It’s Been Too Long

Posted on September 3, 2016 by csir2014

What have I been doing?

I haven’t posted since April 11th. So much has happened and painting and sketching have not played much of a part. I think we are through this period which was filled with family health concerns and effects, too many volunteer tasks for the watercolor society I love (my own doing), and last but not least, taking on the joys and responsibilities of a new puppy and kitten!

My dear husband Tom has come through nine weeks of radiation in good spirits and ready to travel. The Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society’s 13th National Exhibition of Transparent Watercolor 2016 is pretty organized and ready to go, opening on October 16, 2016. I got to work with one of my heroes of watercolor, Thomas W. Schaller, the juror and also our Fall 2016 NFWS Workshop Artist. The NFWS Website is up and running and a huge improvement over our outdated site. I’m the webmaster, so-called. Our NFWS Facebook page is also in good shape. I’m the administrator, and that is pretty easy and mostly fun.

The puppy, our now almost 5 month old Golden Retriever, Bessie, and our tabby kitten, 6 month old Diego, are not wrestling with quite as much abandon as they were in the first 4 months, but they are still a handful, mostly joyful.

I haven’t done much painting, though when I look back through the spring and summer months, I am surprised at what I did produce!

On May 13th, I began a watercolor painting as a demo for the Evans Art Guild. I finished it at home and entered it in the Niagara Frontier Art Exhibit at the Kenan Center, juried by Gerald Mead, and won an Honorable Mention Award. It’s of one favorite views, from my morning walk, “Sunrise Over the Rose Garden” at Delaware Park here in my neighborhood in Buffalo, NY.

From Mid-May until today, I’ve taken part in a drawing fundraiser for Hallwalls, our very cool contemporary regional gallery. You draw for 45 minutes together with 15 other artists, and then the drawings are bid on in a silent auction.There are two sets of 16 artists each. Fun. I also donated a pen and ink and watercolor painting for their gala fundraiser. It’s Allentown on a First Friday Open Gallery night in early spring.

During the Buffalo Gardens Buffalo Niagara, I painted one night in Gordon Ballard’s and Brian Olinski’s garden. I love their home, and concentrated on it, being the retired architect that I am.

The Garden Walk took a lot of my energy. We love opening our yard to the hundreds of garden enthusiasts that come through the last weekend in July, but it is a lot of work, work I love. Gardening definitely trumps painting for June and July. I do a bit, though. These two paintings inspired by our gardens were in two shows in Western New York this summer. The one on the left was in the Garden Mystique Show at Artsphere, and the one on the right in the Buffalo Society of Artists Matchbox Show at Miebohm Gallery in East Aurora, NY.

From our garden pond

New Pieces

I am painting a bit again. Have three new paintings, two of which are I’m submitting for juried selection into the Buffalo Society of Artists Fall Exhibition 2016. On the left is “Tom’s Shop”, and the right is “Keep Alley”. We’ll see if they make the cut. You absolutely can never tell!

Tom’s Shop

My most recent painting, finished last week, is watercolor on yupo paper. I love this paper because it’s impossible to control what you are doing! As an inveterate control freak, this is a great freer! This is a night view across the street from the end of our street, called “Penhurst Park.”

Before I finish this long blog post, I am going to promise that I will post in mid October after our one month trip to Italy. I sketch every day, post every day on my Facebook page, but won’t be posting here til we get home.

My last image is my favorite. In July my daughter Liz and my wonderful granddaughters Savannah and Eliza came up from North Carolina for a brief visit. Savannah and I painted together. She entitles this beauty, “The Ballerinas.” I love it.

Bye for now.

Yes, I paint flowers, but not a lot ::)))

Posted on April 11, 2016 by csir2014

I don’t choose to paint flowers often, though I am a serious gardener from May through October, and I love flowers and gardens. Occasionally my watercolor mentor and friend Sally Treanor gives our Monday morning group a flowers assignment. I am generally reminded when she does that I like to paint anything and everything.

These are daffodils from last year at this time.

Lilacs in the morning sun

The freer I am with my brush and paint, the better. The painting on the left is more successful, in my opinion, than the one on the right. Painting freely is a struggle for me. Why? Because I can paint realistically so easily, so much easier than painting an impression.

Compare the “pansies” on the left, “begonia” on the upper right and “red cabbage” to these more realistic paintings. Nice, but not what I want to do!

My hero Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868-1928, the Scottish architect and designer turned watercolor painter, paints graphic interpretations of flowers. Look at these!

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Mackintosh’s architectural designs, primarily viewable in Glasgow, not the least of which was the Glasgow College of Art which was nearly lost to a devastating fire in 2014, inspired me to become an architect. His paintings inspire me in my painting.

My favorite floral painter today is the Brit Shirley Trevena. Her work is both nuanced and free and full of color and line and I love it!

I will keep painting floral subjects, though I prefer landscapes and cityscapes. Here a few more of my paintings and sketches from the recent past. Hope you like them.

Caladium, a garden favorite

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This Spring and Summer I will have two of my paintings on posters for great events here in Western New York. The first will be the 3rd Annual Buffalo’s Cherry Blossom Festival.

The second event, the largest free Garden Walk in the USA, will feature my hosta on its poster for Garden Walk Buffalo 2016. Happy Spring and Summer!

