20 First Dates: Spill and Chill

 

 

Spill and Chill
8 x 10 inch oil on panel

When I need to regain my emotional footing, I head outdoors, preferably to places out of cell phone range. The sparkling rivers roaring through the Great Smoky Mountains always soothe me. I'm fascinated by the movement and contour of water, and the title of this painting describes the cascading spill of the water, combined with how it helps me to chill out.

Painted en plein air along the Middle Prong River, Spill and Chill is a meditation on crisp stream water and the kaleidoscope of shimmering colors that sing during an early autumn day. Shown here is a "Video Postcard from the Easel" with the painting in progress during an absolutely gorgeous early autumn day. Check out the colors in the river water!

Spill and Chill in a bronze frame
Framed dimensions of 13.5 x 15.5 inches

Making Sense

My field easel in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park while I work on my continuing series of plein air paintings from the park. Shown below is the finished piece, Great Smoky Mountains No 7 - Emerald.

As bad news pours into our lives during this challenging era for our nation, I'm using my "safer at home" time to to revisit why I paint. I'm not going to wax philosophical, but I want to say that especially now, I want to share with you the beauty of what surrounds us. As an artist, this is how I can contribute something positive to our world, and there's definitely an urgency to remember that there are still good things around us, even in these difficult times.

Great Smoky Mountains No. 7 - Emerald, 8 x 16 inch oil plein air oil on panel.

To cope with everything that's been happening, I've been visiting state parks in eastern Tennessee as well as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Shown above is a new addition to my ongoing series of plein air works from the park, "Emerald." Being outside in natural beauty restores my balance, and who couldn't use a little more equilibrium nowadays? 

While my art show van sits idle in our driveway (eye roll), I've been catching up on some reading this summer.

In addition, I've certainly had more time to read since I'm not traveling to my usual schedule of outdoor art shows. I recently picked up John Barry's The Great Influenza, originally published in 2005, and now back on the best-seller list. Hmm, I wonder why? What I'm learning is that we are repeating our own pandemic history, but not the good parts, unfortunately.

Finally, I turn to a poem that I've often leaned on during bad times. When I was a young child my Dad shared The Desiderata with me, a poem that he said shaped his view of the world. According to the venerable Wikipedia, it was first penned in 1920 by Max Ehrmann, just a couple of years after the 1918 flu pandemic. To me, it's more relevant now than ever before in my life:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Staycation 2020

Above, Work-in-progress: Plein air painting in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the Middle Prong River.

With my outdoor art shows cancelled for the foreseeable future, I'm turning my artistic focus to inspiration close to home for this summer.

It's Staycation 2020, and I'm pretty good with it because ever since moving to Knoxville, Tennessee two years ago, I've had very little time to explore our area due to major life events and myriad tasks associated with resettling after a cross-country move. The pandemic has put a pause on my usual work and life routines, and that may be an OK thing.

This upheaval has pushed me to develop new ways of doing things. Just last week, I wrapped up my first online tour of my painting studio in Knoxville, Tennessee as part of the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show Virtual Edition. My next virtual art show will be a live studio show with my new paintings on Thursday, July 9 at 8pm EST. Then I'll partner with the Rehoboth Art League in August, later this summer.

Throughout this summer, although I won't be traveling to my usual outdoor art exhibitions, I'm looking forward to delving into east Tennessee's state parks, history and culture through my artwork. I hope to have my outdoor art shows back in 2021, but until then I'll share my artwork with you "virtually" each week, beginning with this new addition to my Great Smoky Mountains plein air series, shown below.

Great Smoky Mountains No. 6 - Balance

A Great Smoky Mountains Project

I'm delighted to share that the Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance awarded me a Bailey Opportunity Grant for fiscal year 2020!

With support from this grant, I'm going to complete my training and certification as a Southern Appalachian Naturalist. This program is offered at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, located within the national park.

I've taken my first class and will continue my studies through next year. During this time, I'll document my observations and experiences of the park through my landscape painting. Most of the paintings will be small, plein air field studies. But I'll also complete some larger studio works.

