Solomons Paint the Town

Solomons Island Bridge, oils on canvasboard, 14" x 11" won "Best View of the Bridge" Award. On sale for $350 with a crackled gold plein air frame, a real deal!

Elena Maza of Columbia paints a small landscape of the boatbuilding shop at the Calvert Marine Museum Saturday for the Quick Draw art contest. (See article in The Recorder)

Last weekend after my painting class in Annapolis I wolfed down the sandwich I'd packed and rushed off to Solomons Island in southern MD for the Solomons Paint the Town sponsored by Solomons and MAPAPA. The Paint Out had started on Thursday morning, but since I couldn't get there until Friday afternoon I had made arrangements. The traffic was slow going south; I didn't get to the Anne Marie Garden for the check-in until four o'clock. They stamped the back of my canvas boards as proof that we artists did the paintings over the weekend. The garden closes at five, so I there was no time for me to paint there.

I located my weekend hosts' home around five, was there long enough for them to show me around (a lovely couple with a beautiful home) then drove off to join the other artists for a wine tasting at Vincenzo's Grill. There were only two artists when I arrived at 5:30; I chatted with them a bit, and found there was a nice painting location at the end of that road. After a couple of glasses of wine, I was ready to paint the sunset.

There were two other painters at the point already, so I set up nearby for a water view of Solomons Island across the Back Creek. I worked until it was too dark to see; I'd have to wait till the next day to judge the results. One of the other painters was packing up as I was finishing and she stopped by to introduce herself and ask if she might join me at dinner. Mutually grateful for company, Lynn and I drove back to Vincenzo's hoping they were still serving. As it turned out, a large group of artists was sitting at a long table still having dinner. I guessed the old gentleman was Bill Schmidt, our juror. After Lynn and I had ordered, a lady from the artist table came over and introduced herself as Carmen, of Carmen's Gallery, one of the event organizers who had arranged for our accomodations. Someone had told her I had been born in Cuba, and that interested her because she had just been there and had brought some art back. The gallery was hosting a reception for Bill Schmidt's show the following evening, so of course we agreed to attend.

The next morning was very overcast and I overslept. I debated whether to participate in the Quick Draw Competition at the Calvert Marine Museum or punt it, then thought: isn't this why I'm here? So I went to scout that location--the competition started at 10 AM and we had exactly two hours to turn in our work. It was a difficult site, with too much packed too close. I picked one small sloop moored in front of the boat building shed, but it wasn't a wise choice compositionally: too many horizontals. By the time I realized it, it was too late to start over. I carried on, with a brief interruption from the local newpaper's photographer, who had snapped me as I was painting and wanted my information (The article and photo above were published in The Recorder this past week).

My Quick Draw painting of the Boathouse on a Cloudy Day, 9" x 12." $300 framed.

By the time the Quick Draw was juried, the awards given out and all the artists out of the museum (there were no customers for the easel sale) it was 1:30, and we had been told to have our two paintings framed and ready to hang at Anne Marie by four o'clock for Sunday's show and sale. I looked at my sunset painting from the night before and it was a disaster--no way I'd want to hang that. I had to think fast. There were a number of cash awards and one was for "Best View of the Bridge." I figured if I could get a really exciting composition going, and manage to draw it impeccably, I might be able to snag an award--after all, not that many of the thirty plus artists were going to be painting such a subject.

The skies had cleared and it was beastly hot, but there was a nice breeze blowing from the Patuxtent River. The angle from under the bridge was perfect, making a lovely curve, but I needed complete brush control to maintain the lines. The breeze was so strong, it knocked my painting right off the easel. Like buttered toast, wet paintings always fall paint side down, but fortunately, this one wasn't very far along, so I repositioned my set-up quickly and sat on the ground to continue. This way I could keep out of the worst of the wind. I worked furiously until about a quarter to four, then packed up.

I've learned to bring along ready-made frames and my framer's gun so I can just pop the wet paintings in the frames. I got to Anne Marie Garden exactly at four, ready to hand in my work, feeling as if I'd just run a marathon. It took about an hour to have my turn filling out the paperwork. There were still artists bringing work in as I was leaving, but I was ready for a shower and some real relaxation. And they say painting is relaxing--hah!

Back at the house, I cleaned up, dressed in the best clothes I'd brought (a black T-shirt and my stretch chinos) and unwound with a glass of wine on my hosts' screened porch before going to the reception at Carmen's Gallery. I stayed there for about an hour, then left to get some dinner and call it a day.

It was raining on Sunday when I woke up--how lucky the rain had held off until now! My hosts were going out of town and leaving at 10 AM, so I packed up and left a little before that. The awards ceremony would be at Anne Marie Garden at 10:30, which gave me time to drive around Solomons for a bit--I hadn't had any time to see it and the other designated painting locations (with an eye to doing it again next year).

