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Author: Carol L. Douglas

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Why I love plein air painting

Midsummer along the Bay of Fundy, 24×36, available.

Given a choice of painting the same subject en plein air or in the studio, Iā€™ll always go outdoors. I think it makes for better paintings, but itā€™s also a better experience.

In general, painting from life is superior to painting from photos. Photography works out the subject, composition and color for you, and itā€™s hard to escape its bossiness. People can work from life within the genres of still life, interiors and figure painting, but the natural world is the biggest and best source of observed reality.

The Whole Enchilada, 12X16, oil on archival canvas, $1159 unframed.

Full immersion

Being surrounded by the environment that I am painting is a full sensory experience. Yes, that can include insects and jackhammers, but itā€™s more likely to include sweet smells on soft breezes and birdsong.

For every painting location, there are many potential subjects and compositions. I once stood on a hillside and painted in each cardinal direction. I didnā€™t begin to plumb the possibilities of that site.

Painting outdoors lets me experience natural light in its full color spectrum. Look at any photograph of a scene you know and love, and youā€™ll quickly realize how photos flatten and distort color. And painting indoors under bad lights is just horrible for your color perception.

Iā€™ve painted in rainstorms, in withering heat and humidity, and in blasting Arctic cold. More commonly, I go out when the weather is moderate, but its changeability has taught me ways to control and adapt my painting, and above all, to work fast.

Dawn Wind, Twin Lights, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

The great outdoors

Being an outdoorswoman to my bones, I appreciate that plein air painting lets me work in beautiful places. Standing quietly in one place for hours allows you to see it in a different way from that of the typical tourist. People love the natural world but due to issues of time, money and mobility, they canā€™t always get to it. (I remind myself to be thankful every day I can climb Beech Hill.) Plein air painting is a way to bring nature to a world thatā€™s increasingly insulated.

On the best of days, you can text a photo of a wood lily or an elk to a friend. Thatā€™s humbling.

Palm Tree and Sunlight, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Some of my best friends are plein air painters

I know plein air painters from all over North America. The crush of plein air events means weā€™re often thrown together in ways that forge deep friendships. I might not see them for years, but we fall back into our old rhythms of friendship very easily.

I see this in my workshop students, too. There is something about standing on a rock with the same people for a week that fosters closeness.

Plein air is not limiting

Some of my friends love painting architecture; some like painting in large cities (that used to be me). Some are attracted to the bleak industrial wasteland. Some like the high desert, and others like the ocean. Iā€™m easy, myself; I love the landscape Iā€™m with. But thereā€™s no wrong subject in plein air. Beauty is everywhere, and as long as Iā€™m still mobile, Iā€™ll still seek it out.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: what is color theory?

Toy Monkey and Candy, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 framed includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

As I write my next class, Applied Color Theory, I am building a framework of the most important aspects of color and light for the painter. Color theory is a comprehensive framework that starts with the color wheel and works out from there. If you know your way through the following concepts, you donā€™t need more color theory. If youā€™re fuzzy about them, perhaps itā€™s time for more study.

Hue, Chroma and Value These are the three properties of color.

Color Harmonies This is the idea that certain color combinations are more pleasing to the eye and can evoke specific moods or responses.

Color Context This includes how colors affect each other when placed side by side and the psychological effects of color.

Prom Shoes 2, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435.

Color Systems and Models We all learned subtractive color (the classic color wheel) in school, but additive color behaves differently. Knowing how light combines will give you a better grasp on color temperature.

Color and Culture Colors have cultural overtones; for example, we believe red is ā€˜hotā€™, blue is ā€˜coolā€™ and closely-analogous colors ā€˜clashā€™. How important are these ideas to painting, and how much of our color sense is just fashion?

Color temperature All light has a color. All shadow has color. How do we figure them out?

Primary Shapes, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

Light direction and intensity Light and shadow are fundamental compositional elements. That includes whether light is soft and diffuse or hard and direct. Closely related is:

Reflectivity Whether an object is matte or shiny affects how it plays in the color sphere.

Transparency and Translucency The ability of a surface to transmit light affects how light is depicted. Transparent objects (like glass) and translucent objects (like frosted glass or thin fabric) have different light interactions from opaque objects.

