The first name I gave this painting was “Down by the Fishing Hole.” I prefer “Take Me to the River” as it transports me in time to the late 70’s early 80’s when I all but fell in love with David Byrne, songwriter and lead vocal of Talking Heads, a now broken up American rock band.
I’m happy with the direction my oils are going. The values are becoming more defined, the application of the paint, more direct, more alla prima, if you will. I’m happy enough, in fact, that in October, I’ll be giving a plein air workshop at the Community Council for the Arts in Kinston, North Carolina.
Please stay posted to the EVENTS section of this web site for ongoing information about the workshop. Also listed in EVENTS is the announcement for On the Plein Air Trail with Brenda Behr, also hosted by the Arts Council in Kinston.
. . . and I ain’t got nobody,
I’ve got my watercolors,
so I think I’ll paint.
As we mature we don’t worry so much about being alone. So who’s “mature” out there?
“Lined up on a Saturday night”
9x7" watercolor
Let me get back on track. 42nd Street is no longer 42nd Street; so don’t even go there. But do go to 42nd Street [Oyster Bar] on the corner of West and Jones Street in Raleigh where you’ll find the grocery-store-turned-oyster-bar-turned-most popular seafood house in town. I’m grateful to the folks at this place for allowing me paint in their cocktail lounge when I find reason to get off the streets of Raleigh. Plein air painters all need a back up plan when night falls or when the weather turns sour, and 42nd Street Oyster Bar fills my need. Besides, last Saturday, after an intense drawing session with Dr. Sketchy’s* group, I needed some nourishment.
* A few of the drawings I did on Saturday afternoon of Dr. Sketchy’s models can be viewed On the Plein Air Trail, just a click away.
I am so glad I did this painting. After lunch on an unusually hot day in Winston-Salem, I came very close to talking myself out of it.
I’d been to this scene earlier (before lunch) on a commission to do a watercolor of someone’s house. Well, the trees in front were beautiful, but they all but hid the house. Please note. If you want a portrait of a house where its landscape includes many trees, do consider having the artist do the work or reference photos of the house when the trees are bare.
So, although I did not come away with the watercolor I was commissioned to do, my customer is willing to wait, and liked this oil painting well enough to purchase it.
Moral of the story for artists: follow your gut, your brain, and your good conscience.
Note: If you arrived at this blog post wanting to see/read more about my recent trip to historical Bethania, please click here, then scroll down. There you will view a chronological painting journal.
I don’t think I’ve got burnout. I think it’s painting withdrawal. If I go too long (more than three days) without painting, I start losing my energy for anything else. Here we have the second view I did of the gates to God’s Acre in Bethania. It must be all the vertical linear strokes in the background, as well as the iron gates, that in my mind, give these paintings a sense of spirituality. How appropriate that I’d be featuring a painting of the entry to a burial ground today. My beloved mother died three years ago on this day.
The little town of Bethania, North Carolina has survived wars with which I’m barely familiar. The French and Indian War, the Seven Years War, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War are all part of its history. See “the Cornwallis House” watercolor I did on today’s blog post by clicking On the Plein Air Trail.
Although the property on which this building stands has changed hands and roles many times, it was the flag that attracted me to this scene. Backlit by the afternoon sun, Old Glory stood out even more from the other side of it. Believing the building was important to capture, I went with this view instead.
“Bethania Moravian Church 2”
7.5 x 9.5" watercolor
Note: If you arrived at this blog post wanting to see/read more about my recent trip to historical Bethania, please click here, then scroll down. There you will view a chronological painting journal.
Above we see a remake of “Bethania Moravian Church 1”. I decided I want to put more “me” into the painting, and so rather than add the detail to my existing plein air painting, I made a new painting (with more calligraphic marks), this time using a photo as reference. Note the brick and cloud detail.
This place is more than HOT. It’s a landmark of iconic proportions. Furthermore, I believe this particular store is as close as you can get to the original Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. I understand the popular doughnut chain first started in Old Salem, a historic section of Winston-Salem. I’ve painted the Krispy Kreme at the corner of Peace and Person in Raleigh more times than I can count, but a trip to Winston-Salem’s K.K. is a rare occurrence for me. Goldsboro, where I live, has Krispy Kreme, but I have not bothered painting it, as it does not have on it the pointed retro sign, which so distinguishes the doughnut king.
I’ve thought often, if I were ever to be honored with a statue (like Andy Griffith has), it would be a bronze stature of me painting as I sit on my little canvas stool kitty-corner to the Peace and Person Krispy Kreme in Raleigh. This may sound like an egotistical fantasy, but most fine artists would agree, this would not to be the greatest of honors to be bestowed on an artist. Heck no, I’d rather have a painting at the Louvre. C’est la vie.
