Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Cold Days Ahead

Great Miami– Below Zero 2
6" x 8", Oil on Canvas Panel
11/2016

From same location on the Great Miami as the previous post, this time looking North. Just caught the train trestle.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Coming Winter

Great Miami– Below Zero
9" x 12", Oil on Canvas Panel
11/2016

I'm hoping that this winter isn't as cold as that two years ago. This is a view of the semi-frozen Great Miami River above Middletown. A bright day, the river slushy and the low sun position casting slanting shadows across the crunchy snow.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Near the Overlook

Fort Ancient Fall
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
11/2016

The beech-maple climax forest that covers the hillsides along the Little Miami at Fort Ancient were in there fall splendor. A clear deep blue sky vibrated against the complementary colors of the foliage (foliage my drawing professor at DAA used to call it!). Late Fall sunlight slants through the tree trunks to light up patches of grass and leaves on the ground.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Plein Air– Sharon Woods

Rocky Creek Bridge
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
10/2016

Our last foray into plein air for this season was to Sharon Woods Park. A very gray afternoon with darkness coming on quickly, it was a challenge to keep the vibrance of color up. This view is looking down stream from the second falls, just below the stone arched bridge.

Friday, October 28, 2016

What Happened in the Woods

Witness to Disaster
24" x 48", Oil on Canvas
10/2016

This was a surprising discovery. On a trip to see one of Ohio's largest sycamore trees, I walked in on this mild woodland creature standing by just after a catastrophic structural failure. Located just outside the Valley View Nature Preserve, in Milford, Ohio, this tree is of immense size and age. Estimated to be between 400 and 600 years old, will it overcome this enormous set back?

APPs– Portrait from Life

AAPs– Portrait 5
16" x 12", Oil on Paper
10/2016

Carlie painted from life at Arts Alliance Painters.

Plein Air– Mariemont

 Mariemont Concourse
12" x 24", Oil on Canvas
10/2016

Paintings from the two days of the Women's Art Club of Cincinnati's Plein Air Paint Out.
 Parish Center
9" x 12", Oil on Canvas Panel
10/2016
Canoe Cottages
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
10/2016

Friday, October 7, 2016

Plein Air– Rabbit Hash

Amber's
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
10/2016

The Rabbit Hash General Store is being reconstructed after its tragic fire (see photo). They had the work site surrounded with a high mesh fence that made viewing difficult. So, I painted the buildings across the street.






Feb 13, 2016, WCPO, Cincinnati









Oct 6, 2016, DA Schuster

Monday, September 26, 2016

Ancient Architecture

Sacred Grove
14" x 18", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

Not as old as it appears, the Fleischmann Mausoleum at Spring Grove Cemetery is a splendid little ionic temple that backs on Geyser Lake. Wonderfully large bald cypress front the location, giving a true sense of age and place.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Plein Air– Vinoklet Winery

Vinoklet Vineyards
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

The Vinoklet Winery is located on old Colerain Avenue near the little crossroads of Dunlap. It is perched on a hilltop with a great view across the Great Miami River toward Ross. They have more vines under cultivation than most of the wineries in the area and it's dramatic seeing them delineate the terrain as it falls toward the river valley.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Plein Air– Greenup Street

Frank's Place
9" x 12", Oil on Canvas Panel
09/2016

The Frank Duveneck Arts & Cultural Center on Greenup Street in Covington, Kentucky occupies the Kingenberg Hardward Store, built upon the site of Frank's adoptive father's beer garden. They also own the white house next door where Duveneck grew up and that eventually became his own home. They are currently trying to raise the funds to restore the home, which contains his studio, to a museum for display of his life story and some of his works.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Plein Air– Columbia-Tusculum

Tusculum Truck
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

This view is a little further down the Tusculum Avenue hill than I've painted before. It shows how precarious and complex the parking can be on this hillside neighborhood. Everyone has to park on the street, no parking for construction and be sure you turn your front wheels into the curb, or you may cause a chain reaction accident all the way down. Pretty backdrop with all the victorians though!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Plein Air– Aberlin Springs

Aberlin Courtyard
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

Aberlin Springs is on the leading edge of a movement that is sweeping America's housing developments, agri-communities. "Farm to Table Living" with your home as near to your food as you can get. Cabin to Manor homes all circling the central farm with amenities, such as Community Center, Wellness Center ("dedicated tho your physical, mental and spiritual health") and Community Garden Plots.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Marblehead Light

Marblehead Photo Op 2
24" x 36", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

The lighthouse on Marblehead on Lake Erie is right out on the rocks. Here are a couple of kids waiting on the Mom to take the obligatory snapshot for the record, "We were here!"

Plein Air– Lake Isabella

Waiting on the Fish to Bite
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
09/2016

A former oxbow of the Little Miami and gravel pit, Lake Isabella is a small park in the Hamilton County Park system. Very popular with bank fisherman, this one's dropped a line and is waiting for a big catfish to come by.

Friday, August 26, 2016

View of Northern Kentucky

Northern Kentucky
12" x 24", Oil on Canvas
08/2016

The view from the park on Hill Street in Mt. Adams, Cincinnati affords a spectacular view across the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge to Newport and the rest of Northern Kentucky.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Plein Air– Glendale

A Village Gift Shop
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
08/2016

SWOPA went to Cincinnati's original commuter suburb to paint on Thursday. Glendale, Ohio was established along the rail line in 1855 as a quiet refuge some distance from the teeming center city. It afforded rapid transportation and a pastoral setting.

