News archive 2
October 1, 2018
First things first - my exhibition at The Todd Bonita Gallery in Portsmouth, NH opens this Friday, October 5, 2018. I won't be there for that, although I will be there to give an artist's talk one week later, Friday, October 12. The show will feature paintings I did this summer, both watercolors and oils.
And first things second, there is an October group show at The Bayview Gallery in Brunswick, ME: "Across the Pond," featuring paintings of Europe by gallery artists, including oils that I've done in the Loire valley region in France, specifically, the village of Trôo in the Loir-et-cher department.
A preview - what you might call downtown Trôo, a rainy view from the Mairie (the town hall) looking at the 4 way intersection with a view directly up the Rue Haute
Cafe Couette, oil on panel, 30x40 centimeters
In July, I won "Best Western" in the bimonthly PleinAir Salon competition, which puts me in the running for the annual grand prize, to be awarded in the spring of 2019. Retentive readers will recall that I placed third in the 2018 contest. Here's the nice graphic they sent me to post on social media
I know, another painting with mules and rocks, but I did enter other paintings too.
I spent some time in Maine this summer, doing oils and watercolors. On the really hot days, I went down to the rocks.
Morning painting, surf at Lighthouse Cove
Surf at Lighthouse Cove, watercolor on paper, 15x22 inches
Of interest to me only maybe, was the struggle I had with a truly great paper to work with on the painting above - an ancient (50's or 60's vintage) sheet; handmade Green's Easy Wash 200 lb. Easy wash indeed: there was virtually no resistance in the sizing to paint/water zipping from the brush right to the paper, different to someone mostly accustomed to Arches, and demanding of a quickly-adjusted touch in the lightness direction to achieve anything like a sensible result.
Another day, more surf: full sheet on the rocks after a stormy night - available at the Todd Bonita Gallery
Morning after storm, watercolor on paper, 30x22 inches
Painted immediately afterwards and a few yards to the right, the sun is beginning to come through (also available at Todd's)
Surf, looking south, watercolor on paper, 15x22 inches. Actually, I don't quite remember what the title is in the gallery, and anyway Todd may have changed it
Is that enough? How about one more. Looking south again, and definitely on Arches
Storm pool, watercolor on paper, 22x15 inches
July 12, 2018
I'm working in the ancestral painting grounds.
View from Long Cove - that's New Harbor in the distance on the right, the island in the middle is Little Island
Long Cove, oil on canvasboard, 11x14 inches
Speaking of Little Island, here it is a little closer
Evening view, Little Island, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
Tide Pool, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
Anther tide pool painting on the easel, 20x16 inches
Evening light painting
Blue Spruce, Bristol, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
June 18, 2018
A few recent things: Here is a studio oil of the Monhegan Island back shore with Gull Rock in the middle distance. I was there last fall doing watercolors, and had picked this spot for the first one of the day, but retreated pretty quickly when I realized that the tide was coming in.
Gull Rock, Monhegan, oil on canvas, 30x40 inches. Private collection
The watercolor done on the spot does feature this pointy sort of outcropping, just not where I'd first wanted it
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View of Gull Rock, Monhegan, watercolor on paper, 22x30 inches
A week or so ago, I returned from France where I taught my annual spring workshop, after which I remained to paint a bit for myself.
This is one of the two gates into/out of the upper village of Trôo (referred to as le chateau from time out of mind), called La Porte de Sougé. The almost ever-visible steeple of the church, La Collégiale, looms
La Port de Sougé, oil on canvas/panel, 30x40 cm. Private collection
Here is a green view from below Trôo, done on the old railroad embankment, note the steeple again
View of Trôo, oil on canvas/panel, 30x40 cm
A little corner I've walked past since the first time I visited Trôo in 2004, and finally set up my easel there
Cattle gate, Trôo, oil on canvas/panel, 40x30 cm
Here is an indirect result of the fairly frequent rain on this trip: I found adequate shelter under a tree near a spot I'd originally set up to paint, but not much to work on that interested me at first, except that you have to work with what you have, in this case the 12th century Croix St.-Martin: according to the Little Guide to Trôo, "Located on the old Sougé path and on the GR 35 hiking trail, this stone cross, on which Saint-Martin stands in a medallion, was for travelers the promise of a nearby refuge within the walls.
