Gone Painting

Me, working at my field easel in Black Moshannon State Park

I've spent these first weeks of summer traveling and painting as I prepare for the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Last week, I visited a friend in the Washington, DC area where we took in some wonderful exhibitions at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery and at the National Gallery of Art. My new discovery on that trip was the artwork of John Taylor Arms. Just magnificent!

Close up, with the work in progress. My pastel painting mentor, Jack Pardue, always yells at me for wearing sunglasses when I work. But I argue back that these are my 20+ year old Ray Bans, with neutral grey density lenses, so no color distortion. We have to agree to disagree.

I also enjoyed many of the masterpieces featured in the Chester Dale Collection. These works are part of the National Gallery's permanent collection, so they allowed non-flash photography and I got some instructive close ups of works by George Bellows and William Meritt Chase. The opportunity to soak in these works always inspires me in my own work.

This week, a couple of artist friends visited me from the Baltimore area and I toured them around the gorgeous scenery that we have here in central Pennsylvania. Of course, this included a trip to Black Moshannon State Park where one of my friends snapped a few photos of me in action at my easel.

Finally, I'm pleased to report that we're nearly to month 9 of Annie's time since her cancer diagnosis last October. She's slowing down and I know that we won't have much more time to share with her, but we've certainly enjoyed the "bonus" months beyond her original 3-6 month prognosis. She's pictured here, too, as she wades into the lake in Black Moshannon Park.