Atmospheric Perspective Light behaves in predictable ways the farther you are from the object. Can you articulate the order in which color falls off?

Two Peppers, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435.00

Mood Light can significantly influence the mood and emotional impact of a painting. Bright, intense light can create a sense of drama or tension, while soft, diffused light can evoke calmness and serenity.

Time of Day and Season The color and quality of natural light change throughout the day and across different seasons, affecting how scenes are depicted.

Can I do all that in six weeks?

Iā€™ll do my best. This painting class is open to all mediums and skill levels.

It will run for 6 weeks on Tuesdays, 6-9PM EST. Participants will be sent a zoom link.

Dates:

August 20, 27
Sept 3, 10, 24
October 1

Iā€™m prewriting this before I hit the road to teach at the Schoodic Institute and in the Berkshires. I donā€™t know how many seats are available for this class by the time you read this. Check here; you wonā€™t be able to register if itā€™s full.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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How to paint a forest fern

Cinnamon Fern, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

I have no business complaining about the heat. My friend Pastor John Nicholson of Marion, Alabama recently texted me that it was 91Ā° at 7:45 AM. But just as heā€™s not acclimated to subzero temperatures in winter, weā€™re not acclimated to 80Ā° in summer. But thatā€™s what weā€™ve been getting, and all in all it has been a magnificent summer here in the northeast.

When the temperature rises, I head into the woods. Painting in the forest is lovely on a hot summer day.

How to paint a forest, in a nutshell

  • Sort out a pattern of lights and darks;
  • Start with the compositionā€”itā€™s easy to get lost in the jumble;
  • Concentrate on details; theyā€™re easier to make sense of than the overall picture;
  • Think about texture.

Despite a lifetime of looking at northeastern ferns, I have a hard time identifying them, which is why I labeled the above painting as Bracken Fern for so long. A few years ago, a friend gave me a tutorial that ran the full 5.5 miles of the Round the Mountain Trail. I’m sharing with you, so you need never be embarrassed by ferns again.

With fronds like that, who needs anemones?

Maidenhair fern courtesy Doug McGrady, Warwick, RI, Wikimedia Commons

The Victorians were so crazy for ferns that they coined a word for fern madness: Pteridomania. Among their favorites was Maidenhair Fern, with its dark black stems, delicate foliage, and fan-shaped fronds. Itā€™s the black stem that gives it its name, donā€™t ask me why.

Sensitive Fern courtesy Joshua Mayer, Madison, WI, Wikimedia Commons

Sensitive Fern volunteers next to my garage (and many other places). It looks indestructible with its coarse, leathery leaves, but like many apparent tough guys, itā€™s delicate. Its name comes from the fact that it dies at the first frost.

Interrupted Fern, courtesy BibliothĆØque de l’UniversitĆ© Laval, Quebec

Interrupted Fern is a weird but handsome plant. Its fronds go from green pinnae at the base to brown spore-bearing pinnae in the middle, followed again by green pinnae at the top.

New York Fern, courtesy Wasp32, Wikimedia Commons

New York Fern, as youā€™d guess from the name, is an elegant fern that likes to colonize in tight, compact masses. A lot of them can fit in a small space, and they arenā€™t too picky about environmental conditions.

Christmas Fern, courtesy David J. Stang, Wikimedia Commons

The fronds of Christmas Fern emerge red in the early spring and mature to a glossy green. It takes its name from the fact that the leaves stay evergreen until the new yearā€™s growth starts in spring.

Bracken Fern, courtesy Tylerfinvold, Wikimedia Commons

The blades of Bracken Fern grow almost horizontally, forming a dense canopy. Like many ferns, itā€™s somewhat allelopathic, meaning it produces biochemicals that suppress the growth of other organisms.

I’m still not sure after all these years whether what I painted above was Cinnamon or Bracken Fern. They look like Cinnamon in my painting, but I’ve revisited the site and found bracken there. But does it really matter? They’re beautiful either way.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Making art inaccessible

Winter lambing, oil on linen, 30X40, $5072 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Iā€™m from Buffalo, New York, and I grew up visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. My family lived nearby and I went to high school just a few blocks away. The Albright-Knox is where I came to understand art. No institution had a greater impact on my early art education.