Croix St.-Martin, oil on canvas/panel, 30x24cm
May 7, 2018
Ten days before the start of the 2018 Plein Air Convention and Expo in Santa Fe, I received a casual message on facebook from Eric Rhoads, the publisher of Plein Air and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines. He asked if I could be at the opening ceremony; "sorry, can't tell you why."
I figured that I was up for one of the annual awards since I had placed first a couple times in the bi-monthly PleinAirSalon art competition (see various posts below), so I went, not neglecting to bring along my watercolor kit.
It turned out that I did take third place for my sierra nevada painting of the packer and mules (March 17 post below).
The morning before the ceremony and the day after - I flew back home that evening - I did some watercoloring; first in nearby Pecos, and then on Rt. 503 in Chimayo. Great fun, I would really like to go back to NM to really paint
Pecos landscape, watercolor on paper, 24x18 inches
Rt 503 Chimayo, watercolor on paper, 18x24 inches
I had the very pleasant company of Massachusetts painter Mark Shasha for this one. We were parked on the side of the road, trying to stay in the lee of our vehicles: wind was gusting at 60-70 mph
March 22, 2018
Here I am working on the Bird Island painting shown in last post
video by Christy Hegarty
March 17, 2018
Award news: I won "Best Figure in a Landscape" in the latest PleinAir Salon bi-monthly competition for a high sierra mule-and-packer painting done a few years ago.
The painting is oil on canvas, 24x32 inches, private collection.
Last week was my last local workshop before France in May - we were in Marin County for a very rainy week. I did a couple quick paintings by way of demonstration, but really everyone else was working on their own, so I'd take a break here and there to go see what they were doing, offer pointers, encouragement, etc.
The second day of the workshop was pretty wet - we ended up under the Richmond Bay Bridge. I'd been worried about finding places for my students to paint, and also just about the fact that I hadn't arranged things better for them weather-wise, but the truth is that it's necessary, especially for beginners, to learn to make paintings in whatever situation they find themselves. It's really learning what painting is, and what a painting is. Among other possibilities, it's the crafting of a visual statement out of physical materials and from environmental stimulus - if we're not painting strictly out of our heads - and that is a world in two dimensions, with its own visual language and logic; the painting is key and guide to itself. Or - a painting is a thing to look at, period.
Maybe I should title them all "Thing to Look At #2301" or whatever:
Troll's view, Richmond Bay Bridge oil on canvasboard, 12x16 inches
The next day turned beautiful after a morning of rain - we were in the Marin Headlands.
Bird Island View, oil on panel, 16x12 inches
photo by Christy Hegarty
Going all the way back to Feb 4, I did this oil on the side of the road, looking toward Sears Point, just before my Sonoma workshop -
Toward Sears Point, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
January 19, 2018
I went to Sonoma this week to scout locations for my Feb 5-8 plein air workshop - here is an alla prima done at one of the spots we will go to. I really like the winter/spring here, when the grass is green but there are plenty of bare trees.
Pasture, oil on panel, 16x20 in
January 9, 2018
Business first
1. I have just posted my 2018 workshop schedule - the Trôo spring session is filling out nicely, and I hear the Ogunquit October workshop is almost full.
2. This "News" page is temporarily replacing my usual "What's New" section and the older "What's New" archives while some problems with page links are worked out.
A couple nice occasions: late last year I was elected to signature membership in the Plein Air Painters of America, the original society of outdoor artists. Retentive readers may remember that I was invited by PAPA to be a guest artist at their 2016 Steamboat Springs, CO painting event - I had a lovely time there and met a bunch of terrific painters.
I was also just notified that I won "Best Landscape" in the October/November 2017 PleinAir Salon competition for this painting:
I started the painting on location in Montgomery VT, a 2010 trip with TM Nicholas, Stapleton Kearns, and Eric Tobin during which the temperature soared into the low 20's while we stood around in the depicted lumber yard. I feel as if I remember that I was the only one facing the direction of the white lumps - I've always liked painting woodpiles for some reason; the others had nice views of the town
Btw, here's one I had done of Eric a day or two before - the rest of the guys were painting landscapes, all of us bundled up as pictured
First things first - my exhibition at The Todd Bonita Gallery in Portsmouth, NH opens this Friday, October 5, 2018. I won't be there for that, although I will be there to give an artist's talk one week later, Friday, October 12. The show will feature paintings I did this summer, both watercolors and oils.
