At one of my always stimulating dinners with my late friend Zyg Jankowski, he said to me that the first decision a painter has to make about his work is a spacial one: how “deep” do you want to make the picture? John Carlson felt that every foot into nature counted; Ed Whiney had no interest in such realistic depth and recommended a student plan the composition on-site but walk around a corner to paint it. Over the years, I’ve been schizophrenic about the question. Under Emile Gruppe’s tutelage, I naturally followed Carlson’s path. Later, I experimented with a flatter approach , one which, carried to an extreme, can make the subject disappear in a series of flat planes.
Charles Movalli OPAM - Figure 1
I rather enjoyed the broken, lively look of such surfaces. but felt that, after awhile, my pictures all began to look alike. They lacked mood. Now moderns like Hans Hoffmann despised the idea of mood; in fact, he called it a “swindle”– an easy way to make a pictorial statement at the cost of the more important and thoughtful thing: composition. My flat pictures, on the other hand, were all composition. I wandered back to a more “realistic” approach under the influence of artists like Sargent–who has undergone a publishing boom in the last twenty years–Sorolla, and the slew of recently discovered Russians.
Charles Movalli OPAM - Figure 2
I also encountered a Timkov at the old Fleisher Museum which astonished me, since it had both mood and a selective flatness in its approach. Indeed, all the artists I’ve mentioned knew when to go flat and when to add modeling. Gruppe, for example, would make fun of still-lifes whose pots and bottles were so roundly-modeled that you got “dizzy” looking at them. I also had an important lesson from him early in my career. I’d done a rocky hillside with trees against the sky and bushes in the foreground. He came along with a big brush, eliminated a distracting silhouette by pushing the trees out of the top of the frame and mushed the foreground bushes into insignificance. He then drew a few dark lines in the rocks, emphasizing their structure.
Charles Movalli OPAM - Figure 3
Done! That night, I jotted down his criticism: “In full light, you saw only the masses–as the sun went down, you saw the details and put them all in.” Of course,it took a while for this lesson to sink in! Sargent’s famous Lake Louise painting consists of similar flat smudges, and huge, dark -and -light compositional planes, all set off by a minimum of modeling in the foreground water. Such magic is possible when you give up any attempt to copy a subject photographically and instead focus on the large, simple masses that give the scene its visual interest . Once these planes are defined, very little modeling is need to bring “realism” to the subject. That’s why I don’t feel that the time I spent on my “flat period” was wasted: on the country, it made me even more aware of the importance of simple planes. It taught me how to summarize what I saw, how to make a precis of it–after which, I could put in as much “detail” as I wanted. In short, by adding very little, I could see how much I could get away. When entering a museum, I’m always anxious to see how this sort of slight of hand is practiced by the Masters. Not their manual skill, you understand: not, for example, how well they’ve painted the wings of a fly on a flower. But rather, how they’ve summarized that flower, reduced it to a few basic planes — and then brought it all to life by an edge or two and a few subtle shifts in value.
Note: for a further discussion of these points, check out YouTube:
5/28/2012 1:30:37 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 4 Comments
"Home Sweet Home" 4x4 oil on copper. Framed in black and gold wood. Shipped free. Sold.
I love to paint nests. When I saw a Facebook pal's photo of a Robin on a nest, I decided to ask her permission to paint it. She said she would be delighted and honored. So I cropped the photo and darkened the photo. I worked for a long time last night on this small painting.
5/26/2012 8:30:36 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 2 Comments
"Somessound Sailboat" 6x6 oil on copper Framed in black and gold wood or gold wood. Shipped free. Sold!
I drove to Mount Desert Island today luckily only 45 minutes from my house. I decided to check out Manset. I really liked the light on this sailboat. It was very gray out today but there seemed to be a hint the sun would come out. I met the boat owner and his Dad. They were very nice. I love to work at the docks!
"Approaching Evening at Otter Cliffs" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in black and gold wood. Sold!
