Evening at the Park, 5x7"

Evening at the Park, pastel by Adriana Meiss

    Two weeks ago I took a one-day workshop in oils at Stone Quarry Hill Park with George Van Hook, a NY artists whose wonderful work was being exhibited at the park. I had worked in oils a long time ago, but because I was self taught, there were big gaps on my knowledge of the medium.  I thought it was about time I learned the basics the right way.

    I loved the workshop and came back home with two paintings that although were not ready to frame, captured the atmosphere of the place. One of them provided me with enough information to paint the pastel you see in this post. Painting it was very enjoyable, mostly because it was in pastels, but also because by then I felt familiar with the place and knew what mood I wanted it to have.

The Field, 9" x 12"

Last weekend I participated in a plein air event sponsored by the Everson Museum, at the Stone Quarry Hill Park. This park is located in Cazenovia, 20 miles east from Syracuse, and it's an sculpture park with lots of acres where nature and art mix.

Only five artists showed up for the event, probably because rain was predicted in the forecast, but that was reason enough to get to work right away. I was able to produce two paintings, this one here and a panoramic view. But as it often happens when you work outdoors, the light changed so fast that it threw me off with the panoramic view. I might be able to fix it, but it'll have to be from memory.

The more I paint outdoors the more I realize the drawbacks of painting from photographs. This doesn't mean that I'll give up working from photos, but simply that I'm becoming more and more aware of their limitations.