What have I been doing since we got back from Paris?

Posted on December 9, 2015 by csir2014

I last posted in October when we returned from a month in Paris. My heart is still there, bleeding for the Parisiens we met, we watched and enjoyed. But life has gone on here in Western New York. I entered two juried shows, the first being Buffalo Society of Artists 119th Catalogue Show, juried by Antonio F. Petracca. My two paintings were accepted, and I won the Gold Medal for my watercolor on gessoed watercolor paper, entitled Hertel Avenue Sunset. I found out by text from my wonderful friend and watercolor mentor, Sally Treanor. 2:30 am Paris Time – “You Won!”

The other entry, Sunset on the Black Rock Canal, is much more traditional transparent watercolor. I am drawn to high contrast, strong values and light. These two paintings work with all three.

The other juried show I entered was the Fall 2015 Niagara Frontier Water Media Show juried by Barbara Nechis. NFWS is close to my heart. I’m in my second and last year as it’s president. It is the only Watercolor Society west of the Central New York Watercolor Society in New York State. My two paintings were accepted. Both florals, both with ink and watercolor, therefore considered to be “water media”. One, entitled “Spring Amarylis” is painted on rice paper. I love rice paper! The other, “Hosta No. 1”, is on watercolor paper, and has been selected as the poster image for this year’s Garden Walk, Buffalo, an honor for me as I am an energetic gardener, and our city garden has been on the Garden Walk, missing one year for construction, since 2002.

There are many wonderful galleries in Western New York, and they all put on holiday shows, encouraging art lovers to support our artists community. I’m in two shows, one at TGW Gallery at 497 Franklin Street in the Allentown District of Buffalo. The openings for this show, and the other I’m in at Artsphere at 447 Amherst Street, as well as a lovely handful of other downtown galleries, are scheduled for the First Friday of the month, in this case December. It was a great evening of conversation, food and art. These shows will all be on til the end of the month.

At TGW, I have four paintings, “City of Night Light”, “Canalside 2”, “Bullseye” and “Darwin Martin House.” Darwin Martin sold on opening night. The artwork at TGW for this show is a wonderful representation of the talent in WNY. All work is “economically accessible”, my phrase. Everyone should be able to own original artwork!

At Artsphere I have three paintings, “Roadtrip Sunrise,” “This Year’s Pears,” and “Red Twig”. This is a special show of paintings from Sally Treanor’s students. We meet with Sally every Monday morning, September – June. I’ve been painting in Sally’s studio since 2002. She’s been a wonderful encouraging teacher.

Since the push to create for these shows is over, and Christmas is fast approaching, I am finishing some paintings I started this summer, and trying some new ideas, but I’m going to have to switch gears and attack some of the commissions I have patiently waiting. Time is short! Here are some of the paintings I’ve been working on. I am challenged to paint trees by our proximity to Delaware Park, an Olmsted beauty, and by my fascination with the work of Charles Burchfield. I used to be a docent at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and during that time I became enamored with Burchfield’s early work in watercolor. These two paintings are greatly influenced by his work, especially the first. I dare to title it “Yet Another Homage to Burchfield”, though that title may change. The second is “Night and Day.”

The painting I just finished, called “Sonia!”, is a solution to the pear and apple painting exercises we were doing in Sally Treanor’s class. Since rediscovering Sonia Delaunay in the Pompidou in Paris, I have been dreaming Delaunay, hence the title, an obvious homage.

So, on to the commissions and holiday preparations. My goal is to post more often.

Til then, enjoy your holidays, one and all!

Painting in Gardens

Posted on August 16, 2015 by csir2014

For the past two years, in July, as part of the National Garden Festival here in my home city of Buffalo I have taken part in the Artists in Gardens, a very enjoyable opportunity for local artists to sit in beautiful gardens and paint. These gardens are open to the public the same time each week, Thursdays and Fridays. I painted in four gardens this year and twice in the same garden last year. I also enjoy sketching and painting in my own garden.

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Here I am hard at work on a pen and ink sketch of Ellie Dorritie’s front yard. I haven’t finished the watercolor additions yet, but here’s the sketch too. A great cottage on Little Summer Street in Buffalo.

I also painted at Arlan and Dominic’s Garden on Norwood Avenue. Arlan and Dom have been involved in the Garden Walk Buffalo since its inception. They have a wonderful victorian home and a yard full of surprises. As a former architect I was drawn to their back porch and back elevation.

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I drew this in pen and ink and added the watercolor while I enjoyed ice tea and even birthday cake made by Dominic. What lovely people!

There were two other homes whose gardens I painted, one the Timlins’ on Park Street. The point of view was challenging, but I think I did an ok job.This is a beautiful brick home with a very sensitive entry and garage addition. Nicely done!

The last garden I painted in I also painted in for the 2014 Artists in Gardens. 8 Paths Garden is unlike any other I have seen. Such a eye and attention to detail. The gardener has an unusual selection of plants, some that I’ve never seen before.

I also like to paint and sketch in my own garden. Here are a few from the last three years of Garden Walks, together with some photos of our garden.

I also like to pick flowers and make bouquets just as my father the gardener used to pick so that my mom the artistic flower arranger could work her magic. Every bouquet reminds me of them.