Like all city residents, I knew there was no admission charge, just a plexiglass box into which you could stuff your donation. In my case, that was often small change or nothing.

In late 2019, the gallery started a massive expansion and renovation. Investor Jeffrey Gundlach gave $42.5 million. NYS ponied up another $20 million and the rest of the $125 million tab was expected to be met by ā€˜businesses, foundations, government groups, and individuals.ā€™  Itā€™s a beloved Buffalo institution, so Iā€™m not surprised at the community support. The museum was also rebranded as Buffalo AKG Art Museum to reflect Mr. Gundlachā€™s contribution.

Grain elevators, Buffalo, NY, 18X24 in a handmade cherry frame. $2318 includes shipping in continental US.

My brother-in-law took his grandchild there last week. ā€œIt cost me $20 with my senior discount, $10 for Nora, and $12 to park,ā€ he said. He can afford that, but a lot of Buffalonians can’t. The community ponied up all that money to make art inaccessible to any but its wealthier citizens.

The last reported salary for its director, Janne Siren, was $468,609 (2023). This is in a city whose median household income at the 2020 census was $24,536. (And, for the record, employees of the gallery voted to unionize in January, 2024, citing unfair labor practices.)

Why are museums so darned expensive?

The fees my brother-in-law paid are not, sadly, outrageous for American fine art museums. The MFA Boston is now $27 for an adult ticket, MoMA is $30, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which has one of the nationā€™s largest endowment funds) is $30 and the Art Institute of Chicago is $32. I looked this up because my kids wanted to go to the MFA last weekend, but couldnā€™t afford it. Instead, they went to a nearby college gallery. ā€œI saw a few cool things and I can still buy a house,ā€ my daughter said.

Thunder Bay, 12X16, $1159 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Arts access is important

School groups will still visit the gallery in their strictly-monitored tours, but gone are the days when we could just wander at will to visit our favorite paintings. For my parents and my siblings, an afternoon at the gallery would now cost $104 plus parking.

This is happening at a time when the broader culture is reducing arts education. That makes unfettered access to art even more important.

For kids, art helps develop imagination and cognitive, communication and problem-solving skills. It helps all of us reduce stress. It should not be only for rich people.

Coal Seam, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Community identity

The old Albright-Knox was a great example of how the public loved and cared for museums, and how museums enhanced our quality of life. It was built for the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition, along with its neighbor, the Buffalo History Museum (which is still pay-as-you-wish). They both face Olmstead-designed Delaware Park with its sparkling artificial lake. This whole complex was a source of great civic pride in my youth.  But, honestly, why would a young Buffalonian care if they canā€™t afford to go inside?

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: human vision and color theory

Rachel’s Garden, ~24×35, watercolor on Yupo, museum-grade plexiglass, $3985 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Is human vision subjective? Absolutely; so are cameras (although they cheat less than our eyes). We donā€™t perceive things as they really are, and the gap between what we do perceive and what is ā€˜realā€™ is probably unmeasurable. Itā€™s no surprise that witnesses often report wildly different events.

Bunker Hill overlook, watercolor on Yupo, approx. 24X36, $3985 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How our eyes work

No other organ is quite like our eyes; theyā€™re really an extension of our brains. The retina and optic nerve develop from the same tissue as the brain and that direct connection is maintained through life. The eyes are not merely sensors; theyā€™re processing information before sending it up to the brain. They use the same neurotransmitters and signalling mechanisms as the brain. No wonder theyā€™re so good at fooling us!

The primary visual cortex processes and interprets the signals received from the retina. That gives us the interpretive part of vision, where we sort color, motion, and depth. Itā€™s there that we integrate and interpret visual data into coherent images and meaningful information.

Clary Hill Blueberry Barrens, watercolor on Yupo, ~24X36, $3985 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How our eyes trick us

All humans have tunnel vision, some of us more than others. We focus on whatā€™s in the center of our vision. Whatā€™s peripheral falls off, to various degrees depending on the person. One of the great lies of painting and photography is that they smooth out this tunnel vision.

