Winter Sunset, 9x12, Sold

Winter Sunset, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

  It seems that I begin to warm to winter's charm only when the season reaches its mid point. And then, I get the need to hurry and paint winter scenes before the snow and cold are gone.

  This scene is from a reference photo taken years ago on Rt 370. I did a drawing in graphite that came out nice so I decided to do it in oils, for the class I'm taking. Given that pastels are great and faster for experimenting, I did this version at home, but with less detail in the middle ground.  Now I'm trying to reproduce these same colors in  my oil painting.

 The feeling of hurry continues to creep up on me just thinking of the many early deadlines for competitions I would like to submit to, and the many half-finished paintings in the studio... Four of them show promise though so at this point it's just a matter of overcoming the fear of ruining a painting.

Remembrance, 8 x 6 1/2"

Remembrance, pastel on watercolor paper by Adriana Meiss

Yesterday I felt compelled to paint this scene. It's all from memory. I had finished setting up eight of my paintings at The Oaks at Menorah Park and on the way down the driveway the pale sun caught my attention. Because I had left the camera at home, I had to do a quick mental-note-taking of the colors. Then that night, a stray cat from the neighborhood (I called him Proboscis Cat because of a patch of dark color on his face that gave him the impression of having a big nose) suffered an awful death. I didn't like him that much but for some reason his passing away saddened me so much. I cannot say that painting it had a cathartic effect on me, but at least I have something to remind me of that small creature.

Otisco Field, 16"x20"

Good news: I had two paintings accepted into the 7th National Northeast Pastel Exhibit at Old Forge, and this one won the Mary Bonner Chapman memorial award.

From the beginning I had a good feeling about this painting. Perhaps that was due to the strong impression that the light of the setting sun on the tree tops produced in me.

The scene had some composition issues: there was a row of trees in the middle ground, the row of trees in the distance continued to the left, and the grasses pointing to the left guided the eye away from the focal area and outside the picture. I could have made the grasses face the other side, but often when you change too many things from a scene you end up with something totally different and the feeling for the place is gone. Anyway, I think I solved the problem by creating an S-shape design. When it came to color, I had to take risks and push it further.

January Haze, 10" x20" - sold

I had a very productive weekend, with two more paintings basically done. I say "basically" because it often happens that I find things to tweak after I have taken photos...

My show's title is going to be Impressions of Central New York. Since this area is covered in snow four months out of a year, it would be fitting for a quarter of my paintings to be about snow. So I'll have to think of at least one more to paint. Luckily for me, and despite the very cold spells, I'm finding snow scenes very comforting and appealing!

Winter Shadows, 20" x 16"

One more basically done for the show!

I decided to jump into this one while taking a "break" from my other 3 started paintings.

It was smooth sailing from the get go and I think that's because even when I was taking the reference photo I knew what I was going to do to make the scene work for me: create an opening in the middle ground, add more variety to the foreground hedge, change the direction of the corn-stub rows, and change the time of day.

Even with a good sketch I found myself making a few changes midway, but they were minimal. I know there is more I can do to it but I'll wait. Done on re-coated Ampersand pastelbord.

On the Way to Cross Lake, 9"x9

I had the intention to try painting outdoors this past winter, but never got around to it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even paint a single winter scene.

Somehow it didn't feel right to let the season go without a reminder of it, so I had to console myself myself by painting from a photo.

This is a late February scene of one of the many roads that lead to Cross Lake (snow-covered in the distance). I find the yellow of the willows very uplifting during that time of year. I used black Canson paper.

Quiet Night, 9"x7" SOLD

This morning I got this painting out of the drawer with the purpose of photographing it for my records, but while I was at it, I noticed a few things that were bothering me. So I got to work and it's now officially finished. I have found that it's much easier to see what needs to be done with a painting if I take photos of it.

This is the view looking east from my backyard. The main street that bisects the city is on the other side of the tall houses. I worked from a photo I took a year ago, and remember being surprised at the time for having captured the color of the sky with my camera. I emphasized the color in the painting to convey a surreal mood.

I was going to title it Winter Moon, but considering that my neighborhood is truly quiet only when it rains or when it's a cold winter night, I thought the present title was more appropriate.

Brook in Winter, 12"x9"

The last three days have been the coldest we've had so far (with temperatures at night in the single digits and in the 20's during the day), yet I've been working in my studio, and without a heater. I'm not whining nor complaining this time--totally the opposite, I'm surprised at myself for feeling compelled to paint despite the cold!
Once I get into the swing of things I tend to forget about the cold, and it's only when my fingers start to feel really clumsy and my toes are numb that I'm forced to take a break. I thaw my fingers in warm water, then drink some tea sitting by the stove, and back to work. If I can stand this cold, maybe I could paint outdoors when this freezing front is over...

This is another "happy" or sunny winter scene. It was worked from top to bottom in a loose way, but when I got to the sunny area in the stream I couldn't help but to pay attention to details.

A Creek in Winter , 11"x14"

Winter is my least favorite season, not because of the cold but because of the limited greens in the landscape.
I'm from Costa Rica, where I spend one half of my life surrounded by varieties of greens all-year round. The other half has been here in Syracuse, and although I have learned to love the seasons and the changes they bring, I still resent winter for taking away the greens. It's no wonder then that I have painted only 3 winter scenes since I started with pastels eight years ago! However, because this past year marked my "half and half" life, I got to think that it's very likely that winter will continue being part of my future, and that it was time for me to fully embrace it. Thus, this painting, the third so far this season!

A Panoramic View, 9" x12" SOLD

This is another view from Highland Forest Park. With this painting I was trying to learn some more about aerial perspective and about the different colors of the snow.

I posted it on Wet Canvas where several members shared interesting thoughts with me. One was whether a crop was in order or not. The almost half and half composition here is viewed as a no-no, so I was considering reducing the sky area. But then, other members pointed out a few things that made me realize the sky was a key element and that decided me to leave it as it was. I just hope no one will ever ask me to use this painting in a book in order to illustrate " Things artists should avoid."

I love panoramic scenes. The feeling of big open space is liberating and humbling at the same time. Invariably, while I feast on the view, I hear a voice whispering "you're just a tiny spec on this earth" , and I always reply, "but one who's enjoying the moment."