Finally around 4pm the light was perfect on Park Loop Road at Otter Cliffs. I set up to paint. I loved the golden light coming through the Spruce trees. There were some rocks in shadow and a few rocks were in the sunlight. I liked all of the pretty colors. Plus the salt air was great!
On Mount Desert Island at Bernard is the Tremont Town dock. This house is directly across from this wharf. When we first moved to Mount Desert Island to camp at the Bass Harbor Campground, this house was priced at 695,000$. Now as you can see the price is lowered to 300,000. Now that is a deal!
The house has this view of the harbor. Lobster men start working their boats at 3:30 am. So there is a lot to watch from this house. There are many tourist who come down to the docks. So the house would make an excellent gallery!
I made a video of Robert transferring a new bee nuc to a new hive! So now we have two hives to take care of! Bees are buzzing all over our backyard. They aren't aggressive. They are fun to watch! Have a good night!
Robert and I are really enjoying being beekeepers! Here we are in front of our first beehive wearing our beekeeping suits.
My job as beekeeper today was doing the smoking of the hive to relax the bees. They think a forest fire is nearby and keep still.
We noticed the bees needed another hive as they had completely filled up their first hive. This was the lid of their hive!
The bees were very calm when we opened up the hive.
There are many more bees now. This means bees must have hatched! We still haven't seen the queen yet.
We like having bees so much Robert is picking up a new nuc tomorrow. A nuc is a small hive started already containing many bees and a queen.
Here is the entrance to the beehive. See how crowded it looks? Now they have a whole new hive body to explore tonight. Here are a few things to know about bees.
1. Pesticides kill bees.
2. Without bees there would be no vegetables or fruit. We need bees.
3. Being a beekeeper is fun!
Have a great night! My Cadmium Yellow Light arrived in the mail! Now I can paint again.
I thought you may like to join on us a kayaking trip today in the pouring rain. What no? You are afraid of lightening? Ok. Then you can just look at the photos of the views we saw as we were kayaking in the rain in Orland, Maine's Alamoosook Lake. The temperatures were in the 70's. Yes we knew of impending rain. We shoved off the shore and then it started to pour. I put on my red rain poncho. The views were nice. Why stay at home when it is going to rain?
I have to admit I have not being out kayaking in the rain before. Today was Robert's day off from work! I suggested kayaking. W e packed up the kayak and were kayaking within 20 minutes. I am not kidding here! Robert was very happy!
Within a few moments we saw this amazing Eagle perched high on a very small island. We could hear Loons nearby.
We saw this Loon near the island. He was doing his Loon call right in front of us! I could hear another Loon in the bushes on the island. She was sitting on a nest!
I did a little research about Loons. They mate for life. They use the same nest. Their nest is low to the ground near water preferably on an island away from predators. I think the Eagle was a predator. I know Eagles need to eat too. Both sexes build and sit on their nest for 28-30 days before their usually 2 eggs hatch. Rarely do they have a single egg or three eggs. Loon chicks leave the nest after 24 hours. They swim and ride on their parent's back for 2-3 weeks. Their parents feed them until 8 weeks of age. After 3 months the chicks can fly and are completely independent of both parents.
It didn't rain for long and there was no lightening. I paddled too. Here is Robert paddling!
Next we saw Canadian Geese with a few babies!
Some days in Maine can be grey but very lovely! I am glad we went out kayaking. What wonderful birds we saw. The clouds were lovely reflecting in the water. I hope you had a great time. You didn't get wet! You didn't have to paddle!
I was invited to a plein air invitational in PA in July. This is a new plein air event only by invitation. I am very thrilled to be invited as the other painters invited are amazing! I can't tell you much about this event yet. I don't want to give away the location or gallery who is putting this event on. They want to select their artists involved. It looks like I will be painting for 5 days in PA again!
"Stapleton Kearns and T.M. Nicholas" 8x10 oil on copper. This painting was selected by the judge of the Boldbrush Painting Competition along with FASO staff to be in the top 15% of all paintings for their April competition. This means they will send out my website link in the informed collector. This should help by increasing traffic to my website. Thank you!