Thereā€™s also wide variation in the distribution and density of rods and cones, which affect how we perceive color. Then thereā€™s the condition of our lenses and corneas. (Thatā€™s why I keep hoping Iā€™ll qualify for cataract surgery, but it never happens.)

Once the eyes send their signals to our brain, the relationship to ā€˜realityā€™ becomes even more tenuous. It appears that different individuals process various aspects of vision differently in their visual cortex. Our interpretation of what we see is also influenced by our experiences, our mood, and the degree to which weā€™re attending. And of course, lighting affects how we see (and how we fill in whatā€™s missing).

Context affects how we see color

Certain visual patterns can trick our brains into seeing things that are not there or misinterpreting what we think we see. This is the basis of optical illusion, and itā€™s helpful for the painter to understand. Colors look different depending on whatā€™s around them. Prolonged exposure to a particular color can create afterimages that affect how we see subsequent colors.

Most importantly, our expectations alter our color perception. For example, knowing that a distant roof is red can mislead painters into painting it brilliant scarlet, even when the atmospheric color shift has made it a far softer tone.

Path to the Lake, ~24X36, watercolor on Yupo, framed in museum-grade plexiglass, $2985 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How do we sort all this out?

If we could separate what we see from what we ā€˜know,ā€™ weā€™d be left with simple patches of light and color, because thatā€™s all vision is. Itā€™s very hard to do that, but the more we strive for that, the better our representation is.

After all, in our field of vision, things are not inherently large or small, close or near; our brain sorts the data and makes these comparisons.

Why am I thinking about this stuff?

Iā€™m swotting to teach a new class, Applied Color Theory, on Tuesday evenings, starting on August 20. And it all starts with the brain, so thatā€™s what Iā€™m thinking about first.

There are just a few seats left, so if youā€™re interested you should enroll as soon as possible.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Should I buy a boat?

Skylarking II, 18×24, oil on linen, $1855, includes shipping in the continental US.

When I row in my local harbor, I always tell the person Iā€™m with, ā€œIf youā€™re looking for something for my birthday…ā€ I love rowing quietly around, lusting after sailboats. My heartā€™s desire is never a big boat, but itā€™s always beautiful, sleek and wooden. Something I can sail solo would be best.

Of course, this is pure nonsense. The mooring fee alone would scrap my budget. Add to that the work and expense of hauling and winterizing. Iā€™m not talking through my hat here; we had a beautiful old wooden boat until I was in my late teens. Besides, my yard is already cluttered with a skiff, canoe and dinghy, none of which I have time for.

American Eagle rounding Owls Head, 6×8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 unframed includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

I was reminded of this the other day while listening to the podcast Ridiculous Crime. The hosts were joking that the stupidest thing to do with lottery winnings was to buy a boat. ā€œMy father always said itā€™s a hole in the water into which you pour money,ā€ said host Zaron Burnett. Iā€™ll add two more jokes to his repertoire: ā€œThe two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it.ā€ And, ā€œa friend with a boat is better than owning a boat.ā€

Should I buy a boat? Iā€™m afraid not, although writing this post has darn near killed me. But there are other ways to enjoy them.

I have a friend who is a boat

I am buddies with a very big boat, the schooner American Eagle. Not only is she the best looking schooner in the fleet, she was impeccably repurposed by Captain John Foss and maintained by Captain Tyler King.

I get to go sailing on her once a year. Even better, my job isnā€™t night watches or deck swabbing. Instead, I teach watercolor painting. And if you go with us, you too can sail and paint and give no thought at all to cooking or polishing brightwork.

My daughter made a beautiful short reel for Instagram that catches the essence of this trip (above). Hereā€™s another that captures a foggy day on the water. This isnā€™t sailing with carbon fiber sails that you can adjust with your key fob while surfing the web on your phone. This is sailing as itā€™s been done for centuries. Itā€™s a wooden boat with traditional rigging, and the opportunities to sail like that grow fewer and fewer.

Hang a boat on a wall

Drying Sails, 9X12, oil on canvasboard, $869 framed.

Another way to enjoy sailing is with a painting. I was in an oncologistā€™s waiting room the other day (for a routine check-up) and noticed that the walls are covered with boat art. They chose boats and the sea because theyā€™re calming, and people in crisis need all the tranquility they can get. But so do you and I, every day.