See more additional paintings of Winston-Salem’s popular doughnut stop by clicking on Doughnut Break.
This is one of my favorite scenes in Bethania. I like the walk referred to as “Pathway to God’s Acre” so much, in fact, that I did three paintings of it on my recent trip to this small historical Moravian community. Some of the Red Cedars one sees here date back hundreds of years, as far back as 1760, the year of the oldest grave in God’s Acre. When there is a funeral at nearby Bethania Moravian Church, the casket is carried by pallbearers up this path to its grave site. I can only imagine the solemn beauty of such a procession.
See the same scene in watercolor in a portrait [vertical] orientation on a recent On the Plein Air Trail blog post, and see a landscape-oriented oil version of it in my Behr Path newsletter that will come out on Monday. Non-subscribers can click here to become subscribers to the newsletter.
Perhaps you arrived at today’s post via my other blog. If not, do click the On the Plein Air Trail link to read the story behind a series of paintings I was sponsored to do of historic Bethania, NC. “Parked at Bethania Mill” was my second painting in this series. Knowing how the temperatures would soar last Wednesday in central North Carolina, and knowing the possibility of a storm that afternoon, I purposely went there early that day. Only one car was parked there when I arrived, that of one of the co-founders and owners of the Mill. Her husband Mike West’s architectural office, West & Stem Architects, is one of the tenants of Bethania Mill & Village Shops.
The folks who commissioned me to do this painting have been great customers. Pilot of an F-15 Strike Eagle, Colonel Nolan recently retired from the US Air Force. Like so many military families, they have traveled extensively. This is the third different house that the family has commissioned me to paint. Wife, Carla, likes to have paintings of all the homes in which they’ve lived. The photos of this house were not the best quality, but there was no going back to take different photos. It seems to me that painting this house in a French Impressionist style was the perfect solution to a problem of not-so-good photo reference of a house in France.
I consider this painting successful. My reason for choosing to paint this house, I may explain in Behr Path, my weekly newsletter that goes out on Mondays. If you’re not a subscriber, I invite you to become one by clicking here and filling in your name and email address.
My objective in painting the farmhouse was to capture the light on the house before it changed. Painter Richard Schmid is a big believer in painting from life whenever possible. And when one has to paint from a photo, he suggests putting a time limit on oneself. Carol Marine, another artist I follow, recently covered some of the reasons plein air painting is preferred to painting from photos in the studio. She did not, however, cover this most important issue of timing. Carol works small, generally 6x6", and she’s pretty fast, and so timing may not be as critical for her.
The objects one chooses to paint on a sunny day are like sundials. Light on various subjects and cast shadows change minute by minute. 2-3 hours max is what a plein air painter has on a sunny day before the light changes. For this reason Schmid claims overcast days are the most ideal for painting outdoors. I can agree with this, and also agree with Marine who says the worst days for painting outside are cloudy days. One minute is overcast; the next minute the sun is beaming through. Large clouds seem to take forever to pass.
Here’s proof positive that we not only need to paint what we see, we need to paint what we see. The expression is actually, “Paint what you see, not what you know.” Here I took a little editing license and edited out the ugly wheel lifts under the wheels. And guess what? It doesn’t work. This looks like a cart before the mule. The perspective appears way off. The barn provided a shady place in which to paint when the temps reached 97º in Raleigh yesterday. I think the heat may have affected my judgment. The painting needs a lift (or two).
A couple of posts ago I shared a floral and landscape acrylic painting executed in this same style. Because a good portion of my livelihood comes from painting recognizable landmarks with which people (hopefully) can identify, I decided to try a landmark in this style. I think it works. It’s just a matter of time before I do paintings like this of Krispy Kreme (Raleigh) and Wilber’s BBQ (Goldsboro).
I chose first to do North Carolina’s State Capitol building as it allowed me to do a color study for a watercolor that I’ve committed to do for the State Capitol Foundation. Click on EVENTS for information about the Black Tie Masquerade Ball where the watercolor will be auctioned live on December 4.
I absolutely hate having to go back into a painting, but with this one, the values needed to be pushed up. Wilber’s is an iconic barbecue house in Goldsboro, NC. I had my first dinner date there in 1965. I’ve painted it in both oils and watercolors. Including people in the painting is key, as it’s rare that this place isn’t packed.