I met Charley Parker, an artist and writer in PA painting on Lancaster Avenue with many painters. He decided to write an article about my work. His blog is very popular. I really appreciate this Charley! Thank you. Here is Charley's blog link: www.linesandcolors.com Here is Charley Parker's article.
I was at the Wayne Plein Air Festival yesterday, the most well known event of its kind in the Philadelphia area, and I had the pleasure of talking with several of the participating painters as they worked.
One of them was Renee Lammers, a painter originally from Florida, now living in Maine. She paints her bright, immediate landscapes in a high key palette, with an almost post-Impressionist approach.
Lammers mentioned that she was fortunate to have had the opportunity to study with well known painter Stapleton Kearns, who was himself the student of R.H. Ives Gammell. Lammers said Kearns reined in her excessively bright “Florida colors” and steered her toward more traditional and proven methods.
One of the unusual traditional methods Lammers discovered on her own was the use of copper sheets as a painting surface. As I was talking with her, she was working on a quickly rendered painting of the tiny barbershop in Wayne (images above, top two) and her “canvas” was a thin sheet of copper that she had mounted in her small pochade box (see my recent update on pochade boxes). “Thin” in this case meaning thick enough to hold its shape, but thinner than a copper etching plate.
Painting on copper achieved popularity in the mid 16th century when northern European artists in particular found it to be a durable, archival and practical surface on which to work, not prone to the cracking and stretching dangers inherent in wood panels and stretched canvas.
I asked Lammers about difficulties in painting on the smooth metal surface and she indicated that it just took some adjustment (thinned paint doesn’t adhere as well as thicker applications), and that working on the copper directly without the need for priming gave her work a luminosity not present when working on other surfaces.
Lammers also maintains a blog in which she discusses her painting practices, experiences and travels. Her work will be on view as part of the Wayne Plein Air exhibit at the Wayne Art Center until June 23, 2012.
Here is Daisy and Duke very excited to see me returning from my painting trip! I thought I would share the day I spent with Daisy and Duke.
First a little frozen yogurt with blueberries and cinnamon to celebrate the "Ruling The Roost" painting sold at the Waynes Plein Aire Event! Thank you! This is Duke slowly enjoying his treat!
Daisy biting her frozen treat.
Our view in the backyard. The bees are doing great!
We decided to go to the lake. I stopped off to get coffee and fries. I was pouring gas when I noticed Daisy taking the fry box back into the backseat of the car. She gobbled down a few fries today! Yes, Duke had some too.
Duke always cleans Daisy after a swim in the lake or ocean.
Home again relaxing. I will never ever have a roommate at a plein air event who is another painter! Competing for the host's attention...running out to paint the same subject matter as I did...not turning off her alarm clock! Just to name a few irritating things.
The director at this event should not be directing. (Update: The host volunteered to ship my paintings back...it took her 6 months!) One of the painters told me not to paint in the sunlight. She said, "Keep it simple stupid!" Gosh do these painters even think about how mean they sound? She ended up winning first place... IT is soo good to be home.
The Ladies Plein Aire Retreat is full! There are ladies flying in from Florida, California, and Illinois to attend. I know they will have an relaxing and interesting time exploring Maine with me. Have a great day! Let' paint!
5/19/2012 12:18:31 PM by Susan Renee Lammers Comment on this
"Hair Cut Time" 6x6 oil on copper. sold. thanks.
Today all juried artists were asked to paint in downtown Wayne, PA. I decided this cute old fashioned barbershop would be the perfect painting. I ran out of 6x6 frames. I can't frame this painting for the event. So I guess I will take it home, frame it, and ship it back to Wayne Art Center. I sure did think I had one more 6x6 frame.
Here are photos taken many days ago during my two hour rainy day trip to Lancaster, PA. My painter friend, Kathi, asked me to take photos of the Amish horse carriages for her to paint.