I paint boats because I love them, and because their journeys are much like our journeysā€”we go through storms, we have larky bright mornings, and we rest at anchor. I think those are all good reasons to own a boat painting. And as Zaron Burnett would probably tell you, it’ll cost you a lot less to buy a painting of a boat than to keep a real boat. The maintenance is easier, and youā€™re likely to keep it longer, too.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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What does it mean to be an artist?

Coast Guard Inspection, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Being an artist means you make art, period. It doesnā€™t mean youā€™re brilliant at it, or that you make money doing it. It simply means you make art repeatedly, in an iterative process, building from one finished project to the next.

Anyone can be an artist

I have never heard anyone told, ever, that theyā€™re not good at the Three Rs (meaning reading, ā€™ritinā€™, and ā€™rithmatic) so they should just go do something else. We take it for granted that there are bumps in the road in every pursuit, and some aspects of these disciplines will be harder than others. Moreover, we recognize that whether we use our writing skills to analyze Tolstoy or make out a shopping list, theyā€™re useful for everyone. So how did the question of who can be an artist become so narrow?

Beautiful Dream, oil on archival canvasboard, $1449 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Iā€™ve blamed the Cult of Genius for the spurious idea that the artistā€™s mind is unique. Until the 18th century, artists were craftsmen, and they trained in apprenticeships. After the Enlightenment, the arts were reclassified as an intellectual pursuit. None of my working artist friends are intellectuals in the real sense of that word. Yes, theyā€™re smart, but theyā€™re also pragmatic and hands-on.

Why are we all so specialized?

My daughter told me recently that my grandkidsā€™ peers donā€™t just try one activity and then another. Sandlot baseball, as we knew it, is nonexistent. Instead, kids choose a discipline almost as soon as theyā€™re up on their pins. They stick with that specialty through high school. The parents, my daughter tells me, are interested in sports scholarships.

Early specialization leaves no time for what making art is all about: experimentation and creativity. And since there arenā€™t art scholarships the way there are sports scholarships, nobody is pushing little Minnie to stick with her crayons.

We give lip service to the idea of developing creative kids who can ā€œthink outside the box.ā€ (Not that I believe thatā€™s what society really wants, but itā€™s what we say.) Art requires discipline, but it also encourages free-roaming thoughts.

American Eagle in Drydock, 12X16, $1159 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Whatā€™s required to be an artist?

  • The ability to think imaginatively, which requires leisure time for the mind to roam.
  • The capacity to express ideas.
  • Technical proficiency, built over time.
  • Passion, because there are easier ways to spend your time.
  • A unique worldview.
  • Resilience: If you arenā€™t persistent in the face of failure, criticism and rejection, you will quit.

What I didnā€™t list

Note that I never mentioned talent, innate ability, or intelligence. The most successful artists are the hardest-working, full stop.

I have a young friend whoā€™s been a journeyman photographer under the tutelage of his father for several years. I have one of his books, and itā€™s nice but not inspired. Suddenly, this year, heā€™s on fire. He may look like an instant success or a ā€˜great talentā€™ but all that rests on the thousands of photos heā€™s taken to find his artistic voice.

Camden Harbor, Midsummer, oil on canvas, 24X36 $3188 includes shipping in continental US.

You donā€™t have to be an artist

Anyone can do it; that doesnā€™t mean everyone will. The steep learning curve weeds some people out; the exigencies of life limit others. And thatā€™s okay, because art needs viewers. Weā€™re glad youā€™re here!

But if you feel the call to make art, just do it; do not let someone elseā€™s definition of talent limit what you dream for yourself.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Top ten questions for artists

A Woodlot of her own, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Iā€™ve written about why we do art and about the artistsā€™ statements we all loathe. Targeted questions sometimes help us think through the bigger issues with greater clarity. I hope you can use these questions for artists as a jumping off point for your own thinking.

  1. What inspired you to create this piece?

    The answer for me is always:
  • The idea fascinated me;
  • It was a challenge; or,
  • I thought it was beautiful.

How would you answer that question about one of your paintings?

