Lots of Plein Air

Beautiful weather and painting, what could be better.   Roan Mountain was not to be missed this time of year.  I was lucky enough to meet two members of the North Carolina Plein Air Painters who were there as well.   Scott Boyle, the founder, was there as well as Craig Franz.  I like painting with other painters because one is less of a novelty to the public.  The site of the painting is the old Cloudlands Hotel, only part of a foundation remaining.

Stormy Cloudlands
Oil
5" x 7"

Another plein air event at Duck Dance Farm was to gather material for the Blue Ridge Fine Arts Guild exhibit "Renaissance of the Family Farm".    Since I struggled with the values of the Roan painting a monochromatic study was in order for me.  Kat Turczyn, who organized the event, was kind enough to send me this snapshots.

It's studio time now, the exhibit opens in a month.

A Very Long Hiatus

Never thought in March that so much time would elapse before the next posting.  Two trips to my old home town, Princeton, with added excursions to Philadelphia and the Jersey shore which I had not seen since Hurricane Sandy.  The devastation was much more considerable than what I witnessed in Florida as noted in my previous post.

I'm back in the Blue Ridge, plein air painting which I abandoned a year ago due to medical problems.  Today we were at the Green Toe Ground, an organic farm which started at a CSA and now sells at farmers' markets and supplies restaurants.

Lettuce Fields

Oil  5" x  7"

                                The fields have the bright glowing green of early summer.   

     The Green Toe Ground gets its unusual name from the Toe River which flows next to this field.

                                It's hatchery stocked with trout and its purity is taken seriously.

 .Plein air painting resumes on Saturday at the Farmer's Market  

Remembrance of Hurricane Sandy

The day after Sandy moved north from Jacksonville Beach this pastel was created.  There was no beach, the water was high, but the dunes were intact so the easel was precariously perched there.  The waves were huge and even the most daredevil of surfers weren't present.

After the Storm
Pastel  6" x 8"

I'll be traveling for the next two weeks with painting a possibility if the weather co-operates, in the northeast there are few indications of spring.  In the mountains of North Carolina the ice has melted, and the trees are sporting a red haze of buds.  I'll be sorry to leave my happy crocuses.

Another Time Remembered

A gorgeous fall day on the South Toe River.  The leaf colors glowing on the water surface and splashes of blue reflected from the sky, like being at the bottom of a bowl of color.

October Radiance
Oil Sketch  9" x 12"

Another Remembrance of Wonderful Weather

Up in the Blue Ridge there has been two nights of -4 degree frozeness.   Since some cheering up was needed, back again to the archive portfolio.

The dunes were painted at the Island of Palms, a beach sporting a huge dog walker crowd as the sun rises, and proximity to all that Charleston has to offer.

Time to Go

Pastel  6" x 8"

Looking Forward to Spring

There is ice on the Blue Ridge Mountains tonight.  Organizing the studio in the wake of the 30 in 30,  this pastel surfaced which reminded me that in a few months rather than wintry weather the Catawba rhododendrons will be blooming in the high mountains, definitely something to await with pleasure.

 Near the Appalachian Trail
Pastel 10" x 10"

Now for Something Entirely Different

Blog mavens have told me to stick to one media per blog, but this isn't going to happen today.   Once a year I go to the Penland School of Crafts in the Blue Ridge Mountains to make glass beads.  This takes place in the flameworking studio where rods of various colored glass are melted and manipulated.  

Later I'll work these into earrings and necklaces with sterling silver findings.

Sets of beads destined for jewelry

Laurel at her station