Every Memorial Day weekend for the past 15 years, I have spent my Saturday and Sunday painting on the street at the North River Arts Festival in Marshfield Hills, MA. I love painting amid the crowd, talking with the myriad visitors. When the weather cooperates, as it did this weekend, the Festival draws thousands of people to this small, antique New England village. Fantastic music, juried art show, juried photography show, children's activities and artists painting on the street. I love painting the architecture of the village, and the party on the street. It is a joy to talk with people, whether they stop by my easel each year, or they are new to the Festival.
This year, I had a couple of ten-year old girls who were fascinated with my painting. We talked about what I was doing, and why I used a yellow ground under the painting. They visited my easel several times on Saturday, and a couple of times on Sunday to talk about my painting. Each time they stopped by, we talked about my progress, and I asked their thoughts on changes I was making. It was lots of fun. Their confidence built and they gave me great advice, taking some ownership of the painting. This morning, I showed them that I was putting light back on the front of the large building, to lessen the impact of the dominant white triangle, and we discussed making the ice cream truck a little more prominent.
It was a great weekend overall. I love to talk about what I'm doing, and to answer questions. Chatting with my new friends, Emma and Megan, made my weekend. We had so much fun!
Thanks for looking, and as always, I enjoy your comments.
These lovely boats, one small and simple, the other large and more sophisticated were at rest in this secluded Maine cove. Maybe their sailors are waiting for the weekend. I like their juxtaposition and relative scale. Thanks for looking.
A few weeks ago, one of the art teachers at school sent out an e-mail asking for any interest in tempera paint pans that her kindergarteners couldn't use anymore because the white was gone. Woot! I was thrilled to have them for the art class I teach a couple of times each week. We don't need white, and are using the paints as transparent watercolor. In fact, the lids of the paint pans are great mixing trays. My students are always dismayed when I tell them they can't use black. "What will we do?" We had a great conversation about the color wheel, and whether you want to make a blue black, yellow black, etc. We're getting there, and I'm always interested to see what they see.
"Painting You Painting Me" is a little study I did across the table from one of my girls as she concentrated on the objects in front of her. Fun!
Our painting challenge for May is "nocturne". This small house glows on its hill overlooking the ocean. I have walked past it many evenings, and felt the welcoming warmth of its glowing windows, inviting the occupants home.
See all the nocturnes from the Girls Just Wanna Paint blog here. Thanks for looking.
Our challenge for this month in my painting group was the theme "open". I mulled it over for awhile, and decided on "Open Air Concert". Especially during this long, long, long gray winter, I pine for the evenings of summer outside, listening to music, or in this case, watching Boston's Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on the Common.
Thanks for looking!
My teaching schedule includes one block a week where I get to teach art. We have been working on value, and the five zones of light. Next week we'll try this exercise using white crayon and a watercolor wash. The students will make a contour drawing, all closed shapes, and label the shapes from 1 to 5, lightest to darkest. They'll apply white crayon to the lightest areas, and then cover with a watercolor wash. When that wash dries, they'll rub white crayon on the next lightest areas, then wash again, and so on. The result is a lovely, toned piece where the darkest darks receive 6 washes, and the image emerges with each subsequent wash... a bit like batik.
This month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge theme was mixed media. I took my "Favorites" study, and added some soft pasted accents. See the rest of their work here. Let me know what you think. Thank you!
Because we visit Monhegan Island for the same weeks each summer, we often see the same people who are visiting on a matching schedule. We have made friends over this dozen years, friends we see on the Island, and sometimes off the Island. We have watched our friends' children grow up. They have watched our daughter grow up. I love seeing the inside of different cottages that our friends rent. This is the tabletop inside one of those cottages. Books, wildflowers, hurricane lamps, sun streaming across the table, shelves holding dog-eared books, and well-used board games. And, a beautiful painting of the harbor, with Manana as its backdrop.
Thanks for looking. I'm enjoying this exploration of summer from the gray and more gray of this winter.