Tonight is the gala event at the Wayne Art Center starting at 100$ to see all 300 or more paintings created by 30 artists. Sunday you can also come to see the work for free. I hope they will have something good to eat! Have a great night. Paint!
5/18/2012 8:55:17 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 1 Comment
"The Flower Designers" 8x10 oil on copper. Framed in black satin wood. Shipped free. Sold. Thanks.
My host Lisa during this Wayne Plein Air Event in Pa asked me if she could take me to her favorite place, the Valley Forge Flower Shoppe to paint. We asked permission and the manager was very excited to have me there! Apparently all of Wayne look forward to the plein air painters coming to their town to paint. Their attitudes are very warm!
Here are a few photos of me in action today at the Valley Forge Flower Shoppe. Here I am drawing out a preliminary sketching. I do this to decide on a design. I think this is a smart idea. Why make design flaws and try to correct them while you are painting? Saves a lot of time and paint. Drawing relaxes me after the traveling to the location.
Next I drew out my design on to the copper with a pencil. I have just recently discovered a pencil may work better than a felt tip pen. Felt tip pens leave a dark residue on the copper the oil paint has to cover. The pencil's lead seems to disappear under the oil paint.
Next I painted in the light areas and the dark areas using broad shapes. I wanted to paint in the broad poster shapes instead of working on a small detail. I think some painters would try to paint in small areas and try to have the painting hang as a whole. But I have found this just doesn't work. Not only is it much harder to paint this way, but the outcome doesn't convey the feeling of the place. So I don't try to paint like a "paint by number" but I try to paint large shapes gradually down to small shapes.
Here is the scene inside the Valley Forge Flower Shoppe. The girls each posed for me without moving for two minutes each. I had to "remove" a lot of clutter or simplify the scene. Strangely the light bulbs inside made the photo look warm inside. I painted the interior walls cool with the light outside from the window warm. It didn't seem to work to paint the outside cool and the interior warm. I tried to do this. But changed the color temperature. I wanted the viewer of the painting to feel the day was sunny outside. So I needed a contrast of color temperature. Then there were the indoor lighting so the floors were warm and so were the highlights on the people. I kept say to myself, this is so hard to paint! I liked the feeling of the flower designer's painting. They looked happy and relaxed and the atmosphere was captured.
Lisa, my wonderful host, called a friend who suggested a secret property so amazing even Jamie Wyeth was asked to paint there. I can't tell you were or who owns this property. I am sworn to not tell a soul. I don't really even know exactly where I was anyway. I had to find something to paint there that would not give away the location. So I zeroed in on White Clematis flowers. Lisa took these photos of me working.
Photos of these White Clematis do not reveal all of the warm colors in the sunlit areas or the reflective light in the shadows. There is an shiny sparkling quality to the surface of the flower created by the sunlight. This is what I was trying to capture. The results came out sort of Monet like.
"Sunlight and Shadows on the Clematis" 5x7 oil on copper. Sold! Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed the process and goals today as I was painting. Lisa made today a special day. Thanks Lisa. I appreciate the conversations, input when asked, driving, and help carrying equipment. You also took wonderful photos of me while I worked. What wonderful painting locations you found for me! Have a great night! Let's paint!
5/17/2012 6:10:30 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 1 Comment
Poppy Dance" 5x7 oil on copper. Sold Thank you.
Here is the second painting today painted in the Chanticleer Gardens.
"Chanticleer Garden Poppies" 8x10 oil on copper Sold thank you!
Today I worked all day long on this painting standing in front of an enormous Poppy field. I think today's Poppy paintings are my very best yet. I decided after yesterday's Poppy painting I needed more contrast in values.
Interesting how the color of Orange in the Poppies doesn't show up in the photo. Hmm.
I loved Chanticleer Garden. I spent about an hour walking around exploring the gardens. There is an enchanting feeling about this garden.
I hope you felt like you experienced the Chanticleer Gardens with me today. Have a nice night.
