Granary Gallery show Archives - Page 24 of 31

Passages…

Posted on April 5, 2013 by heather • 3 Comments

It’s a beautiful day for a birthday.

Friends have been checking in and the cake is out of the oven. A nice morning sitting in the sun in the garden looking for signs of spring and catching up with an old pal. Might even get a little painting done before the day is out but mostly I’m just enjoying the peace and love the this stage of life is bringing and the great fortunes of good friends.

Another passage of sorts is being played out on the island and our long loved refuge and retreat, Camp Sunrise, is finally facing the ravages of mother nature.

Here’s a painting of the bluff in front of camp from about 2003… and here is a photo of it now…

We’ve all known this day was coming. And I am forever grateful for the decades of opportunities to sit on this very porch and ponder the sea. As well as the gift of being able to chronicle some of its corners and quirks and patina in the paintings over the years.

But now it is time to say goodbye. As you can read in the article in the MV Gazette, http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2013/04/04/second-stonewall-beach-home-teetering-cliff-must-be-moved
the house is now done. The main Camp house will be demolished…I can barely stand to write that…but the garage,

and bunkhouse,

will be moved in tact out to the back of the property…

way out to where that stone wall stands.

So I will take the lessons from this sunny spring day and look forward and ahead to many more years of walking this earth, and what’s left of this bluff and be grateful for each one of the flowers along the way.

Palette Progression

Posted on March 5, 2013 by heather • 1 Comment

Here’s a look at the process…

Having come a tad late to the painting party my process and palette have evolved from a rather spotty beginning. Well over two decades passed between those mid-70’s intro to color classes in college and the decision to paint full time at the beginning of this century.
Today I use a pile of disposable waxy palette sheets tucked into an old plastic watercolor box. It thoroughly offends my aesthetic senses but it does the job nicely when it comes to the daily rituals of setup and cleanup.
I have six drawers full of oil paint tubes. Most of them are Old Holland colors but along the way I have tried many others and if it gets reordered once…it’s a favorite. The main players change depending on the subject matter but for the most part the palette is arranged chromographically (a word ?) by hue.
The medium I use is Fine Detail Liquin and I use so little of it that even the smallest caviar jar dries out before it is emptied. (Notice how I dropped that fancy culinary delectable in there ?)
That tiny jar along with two former artichoke jars half full of odorless turp sit next to the palette and the brushes…well they surround.

A while back I took some progressive shots of the palette as I worked through a painting for the Granary Gallery show this summer. I typically use one palette for the entire painting unless I’m working on a mammoth panel and then I go through many palette changes. For this painting, I kept the same one going and you will be able to see subtle changes from day to day. I also took photos of the panel at the end of each day for comparison.

So here’s a look at the road to… The Caretaker

Midwinter Details

Posted on January 26, 2013January 26, 2013 by heather • 3 Comments

In the early days of January, in the deep midwinter studio, when I sit down with the piles of sketchbooks and sort throught the long lists of painting ideas… I feel unfettered. Before the filters of deadlines and salability and subjectable subject choices begin to weigh me down… I take chances. I choose challenges. I tease the muses who whisper, “keep it simple” and “No not THAT nightgown”.

I have spent the last few weeks wading in that most wonderful of seas…the sea of details. Frolicking with the tiniest brushes. Taking extra days to glaze down and bring back up entire areas of light only to glaze them back down again and slowly, slowly refine. I’ve taunted and tweaked compositions and twisted ribbons and fringes in the wind.

Here is a sneak peak of the first of these, The Mender…

It will appear in Denver in March at the Gallery 1261 Contemporary Realism Show. It’s companion, The Tinker, was finished last night and you will have to wait a bit for that pic but it shares a few elements with it’s Mender…a rug, a teacup, a pair of spectacles…and the number three.

Now, all the wheels of creativity turn to…the island. The trove of images which I’ve stored up from Martha’s Vineyard is indeed full of treasure. And before those afore mentioned weighty filters and deadlines begin to creep in…I will let only the carefree muses in from the cold. The ones who say, “Go for it” and “If not now, when”, and let them sit alongside while I turn the pages of this sketchbook…

and decide what to paint next.

Below Stairs

Posted on January 9, 2013 by heather • 1 Comment

As I was watching Downton Abbey this week I was reminded of this painting and the research required to get the bells correct. The only elements which I had before me were the set up with the ironing table in the foreground, and my trusty model Pat who posed with the white shirt and vest. The floor and background were all imagined but I relied on photos from the internet to accurately portray the essential summoning bells.

