Winter Sunset Spruced

 Winter Sunset Spruced

in Shapleigh, Maine on Nov 30, 2018
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $135.00

Sitting on Friday

Sitting on Friday

at our Friday morning drawing group
in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 9, 2018
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $115.00

Sitting Colors Study

Sitting Colors Study

at our Friday morning drawing group
in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 9, 2018
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $115.00

Sarah Sitting Studies

Sarah Sitting Study 1

at our Friday morning drawing group
in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 9, 2018
7" x 10" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb.
Arches cold press fine grain 100% cotton watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $135.00

Comments from Facebook's Watercolor Sketchers on the watercolor above:

Nice and modern. -Margaretha of CaliforniaLovely piece!! -Lise Marie To Be of the eastern USThat is beautiful, art at its best. -Phillip of the UK
Bruce, you make it look so easy. Terrific Painting. - Grant of Australia

Sarah Sitting Study2

at our Friday morning drawing group
in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 9, 2018
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $115.00

Sarah Sitting Study3

at our Friday morning drawing group
in Kennebunkport, Maine on Nov 9, 2018
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $115.00

A Worthy Farm View

A Worthy Farm View

at Worth Farm, 1075 Meetinghouse Road
in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Nov 1, 2018
16" x 6" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
exhibited and sold at Plein Air Brandywine,
Winterthur in Winterthur, Delaware,
$235.00, SOLD

The setup at Worth Farm showing the chair where I had lunch

Small World Brandywine

With my art at the Winterthur and the Plein Air Brandywine 2018 show,
the top painting, A Worthy View, sold to another painter, Ann.

Ann Terbush Schaefer, the new owner
of my watercolor, A Worthy View, and me

selfie photo by Ann

At the opening of the Winterthur show my painter friend, Alison Menke, said, "We have a mutual friend, Ann Schaefer."

Out of context I drew a blank. I searched my mental bank of memories focusing on painting events and painters. I came up with nothing. I never considered years ago in Iceland. On the last day of the show, Ann Schaefer said hello to me. The moment she said where we'd met, my brain made the connection, whoa, and I interrupted, "With Patricia! Yes. At Silla's home on Vestmannaeyjar. Wow, that was a long time ago. You were the traveling with Patricia, and you were the painter, of course. Oh, wow, you're even on my Postcard list, still, after all these years. Sheesh. Of course, I remember you."

Ann later wrote: "I think it was 2009 when we (Patricia and I) met you at Silla's...I think your book was part of our inspiration for an end of summer visit to see the fledging of the young (puffins) of the year...Nights of the Pufflings has been my standard baby gift for many babies since 2009!"

Ann's painting web site is HERE.
And a painting of hers of Akureyri, Iceland HERE

At the show a young model.

Art in progress of a young model by Alison Leigh Menke.
Alison's art web site HERE

Alison painting a young model
photographed by her very young nephew,
Erik John, using my camera.

A quick video of opening night (0:36)

Yes, that's me in the video taking a photo next to Alison,
and also in the video looking at the art with Carol Douglas.
2018 Plein Air Brandywine Winners
First Place: Henry Coe
Second Place: Tara Will
Third Place: Mick McAndrews
Honorable Mention: Carol Douglas from Maine
Artist Choice Award: David Diaz
Quick Draw Winner: Julie Riker
Nocturne Winner: Elise Phillips
Natural Lands Award: Randall Graham

I had a great time at Plein Air Brandywine, but finally
I read the message on the street.
It was time to leave.

Now, weeks later I'm home in snowy Maine,
whoa what a quick seasonal change.