There were some very good paintings at the show, and the gallery at the Anne Marie Garden is a wonderful space to display art. I was really, really, surprised that my last-minute desperation painting won the "Best View of the Bridge' award! The winners got a check and a nice bottle of wine made in Calvert County. Thank you, Solomons Holiday Inn, for funding my award. It made all the hard work on this crazy weekend worthwhile.

Winchester Beach

Winchester Beach, B&W study, oils on canvasboard, 8" x 10"
Winchester Beach, oils on canvas, 9" x 12"

After a very rainy week, Friday dawned beautifully clear so I headed to a different location for my Friday morning class. We were to meet at a place new to me: on the eastern banks of the Severn River there is a small private area called Winchester Beach. From there you can see the Route 50-301 bridge over the river on one side and some cliffs. We painted the view looking upriver opposite from the bridge, where one gets a sense of depth and distance.

We students repeated last week's drill of painting an oil study in black and white using our three value range, and then doing another in full color. Lee's demo was very informative for me, specially in how to mix the colors of the water for an illusion of depth, and the orangey color of the cliffs. These are colors that usually elude me, so I felt great satisfaction being able to achieve them more accurately. I stayed after class to enjoy my lunch at Winchester Beach in the delightful breeze.

Afterwards I stopped at Gallery 1683 to change my stock of paintings there and found out the gallery is having a difficult time during this recession. If any of you readers or your friends are interested in collecting art, now may be the perfect time to buy; I urge you to stop by Gallery 1683 at 151 Main Street in Annapolis. They have many wonderful pieces at reasonable prices and the owners and I would really appreciate your business.

From Black and White to Living Color

College Creek on a Cloudy Day, B & W study, oils on canvasboard, 8" x 10"

College Creek on a Cloudy Day, color study, oils on gessobord, 8" x 10"

For this week's class (same location as last week) we painted a black and white value study before we started our painting in color. It was a cloudy day, and at times a light drizzle fell, but we were lucky and didn't have to run for cover.

We followed the same proceedure as last week for our B&W study, analyzing the relationship of our three main values. With very different light, the sky and water values were markedly darker than last week, as well as the trees, with much less difference or contrast between the three values.

The fun starts as we go from B&W to full color. On a cloudy day the colors become very muted; though the sky may look gray there are shades of soft yellow and even orange coming through the clouds. Shadows are so soft it's hard to see them. Lee reminded us about Monet's saying that he wasn't painting fields and trees, but the veils of atmosphere between him and the fields and trees. That is the essence of impressionism.

I was very happy to hear my teacher comment he thought my painting was looking Monet-like. At this stage my painting is not fully developed yet, giving an impression of a much foggier day, but we were out of time. With a few more variations of color and detail it could look more realistic, but I have the color key down, which is the essence of the scene. Another breakthrough for me: I'm gaining a better sense of brushstroke texture and the rhythm this can give to a painting.

Londontowne Paint Out

Londontowne Gardens, oils on canvasboard, 12" x 9"

I left the house very early yesterday to be at Londontowne by eight in the morning for the MAPAPA Paint Out. It was a bit overcast, but by the time I arrived it was clearing. The gardens were fresh with dew, and at their loveliest. I walked around, wanting a water view to paint behind the gardens, but the terraces overlooking the river didn't have many flowers or interesting plants, so I chose this long view towards one of the gazebos.

I didn't hit a homerun with this painting--the painting doesn't do justice to the gardens or the day. Compositionally, the placement of the gazebo is too central, perhaps too small, creating an unintended tunnel effect. The value of the trees in the background is not quite right in relation to the sky. I may yet repaint these parts and move the gazebo to see if that improves it.

Elements that work in the painting are the shapes and colors of the huge evergreens, and the bits of filtered sunlight on the grassy path. I'm getting a better grasp of how to mix greens and keep them within the light key of the day, which shows progress.

The best part of painting there was the wonderful fragrances wafting in the air, with a variety of viburnums in bloom near by: the classic Korean spice bush with its round white panicles, a low-growing variety with a hint of honey in its scent, and others I couldn't identify. Many visitors were there for the annual plant sale fundraiser, and everyone who passed by remarked on the fragrance. I hope to get back there to paint soon, while the flower display lasts. Perhaps I'll go back there next Friday after class. Next weekend MAPAPA is painting at Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore.

Back to Basics

College Creek in Black and White, oils 9" x 12"

The first day of the new landscape class turned out to be one of those rare days which we are lucky to get maybe one or two times a year: just gorgeous! I was itching to start with color right away--that fabulous spectrum of greens in the spring foliage doesn't last very long... but discipline is why I take this class, so I painted my value study in black and white like the rest.