I don’t remember which episode of DA it was when… from our perches on the sofa, Pat and I turned to each other as we watched the butler ironing the newspaper…and smiled. Ah yes, we would certainly have been more comfortable… “Below Stairs”.

Below Stairs – Oil on Panel 24″ x 36″ Available at the Granary Gallery

There goes Follansbee again…

Posted on October 23, 2012 by heather

While on Martha’s Vineyard earlier this month, we had the great pleasure of spending a day with our favorite little shavers, Rose and Daniel, and their groovy grey haired parents Maureen and Peter. Hanging with the Follansbee family is just about the most fun a person can have and I’m still smiling…

peter pumpkin eater — Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

twins — Rose and Daniel display their pumpkin art at the Granary Gallery

Looking back on these pictures prompted me to check out Peter’s Blog and I see that his latest video is out. This will make a great holiday gift for the woodworker in your life and I’m gonna have a blast watching him make shavings.

Here’s a link to his website information about the DVD…http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/joined-chest-dvd-now-available/ and while you are there check out the spoons that he is now selling. As my readers know, every time he even mentions spoons in his blog or on the phone or sitting on my studio porch… I have to get out the hatchet.

Today is no exception and if this keeps up I just may have a few of my own to offer up for sale here on my blog soon.

Small works in a big way…

Posted on September 17, 2012 by heather

All hail the return of civilized weather. When that first waft of cool air hit my lungs I all but fell to weeping. The edges of my soul were beginning to get crispy and my eyes felt like thickly glazed donuts.

With the earlier sunsets and the thin carpet of leaves, the studio is poised for a hiatus. We are once again returning to Martha’s Vineyard for an autumn sabbatical and an opportunity to work among the gulls and the waves in person.

But I haven’t been idle in the last few weeks. My brushes have been flying in pursuit of some smaller panels but no less meaningful gestures. I will shortly be loading the car to bring up new works to fill spaces on the walls at the Granary Gallery…and will be sending a parcel of new paintings out to Denver, to Gallery 1261, for their upcoming small works show in November.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d give you dear readers a sneak peek. Here, for your perusal, are the latest musings from the studio… I hope you will enjoy them with a fresh mug of cider…or warm cup of tea.

Granary and Garden

Posted on July 30, 2012July 30, 2012 by heather

We’ve been home for over a week now and the re-entry hubub has settled down and I am back at the easel in earnest. And back in the garden as well but not so earnestly as the summer heat wave continues. But this is all good because I am getting my garden fix early in the cooler morning hours and then the rest of the day spent at the air-conditioned studio easel feels like a spa.

Time then to post some photos from the Granary show. The opening was wonderful…a sea of art lovers with many new faces and lots of kind words of support. I took some photos after the crowds had cleared to show you blog readers the installation.

And not to be left out… a few snaps from this morning’s raid of one of the potato bags.

I’m in the mood for some vichysoisse and decided to dig around for some spuds. A task which I approach like an archeological expedition… gently brushing aside layers of dirt to reveal the brightly colored treasures. It’s just magical. Though I’m not too impressed with the yield so far. I welcome any advice from all my master gardener pals on how to improve next year’s crop.

In the coming weeks I’m going to look back and show a couple “paintings in progress” photos I took while working this spring. And I’ve got a slew of panels ready for a series of smaller paintings which will be headed out to Denver for the Gallery 1261 small works show in November/December.

Meanwhile I finished this piece the other day…(here’s an unvarnished studio shot)

It’s title is “Aren’t We Aging Well”…from the title of that wonderful Dar Williams song. I’ve carried just the title forward through several sketch books and when I decided on a visual interpretation it was originally supposed to be an anonymous couple, though always two women. But after Pat and I posed together in the studio yard…I used the remote shutter release on the camera to sneak some shots from behind the chairs…and I looked at the pictures, I realized that we were in no way anonymous. And then it became so deeply personal that I took it out of the Granary roster and put it aside to work on after the show.

I’m so glad now to have it finished …and have cleared some wall space in the studio to hang it after it dries, is varnished and photographed…just for us.

It has been years since I allowed myself to do a painting that wasn’t destined for a gallery or show. It’s good, as the song says, to “steal out with my paints and my brushes”…and paint as if nobody is watching.