Poultry Barn View

Poultry Barn View

on a sunny, cloudy, squally day
at Penn State's 700 acre New Bolton Center
veterinary campus in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania,
painted plein air on Oct 29, 2018
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press
rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $155.00

Three Gates Circa 1863

Three Gates Circa 1863

at Worth Farm, 1075 Meetinghouse Road
in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Nov 1, 2018
17" x 14" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 300 lb.
Arches cold press fine grain 100% cotton watercolor paper
exhibited at Plein Air Brandywine 2018, Winterthur,
framed, including sales tax and shipping $425.00

Meetinghouse Road Pond - Dove

Meetinghouse Road Pond

painting at Plein Air Brandywine 2018
along Meetinghouse Road in West Chester, PA on Oct 30, 2018
10" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb.
Arches cold press fine grain 100% cotton watercolor paper
exhibited at Plein Air Brandywine 2018 at Winterthur
framed, including sales tax + shipping $155.00

It was the afternoon. I'd just finished a panoramic watercolor up the road at Worth Farm. I had less than an hour at the next Plein Air Brandywine site before I was due to paint at the Quick Draw. I took in the scene alongside the road and set up. I painted a pictorial watercolor as a quick twenty-five minute sketch, figuring out the scene. With only fifteen to twenty minutes left, I painted the final work, simplifying the elements, seeing the shadowed hay rolls as shapes, design, the pond as a colorful anchoring elliptical, the hills dressed in autumn colors departing, all of this as I looked into the sun, catching the shape of a partial highlight reflection in the pond. The lack of time, the required speed, kept my brush strokes to a productive minimum, as seen above. I packed up and dashed off, everyone else, long gone.

I'm often amused and bemused by comments on my art, comparing it to certain known masters, what we're familiar with. It's a complimentary comparison, yet one's work is always one's own style. Notable examples of comments are:

Billy Bauer, commenting on my painting and my use of line with watercolor during his Montpelier, Vermont figure group, in 2016, said, "Got a little Matisse thing going here." -Billy Brauer, Warren Vermont, Web Site HERE, Article HERE

David Dewey, commenting on my paintings, having previously compared one to the English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, said, "That's your Turner," and later during the wrap up to his workshop, on three paintings, August 12, 2017, having previously compared my watercolors to John Marin's work, now said, "These are wonderful ideas, the spirit of the color, the swirling, the dancing, the theater in the round, they have spirit, the whole movement, less John Marin, more Arthur Dove." -David Dewey, Owls Head, ME, Artist's Web Site HERE

And the other day in an email response on November 14 to Meetinghouse Road Pond PM, artist-illustrator Julie Brillhart wrote, "Love this painting. Looks like Arthur Dove!" -Julie Brillhart, New Castle, NH artist, illustrator, books on amazon HERE

With the Dove comments, I was curious. So, I looked at the work of...
Arthur Garfield Dove (American, 1880-1946).

1
Square on the Pond
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Wax-based paint on canvas, 28" x 20" (w x h), 1942

Museum of Fine Arts Boston, on view
Arthur Dove was a central member of Alfred Stieglitz's group, the first moderns in American art. The collective broke away from representational and narrative art, created works that were innovative and often abstract in terms of their style, color, composition, and forms.
 

2
Sun on the Lake
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Transparent and opaque watercolor, pen and
black ink on paper, 8" x 6" (w x h), 1938
Medium or Technique
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

MFA notes:
Dove painted Sun on the Lake, the watercolor study (above) and the oil (below), in 1938, the last year he lived in Geneva, New York. His composition was likely inspired by nearby Seneca Lake, but the exact location is unimportant. The elements of the scene were those that Dove had worked with frequently throughout his career: the sun or the moon as a subject, often with water. These provided him with the tools to explore infinite variations of color and shape. The Sun on the Lake art looks forward to Dove's last decade of work when his paintings were powerful, densely colored, and spare.
 
In the late 1930s Dove based many of his compositions on small watercolors which he sketched out of doors Sun on the Lake was used as a study for his oil. The images are closely related, but Dove used to advantage the qualities of each medium. In the watercolor, the white of the paper evokes the sun's rays dancing on the water's surface, whereas in the oil painting, Dove employed lighter blues to suggest light on the lake.
 

