Adirondacks Plein Air

Morning in the St Regis, pastel on board, 14x11 --Sold

    From August 17th to the 22nd  I participated in the Adirondack Plein  Air Festival in Saranac Lake.  This being my second time in this event made it easier to decide what and where to paint. My friend Kim who takes oil classes with me, and who has a camper nearby joined me the first two days and showed me beautiful spots. Some of them will have to wait till next year if I get the chance.

  In plein air competitions I'm always competing with myself: always trying to produce better paintings, more interesting compositions, and most important of all, challenging myself when confronted with what could be a difficult scene to paint. I work hard and try to push myself to the limit. This time I did a total of 11 paintings, yet two of them are not good for viewers eyes...

My first painting was the one above. I was up very early because I wanted to paint the lifting fog, and this spot near Back Pond was perfect. Happily for me, it found a home in Tupper Lake! After lunch, I found a location on the other side of the road and had to try my hand at oils. the results was just an OK painting, but I enjoyed the place so much and even found some pitcher plants in the bog.   After dinner I went looking for structures or fields to paint. Found a location on Rt 86 that the year before had called my attention because of the goldenrod. This time the storm in the distance made the scene even more interesting and fortunately, only a few raindrops fell where I was.

 A Storm is Brewing, pastel on board 9x12"

Next day I was early at Lake Clear Outlet. The sky had beautiful colors, but I was not able to capture everything because the light changed too fast for me. I had to come the next day to finish it and as it always happens, the conditions were different and what I originally wanted was gone. Still I was able to do something with it.

Lake Clear Outlet, pastel on board 12x16"

In the afternoon I came back to this place I had looked in the morning. I put aside my fears about the possible difficulties (perspective) with the scene below and got to work.  Towards the end, I had to wait till some people showed near the restaurant so I could determine their height with respect to the building.  I had trouble painting them: they were looking like stick people. I couldn't let this last step destroy what it had taken so much care to create. After taking the time to think how other artists paint people (one stroke, a triangle, few key color, etc) I decided to start by placing a colorful shirt first, believe it or not, it worked, and the rest was easier. When I was cleaning up someone offered to buy it but because I thought it had potential for an award,  I declined. It ended up with receiving an honorable mention.

A Day at the Junction, pastel on board 11x14--Honorable Mention

In the evening, I went to this church near Paul Smith College, one of the many abandoned churches in the area.

St Gabriel's Church, pastel on board, 12x9"

Next day was "Paint the Town" day. This house called my attention last year so it was my first choice.

House on Church St, pastel on board, 12x12"

After lunch I went to Lake Flower looking for a scene to paint for the silent auction.  Realizing I did not have a stamped small pastel board I decided to try oils. It was very windy and to prevent my set up from being knocked over I worked from my car's hatch.

A Windy Day, oil on board, 5x7- SOLD

   

In the afternoon I went near Mt Pisgah. This site has a great view of the mountains and I wanted to paint it again this year. However, I think my tiredness shows in the small area I chose to paint. 

Field near Mt Pisgah, pastel on board, 8x8

    That evening I started framing and did not finish until 2:00 AM!
   
   Next day I was so tired that I had to skip the "Paint the Saranac River" in the morning. I gave myself the morning off and explored other locations. Nothing begged to be painted so I went back home and got ready to deliver the paintings for jurying.

  On Saturday was the Quick Draw event from noon till 2:00 PM.  I did not want to go far from City Hall where the exhibit was taking place, so I looked for a shady spot by the parking lot and worked from there.  Having had the time to look at it for some time now, I can see lots of things that need fixing. I think it was too complicated a scene to paint in just 2 hours but that's how you learn!

Behind the Storefronts, pastel on board, 12x12"

Enshrouding Fog, 12x9"

Enshrouding Fog, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

This is one of the paintings included in the A Dialogue with Nature exhibit, and this post is about how it came to be.

The original painting (below), was started on location during the third day of the Adirondack Plein Air Festival in July.  The painting was progressing well until the cloud blanket broke up into puffs that kept on changing the sunlit and shaded areas. My struggle with the changing conditions became so bad that midway I just quit. I saved the painting simply because I knew I could finish it at home.

