Hooray For Summer: Time To Paint!

Whether you live on the Cape or vacation here, you are bound to run across artists who paint "en plein air," which means we are out and about painting on site at any of the terrific vistas that surround this place.

I'm one of these en plein air painters and during May I had a good time painting works to place at "Birdsey On The Cape" in Osterville, MA at 870 Main Street.  The scene I'm focused on here is at the Oyster River in Chatham.

While some artists travel light, I am not one of them.  I have a van.  It's stuffed with art materials.  The portable easel used on site is a bit like a praying mantis and can pinch the fingers as it is set up, but its old fashioned design works pretty well.

Once I'm set up,  I have to work quickly since the light doesn't stay still and neither do the shadows that help the painting look lively.  So the painting gets blocked in over the course of about two hours and then its time to switch canvases and come back another day if the painting needs additional work. 

I use cotton canvas, Belgian linen, or specially prepared panels as the surface on which the painting is placed.  Oil paints, low-VOC mineral spirits, and brushes help me get the work done.  If I'm lucky, the elements of the scene won't get moved away...for example a boat that I might be painting might get moved by its owner or the tide is rising, the wind picks up, and the position of the boat shifts and so do the shadows it casts.

The painting I've posted here was done over two days and it took some dodging the fishermen's trucks and boat trailers to stay at it, but it's now done and available in a gold frame at Birdsey On the Cape.  Sue Carstenen is the owner of the gallery and she'd be happy to show it to you.  Stop by or give her a call at 508-428-4969.  

Here are some photos of my recent efforts. The painting is now on exhibit and available for sale at Birdsey on the Cape at 870 Main Street, Osterville, MA.

It's the end of Winter and right now my Connecticut farmland works are hanging at Maple & Main Gallery in Chester, CT.  http://mapleandmaingallery.com/


 I have a number of large beach scenes being exhibited as well as at the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, CT. http://lymeartassociation.org/  Since many of my smaller works sold out this season, I am also in the studio working on the painting basics that get me ready for painting out of doors this Spring. My favorite framer had a wonderful sales so I have many gorgeous new frames to surround each of my works!  Hooray!  One of the works at Lyme Art Association for the "On Holiday" show is this one:

Look for more scenes that are similar to these as I paint away in a variety of sizes:

 

 

Pigeon Cove In Rockport, MA

  I spent this past weekend perched on a rocky outcropping overlooking Pigeon Cove in Rockport.  I was there to work on a commission and what a treat it was!  Weathering the sunny day and keeping warm meant a winter jacket, gloves, and a hat while standing on a granite patio at the top of a rocky cliff.  The sun was warm on my back and the serenade of the surf while I painted made it a perfect day!



Here's a partial view of the cove:


The breeze off the Atlantic wasn't too stiff, so the easel remained in place and I was able to develop much of the painting on the spot.  Some of the effort is pictured here, including the block-in, and the near-finished work.

 Here is the painting at about 90% complete.
I will finish the fussy stuff back in my studio.
At day's end, the palette looked like this:

Pigeon Cove  How to get there, this is the Mapquest link.

Upcoming holiday show openings:

Maple & Main Gallery in Chester, CT, Holiday show reception on Friday, November 18th  from 5 to 8PM.  http://www.mapleandmaingallery.com/

Lyme Art Association Holiday show reception, "Deck the Walls,"  in Old Lyme, CT on Friday, December 2nd, from 5-7PM.  http://lymeartassociation.org/upcoming.php

Autumn Musings: Sketching Variations

Above is a September plein air work now hanging in its new Orleans, MA home.  It's an example of me using my full palette of 8 colors plus a neutral gray and a neutral buff. Here's the view of my setup and the painting block-in.  I was on-site for four days and developed several works.  Each day the weather and the skies were different!  An artist's dream (or nightmare).  

Right now, I'm working on several commissions and one in particular has been great fun. The final work will be a 40"x40" oil painting of a sailboat race that was fogged in, creating a wonderful mood and memory for the clients. We talked about the neutral aspect of fog and how it might be represented in various tonal palettes, since color or tone each create different effects. 

These are sketches and I was more interested in the palette combinations than real draftsmanship at this stage.   Here are results of the studies which are each about 5"x5".

7 colors plus neutral gray and buff titanium

7 Colors plus thalo green, neutral gray & neutral buff titanium

.

Burnt sienna & chromatic black plus white on yellow ochre

  

Golden ochre, burnt sienna & chromatic black plus white

 Here's a closer look at my 2 preferred images!

We'll see what the client selects!  What would you pick?

The only-grays palette: tube to the left, mixed to the right

Completely tonalist using 3 tube grays and 3 mixed grays

Painting At The Old Lyme Mid-Summer Festival

http://www.youtube.com/user/bhageman2#p/a/u/0/rniAVAysdUY

Spring/Summer 2011

"Sailors Waiting For The Tide"

Here come the new works for the Spring and Summer art season.  You can find these works at:

•  my web sites
• at Lemon 'N Lyme, 19 Halls Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371
•  or at the Chatham Arts & Crafts Fairs held July 22-24 and August 13-14 at 702 Main Street, Chatham, MA.

Some of my field studies and miscellaneous experiments can be found at the Creative Arts Center in Chatham, MA on July 2, 2011 between 9AM and 12PM.  It's a scramble, so be there as the door opens as I will have about 12 works, all priced to sell!

You can follow my work on this blog, including my field painting notes and videos that I upload.  In addition, you can see my full range of work at my Fine Art America website:  This site allows you to (1) contact me directly to purchase the original: OR (2) purchase prints that you select, in frames and matting that you select, delivered where you specify; OR (3) purchase greeting cards.

Some of my recently completed, original works can be had directly from Lemon ' N Lyme   and include these:

" Blue on Blue"

 "Carefree Summer Days"

 Waiting For the Tide at Dawn (sold)

"Snapper Blue or Sea Robin?"

"Waiting For the Tide"

Notes from my easel – July 30, 2010


By Barbara DuBois Hageman

"Hot Dinghy" (Sold)

Many thanks to the 7 new owners of painting acquired at the fair last weekend! I hope they keep you thinking of the Chatham side of Cape Cod each time you look at them!

Meanwhile, see Barbara's Original Art Website  for other seaside works as I finish them and post them.

The next Chatham Days art fair will be Wednesday & Thursday, August 4-5, from 9AM-5PM in front of the Chatham Community Center at 702 Main Street where this is ample parking. We will be in the same location, #11. Then, on Saturday & Sunday, August 14-15th we will return again


This week I’m all about boats and dinghies. Here are some that are just off the easel. Each is 4”x6” and is framed in a 3” wide gold-tone metal leaf plein air frame. They hang well together as a “Dinghy Quartet” but are also available individually for $125 each. This size, nicely framed, is a good special occasion, hostess, or memory gift.

“Blue Boy”

"Red"

"A Little Tabasco"

"Blue Belle"

If you are a sailor, you might like my boats at low tide series, and the next one, “Golden Days,” a 12”x24” oil-on-canvas, for $675, will be at the booth on August 4-5th .

If you are a collector and purchase, or have purchased several of my works, you will enjoy a 10% discount off the listed price!


See you at the August 4-5th Fair!


702 Main Street, Chatham, MA

(set your GPS!)