3
Sun on the Lake
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Oil, wax, and resin on canvas, 36" x 21" (w x h), 1938
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, on view
MFA notes:
In his images of nature, Dove sought out underlying formal and color relationships and his compositions often bordered on the completely abstract. In Sun on the Lake, however, his subject is simplified but recognizable. Bands of limited hues subtly play off each other in the rhythms of water, sky, and sun. Closer scrutiny reveals the artist's careful, sophisticated study of pure color as light, especially in the blues of the sky and the undulating waves of the lake.
 
Dove investigated different media throughout his career. He often combined different materials-metal, oil paint, gauze, sand-but by the mid-1930s, he had changed the physical make-up of his paint. His experiments began after he read a 1934 translation of Max Doerner's The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting, in which the author described the "misty, pleasingly dull and mat appearance, and great brightness and clarity" an artist could achieve by mixing oil, wax, and resin together. The effect of these mixed ingredients can be seen in Sun on the Lake, where they serve to enrich the tones of each band of color, while creating the feeling of the overall brilliance of the light.
 

4
Sails
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Pastel on composition board mounted
on wood panel, 22" x 18" (w x h), 1911-12
Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago

Having invented his own visual language by melding organic shapes, natural hues and radiant light, Dove moved his family to Westport, Connecticut., where his success as a painter was evenly matched by his failure as a chicken farmer. By 1918, he was forced back to New York to earn a living as a commercial artist. In 1921, he left wife Florence to live with artist Helen "Reds" Torr, whom he would marry in 1932, maintaining a devoted, if impoverished, relationship until his death. The couple lived on a 42-foot yawl that they docked at various ports on Long Island Sound until, in 1929, they moored at the Ketewomoke Yacht Club in Halesite, where they lived in the custodian's quarters in exchange for upkeep until 1933. -Los Angeles Times
 

5
Naples Yellow Morning
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Oil on canvas, 35" x 25" (w x h), 1935
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia

Naples Yellow Morning derives its title from the color used by the old masters, Naples Yellow. By placing short, thinned, almost translucent brushstrokes over underlying hues of different intensity, Dove discovered that he could create the impression that the thick warmth of the sun was literally impregnating the forms in his composition. He's acknowledged as one of the first artists to work in this modern manner.

Like his friends John Marin and Georgia O'Keeffe, Dove revitalized American landscape painting by transcribing his responses to natural motifs through increasingly personal, simplified, and witty paintings and drawings.
 

6
Red Sun
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
1935

In Red Sun, Arthur Dove created a visual contrast that shows nature's balance in cycles of light and dark. Dove attempted to penetrate outward appearances to reveal the secretive interior of nature. Like other works during this period, undulating lines and shapes of earth and sky symbolize forces of nature, a theme that became most apparent in Dove's work during the 1930s. 

7
Sun
Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946)
Wax emulsion on canvas, 32" x 24" (w x h), 1943
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington

The sale of the family properties in 1938, along with the end of the Depression, left the Doves with barely enough money to buy their final home and studio, an abandoned post office near a tidal pool in Centerport, Long Island. The following year, at age 59, he suffered his first heart attack and was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a kidney condition exacerbated by years of heavy drinking. Despite his illnesses, he continued to paint, often inspired by the seasonal effect on the willows and water outside. The simplified, geometric shapes of his last paintings reflect his desire "to clarify" as he said, "the point where abstraction and reality meet." -Los Angeles Times

Cynthia, David and Joseph Building Paintings

Cynthia, David and Joseph
Building Paintings

painting at Plein Air Brandywine 2018
at Lucky Hill Farm in West Chester, PA on Oct 30, 2018
17" x 14" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink on
300 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $425.00

