Baby, It's Cold Outside

This color sketch was done last Saturday on Gloucester's oceanfront in 20 degree windy weather in David Curtis' class. Most plein air groups are taking a sabatical until spring--not David.

It was warmer in October in Indian Rocks Beach, FL, at Carol Marine's workshop where I won the coin flip and purchased the demo of three red peppers. Great class and great fellow class members!

Campobello Painting Trip

I'm back from the north country, Lubec, Maine and Campobello Island, N.B., where it was sunny all week! I painted the Quoddy Lighthouse, eastern-most point in the U.S., while attending a mentoring workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson. All the visitors to the light house were very nice, stopping to visit with me and take MY picture! It was fun.

Of course, I painted many other beautiful spots and took lots of photos.

Honorable Mention

Not only did both my paintings get juried into the Members Fall Show at Newburyport Art Assoc. but "The Guardians" won an Honorable Mention. How sweet it is! This painting was done of the osprey nest and one of the two lighthouses on Thatcher Island, off of Rockport, MA.

Thatcher Island and it's two lighthouses was a often painted motif for all the Gloucester and Rockport artists of the past generation of Cape Ann artists.

Newburyport Sept. Show

I'm submitting these two oil paintings for the next NAA show. The beach scene named "Happy Days" was done after attending a demo by Frank Federico. I like it and I enjoyed painting it using his technique. The other, more traditional plein air painting is of Thatcher Island's osprey nest entitled "The Guardians".

I'm off tomorrow to do a mentoring workshop at Campobello Island, N.B., Canada.

August painting delights

Lots of plein air trips this month, lots of starts and no finishes, as usual.

Have been in two shows, Thatcher Island and Newburyport Show I (juried, mixed media). I am working on a large one for the Newburyport Show II (oil) due Sept. 15th. I'll be in Canada that week at a mentoring workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson, hope we have good weather.

Have built a really nice easel (4'x8') like Jeff Weaver's of Gloucester and can't wait to try it out tonight. Maybe I'll try the up-side-down method which I just saw demonstrated at North Shore by Frank Federico--semi-abstract.

I'll report in after my September workshop. I have one arranged in Florida in October with Carol Marine. Remember to check the box on this site to receive updates on my blog. Thanks, see you next time.

Plein Air Summer--Sweet!

How glorious it is to have such wonderful weather and two days a week outdoors painting beautiful landscapes. I have lots of starts and no finishes, but not a problem, I'll finish them and remember all these wonderful places when cooler weather arrives. I still have a couple of months left of getting outdoors to paint, and I see improvement in my abilities now each time I go out--what fun it is when you are pleased with your work.

I have not been able to update this blog much, even though it only takes a minute, but mostly because I don't have anything finished to photograph. I do want you to know that I am out there working. I spent one week in a workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson up at Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. It was cold, windy and rainy most of the time. I have since recovered. It is a beautiful place, I have lots of pictures that will inspire me.

I've been to Rockport and Gloucester's Art Associations fairly regularly and my favorite artist of the month this month is Jeff Weaver http://www.jeffweaverfineart.com/Cape%20Ann.htm.

Nice weather for plein aire.

Finally spring has hit here in New England and I've been out twice a week with two different groups painting on location. It's been great. I'm trying out different easels and boxes, ways of carrying my gear, etc. This is going to be a great summer for me for working outdoors.

I am not able to complete the painting in the approximately 2 hours that I work on a painting outdoors, so more work is needed before I can put them up on my site or here on the blog.

I'm also experimenting with working off my new laptop screen to finish these paintings.

I entered my first show by way of a CD submission this week, and now I see that I need to improve my photography and well as learn more about the Photoshop Elements software needed to make these CDs.

Carol Marine is my new favorite artist, check her out http://carolmarine.blogspot.com/

Pennies from Heaven

Tonight is the reception for the current open show at NAA. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop in from 7 to 9 p.m. Also Newburyport has it's art walk today from 3 p.m. I have two paintings in this current show. One is early spring on Newman Road, a marsh painting, painted on a day that was cold and windy, around 32 degrees. The other is a happy interpretation of the theme for the show, pennies, etc..