I’ve had reason to believe for the past couple weeks that I would begin teaching an entry-level class in acrylics. It’s looking less likely that this is going to happen. Here are some sample paintings I did for a floral and a landscape class. I’m happy with them, and am convinced that looser is better to teach to beginners who tend to paint tight. It is much easier to do “loose” in a convincing way than it is to do tight.
We’re about to bake in Dixie — not just Dixie, our entire East coast. And does that put a damper on plein air painting (painting outside)? You bet it does! It wasn’t all that cool last weekend, but the humidity was low, so I managed to get out on Saturday and paint these scenes at the renowned Wilber’s Barbecue in Goldsboro.
A “ground” is a color an artist uses as a base coat before beginning a painting. For “Watermelon Time” I used a ground color not far from the color of the parking lot you see in the painting. Because I was focused on painting ala prima (first stroke), I have way too much “ground” showing through. In “Seasonal Decisions” I don’t mind the orangey ground color coming through as it acts to liven things up. I plan to go back into “Watermelon Time” and lighten some of its values.
There are those that might argue the philosophy I now share with you. In life, what matters most is the journey, not the destination. For people who purchase art, the destination is everything, not how the artist got there. I’m always a little puzzled when I see paintings put in a “plein air” category. Who cares? People generally purchase artwork because they love the art or love the artist, not because the artist did it with their feet, teeth, or painted it en plein air.
Plein air painting has its challenges, but an artist paints en plein air because of the freshness and life it can bring to a painting.
There were many reasons not to do this painting. I’d already completed a painting that day. I had an hour drive in front of me to get back home. The gallery in the town where this scene is located is more interested in my watercolors. I was tired. It was hot. But oh! Look at the light! If you want to capture light like this, one needs to be out in early morning or in late afternoon. So this painting is about a red roof, but it’s more about how our sun shone its spotlight on the roof.
Happy 4th of July fellow Americans! Hope you’ll find a hot dog today and a good spot from which to watch a fireworks display tonight.
Just in case you haven’t discovered it, I have another blog, On the Plein Air Trail, where rightfully, I should be posting this artwork. For the sake of continuity, however, I’ve been reserving On the Plein Air Trail primarily for my plein air watercolors.
Most of my paintings, this time of year are done en plein air. It was an unmercifully hot day in Raleigh two weeks ago when I painted this scene. As I recall, I positioned myself in the shade of my SUV. You may have already seen one of my watercolors of The Roast Grill, an iconic hole-in-the-wall hot dog joint in Raleigh. Love their wieners. I’ve found myself exiting the Interstate just to grab a hot dog at this place.
I just joined a group of plein air painters in a region in the Piedmont area of North Carolina known as The [Research] Triangle”. The group goes by the name “Paint NC”. I generally paint alone. There are benefits to painting with a group, not the least of which includes personal safety. I find the biggest benefit to going solo, however, is tied into the politics of where to paint and when to go. I’ve painted before with Paint NC, but have not joined them up until this past week. I think the unseasonably hot weather has driven me to bond with other artists. I need the reinforcement of knowing that it’s not just me crazy enough to create art outside in temperatures that soar well into the 90’s. What’s the expression, “Misery loves company”?
So, I am now officially a member of the group Paint NC. Peak time for daylilies drove the group to two different locations this past week. The first one was a really funky farm in the Pittsboro [NC] area, and Friday’s Raleigh outing included a lovely crinum garden abloom with daylilies. Shade may have been the determining factor in positioning myself in both locations. Please note that although the chicken coups in one, and the path in the other are the larger areas of interest in the paintings, our eyes can’t help but go to the vibrant daylilies in both backgrounds.
I don’t know how far south in the U.S. Bald Cypress trees grow. I know you’re not going to find one growing in Minnesota. My first experience with this type of tree was at Lake Botankus, a North Carolina lake my parents used to fish. I had a photography assignment in college to do a series of slides, so I went with them one day to one of their favorite fishing holes. It was maybe my first and only photo assignment in color. Remember slides? Remember carousel slide projectors? It’s odd now to think that at one time those obsolete gadgets represented new technology.
Many Bald Cypress grow in and near the water. They’re the species of trees most associated with Southern swamps. Although there weren’t any visible at this location, the trees are also known for their “knees”, readily available wood-etched or assembled as lamps at many kitschy souvenir shops in Florida.
The strong verticals in this scene are what most struck and inspired me. And how often for subject matter does an artist stumble across trees growing in water? To me, painting these trunks and their reflections was a no-brainer. See below “Threes”, the second painting I did on this late spring excursion.
