Monument Valley...

The painting for this post is a 12×9″ panel from my trip to the southwest a month ago. Elizabeth and I drove through Monument Valley in the late afternoon, and I managed to squeeze in these two quick studies as the sun was setting. I wanted to get some color notes down and get a quick feeling for the shapes out there. Each of these studies was probably less than a half hour, and were painted from the same location, facing opposite directions.

The painting on top was looking away from the sun, with the last bits of direct light casting a warm glow on the already warm colors of the rock. The painting on bottom was started immediately after the sun went down, looking toward the setting sun. I knew I didn’t have the time to get more involved in a painting so late in the day, but I really wanted to get some image of this beautiful place. I decided at the last minute to divide the canvas and see if I could just make two quick compositions. While we traveled the southwest I was taking hundreds of photos hoping to paint from them in the studio, and paintings like this can supply a lot of information about the colors and light.

With the wet and cloudy weather this week I am doing a lot of studio work, stretching and priming lots of canvases. My hands are covered in gesso, and my fingers are sore from tugging on the canvas, but it feels good to be getting these studio chores done.

Also, I just started reading a book, “Man With a Blue Scarf, On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud.” I have always been a fan of Freud’s paintings, and so far this book is a fun trip inside his studio and painting practice.

Stonington...

The painting above is from a day trip to Stonington this spring. I have been getting out to paint quite a bit, but I am still waiting for a real warm-up. Last year at this time my garden was starting to bloom and the trees in the yard were budding out and full of color. I am itching to do some painting as the spring colors come around, but so far it’s still pretty cold and brown outside.

I have been spending more time trying to put together new poll questions and blog posts, and it has me thinking more about who my readers are. So for the new poll question I just have a quick one about how you ended up looking at this blog. I’m curious how people found me. Following this, I have some other questions about who you guys are. I will probably leave these up for a shorter amount of time… maybe a week or so. I am hoping to stay on a schedule of posting a new poll question every few weeks so that we can keep some kind of conversation going here. In the summer I do get much busier, so I know it’ll be harder to keep on top of these things, but I will do my best.

I ran a 5k this morning before the rain came. I was pretty happy with my time, even though my friend, Pete, managed to beat me while pushing his 2 yr old in a stroller. This is good motivation to work out more this summer.

Sunset on the Water...

The painting above is from near Deer Isle, Maine. I have been painting up there lately to get ready for a show I will be having at Courthouse Fine Art this August.

The most recent poll on the website was about whether or not people read, or find value in art criticism. I was a little surprised by the results; 57% say that they read art criticism and 43% say they don’t. I heard from some people on the website and some in person that they would like to read more art reviews but they don’t know where to find anything good. So I decided that in response to the poll results I would list some places I find interesting discussion of art and artists.

Fairfield Porter, an artist and writer.

Tim McFarlane, an artist who writes about his own experience and other artist’s work.

Joanne Mattera, also an artist who writes about the art world around her.

Deborah Weisgall in Maine Magazine

The Canvas in Maine Home + Design

Britta Konau

The Painter’s Table links to a lot of other great websites.

Painting Perceptions reviews some artists and is a great source for interviews.

Dave Hickey writes about art and culture in America.

American Arts Quarterly is a publication that is sometimes tough going but can also have some real gems in it.

Camden Waterfall...

This past weekend I went to the Portland Museum of Art to see the biennial, and have a look at the permanent collection. There are some great paintings there, and they also had a show of European drawings. Only a few of the drawings were really striking, but it’s always fun to see how someone is working out their ideas through sketches. Drawing often seems to be the way an artist starts to learn more about his/her subject and discover how they want to approach a particular idea. Getting to see the drawings that helped an artist shape a body of work feels like peaking behind the curtain and seeing backstage. At the museum I found out that there will be a series of shows all over the state this year as a part of the Maine Drawing Project. If you visit the website for this series of shows you can see what is coming up near you.

The painting above is the waterfall in Camden Harbor. In the summer it’s fairly quiet, but with all of the rain and snowmelt it is pretty dramatic right now.

Canyonlands National Park...

One of the great things about painting the landscape out west is the warmth in the colors of the ground. The land is so often exposed, and full of warm ochres and siennas. Sometimes the cliffs exposed by years of erosion are vibrant reds and oranges. And as atmosphere blues those colors down you get soft purple hues. It’s a very different subject matter than I am used to and I really enjoyed painting it. The mountains way back in the distance, in the top left of the image, still had lots of snow on them and made a great backdrop to all of the great views.

One thing we did to make the drive through the southwest more fun, was to listen to a Larry McMurtry book on tape, Telegraph Days. It’s a western that is set all around the area we were exploring, and full of humorous situations. It really helped set the tone for our trip.