GSWS and Hilltop shows

     October was a busy time.   I showed at the annual Garden State Watercolor Society show in Princeton.  The most fun was the day I gave a demo in the storefront window of the gallery.  For the exercise I did a typical barn scene from the Augusta Road area of Sussex.

I sold two small framed pieces, one shrimp boat and one of a winter stream.

On October 21-23  Hilltop Montessori School held its annual show and fund raiser.  I sold a framed piece--my painting of the barn on Garrison Road in Lafayette.  Here are two others that I hung.  One is the Lafayette  Antiques Mill. and the other is of some cows on the Vernon Valley Farm.

Sparta Station--Opening Day

Despite intermittent showers at the event the opening day was a festive event.  There was music, food and the museum itself with historical photos and replica engines.  I had to work inside to avoid the showers.  I incorporated the hay bales and wooden barrels that were set up to replicate the days when the station was an active passenger and freight depot.

In this view of the station I ran the tracks in more of a slant so that the facade facing the rail bed is featured.

Sparta Station

On October 1 The newly built Sparta Station  will be inaugurated.  I will be there to do a plein air painting of the building or the event.  I haven't decided.  I did a few paintings of the station in the past, one of the old station and one when it was being refurbished.  Then it burnt down.  I am happy that the Dermody family has put in all the effort to rebuild and open the venue to artists and the public.. Here is one painting from way before the  fire.  and one that I did recently.

Art in Sussex County 2016

     Early August and time for the NJ state fair.   The theme is the Jersey shore, featuring one painting from each of the regular exhibitors.  I came up with two pictures.  One is focused up close and the other is expansive.  I am not sure yet which one to show.

    I will also be showing two other paintings of local venues.  One is of the Millside café in Lafayette.  The other is of White Deer Plaza on the boardwalk at Lake Mohawk.

Ringoes Paint-out.

This spring The Garden State Watercolor Society had a paint out event at the Old York Cellars Winery in Ringoes.  It was a lot of fun painting Plein air with the weather too hot one day and damn chilly and windy the next.  The participants were all in a good mood and determined to overcome the weather.  We had to paint fast and live with the outcome, which is a very good challenge.  How to get right all the choices--values, composition, etc.?  I did three small paintings and got lucky.  All three sold!
Here are some photos of the event.

Skylands show

     I was pleased to have two paintings selected for the show this spring.  The show opens May 7, 2016 at the Sussex County Arts and Heritage gallery on Spring Street in Newton.   I call this one Surfcasters.

Local eateries

       Not much snow this winter and the usual scenes were hard to find.  I did get out and caught views of two of my frequented eateries.  Il Porto on the Lake Mohawk boardwalk is a  view dominated by greys, blues and a little purple.  It still evokes a happy invitation to good eating.  Up in Lafayette the Millside Café

is a great place for lunch or breakfast.   I meet with a group of retirees there every other month.

Christmas market

    Once again I worked at the German Christmas market, but at Shelter Gift shop.  I had to work outdoors and it was bitter cold on my hands.  And the paints got sluggish due to the temps.  Nevertheless, I got started on a view of the action.  I had to finish this one in my studio.

 

My Christmas card this year was also of the market, this time with shoppers gathered around the boardwalk tree.

 

Juried shows

     This painting of the Manasquan Station was entered in the annual juried show of the New Jersey Watercolor society.  Didn't make the cut.  But I liked the early morning air of ennui as commuters wait for the train.

 

       And I reverted to the calligraphic style for my entry into the American Watercolor Society annual juried show.  Also a no go.  But I thought it had a chance.   Love the festive feel of the marchers, crowd and band-Sparta 4th of July.

 

 

Summer 2015

     The Sussex County Fair happens at the cusp of July and August.  This year I entered two paintings.  One was of Bales Mill falls.  The other was of a barn on Garrison Rd. in Hampton township, just north of Newton.  I reconfigured the road and surroundings so that the barn was set in an earlier time, before the road was paved.  I also added an old farmer walking the dirt road with a cane to reinforce the time frame.  Wondered if he was overdoing it?

Sterling Edwards workshop

     I drove down to Allentown in July to take a workshop with Sterling Edwards Sterlingedwards.com This was a great chance to practice his take on painting negative space as well as his use of bristle hair glazing and blending brushes.  He has a few short videos on YouTube that caught my interest.  It gave me a chance to work on some house portraits that I had been commissioned to do.  Sterling was a great help.

 

This Queen Anne style house is set in a woodsy site and was done in a plein air style, with just a very little after painting at the workshop.  I like the fresh feel and looseness of the brushwork.

March 2015

        The Sussex County Watercolor Society meets the second Thursday of most months in the Community Center in Hampton township, just off Halsey road.  I did a demonstration in March.  the paining was of the Paulinskill river and the Bales mill dam just north of the two bridges.