and can even imagine a similar scene with a light in the distant barn...