Plein Air Eden Park

Here's the painting shown in the last post from Eden Park in Cincinnati, "Bridge at Twin Lakes". Located in one of the river overlook areas in Eden Park, these little ponds were built in what used to be a stone quarry.

Still busy this week preparing for the Wyoming Art Show on Sunday, May 15, 11:00A-5:00P. Last minute framing, identification tags and business cards. Come on out for the show that kicks off the outdoor season in the Cincinnati area. Over 150 artists from 7 states will be represented. See the show flyer below and click on it for a larger view:

Painting with SWOPA

A busy day on Thursday this week. We were still getting ready for the Grand Opening and First Friday of the Mason Area Painters studio (#109) at the new Pendleton Art Center- Middletown and there are always last minute details. I took the afternoon-evening to paint with the Southwest Ohio Plein Air group in Eden Park in Cincinnati, that's where this picture was taken. Painted the bridge at Twin Lakes and took photos of some locations for possible future paintings. Next I dropped off a few paintings at the Cincinnati Art Club to see if I can become a Signature member and then went to dinner with the SWOPA group in Mt. Adams. Whew!

Fence Row 3

I've been working on this 24 x 36 painting for a couple of weeks. Another in the trumpet flower series that been recurring over the last three years. I was looking to do one with a little more "presence" and this is what came out. Tired of the wet weather and wishing for summer sun.

You can find these naturally occurring flowering vines weighing down the fence rows beside the fields here in SW Ohio. The blooms start coming on around the time of the first hot weather, end of May or early June. The flowers last about a month and the ruby throated hummingbirds love them. Probably developed together, the birds' beaks being suited to getting down the long bell of the flowers.

Mason Area Painters at Pendleton Art Center

This has been a crazy couple of weeks, leading up to the opening of the MAPs studio in the Pendleton Art Center- Middletown. We've gotten in on the ground floor (literally) at the new PAC facility. I have rounded up 14 members of our Mason painting group who had an interest in a 12 member share of a studio space for gallery display of our work. We've been organizing, discussing, voting, delegating, copy-writing, designing, painting, hanging, joking, laughing and swearing while trying to get the show ready for the GRAND OPENING First Friday and Second Look Saturday of the PAC- Middletown!

All 14 members will have work on display! We've divided up the wall space for 11 people to have semi-permanent work hung and one featured artist per month. We have two groups of artists that are sharing their monthly space and one of those was elected to lead off as Featured Artist. With fourteen feet of wall space to fill, they had to put a lot of work on the wall.

Click on the flyer to see it at a larger size:
Pendleton Art Center- Middletown
1105 Central Avenue

Middletown, OH  45044

Come out and see what a group of talented artist can do!

Fence Row 2

New painting of the trumpet flowers along Linn Road in Liberty Township, 11" x 14", Oil on Canvas. Still longing for those sunny days, when we don't have to put up with all this rain. I started this at MAPs on Monday and finished it in the studio yesterday, hiding from the wet weather outside. Well we'll get there all too soon, then wish it was a little cooler!

Evening– Reserves Park 5

A little earlier in the evening than #3, the sun was just leaving the tops of the grasses and its warmth was starting to glow on the wispy clouds. Tress were silhouetted against a still bright blue sky. Cool with a hint of warmth.

This view is from the Liberty Township Reserves Park looking across to the tree line above St. Rt. 129, the Butler County Regional Highway. The park is one of a series that are interconnected by walking paths that were created from land annexed for the highway. One day those paths and others are to form a bike/walk path from Hamilton to the Little Miami.

"Soft Opening"

I was asked to help fill up the new studios at the Pendleton Art Center Middletown for Friday night's "soft opening". I kept my work on display for the Second Look Saturday as well. Here is my setup as of Saturday morning. (Overhead lights are off because I was showing some of my stained glass there in the back.)

There had been about 1000 people (according to the Middletown Journal) that attended the Friday night event. It looked like at least 500 came through the studio. Handed out a lot of business cards, but no sales.

I didn't paint then, just used the easel to display a painting and my business cards. The next morning for the Second Look was running slow, so I started a painting from a photo taken last Fall in Winton Woods. This is the second painting done from the "Butterfly Bluff" picnic area, the last was done en plain air the same time the photos were taken.

I didn't complete the painting in the three hours I worked on it at the PAC, so I finished it yesterday at MAPs. I was unsure of the color tones in the painting from the studio, because of only having cold fluorescent light. I did some adjustments on Monday and here is the final, minus signature.