Kachina Masks in the garden

As the annual flowers fade in my gardens, colorful replacements have been placed among the group of browning Hostas.

In the studio the Kachina masks have been painted and ready for my outdoor display. They have been balanced on Shepard hooks, garden spikes and dressed with wispy toile.

For the painting of the planal patterns of cardboard, I decided to mimic Piet Mondrian's style by selecting only primary colors and lots of white as in Mondrian's "Boogie Woogie" painting.

I did have concerns about placing these creations outside since paper mache will deteriorate in wet weather. I know of no way to waterproof them completely. The acrylic paint I used with offer some protection from dew and fog but in an emergency like an impending New England Nor'easter, I will cover them with black contractor bags. 

Perhaps they will look even more menacing in their black shrouds for ghoulish Halloween.

Sticky Business

 Every year about this time I begin to get crafty and design an outdoor Halloween project. This year I am repurposing cardboard shipping boxes into paper mâché monster masks. Origami folding techniques can transform cardboard into 3-D forms. Instead of folding paper, scoring with a sharp mat knife along pre-determined pencil lines helps to bend the cardboard into a creative form.

An old method of making paper mâché was a goopy mixture of flour and water and shredded newspapers. Getting your hands on old newspapers today is problematic. At the hardware store I was hoping to purchase a box of methyl cellulose which I have used in the past. This is no longer available but I was shown a new product, a pre mixed sticky solution of water and glycerol. Great.

To replace the newspapers, I purchased a roll of craft masking paper which I sliced vertically to make strips of paper. This item can be bought at the hardware store as well. Other supplies needed were masking tape, hot glue gun and a four inch brush. I had in storage Styrofoam balls and a 12" ring for creating interesting details

So here are my cardboard designs. All scored lines in cardboard have been re-enforced with masking tape and a few areas were held together with hot glue.

For the next few days, I worked covering the cardboard forms with adhesive and paper strips.  Work in sections brushing the glue in a small area, then place the paper strip onto the glued surface reworking with the brush. Continue working in other small areas until the form is completely covered. Leave to dry for a couple of days before painting them with a white base.

In a few days, I will begin designing the patterns and choosing colors to finish the creatures. Stay tuned.

Gloucester's Schooner Festival 2025

 The day was picture perfect with lots of wind for the Schooner Race from Gloucester's Harbor.

Cape Ann Plein Air group held their annual plein air paint out with lots of eager painters setting up their easels along the waterfront park to capture the beauty of these wooden sailing vessels as well as the many gardens filled with colorful dahlias.

Last year I painted a scene of the sailing schooners but this year I was attracted to the Bocce courts at the other end of the park. As the morning continued more and more people filled in the empty park to view the race.

 

It is a first. solo show of plein air paintings

 

The thirty four oil paintings on display were all painted outdoors. They are called en plein air paintings. This French term was given to the Impressionists of the 1800’s who took their transportable paints and easels out into the open air to paint the changing light and color of the landscape.

Most of my oil paintings were completed in two- or three-hour sessions in the fields, mountains, woods or shore line.  While I try my best to finish the painting in one session, there are times when it’s necessary to finish it in the studio. But in essence, capturing the scenes in one session with quick, intuitive brush strokes is both a thrill and a challenge for me as a plein air painter.

My love of painting outdoors has many personal benefits.  The sights and sounds of being outdoors are truly astonishing, enjoyable experiences.  While standing and painting in one spot for a couple of hours, it’s like being a quiet and noble tree in the forest.  It is that gentle solitary figure standing in front of the easel, focused on interpreting the landscape that gives me the knowledge I am part of all that is seen.  That I belong here in this beautiful world. 

Because of the stillness and concentration needed during a painting session, occasionally a deer or two as well as ermines, Fisher cats, coyotes have crossed my sight line, seagulls have dropped live clams from above onto the rocks near me. I have stood in amazement as Canada Geese fly over my head and I hear the sound of wind whistling through their feathers.  My God, what a privilege to be alive and to experience these sights and sounds of Nature.

Not everything about painting outdoors is so pleasant especially during the summer and winter months. There are the obnoxious bugs such as ticks, mosquitos, gnats. And the weather can be a bit challenging too with sweltering humidity, blazing hot sun, intermitted sprinkles and fog, frosty temps with snow and ice. A few times I failed to notice the incoming tide and have had my boots soaked.

Getting out there in Nature to capture on canvas the color and changing light absolutely makes my day worthwhile.

Recent prints in area Shows and Exhibitions

"BIRDS"

CAA Members Show

June 13th-July 14th 2024

Concord Art Association

Concord, MA

Image: NIGHT VISION, two block, color linoleum

CAA 25th Roddy Exhibition

Juror, Meg Smith, Gallery NAGA director

September 6- October 20, 2024

Concord, MA

Image: FIELD ARTIST, linoleum block print

"Interpretive New England"

July 10- August 25th, 2024

Byran Memorial Gallery

Jeffersonville, VT

Image: SPRING STREAM RUNNING,

            color reduction linoleum

"Up, Down and Along the Way"

North of Boston Print Collaborative

July 2-July 31, 2024

Parker River National Wildlife 

Visitor Center, Newburyport, MA

Image: TOWN CRIER, linoleum block print

MINI GEMS

December 7, '24 - January 4th 2025

Society of  American Graphic Artists

Union Square Gallery, NYC 

Image: CALADIUMS 3, color linoleum print 

sunflowers

This year's sunflower crop has been spectacular.  The weather has been picture perfect providing plenty of opportunities to get out and paint the acres of golden yellow.

Some of the area farms I have been painting sunflowers are: Cider Hill Farms in Amesbury, Grant Farm in W. Newbury, Colby Farm in Newbury, and Old Wild Farm in Haverhill.

Some charcoal sketches.

This past Sunday at the Gloucester Schooner Festival, there was a 'paint out' sponsored by the Cape Ann Plein Air. At the harbor park along Western Ave, crowds of people walked among the colorful gardens of dahlias and sunflowers with dozens of plein air painters stationed at their easels.  All in attendance, excited to view the Parade of Schooners.  

I noted, among the chaos of hundreds of moving boats, a lone lobsterman was seen pulling in his traps.

It's pie season

After devouring a delicious blueberry pie with friends, I decided to recycle the pie box and plastic container not into the recycle bin but into collagraph prints.

Looking at the aluminum pie tin I imagined it could be a sunflower head. Perhaps I have sunflowers on the brain. These last few weeks I have been outdoors painting and sketching lots of fields all aglow with brilliant yellow sunflowers. 

Here's some of the materials I used for making my collagraphs.

Here's my collagraph sunflowers I printed in my studio.

Inking table with inks and brayers for rolling up the plates.

For another sunflower print, I use the clear plastic container that housed the pie. I cut out a circular shape to be used as a printing plate. I then scratched deep lines into the plastic surface with a steel stylus, drawing a metal chair in a sunflower patch.

In addition to this plastic plate, other cardboard substrates were inked up and printed together on a press.

Here is the sunflower image inked and printed.

Presently, the fields of sunny sunflowers are fading.  Their large heads heavily laden with seeds are no longer upright turning towards the sun but hang low looking at the ground. The gold finches and other feathered guests are feasting on their nutritious bounty.