Original painting done en plein air

 Once home, I saw things differently. The composition bothered me mainly because there were two equal masses of trees on both sides. So I started brushing off trees and  the idea of a foggy scene germinated.

Playing with the painting...

 During that trip to the Adirondacks I saw so many foggy bogs and marshes that I really wanted to paint, but couldn't because of  a bad location (too close to a main road) but also because how fast those conditions change. So I took the opportunity to develop this idea. In the stage below, you might be able to see the ghost of a dead tree I was considering placing on the left,

Getting a better idea of where I'm going with it...

I'm happy I was able to save the painting, and also happy for having taken pictures at different stages of the process, because I still see some good things from the original composition that might be worth developing some other time.

Adirondack Plein Air Festival

Rearview Mirror Inspiration, 9x12 pastel on board

Last week I participated for the first time in the Adirondack Plein Air Festival, in Saranac Lake. Below is a summarized account of what I did each day.

Day 1: Paint the Village
The trip to get there took me 4 hours but the scenery along the way was great and I had the chance to take lots of photos for future studio paintings. Once I got in the village the first thing I did was to get my boards stamped then immediately went around looking for a subject to paint in a 5x7 format that I had agreed to donate for a silent auction. After a while I found a river spot, by a supermarket, with a red bridge. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it! Afterwards I headed for a place I had seen on my previous trip there, that had a nice field and a great view of the mountains.

A Magnificent View, 11x14" pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

 Day 2: Paint the VIC (Visitor Interpretive Center)/Paul Smith College
I got up very early and seeing fog from my bedroom window I decided to scout first some nearby locations before heading to Paul Smith College, 12 or so miles away. Once there I did more traveling looking for a pond to paint. After a while I settled for one I had seen earlier on that morning, but by then I had wasted 2 precious hours!  The funny thing is that three other pastellist arrived to paint the same scene after I got there, Then two other artists painting in oils joined us too. I worked slow and easy on this one and ended up spending close to 3 1/2 hours on it!

Kingfishers'Playground, 9x12" pastel on board

Afterwards, I headed for the VIC in search for more to paint. I really did not find anything inspiring there, but since there was to be dinner for the participants right there later on, I forced myself to paint trees. The painting was coming along well but at some point I ruined it; maybe I put too much darks to indicate areas under branches, in any case it wasn't worth posting it here.
  On the way home I stopped at Donellys' Ice Cream and started a painting of the barn and shed behind the store. I knew my chances of finishing right there were slim, but I got a lot done before it got too dark to continue.

Day 3: Paint the Adirondacks
I went to a marsh area on Rt 3 and found another artist painting there already. The day was cloudy and the clouds kept on changing, and I started chasing the clouds; good thing I realized what I was doing and changed gears. Next time I'm in a similar situation, I'll make sure I either stick with the original design (if it's good) or make the cloud area as small as possible in the painting.

Hope for a Sunny Day, 9x12", pastel on board

On my way to my next location by impulse, I stopped first to paint a shed with a painting of a moose head sticking from a window. My composition included mostly the road so the shed was tiny, but working under the shade of trees did not help and the painting will likely be erased.
I drove several miles to Clear Pond, which I had seen the day before, and although the scene was beautiful, I did not feel like when I saw it first. I had some serious struggles with this painting. First I started it in a vertical format but before I was done with the main outline I switched to a horizontal one. Then in the middle, I simply gave up and erased it right there, which I had never done before with any painting. Very disappointed I sat by the bridge railing and realized that things weren't working because I was very tired. After some minutes of relaxation I tried starting another painting but halfway into it I knew it was a waste of time. I spend  the next hour just taking pictures of what I had produced.

Before heading home (to frame) I went the opposite direction simply to take more photos. Seeing cattle under a tree, I looked for a way to get closer to them. I spotted a side road that intersected the road I was on just a few feet ahead so I took it and had a better view of the cows. I continued driving, looking for a spot to turn around, and that's when I saw  "my scene" in the rear view mirror. My tiredness magically dissipated. I pulled over, got my gear ready, and started to work. I worked fast and by the time it was dark I was done. This was my best painting in the event (it's the painting above). It did not win anything, but I got nice comments on it from several artists, and it sold!