The view and my setup tripod pair
at Lucky Hill Farm in West Chester, PA

Sycamore Leaves Brandywine

Sycamore Leaves Brandywine

by the Brandywine Creek Bridge
at Plein Air Brandywine
in Wilmington, Delaware on Oct 31, 2018
17" x 14" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof archival ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
originally exhibited at Plein Air Brandywine,
at Winterthur in Winterthur, Delaware,
framed, including sales tax + shipping $425.00

The setup alongside Brandywine Creek
near the Brandywine Creek Bridge,
also know locally as the East 16th Street Bridge,
seen in the distance, in Wilmington, Delaware

Brandywine Creek Bridge
built by
Newcastle County Delaware
members of Levy Court
Frank R. Jones, President
Hamilton Stewart  Harvey V. Buckson
James Ball  Thomas W. Truit
Delaware S. Wright  James A. Hart
Charles E. Grubb, County Engineer
McLean Contracting Co.
Contractor
Harrington Howard and Ash
Consulting Engineers
1925

Art Under Night

Art Under Night

artist's painting
at the Plein Air Brandywine Nocturne
in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Nov 1, 2018
on exhibit and sold at Plein Air Brandywine,
Winterthur in Winterthur Delaware, 
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, SOLD $155.00

Art Under Night was purchased by actor Lyman Chen,
husband of my Brandywine painter friend Caroline Chen,
who was in the green coat in my watercolor.
See the many things Lyman's acted in HERE
See Caroline's art web site HERE

One of my favorite times at Plein Air Brandywine was the Nocturne on the last night of painting. By now we'd made art friends, it was a balmy night, the street was closed for us, the restaurant/bar was open with complimentary food, we had three hours to paint, time to paint and relax and chat, and the show was hung outside by the restaurant in the street.

In the Plein Air Brandywine video I appear as a flash...

The quick street video (0:40) of the Nocturne painters Here
is also on the Plein Air Brandywine Facebook site HERE

...as a hidden blink...having a great time...

Enjoying the show on this balmy November night...

Fall to the Brandywine Creek Bridge

Fall to the
Brandywine Creek Bridge

in Wilmington, Delaware on October 31, 2018
during Plein Air Brandywine
16" x 6" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
300 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $225.00

Sycamore Branches Leaving

Sycamore Branches Leaving

in Wilmington, Delaware
over Brandywine Creek on Oct 31, 2018
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $155.00

Along the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware

Rain Clouds Pass Over Autumn

Rain Clouds
Pass Over Autumn

on a cloudy, sunny, squally day
at Penn State's 700 acre New Bolton Center
veterinary campus in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania,
painted plein air on Oct 29, 2018
14" x 12" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and #3 graphite on 140 lb. Arches
cold press rough 100% cotton watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $325.00

The setup

Winterthur Pines

Winterthur Pines

a baker's dozen thirteenth painting
on my Brandywine trip painted by the
parking lot at the magnificent duPont estate,
Winterthur, in Winterthur, Delaware on Nov 1, 2018
8" x 10" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press
fine grain 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, including sales tax + shipping $135.00

Painting this watercolor in the parking lot
while Carol Douglas frames her painting
on the hood of my car.

One Horse One Barn

One Horse One Barn

on a sunny, cloudy, squally day
at Penn State's 700 acre New Bolton Center
veterinary campus in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania,
painted plein air on Oct 29, 2018
16" x 6" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
300 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
for sale at the Brandywine Plein Air
exhibition in Winterthur, $225.

The setup after the horse left the foreground

About the New Bolton Campus HERE

Two Stops Lollipops

Two Stops Lollipops

at Penn State's 700 acre New Bolton Center campus in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, painted plein air on Oct 29, 2018
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Arches cold press 100% cotton watercolor paper
for sale at Plein Air Brandywine at Winterthur Museum,
Garden and Library in Winterthur, Delaware, $155.00
in  $155.00

Two Stops Lollipops Study

at Penn State's 700 acre New Bolton Center campus in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, painted plein air on Oct 29, 2018
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on
140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
NFS