Best Buds, 11X14, oil on canvasboard, $1087 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

2. What is your creative process?

My painting process is outlined here and here. This is the same process I teach, so itā€™s straightforward.

For areas outside my discipline, I start by learning the technology. For me, this is hands-on and spatial; for example, Iā€™d rather work with a printmaker than read a book or watch a movie about lithography.

What is your working process?

3. How do you come up with your ideas?

I have more ideas than I could ever execute, and when theyā€™re still rattling around my head, Iā€™m always convinced theyā€™re the best ideas ever. Are you ever short of inspiration? If so, how do you deal with that?

4. What materials or techniques do you use?

Iā€™m conversant with oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastel and gouacheā€”in fact, with most two-dimensional art forms. Drawing is personal for me. I wish I knew more about 3D art, and particularly about building things.

What is your preferred medium? What medium would you like to spend more time with?

In Control (Grace and her Unicorn), 24X30, $3,478 framed, oil on canvas, includes shipping in continental United States.

5. What is the story behind this piece?

Thereā€™s sometimes a very simple answer, such as with In Control: Grace and her Unicorn. Sometimes thereā€™s no story at all.

Can you articulate stories for your paintings, or are they less tangible?

6. How long does it take you to finish a painting?

This is the most-commonly asked of all questions for artists. The only proper answer is that made by James McNeill Whistler during court testimony in 1878. Whistler was asked by a lawyer about the stiff price he had set for a painting.

ā€œOh, two days! The labour of two days, then, is that for which you ask two hundred guineas!ā€

ā€œNo;ā€”I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.ā€

The Servant, oil on linen, 36X40, $4042.50 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

7. What are you trying to convey?

I suppose if you must ask that, Iā€™ve failed, but if itā€™s in an artistā€™s statement, Iā€™d just say my work is a pale imitation of the glories of Godā€™s creation.

What are you trying to say in your work? Can it be reduced to words?

8. Do you have any upcoming projects or exhibitions?

Itā€™s good to have something in your future. Iā€™ll be at an opening in Camden on Tuesday, and then there is Camden Art Walk for August-October. Meanwhile I have three workshops remaining this season. And Iā€™ll be at Sedona Plein Air in October. There are also a few one-day plein air events scattered in there.

If your calendar is overbooked, youā€™ll burn yourself out, but if you arenā€™t working toward a goal, you may not be working hard enough. If you’re not yet advanced enough to be showing regularly, a class or workshop is a good way to hold yourself accountable.

9. Why are you an artist?

Iā€™ve been an artist since I was old enough to sit up. Iā€™ve been lucky enough to be a professional artist for the past 28 years. I tell people itā€™s either that or greeting at Walmart, but in fact I do it because I have a pressing need to communicate. How about you?

10. How do you handle criticism or feedback about your work?

In that itā€™s morally wrong to crush the skulls of your enemies, Iā€™m forced to be philosophical about rejection. The more it happens the better I deal with it, but at times, I admit itā€™s painful.

Usually I just kvetch. How about you?

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Two seascape paintings, some flowers and an opening

On Tuesday of next week, Lone Pine Real Estate is having its long-awaited grand opening. Itā€™s from 4-7, at 19 Elm St., Camden, ME. Youā€™ll find me there, but not precisely at 4 PM, as I have a prior appointment. There are many forms of creativity, and I’m in awe of the kind of mind that can create a business from nothing. Congratulations, Rachael, Gregg, Nichole, and Ann.

I just moved these three paintings to Lone Pine to replace paintings that have been sold. Two of these are seascape paintings. The ocean and its harbors are my favorite subject. One is a flower painting, and itā€™s grown on me steadily since I finished it last week.

Belfast Harbor, oil on archival canvasboard, 14X18, $1,275 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

Belfast harbor

Belfastā€™s most iconic view is the three red tugboats docked at the foot of Main Street. Theyā€™re the property of the Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug Company, and theyā€™re not meant to be merely pretty; theyā€™re working tugs that help move cargo around the bay.

Belfast harbor is muscular compared to many other modern coastal towns here in midcoast Maine. Front Street Shipyard is a very large shipbuilder that always has something interesting in its yard; Belfastā€™s Harbor Walk snakes along the waterfront directly in front of it. It was from this location that I painted the tugs.