But now…I’ve got to be getting on with the current still life. A few of the familiar props are making another appearance like the red stiletto, the silk camisole, and is that one of Polly’s cigarettes ? Really ?

Patience dear reader…all will be revealed…in good time.

And for the finale…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by heather

It has been a blast to post these images one day at a time and has forced me to learn the new website admin navigation and to explore worlds deep withing this machine that I am now using on a daily basis to lighten the load of the business side of the artworld. And it has been an opportunity to look at each painting as an individual entry in the larger show and remember what drew me to paint them in the first place. All good.

Over a year’s worth of work lined up for your consideration…and now we’ve reached the final painting.

I give you…

#18 – James Pond 92 x 48

There is a deceptively simple peace that comes from looking out over this pond. Peaceful in that air and land and wind and water come together seemlessly and you can melt away the burdens of the world in one rustling of a leaf. Deceptive in that there is so much going on in those elements that your calmly gazing self might be the only still thing around.

All manner of wildlife are in constant motion. The water never stops. The leaves and clouds dance around you like fairies. And the chorus of birds and bugs and lapping waves are gentle background to it all.

But my favorite part of this corner of the planet is that it changes. I have spent many weeks here and no two reference photos are the same. It was part of the challenge in choosing to paint this spot. Which season? which sky? which time of day? The blue of that water can be fifty different hues in one given hour. The constantly revolving collection of cormorants on that single rock alone can make one’s brushes spin.

To settle on all those choices is to make everything…come to a …stop.

And then, once stopped, to try and give each element an accurate rendering and slowly build the layers of background melting into middle distance and finally detailed foreground and tease each strand together and hope that they vibrate as a whole and at least give the hint that all is in motion.

I hope that you have enjoyed this adventure as much as I have. And I hope to see some of you this Sunday at the Red Barn as we unveil the 2012 Granary Gallery show.

Thanks for checking in and, as always, thank you for your support !

Now go outside and play.

On the road again…

Posted on July 11, 2012July 11, 2012 by heather • 1 Comment

Now this is sorta fun…

When this post hits the airwaves I hope to be somewhere around New London, Ct. in the car, hauling the trailer, headed for the island.

But today, as I write this while procrastinating instead of packing the trailer, I have two more paintings to wrap up and a whole lotta last minute packing to do so let’s get right down to it.

I’ve saved the biggest for the last two and today I give you….

#17 – Up Island Morning 40 x 90

A little slice of Chilmark heaven. Our destination this week is just over the hill from here and right on the edge of the planet. Zoe will not need the sheep whose internal music player lulls her to sleep with the sound of ocean waves…because they will be right out the window !

May you all find peace in whatever slice of heaven you wake up to this morning…

Museums and Orchards…

Posted on July 10, 2012 by heather

Museums…

A great article (click here to read) about the new Museum of Realist Art which is a project in the planning stages but gaining momentum towards the dream of a 2014 opening in East Boston. The founders, George Kougeas and Pamela Sienna, have been working hard to realize that dream and have been terrifically supportive of the artists they have already begun curating into the collection.

More than just offering a venue to showcase Realist art, they are building a dialogue amonst the artists though their support and promotion that is enhancing and enriching our community. I’m thrilled to be on their radar and doubly pleased to see that the Boston Globe included one of my new paintings…yes one which you saw here first only a few days ago…in the online article. Camera Obscura

So, again…and again… many thanks to them.

And now… Orchards.

It’s time to unveil the anchor piece in the Apple Series paintings. Many of you were along for the ride when, this fall and winter, I was blogging as I slogged through the adventure of painting seven hundred fifty thousand apples. Ok, not literally but it sure felt like that at the end of each day. I have included those blog entries as the Painter’s Notes mostly because it reminds me that a little perserverance and a lot of whining can get you through even the toughtest of artistic challenges.

And now that it’s done and framed and ready to be put in the trailer… I am so glad that I chose to do it on a larger panel than originally planned. For me it’s all about Ted’s hand and that would have been completely lost in a smaller format.

Rumor has it that Debbie, the orchard owner, is planning to provide a little appley treat to accompany the painting at this sunday’s opening. Those planning to attend might want to arrive early to insure a taste of Tiasquin’s Finest.

For the rest of you… here is…

#16 – Tiasquin Orchard 34 x 60

Ok I can’t delay this any longer…it’s out to pack the trailer.

Be well…