"Moon Over The Anthony Wayne Theater" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed gold wood. Shipped free. Sold.
I painted this last night in front of the Anthony Wayne Theater. I used a special light so that I might see in the dark! There are not many of the working theaters left!
We were allowed into the Chandicler Gardens in Wayne, Pa today to paint. Here is a little bit of information about this gardens.
The Chanticleer estate dates from the early 20th-century, when land along the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad was developed for summer homes to escape the heat of Philadelphia. Adolph Rosengarten, Sr., and his wife Christine chose the Wayne-St. Davids area to build their country retreat. The family's pharmaceutical firm would become part of Merck & Company in the 1920s.
The Rosengartens hired architect and former classmate Charles L. Borie to design the house, which was completed in 1913. Landscape architect Thomas Sears designed the terraces as extensions of the house. A 1924 addition converted the summer home into a year-round residence and the family moved here permanently.
Mr. Rosengarten's humor is evident in naming his home after the estate "Chanticlere" in Thackeray's 1855 novel The Newcomes. The fictional Chanticlere was "mortgaged up to the very castle windows" but "still the show of the county." Playing on the word, which is synonymous with "rooster," the Rosengartens used rooster motifs throughout the estate.
Adolph and Christine gave their two children homes as wedding presents. They purchased a neighboring property for son Adolph, Jr. and his bride Janet Newlin in 1933. It is now the site of the Ruin. Daughter Emily's house, located at today's visitor entrance, was built for her in 1935. It is presently used for offices and classrooms.
Adolph, Jr., bought his sister's portion of the estate following her death in the 1980s. He didn't move into the main house, but used it for entertaining and kept it as it was when the family lived there. The house is open for tours by reservation. Adolph, Jr., left the entire property for the enjoyment and education of the public following his death in 1990. A seven-member Board of Directors, five of whom are Rosengarten relatives, oversees The Chanticleer Foundation. The garden opened to the public in 1993. There are 17 full-time staff, of whom two manage facilities and 12 are gardeners and groundskeepers.
"Bunny in The Chanticleer Gardens" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in black and gold wood. Shipped free. Sold.
I saw these Wisteria made into arches in the flower garden. What a nice painting I thought. I decided to add a cute little bunny in the garden! What a nice way to add a touch of Spring into your home. Spring is my favorite holiday. I love all of the pastel colors Spring brings.
"Fog Lifting Over Darby Creek" 6x6 oil on copper. Sold.
This was my first painting this morning. This stone bridge is on Goshen Avenue over Darby Creek. I fought off ticks! Oh man! Ticks are really bad here in PA. I am not sure if I could paint outside everyday for fear of Lymes Disease in PA. Even standing on the street the ticks found me. I even had a tick on the end of my paint brush I picked up from my paint brush holder sitting on the ground. I think it would be a great idea to bring a large canvas drop cloth sprayed in deet to stand on.
Having camera troubles today. My camera was wet from the rain the last few days. But here are some photos from the last few days of PA.
Have a great night! Paint! I am going to the Chanticleer Gardens tomorrow to paint!
5/15/2012 10:21:41 PM by Susan Renee Lammers Comment on this
"Ruling The Roost" 6x6 oil on copper. Sold! Framed in gold. Sold. Thanks.
Today I drove to several farms on the list to paint. I decided on a beautiful farm that had chickens! It was raining. I sat under an umbrella. These chickens were afraid of the umbrella. It took a few minutes for them to come out to model. The rooster struck a pose! Boy was he a looker. Except he had no tail. Later I found out the hens had attacked him multiple times taking out his tail feathers. I painted in beautiful tail feathers so all was well. Hens came and went. Soon the rooster decided to sit behind me. A fox had been terrorizing them so they were inside a fenced area. The fox had new babies and was hungry.
"Last Light at the Paper Mill House" 8x10 oil on copper Gifted to my host for housing.
