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Thanks to Passport & Palette (an art education series on PBS) and many forwarded emails and phone calls, some 50 plein air painters showed up at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park today, including me. We served as sort of a performance for the 1000s of Park visitors who were either bewildered by the presence of all the artists (“is this a class?”) or took on inspecting each artist’s work as a cultural obligation (albeit an enjoyable one). Luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day to spend in the Park. Here are my two paintings:
Morning at Bethesda Terrace, Central Park, NYC
I’m going to add some figures into this scene to make it more realistic!
In the afternoon I worked on this view from a western path away from the Terrace:
Late Afternoon at Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, NYC
Earlier this week I took a stroll around Brooklyn Botanic Garden with my pochade box. It was lovely and quiet in the late morning, but a few hours later, the idyllic scene was upended by mobs of summer camp kids. Ah, well. What did I expect on a free admission day?! I managed to complete a loose oil sketch:
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Lily Pond and buildings
It wasn’t easy to leave out the dozens of little kids in matching brightly colored t-shirts!!
Visit the 440 Gallery before the show closes on Saturday, July 25! The work in the show includes a broad range of styles and techniques including painting, drawing, photography, prints, mixed and new media that directly relates to the borough of Brooklyn, NY. My painting, “Early Evening on Garfield Place” has a great spot near the entrance! The show was reviewed in July’s Wagmag, a local arts website.
Finally, we’re having June weather and it’s a delight. I returned to Clinton Street (I think it’s north of Degraw), to this church and its garden. I’ve been going a bit past mid-day, which means the sun is high and a bit behind the scene. It makes for some fabulous shadows. It was a little slow going yesterday because as soon as I got there clouds kept coming and going. And, I forgot my big floppy hat. So, I had this odd combination of waiting for the sun to come back out and then having to shield my eyes when it did.
Here’s my set-up:
Easel set up on Clinton Street
And here’s how the painting looked at the end of the day:
2nd pass at painting the scene
Will have to get back there soon, cross your fingers for more great weather (that’s my painter friend and studiomate, Regina!).
The forecast was for partly cloudy in the morning and then threats of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon (so, what’s new?!). My first instinct was to head down Union Street and capture the pretty flowerpots adorning the stoop of one particular brownstone, but then I remembered that I left my Julian half-easel at my studio. So, I grabbed my pochade box and headed out to Prospect Park for the morning to see what I could see (I need somewhere to sit if I’m going to use my pochade box). Lots of greens, a cool breeze in the shade and not too many people about. Perfect! I settled on this scene:
Prospect Park, east path looking north
There was an empty park bench in the shade. Here’s my setup with the view in the background:
View of path and pochade box on park bench
And, here’s a closer view of the painting and palette. I may make this a habit for the rest of the summer!
p.s. are you a Fan yet on my Facebook page?!
Not my painting, but the restaurant itself has been in the news a lot lately for its great burgers. The slow economy seems to have made the burger quite the popular menu item for many restaurants. So how do I get my painting to get as much press/media attention?! Here’s a mention in the NY Times: click here. I saw one elsewhere, too, but can’t remember where at the moment…
Little Owl Cafe, Greenwich Village, oil on panel, 9 x 12 in.