And first things second, there is an October group show at The Bayview Gallery in Brunswick, ME: "Across the Pond," featuring paintings of Europe by gallery artists, including oils that I've done in the Loire valley region in France, specifically, the village of Trôo in the Loir-et-cher department.
A preview - what you might call downtown Trôo, a rainy view from the Mairie (the town hall) looking at the 4 way intersection with a view directly up the Rue Haute
Cafe Couette, oil on panel, 30x40 centimeters
In July, I won "Best Western" in the bimonthly PleinAir Salon competition, which puts me in the running for the annual grand prize, to be awarded in the spring of 2019. Retentive readers will recall that I placed third in the 2018 contest. Here's the nice graphic they sent me to post on social media
I know, another painting with mules and rocks, but I did enter other paintings too.
I spent some time in Maine this summer, doing oils and watercolors. On the really hot days, I went down to the rocks.
Morning painting, surf at Lighthouse Cove
Surf at Lighthouse Cove, watercolor on paper, 15x22 inches
Of interest to me only maybe, was the struggle I had with a truly great paper to work with on the painting above - an ancient (50's or 60's vintage) sheet; handmade Green's Easy Wash 200 lb. Easy wash indeed: there was virtually no resistance in the sizing to paint/water zipping from the brush right to the paper, different to someone mostly accustomed to Arches, and demanding of a quickly-adjusted touch in the lightness direction to achieve anything like a sensible result.
Another day, more surf: full sheet on the rocks after a stormy night - available at the Todd Bonita Gallery
Morning after storm, watercolor on paper, 30x22 inches
Painted immediately afterwards and a few yards to the right, the sun is beginning to come through (also available at Todd's)
Surf, looking south, watercolor on paper, 15x22 inches. Actually, I don't quite remember what the title is in the gallery, and anyway Todd may have changed it
Is that enough? How about one more. Looking south again, and definitely on Arches
Storm pool, watercolor on paper, 22x15 inches
July 12, 2018
I'm working in the ancestral painting grounds.
View from Long Cove - that's New Harbor in the distance on the right, the island in the middle is Little Island
Long Cove, oil on canvasboard, 11x14 inches
Speaking of Little Island, here it is a little closer
Evening view, Little Island, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
Tide Pool, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
Anther tide pool painting on the easel, 20x16 inches
Evening light painting
Blue Spruce, Bristol, oil on panel, 9x12 inches
June 18, 2018
A few recent things: Here is a studio oil of the Monhegan Island back shore with Gull Rock in the middle distance. I was there last fall doing watercolors, and had picked this spot for the first one of the day, but retreated pretty quickly when I realized that the tide was coming in.
Gull Rock, Monhegan, oil on canvas, 30x40 inches. Private collection
The watercolor done on the spot does feature this pointy sort of outcropping, just not where I'd first wanted it
View of Gull Rock, Monhegan, watercolor on paper, 22x30 inches
A week or so ago, I returned from France where I taught my annual spring workshop, after which I remained to paint a bit for myself.
This is one of the two gates into/out of the upper village of Trôo (referred to as le chateau from time out of mind), called La Porte de Sougé. The almost ever-visible steeple of the church, La Collégiale, looms
La Port de Sougé, oil on canvas/panel, 30x40 cm. Private collection
Here is a green view from below Trôo, done on the old railroad embankment, note the steeple again
View of Trôo, oil on canvas/panel, 30x40 cm
A little corner I've walked past since the first time I visited Trôo in 2004, and finally set up my easel there
Cattle gate, Trôo, oil on canvas/panel, 40x30 cm
Here is an indirect result of the fairly frequent rain on this trip: I found adequate shelter under a tree near a spot I'd originally set up to paint, but not much to work on that interested me at first, except that you have to work with what you have, in this case the 12th century Croix St.-Martin: according to the Little Guide to Trôo, "Located on the old Sougé path and on the GR 35 hiking trail, this stone cross, on which Saint-Martin stands in a medallion, was for travelers the promise of a nearby refuge within the walls.