Located on the city square are many quaint and charming shops such as this one.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Plein Air– Milford

Old Stone Mill
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
08/2016

We didn't want to hike too far from the cars last Thursday, expecting pop-up thunderstorms. So, we had a change in venue, from Valley View Nature Preserve to downtown Milford. This is the view looking down the hill on Mill Street to the intersection with Main.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

New Studio Piece

Make Up Your Mind!
30" x 24", Oil on Canvas
08/2016

The young often have difficulties choosing, yes or no? Sometimes traffic engineers face the same conundrum. From photography of "small town" life in the quaint resort village at Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Plein Air– Mt. Airy Forest

Mount Airy Pergola
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
08/2016

The plantings in the Arboretum in Mount Airy Forest were still lush and blooming this year, even at the beginning of August. This painting is of the pergola at the lodge offices near the more formal plantings. Lots of butterflies, gold finches and humming birds to keep us company as we painted.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Plein Air– Fort Thomas

Cochran At Pearson
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
07/2016

Painting on site at the former US Army base in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky. This is the view past some of the enlisted mens' quarters, toward the Stone Water Tower. The base, now called Tower Park, was occupied as depot, induction center and military hospital by the Army from 1887 to 1964.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Summer Swelter

The Beach Rocks!
24" x 36", Oil on Canvas
07/2016

Who wouldn't want to be at the beach with the weather we're having? If it's going to be in the 90's with 60-70% humidity you might as well be by the water. This is from pictures taken on Lakeside Chautauqua's boulder bounded beach on Lake Erie.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Plein Air– Winton Woods


Boathouse
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
07/2016

The air was hot and steamy for the SWOPA paint out at Winton Woods this week. I found a place in the shade (mostly) and tried to avoid looking into the sun. It was so hot there wasn't much interest in taking paddle boats out on the lake. Though I did see one with an awning installed, make it's way from one end of the harbor area to the other.

Buckeye Lake

Quiescence
10" x 8", Oil on Canvas Panel
07/2016

Revisited the figure from my painting "Dock Sitter", taken from a photo from Buckeye Lake. A different composition concentrating on just the figurative element.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

AAPs Still Life– Second Look

AAPs Still Life 11
10" x 8", Oil on Canvas Panel
07/2016

This is a quick sketch of the still life the AAPs group is painting for display at the upcoming Deerfield Township Fall Festival. We've had multiple opportunities to paint the display and this is my second version (see previous post from 4/12), cropped and from a different angle.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Plein Air– Pyramid Hill

Old Springhouse
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
07/20016

Not one of the sculptures that dot the rolling landscape of Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, but sculptural in form, this old stone structure has had a presence there since the 1820's. The lower level is a barrel vaulted space, similar to what I've seen in the lagering tunnels of the old breweries of Cincinnati. Set next to a spring, it was ideally placed to take advantage of the available cool waters.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

DeSales Corner Resurgence

Woodburn's New Perspective
30" x 24", Oil on Canvas
07/2016

The DeSales Corner area in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati is coming back to life after many years of neglect. Properties are being rehabbed and storefronts are filling, making it a lively place to be. I hope this painting captures some of the spirit of the new vitality in one of Cincinnati's most important locales.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Plein Air– Licking River District

BB Riverboats
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

The BB Riverboat dock in Newport, Kentucky sees several vessels rafted up against the current of the Ohio River. The river was extremely muddy, due to the flood waters coming down from the disasters in West Virginia. There was a marked color change at the Point. The Licking River's relatively clean waters flowing in at the bottom of the painting, meeting the yellow Ohio water.

Dock Sitter

Dock Sitter
14" x 18", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

Studio piece from photos taken while scouting locations for the Ohio Plein Air Society Paint Out last year. This was from Buckeye Lake, just south of Newark, Ohio.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Plein Air– Art in the Square

Van Newland
8" x 10", Oil on Canvas Panel
06/2016

The first of two painted while demonstrating at the Art in the Square– Liberty Center on Saturday. This portrays one of the photographers manning his booth and awaiting customer activity. The second painting was of the string musicians who played for us the whole day. Both paintings were interesting to complete, working around the people portrayed, getting up to wait on customers or taking breaks from performance.
String Trio
10" x 8", Oil on Canvas Panel
06/2016

Plein Air– Morrow

Flat Rock Falls 2
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

SWOPA returned to Morrow, Ohio this last Thursday for a hot an muggy morning of painting. I guess many thought the rain would continue latter in the day and didn't make the trip. Three of us parked off Morrow-Woodville Road just before it crosses Todd's Fork Creek for the second time. My second painting of Flat Rock Falls, the last from the upper ledge on the far side, this is from the near side.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Plein Air– Liberty Township

Cattail Legions
12" x 16", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

SWOPA came close to home this week to paint in the Reserves Parks in Liberty Township. This is a view West across the upper pond in the Wetlands Park East. The lotus were just displaying a couple of blooms (too early in their season yet), so I concentrated on the large stands of wind blown cattails which are coming on strong.

DeSales Studio Painting

St. Francis DeSales
20" x 16", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

The DeSales Corner neighborhood of Cincinnati looks so much like some of the photos I've seen of European cityscapes. Woodburn Avenue crosses Madison Road at the corner where St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church dominates the view. The city has created a small triangular square by diverting the road around what used to be a traffic island. They've installed a circular notice board capped with a conical roofs that also adds to the ambiance.

Small Lotus Painting

Reserves Park– Lotus 12
11" x 14", Oil on Canvas
06/2016

In early February, at the Northminster Fine Art Fair, I sold one of the two 11" x 14" RP– Lotus paintings I had in stock. With paintings this size, I like to keep more than one painting in that size in case someone would like to purchase and hang a pair. This is the replacement.