The idea for this project echoes something I did while I lived in Pennsylvania. Back then, I created a series of plein air landscape paintings from central Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. I spent over a decade working in the park, getting to know it throughout the four seasons. As I developed a body of work that eventually numbered up to nearly 50 plein air paintings as well as many larger works, I wrote a book about the park's history and ecology, sharing my visual interpretations of the park with a narrative tracing its history and modern day ecology. I fell in love with that location by getting to know it well and one of my goals for this new project is to gain the same intimacy and reverence for my new home in Tennessee.

I've already ventured up to the Great Smoky Mountains many times and I'm really excited about the new sources of inspiration. Yet I'm also keenly aware of how much I don't know, everything from the broad history of the park to the minute details of its ecology. A vital part of my artistic process is to feel (at least a little bit) knowledgeable about my subjects. This is why when someone approaches me and asks me to paint something from their old family photos, I've always declined unless I can go see the place for myself. The direct experience and ability to witness the details firsthand is critical to my ability to make a successful painting.

This will be a long-term project and I have several goals. Not only do I want to create a new body of artwork that will allow me to call Tennessee my "home," but I also want to share what I learn with others in an effort to help them appreciate the park, its history, and its ecology. Of course, you'll see new works here on my web site as I finish them. Stay tuned!

In the Naturalist Tradition

This past weekend I took my first class at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, a non-profit research and teaching organization located within the national park. I'm determined to make friends with my new surroundings in eastern Tennessee, and as part of this process I've decided to pursue training at the institute to become a certified Southern Appalachian Naturalist.

I kicked things off in this pursuit with an initial offering in Naturalist Skills. It was fun! The core emphasis of the class was the importance of slowing down and taking time to notice and document your observations. As an artist, I'd like to think that I already do this by default. But I learned that I still have more discipline to cultivate in this regard. And along the way I learned some interesting things such as the presence of different micro climates within tenths of a mile along a hiking trail, resulting in very distinct flora and fauna. All of these years that I've been hiking into the woods and painting en plein air and I never appreciated this nuance before.

Later this year I'll take additional classes about mammals and aquatic natural history. I'm so stoked! As someone who's currently pretty ignorant about woodland ecology, I believe that taking these classes will give me greater insight into my new environment and inform my landscape paintings. I'm excited about the year ahead and I look forward to sharing more with you about the interesting tidbits I learn.

30 from Tennessee

Happy New Year, y'all!

After a tumultuous transition from Pennsylvania to a new home in Tennessee in 2018, I'm looking forward to a quieter year ahead with better opportunities for creation and calmness. Huzzah!

To start 2019, I'm going to focus on a brand new series of works. Since landing in Knoxville, I've tried some new foods (and discovered that I love sorghum butter and biscuits) and I've seen a lot of new things, including southern cities that I hadn't previously visited as well as stunning Tennessee state parks. Visiting all of these places helps me learn more about the history and culture of my new home. And all of these new visual stimuli have already had an influence on my artwork. For example, I now have access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park within an hour's drive of my home. I've really enjoyed going out there to work en plein air because I'm learning a ton about light effects and capturing roaring streams.

"30 from Tennessee" will be a series of paintings inspired by my new surroundings in eastern Tennessee. These small format works and studies will highlight my early impressions of my new home. I'll roll out a new painting once every week or two and the subjects will vary between my favorite themes of landscapes and cityscapes.

Great Smoky Mountains No. 1 - Early Fall
8 x 12 Oil on linen panel

The first piece I'm featuring in this series is "Great Smoky Mountains No. 1 - Early Fall." This painting was created en plein air along the Middle Prong of the Little River in the park, just south of Townsend, Tennessee.

If you've followed my landscape work over the years, then you know that I enjoy working in a series format for my plein air landscape subjects, especially when I find a place that I really enjoy, such as the gorgeous Black Moshannon State Park near my old home in central Pennsylvania, which inspired a series of forty-six works spanning over a decade. "Early Fall" is the first in what I anticipate will be a long-running series of works from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and I'm pleased with the quality of light within this work. In addition to the milder climate here in the south, the light is a littler warmer, too. It's different from what I'm accustomed to north of the Mason Dixon Line, and I'm enjoying this new quality.

Stay tuned for new additions to the "30 from Tennessee" series in 2019. As my work schedule permits, I'll unveil a new piece every week or two on my Instagram account. You can also visit my web site to see the full series in progress.