Next after painting the chickens for too long, I drove to this Paper Mill House. There were two snow geese chasing me around for a while. I discovered they had a next by the creek here inside a fallen tree. Once they felt comfortable they stopped trying to bite me. It was raining so I had to stand under the umbrella the whole time. My feet were soaked but other than that I was pretty dry! I love my bestbrella umbrella for plein aire painting. At 6:30 the sun came out! I quickly painted in all the highlights and path of sun!
Look at this amazing Geese family!
Sweet Chickens!
Ruby is asleep and so should I be! Have a wonderful night! I am painting at a wonderful garden tomorrow!
Here are three floral paintings by the painter Monet to see!
Monet wrote in a letter once when he traveled to paint (and his wife was not along) he would try to render the colors as closely to nature as possible so she might see what he was viewing.
5/11/2012 7:37:37 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 3 Comments
"Little Sanctuary" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in gold and black. Shipped free! SOld.
I drove over the bridge from Flemmington, New Jersey to New Hope, PA. I walked around New Hope and looked at the area. There are many old buildings but each shop is full of touristy items. I saw this scene and asked permission to paint. For about five hours I worked painting this scene. It was tricky! It was very fun to paint the white table and chairs. The Irises and Wild Roses were fun to paint too.
Yesterday after painting at the Iris farm I drove to a pizza restaurant to use their restroom. I walked upstairs. I opened the bathroom door to find two very small naked three or four year olds. They screamed. I shut the door. I waited outside for five minutes. One of the little kids fell into the toilet. I could hear a splash of water and a scream. There was then crying. The other kid decided he would leave. But the bathroom door was locked. So he banged on the door with his foot crying and screaming. Oh my. I decided I had about enough! So I walked down the stairs. Their father came running up the stairs. He told the little kids how to unlock the door. They were both crying and screaming! He told them they shouldn't have been playing around. One little girl had wet feet. She looked rather embarrassed as she walked by me. The little boy was still screaming.
"Picking Out Iris Plants" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in black and gold wood. Shipped free! 350$
I drove to Lamberville, NJ after seeing a Iris Farm sign. I asked permission to paint here at the Iris Farm. The young man assured me there would be not problem with my painting. So I set up and started to paint. The clouds in this are are monsters! There are so many clouds and the skies seem to go on forever! The sun was still trying to shine through all these clouds. Later two young girls showed up with their Mom to work the farm. I decided to paint one of the girls holding an Iris plant while the customer chose more Irises. I decided to give those clouds some painting space. The Irises were fun to paint even if they were so small in the painting. I sure would like to paint just Irises here.
"The Iris Farm" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in black and gold wood. Shipped free. 350$
This is the first painting I did this morning. I loved those Irises. They were huge! The owner showed up and spoke to me for a few minutes. I asked him a few questions about Irises. What a nice way to make a living, just having an Iris Farm!
Here are a few photos of Irises in case you would like to paint them!
5/7/2012 7:05:07 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 3 Comments
Here Robert the Beekeeper is smoking the Bees to relax them.
The Bees have made a good sized comb on the top lid of the hive. There are many more Bees than before.
He pulled out one of the sections to reveal more Bees making Combs.
Here is a closeup of the Bees. They are very tame and happy Bees. They didn't sting Robert or I. Daisy and Duke watched from the windows inside the house! Have a good night. Let's paint!
First stop is the Donkey Farm! For the first time one of the Donkeys came up to get petted!
There are a lot of Donkeys at this farm. They rescue unwanted Donkeys. They all look very happy!
Is it my imagination, do they all look like they are going to have baby donkeys?
There was a Cape Cod home with a white picket fence lined with flowers! I had to stop to admire this.
What a healthy looking dairy cow with a beautiful red barn. She was scratching her neck on a pole. There were many chickens to the left.
In Bernard on Mount Desert Island at Tremont Wharf the view was incredible!
I spent most of the day taking photos of many Cod Dories! I love to paint these boats. I have never seen so many in water before! I loved the net inside. I am going to paint this!
