Sunday, August 31, 2008

Michael Chesley Johnson - Salt Marsh Glimmer

This little painting is only 5x7, but I think it really evokes the sense of late summer here on Campobello Island in the Canadian Maritimes. A light fog tumbled in from the ocean into the salt marsh, throwing a cool light on the scene. But the grasses, which are just starting to change into their fall colors, lend a sense of warmth to the foreground. The cool light in the distance and the warm colors up front go a long way to creating an illusion of space in the painting.



"Salt Marsh Glimmer"
5x7, oil, en plein air - Michael Chesley Johnson, PSA MPAC PSNM

Friday, August 29, 2008

Journey to England:5



Libby Caldwell, Oil on Canvas, 5 x 7 SOLD

Journal entry 5: July 2008.
The garden in the afternoon. The roses were at their best about a week ago, so they tell me. I remember this maple tree when it was about as tall as me, now it shades a large area around the summer house.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Vince Fazio - Lone Figure

Vince Fazio 14 x 17 Graphite on paper $55.00

A drawing can find its own natural borders or edges. In this case a kind of vignette is formed by the edges of the drawing, a frame within.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Betsey Nelson-Grounded


5x7 $240 oil on canvas board
This was done plein air at the end of a painting day. The challange was to do a good composition on a very small canvas. Mostly this was a horizontal set up so thought was needed to work the vertical in and alos to deal with a lot of the image weighted to one side.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Michael Chesley Johnson - East Quoddy Morning

We have three lighthouses within a few minutes of my studio. Although some artists eschew the idea of painting lighthouses as being too cute, there's a lot that can be done with them. I chose the East Quoddy Lighthouse (also known as the Head Harbour Lightstation) to do an early morning study of light on a white structure.

It's a lonely-looking lighthouse, isn't it?


"East Quoddy Morning"
5x7, oil, en plein air
$60+$5 shipping
www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Thursday, August 21, 2008


Carol Marine 6x6 Oil on canvas panel - bid

I've been working on a series of carnations, this being the 4th. A student in my last workshop asked me to paint them and I've been stuck ever since. Carnations are a tough flower to paint, but I am thoroughy enjoying the challenge!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Journey to England:4



Oil on Canvas 9 x 12 SOLD

Arrival: the sun in the late afternoon creates a welcoming glow. An unusually large array of cushions have congregated on the end sofa. In the background I can hear a BBC program about choirs, it sounds like a competition, one choir just
sang 'Moon River', so I'm off to investigate.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Sunday Interior


Vince Fazio 9x12 Oil on paper $140

This is a example of continuing the drawing process into a painting process. I enjoy the way that a work on paper like this remains a drawing. I feel drawings work best as unfinished pieces retaining an openess that is hard to leave in a 'painting'.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Boynton Canyon Mural


Acrylic on wood panel, 4' x 7.5'
I live in Sedona, an amazingly beautiful part of the world. One day while driving down Dry Creek Road the light was particularly mind blowing and I shot a series of photos.
In this mural I wanted to catch the light and the incredible immensity of these red rocks. The mural was done as part of my grant project, (a series of murals in acrylic in a 'watercolor style').

Friday, August 15, 2008

Robert Burridge - Make Things…


Every year I am involved in the Central Coast Wine Classic, held in California. The event is very supportive of the arts and I wanted to create an image that would accomplish three things: 1) Be a painterly painting 2) Include wine imagery without be a typical still life and 3) Convey an uplifting message. I was happy with the results. I have been using stenciled lettering in some of my paintings for the last few years. I find that people respond to my narrative text. I like it because it keeps me focused. After good response, I decided to create a "Make Things" series of works. This one is 22 x 22, acrylic on paper, mounted on a canvas.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Adele Earnshaw - Study at Dusk


'Study at Dusk' 7" x 7", oil on board.
Some of my favorite places
to paint on location are marches within wildlife refuges on the East Coast. The light is softer and the colors are more tonalistic. This
oil study represents an area south of Charleston, South Carolina.
It's easy to tell that this piece is done in the studio, rather than on location, as there aren't any mosquitoes stuck to the paint.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Michael Chesley Johnson - Winter Interior

I don't often do interiors, but this past winter on Campobello Island we had more snow than usual, so I thought it'd be fun to do one. The snow was very bright outside, and it threw a great deal of light into our "breakfast nook." I loved the contrast of the greenish shadows and the red placemats. Someone commented that "Winter Interior" looks like something Pierre Bonnard might have done.

This painting was done in pastel on a 9x12 Rtistx board.



"Winter Interior" 9x12, pastel
$100+$5 shipping

Tuesday, August 12, 2008


6"x6" oil on canvas panel bid

I've been working on a series of kiwis and I'm really happy with this one. It was one of those thoroughly enjoyable painting experiences where everything goes just right. I love the glow of light through the kiwi and the little dabs of light on the spoon that suggest a bit of decoration.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Journey to England:3



Libby Caldwell, Oil on Canvas, 9 x 12 SOLD

Journal entry 3: July 2008.
A country road in Norfolk. I had forgotten how lovely the hedgerows are, and how dramatic the skies can be; so I watch as the clouds shuffle and heave themselves around the sky, manipulating sunlight against thunder, pinks against dark blues and then glimmers of white try to rise, then subside and then have another chance and through an opening the sun illuminates a patchwork below...of fields, hedgerows, trees, roads and almost and then a dulling as clouds gather once more.

Vince Fazio - "Couple"


Vince Fazio 9x12 Oil on canvas panal $140

In a vast setting simple proximity indicates closeness.