I've been out painting this week at the Yacht Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, a beautiful sunny warm day, my first expedition with Pam Giarritanna's a painting group. Kids were scurrying around the rocks with their little rubber clogs on and parents brought their kids to the park with a picnic lunch. I did a little 8 x 10 study of the very nice gazebo building with a view to the sea.

Commission Accomplished

I finished this painting yesterday of Judy Rehill of Punta Gorda, Florida. The setting was somewhat Sargeant-esque in the home of Harold and Evelyn Harriman.

What Spring?

The difficult month of March is finally over, and I'm looking soooo forward to getting outdoors to paint!

I'm planning to verture out with 2 different painting groups on a weekly basis and have arranged for two workshops, one in June and one in September. One is a mentoring workshop, a step up for me.

Florida Trip

I had a great and productive 2 weeks in Florida this year. I always want to paint a lot while I'm there, and this year I did! I did a portrait class, 2 classes with Michael Vires, and a 2-day plein air workshop with Larry and Judy Pumfrey. I also kept up with my 30-minute paintings although not every day, sorry to say. I took close to 1,000 pictures which will provide lots of inspiration in the future.

The main reason for my trip is to visit my friends, Judy Rehill in Punta Gorda and Harold and Evelyn Harriman in Bonita Springs, and to attend the Naples Art Festival.

Two paintings made it!

Two of my paintings have been juried into the Newburyport Art Associations' Winter Members Show:
1. The famous and historic Lowell Boat Shop (9x12), an oil painting that was started on location there last spring during the big storm that flooded all of New England it seemed. The mighty Merrimack River was only about 2 feet below the floorboards where I was painting, and
2. The famous and historic McCurdy’s Smokehouse (8x10) in Lubec, Maine. Lubec is a tiny town where I was painting around the Campobello Island area of New Brunswick, Canada last August. The tides there rise an amazing 15 feet or more. The light is wonderful there and the fog banks roll in daily. The smokehouse comprises several buildings on piles and is practically the centerpiece of the town and was undoubtedly the main source of employment in days of old. In the distance between two buildings you can see the bridge between the U.S. and the Canadian island of Campobello (and the summer home of the Roosevelts).

February 1st already!

I've been doing 30-minute painting sketches every day. It is a good thing to do and helps you to see where you need to improve. I don't care to paint this fast, but I can see where it is helpful to do these exercises.

I'm also planning to enter two paintings next Monday into the Newburport Art Assoc.'s juried members' winter show. I've chosen the Lowell Boat Shop painting and the Lubec Smokehouse painting to enter. We'll see.

This week I have been working on the "My Friend Judy" painting (shown above). I'm having problems with the background--that the dark shadows should be cool. Any advice?

Completing work of 2007

I finally had a cloudy day and could photo my paintings, but they didn't come out all that well. If you go to my website, www.marypychefineart.com you will see them. I've been framing like crazy and have run out of framing materials. New custom molding has been ordered.

I had my large duck painting in the January Volunteers Show at the Newburyport Art Association. Next week I'll be submitting for the Member's Juried Show. I have several in mind to submit, but I'm limited to two. More news next week. I hope I make the cut.

I have a bunch of ideas for new work, and I'm currently working on a painting of my friend, Judy Rehill. It's giving me lots of problems.

Happy New Year

A Fresh New Start: I've been trying to finish all my unfinished paintings and have 27 that are done and now I'm framing some that need frames. I'll be doing the photos and getting them up on my website in the next week. What a nice feeling to get these completed. Are they every completed? I am working hard, painting every day, changing and improving all the time. When I see a painting that was completed a while ago and I see things that I now can improve on, I go ahead and work over it. It's a never ending battle, but part of my process of being a better artist.

Happy New Year to all my fellow artist friends, and here's wishing you good motivation and inspiration for a great 2008.