This looks like a really old net used for catching Cod fish. It would be great if there were enough Cod Fish to start commercially fishing again with these old Cod dories.
Did you see the Pigeon at the top of the post? What a wonderful Spring day here in Maine. The light was just incredible. Hope you enjoyed this! Let's Paint!
"Silver and Gold" 36x48 oil on copper was framed last night in a frame by wholesale frame company. The client was very happy with her new painting! There is something very rewarding about delivering a really big painting! I hope to paint more large paintings just as soon as I return from Pennsylvania from Waynes Plein Air Event. I am painting in New Hope, PA for four days prior to Waynes event. I am really looking forward to seeing this neck of the woods!
Here is Miss Daisy investigating the Bees. I told her, "Run Daisy!" She took off running.
When Daisy and Duke were puppies I trained them to run from snakes. I tossed down a handful of plastic snakes and screamed, "Run" "Danger". Then I started to run. They followed me. I did this a few times. In Florida there were many poisonous snakes that often bite dogs. I trained Daisy and Duke to be fearful of snakes. It seems to work well with Bees too. Afterwards Daisy gave the Bees a curious fearful look. I hope she never gets stung by Bees.
Today Duke ran down the hill using the board the Beehive is sitting on as a leaping off point! He kept running. I did see a few Bees trail after him but they didn't go very far. Duke needs to be more aware of the Bee's territory. He shouldn't be using their board as a diving board! Last week a Bee flew into our house. Duke jumped up and knocked the Bee out! I carefully gathered up the Bee and tossed him out. Hopefully the Bee recovered.
Here are the Bees! They were quite happy today flying around and drinking their sugar water. I could see some orange pollen on the Bees legs! This is a good sign.
Here is a close up view of the Bees today. There are a lot of female worker bees here! I can see some pollen on the feet of Bees on the left hand side and straight ahead going into the hive!
Here is Duke having his Frosty Paws Ice Cream Treat today to celebrate the big painting delivery. Thanks Cindy and Sarah!
Daisy is a little shy while she has her Frosty Paws. She was really taking her time today enjoying her treat.
When Robert came home from work we took the dogs to Alamoosook Lake near Orland. They love this lake. Here is Duke searching for frogs that are not there yet.
The water was so clear.
Here is Daisy in the foreground and Duke in the distance. The sun was down low under all of the clouds.
What a beautiful Spring Day here in Maine! Have a great night. Get out and paint!
5/4/2012 4:46:26 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 2 Comments
"The Cherry Tree" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in light gold or black with gold wood. Shipped free. 350$
Even though is was a cold rainy day I drove to Asticou Garden to paint the blooming Cherry Tree. I paint the same Cherry Tree each Spring. I seem to get lucky visiting the tree when it is in pink blossoms! The interesting thing about this Cherry Tree is you can't predict when the tree will be in blossom. The blossoming stage only last for about four or five days. Then the tree turns brown. I usually paint the tree from the road. But I asked permission to paint on the garden's property!
"Sand Beach in the Distance" 6x6 oil on copper. 350$ Framed in black with gold wood or gold wood. Sold!
Here is my plein aire efforts yesterday! I drove over to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. I drive over 300 miles a day when I paint in Acadia! I visited my favorite places. Then I decided to paint this view of Sand Beach. While I was painted I was visited by two Deer. They watched me paint as they nibbled on grass. Here are some photos!
The Cherry Tree at Asticou Gardens.
Here is the view I painted yesterday at Sand Beach. Notice how dark the Spruce Tree was in the foreground in the photo. It really wasn't that dark. Funny how pictures lie! I hope someday they can develop better camera.
Here is one of the scraggley looking deer who walked behind me at Sand Beach. He may have a lot of tick bites on him.
I can't figure out why park rangers can't put tick killing liquid on their necks. Deer without any ticks!
Sunset at Cadillac Mountain!
Colors of Spring on top of Cadillac Mountain.
Here is Duke enjoying a pork roll treat. This is a great way to spend a rainy day while I am out painting!