My goal was to reduce the tugs and the boat sheds to shapes, rather than paint them in detail.

Camden Harbor from Curtis Island, oil on canvas, $2782 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

Camden harbor from Curtis Island

I rowed out to Curtis Island in Colin Pageā€™s dinghy to paint Camden harbor. There are often camp kids out on the island beachcombing and I drew the stooping child from life. However, back in my studio I realized that a solitary child just didnā€™t make sense. I added a second one, which is a self-portrait of me as a child.

Iā€™m blaming this painting on the Words + Pictures Zoom class I just finished teaching. It got me thinking in whimsical terms.

On the return trip, I carefully bungeed my painting to the front thwart. It wasnā€™t until I was bumping against the dock that I realized I couldnā€™t reach around my painting to grab the painter. (Thatā€™s the line from the bow you use to tie up.) I bumped along merrily in the surf until a nice gentleman grabbed the line for me and helped me unload my gear.

Lacecap and Daylilies, 11X14, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental United States

Lace-cap hydrangea and daylilies, Merryspring Nature Center

Merryspring Nature Center is a 66-acre preserve near the Camden-Rockport town line. It has a fantastic daylily garden with varieties Iā€™ve never seen before. I didnā€™t want to address this planting directly, since it must be fifty feet across and is absolutely horizontal. Instead, I wanted to make it a line of light in the back of an otherwise shady painting.

I don’t paint gardens, as a general rule, but this painting has made me reconsider that.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Two color theory books I own (and one I just ordered)

Spring Greens, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $652 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Iā€™m prepping to teach my next session of Zoom color classes, Applied Color Theory, and consulting my library for ideas. Here are two color theory books I recommend without hesitation, and one I just ordered. After all, even an old dog can learn new tricks.

Iā€™ve taught lots of color theory, but this class is a different. Itā€™s about applying theoretical constructs to the practical business of painting. So, itā€™s back to the books for this teacher.

Home Farm, 20X24, oil on canvas, $2898 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition, by Josef Albers

When my grandchild was born, I said something about nursing while the hospital lactation consultant was in the room. ā€œA lot has changed in thirty years,ā€ she said. As far as I know, lactation still works about the same way as it didĀ when mammals first appeared about 200 million years ago, or when I was a young mother.

I mention this preemptively, before someone points out that Interaction of Color is a very old book. Itā€™s inexpensive and straightforward. Read the text, do the exercises, ponder the concepts, and youā€™ll learn lots.

Having said that, the reprint is a better deal than an older edition. Printing technology is much advanced since 1963, and the plates in this edition are clean and beautiful.

Albers believed that color was best studied through experience. He demonstrated that certain colors affect their neighbors. Color exercises are the way to understand this. ā€œEvery perception of color is an illusion, he wrote. ā€œWe do not see colors as they really are. In our perception they alter one another.ā€

Blueberry barrens, Clary Hill, oil on canvas, 24X36, $3985 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color, by Philip Ball

Iā€™ve read a lot of ā€˜history of colorā€™ books and this was by far the best. Philip Ball is a science writer who trained as a chemist. He may be a science geek, but he writes for a lay audience.

Every painter should think of paints first in terms of pigments. For example, we like to think of Impressionism as a cultural movement, with the Salon des RefusƩs and the rejection of academic art. But Impressionism was driven, first and foremost, by rapid developments in modern chemistry. None of it was possible without the pigments created for commercial applications.

Ostensibly a detailed historical account of how colors were discovered, manufactured, and used, the book also discusses the scientific principles behind pigment chemistry and the physics of light and color perception.

You might not think this should be filed under ā€˜color theory books,ā€™ but pigment largely defines our place in the continuum of art history, and itā€™s good to understand exactly where we are.

The Surf is Cranking Up, 8×16, $903 includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

Hereā€™s the book I ordered to prepare for this class:

Artistsā€™ Master Series: Color and Light, by Charlie Pickard et al

This newish (2022) book covers the traditional material of color theory but reviewers say itā€™s very in-depth in terms of both the science of color and the process of applying color to painting. I bought it because there is more than one author, which means thereā€™s more than one approach to color problems.

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