Croix St.-Martin, oil on canvas/panel, 30x24cm
May 7, 2018
Ten days before the start of the 2018 Plein Air Convention and Expo in Santa Fe, I received a casual message on facebook from Eric Rhoads, the publisher of Plein Air and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines. He asked if I could be at the opening ceremony; "sorry, can't tell you why."
I figured that I was up for one of the annual awards since I had placed first a couple times in the bi-monthly PleinAirSalon art competition (see various posts below), so I went, not neglecting to bring along my watercolor kit.
It turned out that I did take third place for my sierra nevada painting of the packer and mules (March 17 post below).
The morning before the ceremony and the day after - I flew back home that evening - I did some watercoloring; first in nearby Pecos, and then on Rt. 503 in Chimayo. Great fun, I would really like to go back to NM to really paint
Pecos landscape, watercolor on paper, 24x18 inches
Rt 503 Chimayo, watercolor on paper, 18x24 inches
I had the very pleasant company of Massachusetts painter Mark Shasha for this one. We were parked on the side of the road, trying to stay in the lee of our vehicles: wind was gusting at 60-70 mph
March 22, 2018
Here I am working on the Bird Island painting shown in last post
video by Christy Hegarty
March 17, 2018
Award news: I won "Best Figure in a Landscape" in the latest PleinAir Salon bi-monthly competition for a high sierra mule-and-packer painting done a few years ago.
The painting is oil on canvas, 24x32 inches, private collection.
Last week was my last local workshop before France in May - we were in Marin County for a very rainy week. I did a couple quick paintings by way of demonstration, but really everyone else was working on their own, so I'd take a break here and there to go see what they were doing, offer pointers, encouragement, etc.
The second day of the workshop was pretty wet - we ended up under the Richmond Bay Bridge. I'd been worried about finding places for my students to paint, and also just about the fact that I hadn't arranged things better for them weather-wise, but the truth is that it's necessary, especially for beginners, to learn to make paintings in whatever situation they find themselves. It's really learning what painting is, and what a painting is. Among other possibilities, it's the crafting of a visual statement out of physical materials and from environmental stimulus - if we're not painting strictly out of our heads - and that is a world in two dimensions, with its own visual language and logic; the painting is key and guide to itself. Or - a painting is a thing to look at, period.
Maybe I should title them all "Thing to Look At #2301" or whatever:
Troll's view, Richmond Bay Bridge oil on canvasboard, 12x16 inches
The next day turned beautiful after a morning of rain - we were in the Marin Headlands.
Bird Island View, oil on panel, 16x12 inches
photo by Christy Hegarty
Going all the way back to Feb 4, I did this oil on the side of the road, looking toward Sears Point, just before my Sonoma workshop -
Toward Sears Point, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
January 19, 2018
I went to Sonoma this week to scout locations for my Feb 5-8 plein air workshop - here is an alla prima done at one of the spots we will go to. I really like the winter/spring here, when the grass is green but there are plenty of bare trees.
Pasture, oil on panel, 16x20 in
January 9, 2018
Business first
1. I have just posted my 2018 workshop schedule - the Trôo spring session is filling out nicely, and I hear the Ogunquit October workshop is almost full.
2. This "News" page is temporarily replacing my usual "What's New" section and the older "What's New" archives while some problems with page links are worked out.
A couple nice occasions: late last year I was elected to signature membership in the Plein Air Painters of America, the original society of outdoor artists. Retentive readers may remember that I was invited by PAPA to be a guest artist at their 2016 Steamboat Springs, CO painting event - I had a lovely time there and met a bunch of terrific painters.
I was also just notified that I won "Best Landscape" in the October/November 2017 PleinAir Salon competition for this painting:
I started the painting on location in Montgomery VT, a 2010 trip with TM Nicholas, Stapleton Kearns, and Eric Tobin during which the temperature soared into the low 20's while we stood around in the depicted lumber yard. I feel as if I remember that I was the only one facing the direction of the white lumps - I've always liked painting woodpiles for some reason; the others had nice views of the town
Btw, here's one I had done of Eric a day or two before - the rest of the guys were painting landscapes, all of us bundled up as pictured
Eric Tobin in Winter, oil on panel, 9x12 inches. Private collection