Here is Duke enjoying a Frosty Paw doggy ice cream treat. Each day for a while now they have been celebrating my painting sales with this treat.
My South Carolina paintings have been selling off my website to collectors I have met on Facebook or through Pinterest. I have decided not to represented by Coco Vivo. They are a wonderful gallery. I just want my freedom to sell off my website where I profit 100%. I would also like to stay in South Carolina to paint for a few months during cold Winter months. I would like to be a painter with freedom! I would like to keep my prices affordable to anyone.
Thank you for the sales! I ordered a massive oil paint supply. I shouldn't have to worry about paint all year.
Here is Daisy and Duke on another day enjoying their treat. Daisy is a little bit savage enjoying her ice cream. She eats the paper and ice cream! Duke has impeccable table manners. His white ice cream cup is perfectly preserved.
Another day here is Duke and Daisy enjoying their Frosty Paws ice cream. They sure do enjoy this! Have a great day.
5/3/2012 12:29:17 PM by Susan Renee Lammers 2 Comments
"Metcalf Spring Day" 6x6 oil on copper. 350$ Framed in light gold wood or black and gold wood. Shipped.
One way for an artist to learn how to paint better is to paint old master's paintings. I decided to reverse one of Willard Metcalf's Spring paintings. I changed the size of the painting. Then I added a few sheep on the left. I decided to add red on the barn door, distance barns, and people's clothes.
Metcalf's dirt roads had a lot of character. Viewer's want to explore the character of his dirt roads.
Metcalf used a technique some call "painted rice". He left some rice shaped white of the canvas throughout his paintings. I had to add a few strokes of white because I paint on copper.
In the shadow areas of the green grass, I used pure Cerulean Blue. But now I see there might be a darker color. Metcalf's sky too seemed close to Cerulean Blue. I think I have made my sky much brigher. I don't think he used straight Titanium White while painting his clouds. Metcalf's clouds seemed like a mixture of Titanium White with Cadmium Red Light. This dirt path seemed like a mixture of these two colors too.
Here is the original Willard Metcalf painting I painted from. Of course Metcalf's painting is perfect! I am sure he painted this plein air.
"Rabbits At Metcalfs" 6x6 oil on copper. Framed in light gold or black and gold wood. Shipped. 350$
One of my favorite Willard Metcalf's work is "The Little White House". I have often wondered about this Metcalf painting. Metcalf chose to leave the viewer fenced out of the painting. The viewer is left standing outside of the fence looking admiringly at a home they could never go inside.
Here is the original Willard Metcalf painting, "Little White House".
I decided to paint the same painting but remove the gate and paint in a few rabbits in the lawn. I hope Willard Metcalf doesn't mind.
I have changed the painting size. I needed to find other things to change about the painting. I added a few orange Poppies. The colors and feeling of the painting is very different.
While I was painting the house's windows I realized Metcalf had made each window different. This is a common trick painters use to create interest. Painting windows the same is boring to the viewer. Most people paint a bright lime green in the grass sunlight areas. Metcalf does have a few brushstrokes of this color. But most of his sunlight grass area color is a lighter Cerulean Blue mixed with a touch of yellow. His sunlit grass color seems cooler than most painter's sunlit grass color. I love Metcalf's colors.
"In For The Evening" 4x6 oil on copper Sold!
"Under The Sun" 4x6 SOld! Hooray! Daisy and Duke will be so happy! More Frosty Paws! Just in time too. There was a bit of a revolt tonight. Four days of Frosty Paws creates addicts. They really seem happy with their treats. Thanks!
Daisy and Duke have been enjoying their Frosty Paws Ice cream each night. Robert has been having frozen yogurt. The Bees are doing great! It has been in the 40's and gloomy here in Maine. We ate a lot of turkey for the last two days. I have discovered Turkey makes me unproductive! I should probably not eat Turkey. There is a hormone in Turkey that makes me lazy. Have a good day! Paint!
