The Church at Oella

The Church at Oella, oils on canvas panel, 9 " 12."

Last Friday the Howard Plein Air group met at Oella, an old village just north of historic Ellicott City dating from the early 19th Century. The town has an old country store and a quaint little church (Wikipedia says it's the historic Mt. Gilboa AME Church) down the street across from the store.

It was a brisk day and the greens of the new leaves and the grass just sparkled. I chose to paint the church because the curve of the street beyond made such an appealing composition (unfortunately, my placement on the canvas cut off the top part of the steeple). Despite this, I think the painting works: keeping the cool violets of the shadows against the warm colors of stone as pure as possible conveys the vibrant scene. I added part of a blue truck parked next to the church for extra punch.

In the afternoon I went back to Brighton Dam to paint another view of the azaleas, but the results weren't good enough to post. Below is a version of the color revisions of previous week's painting--I repainted the trees across the water to blue-green and brightened parts of the foreground for a sunnier look.

Azaleas at Brighton Dam (revised), oils on canvas panel, 11" x 14."

Azaleas at Brighton Dam

Azaleas on a Hill, oils on canvas panel, 9" x 12."

Azaleas at Brighton Dam, 11" x 14."

The Howard County Plein Air group kicked off  its painting year with an outing to near-by Brighton Dam last Friday. The day was sunny if a bit brisk and windy, and azaleas in a multitude of lovely shades covered the hillsides sloping down to the water.

I painted there last year, and everywhere one looks is so gorgeous, it's hard to decide what view to paint. The morning sun shone through the oak trees lining the eastern shore, setting off the tender green of the young leaves. I chose to compose my painting looking through the tall azaleas near me out towards the water (the lower painting) and started with the colors of the flowers, working my way around the painting back toward the distance. Unfortunately, I lost the effect of the light in the painting, and the colors got a bit muddy--not a very satisfactory result. I'll probably repaint this one and see if I can improve upon it.

I went back there the next day to try another painting, this time in the afternoon. In the upper painting I chose a view with masses of azalea bushes stepping down the hill to a path. The effect of the afternoon light slanting through the trees works much better in this painting, giving a true sense of the colors of this beautiful site.

I'd hoped to get back there again a third time before the weekend was gone, but the weather turned and a light drizzle started this morning. I hope to get back there one more time this season before the azaleas finish blooming.

The Barn at Belvoir/ Azaleas at Brookside

Barn at Belvoir, oils on canvas panel, 11" x 14"

This week the Friday morning class was to meet at Belvoir, the same place where we painted last fall. The weather looked chancy--it had rained most of the night, but it wasn't raining at the moment, so I headed out the usual route. It was very overcast and foggy driving there, at least we'd have some interesting atmospheric effects to paint.

Lee decided the class was ready to take on some architecture, and the old barn at Belvoir is a noble structure to paint. With a classic hip roof and a dirt road leading to it, it would be an interesting painting to compose along with a drawing lesson. Lee's explanation/demo of two-point perspective was elegant and simple for those with no background on the subject.

Still, it took a long time to draw our compositions. I had mine completely drawn, then realized the barn was exactly in the middle of my panel, so I erased it and repositioned the barn a bit off-center. It was after eleven-thirty when we started the painting, and by this time the clouds were thinning and a bit of sun was shining through, making the lush greens appear incredibly vibrant. Time just flew; I didn't have a chance to work on any details. I had just enough time to cover the panel and lay down the masses, trying to get the right val-hues from the start, yet the painting "reads." Lee pointed out how the light reflected from the grass made the shadowed face appear greenish in color and how this effect holds true for all shadows. We'll be back next week to try another painting of the barn.

* * *

The previous weekend I wanted to paint some azaleas before their season of glory was over. A visit to nearby Brighton Dam showed the Glendale varieties planted there in huge masses had finished blooming, so I went to Brookside Gardens hoping to catch a few plants still in bloom. I was not disappointed: the trails through the woods had a number of brightly-colored azaleas and rhododendrons. There are few other objects in nature with that beautiful pink-magenta color.

Trail Through the Woods at Brookside Gardens, oils on canvas panel, 9" x 12," $300 unframed.
                                                                            SOLD