This time Lee instructed us to leave a small border all around our painting to put our value swatches on the border. I must say, the process is getting easier for me this time around. I was able to settle on the composition right away, but nailing down the values is always tricky. Today the sun was so bright, that the water reflection was almost, but not quite, the same value as the sky. The piece of tidal flat in the foreground was close in value to the water. Once I got those in the correct relationship with my teacher's help, painting the three variations within the three main values was a breeze. I bought a visual aid from Lee--a small piece of plastic tinted red, similar to the kind of red filter photographers used for black and white work on film (how old-fashioned that seems!). Looking through the red filter really helps to see the values accurately by reducing the colors to a very limited range.

We got started on site a bit later than usual; I was the only student who developed my painting this far (it could have been taken further, but we were out of time). The other students are new to this method, and being unfamiliar with the process, most got only as far as the three main values. Even so, it was one-thirty before we finished. My heart soars like an eagle!

Galesville Paint Out, Day 2

On the Hard, oils on canvasboard, 14" x 11"
Galesville from White Stake Point, oils on canvasboard, 9" x 12"

It was a beautiful spring day for the second day in a row: perfect for Day Two of the Galesville Paint Out. I parked at Hartge's Boatyard to paint the colorful boats under repair and this group with its dynamic lines caught my eye. The hull shapes were very tough to render in this perspective. I struggled with them and the changing light longer than usual and stopped around two o'clock only because by then the the light and shadows had changed too much. I never noticed that my hands had got very sunburned until later.

After putting away the painting in my car and washing my hands I walked out to the point and sat in one of the Adirondack chairs under a huge old tree to enjoy my home-made lunch. Another MAPAPA artist, Eileen, was painting the view and I chatted with her for a bit. After a brief rest I went back to the car to bring my easel here. Eileen had finished her painting and was gone by then. The painting moved right along, my val-hues better than in the previous two, but by the time I finished and packed it was five. I drove back to River Gallery to see if I could leave my framed painting for the show (it's a ninety mile round trip from my house).

The gallery was closed, but I called Laura and she told me I could drop it off at her house. I had brought along my framer's gun to secure the painting to the frame, but try as I might, I couldn't manage to drive the eye screws in the back to secure the hanging wire. Laura found a nail and hammer to make small holes so I could get the screws in and I leave it ready to hang. I started back from Galesville around six, exhausted but feeling I'd accomplished a lot. My left hand will take a few days to recover from the severe sunburn.

Galesville Paint Out

Spring Day in Galesville, oils on canvasboard, 9" x 12"

This weekend MAPAPA members are painting in Galesville, a historic town on the West River just south of Annapolis. The owners of the River Gallery, housed in a quaint old building on Main Street, invited the members to bring their paintings to the gallery after the Paint Out, where they will be on exhibit for the next month.

I'd scouted out the place the weekend before and talked to Laura Dixon, one of the three owners of the River Gallery. She gave me a tourist map of the town and told me she lived right on the water across from Thursday's Steak and Crab House. The owners of the restaurant didn't like people parking in their lot; since it's small they prefer to reserve it for customers, but Laura said that we were welcome to come into her yard if we wanted to paint there. That day a chilly wind blew from the water, so I walked around and took things in, but decided to wait until the following weekend.

Today the morning was bright and sunny as I packed my gear and headed out to Galesville. I decided to take Laura up on her invitation and went to her house to paint the view form her back yard. Unfortunately, I had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon, so my window of opportunity for painting was only about two hours. I'm afraid my painting did not turn out very exciting; I'll go back tomorrow to try for a better one to leave at the gallery. It was still a wonderful day to be out painting.

Riverbend Park

Riverbend Park, oils on canvasboard, 9" x 12," $300 unframed

My painting season started yesterday with a MAPAPA Paint Out Plus, beginning with a short talk by master artist John Bannon at Riverbend Park in Virginia. Riverbend is just above Great Falls Park and to get there I drove along Old Georgetown Pike, a winding scenic road that parallels the Potomac River through some of the most expensive real estate in the DC area.

The day was gorgeous: sunny and crisp, if a bit too windy. It was the first really lovely day of spring so far, with the cherry blossoms and pear trees in their full glory. The Virginia bluebells were starting to bloom along the park trails and countless other small woodland plants such as bloodroot and liverwort showed their leaves.

We painters scattered about the park to paint, agreeing to return around one o'clock for a critique. There are some very good painters in this group; my morning effort seemed so amateurish that I decided to stay and do another painting in the afternoon. The wind had died down a bit by then and it was warmer, but sudden gusts still blew off my hat a couple of times--lucky the wind was blowing from the river and not toward it. My second painting turned out much better, as you can see above.