New Oil Paintings And Distractions Galore

"In The Summer Light"          Oil on gallery wrapped canvas       10 x 10"

The summer days are flying by too fast it seems. I am getting ready to head down to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. again for the reception at Equidae Gallery, and for me that always seems to be the end of my summer "busy busy" time. My boxes have already arrived there with my paintings and I will  also taking two larger heavy oils on copper works with me...They will be there for the Equidae Gallery's champagne reception on the evening of August 3rd. In the morning of the 3rd, I will again be doing a painting demonstration and talk. The talk this year will be about my painting in casein versus painting in oil, and why I like painting in oil on copper panels. I hope to see new faces there, and I will be letting folks try oil painting on copper and casein painting on paper!! It should be fun!

Last week I did an oil on canvas of my horse in the summer hot sun....and our fields that are no longer green. I love the contrast of the hot yellow sun as it hits my black horse and the cool blue greens against the dark shadow of the forest background. "In The Summer Light" is on gallery wrapped canvas, sized at 10 x 10".
I also did a small landscape of a favourite scene viewed from Acadia's carriage roads. We love driving on the back of Little Long Pond and the dark forest roads that offer shade on a summer's drive.One of the stops we so enjoy  looks back down on Little Long Pond's boat house and the ocean beyond.The Rockefeller family has gifted us, the American people, with such a beautiful gift of  roads to drive or ride our horses on and to recapture the atmosphere of a slower and more gentle time. We should cherish this.

So I painted this Acadia scene.....  this small gem of an oil painting in oil on copper,

 "The Boat House From Above"

"The Boat House From Above"         Oil on copper        6 x 8"

So now I need to get back to planning my gallery talk,make notes...and pack up some paintings for a new Gallery I have been invited join [More on that later]. The garden needs  tending.....and all the daily chores on the farm call. I guess I need to get crackin'......Until next time!!

Busy With Boxes - The Other Part Of Being An Artist

Some of  My Asian Lilies

I HAVE been busy....did a bit of painting since my last blog post....AND did take some time off to play teamster for a day in Acadia. Les and I went driving with good friends, on the carriage roads of Acadia National Park. Tom and Irene have a lovely huge pair of Clydes....the Budweiser type of horses.....so, as we were going out driving with them Les also drove a pair of  Clydes.  Both of us ,with our Clyde pair, leisurely drove the scenic carriage roads to my favourite spot...the Rockefeller's Little Long Pond route to the Pond House. Ah , the memories of years gone by! Seems like yesterday that we drove those roads with our Cobs.....but the sweet Clyde boys we were driving now were well behaved and gave us a lovely day in the park.

After we got home, I did a small oil on copper of one of the scenes I have wanted to paint for a long time...No time like the present! This is the view from the causeway, at the bottom of Little Long Pond, looking up the water towards the Pond House.....the mountains in the back round out a wonderful summer scene. This is the view as seen from the seat of a carriage....a bit higher than how one might see it from the ground. I think this is the BEST way to see the carriage roads. They appear differently when seen from the back of a horse or from the lofty carriage seat. This is the way they are meant to be seen.!! Try it!! 

"Looking Towards The Pond House"   Oil on copper     6 x 8"

But now I need to get back to the work at hand in my studio.....packing all my art that goes to Equidae Gallery in Saratoga Springs,NY. The show opens next week.....and I will post more about that in a few days.....right now, I am busy with boxes and bubble wrap....and paintings strewn all over the studio!! See....artists don't just create....they ship too!!

Pond Lilies and Horses - New Paintings

"In Our Pond"      Oil on Copper        6 x 6"

June has come and gone. The farm gardens are resplendent with color and heady with fragrance. I love it. I want to stay sequestered in the comfort of our cottage and wrapped in the atmosphere of my surroundings. But it seems lately that every summer I am called away to do painting demonstrations and attend show receptions...all away from home. I am busy now getting things done for Saratoga Spring's Equidae Gallery show that opens the end of this month. But I have been able to get a few new paintings done...One ...the small 6 x 6" oil on copper, "In Our Pond",  pictured above. An afternoon was spent painting our pond lilies,,,,,sweet summer grass  perfume filled the air and  bugs buzzed by....a lovely humid summer day past before the thunderstorms came through

Back in the coolness of my basement studio I did a 6 x 8" oil painting of a Saratoga Race Track scene...And "Saratoga Sea Hero"  and the pond lily painting "In Our Pond" are both now on my website.

Today I work in my studio, after a brief reprieve. The farrier came to trim the horses.

The skies darkened and a bit of thunder rumbled,....but no storm.

Now it is back to framing......And before I know it, the day will be here for shipping paintings. Back to work.

"Saratoga Sea Hero"   OIl on copper    6 x 8"