In the Studio Today...Christin Coy Workshop & Mill Valley Coffee Shop

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I started 2 paintings in one day, today! Wow...! You know you have a deadline when you start 2 good sized, detailed paintings in a day. The paintings I started today are local shops in Marin County; The red awning of the Specialty Coffee shop in downtown Mill Valley, and the Gospel Flat Farmstand as you enter Bolinas, California. I now have a total of 6 paintings for the Mill Valley show, and I have about 5 more to go. I chose some large canvases, so the paintings should fill in the Depot Cafe walls with some good negative space around them. If I have 10 new paintings, I will be delighted. If I can finish 12, that will be even better... but quality versus quantity, always. Spoken in the voice of Ellen Degeneres, as Dory in "Finding Nemo"..."Just keep painting, just keep painting, just keep painting, painting, painting...". By the way, if you've read this far, this marks my 202nd post on my blog! I reached 200 posts with out even realizing it!

"Ride to the Coffee Shop", 16" x 20", o/c.
Work in Progress... (Will detail 4 bikes in scene when complete).

Actually, the real reason for the 2 paintings in one day... I had a workshop this evening with artist, Christin Coy. It was a great session. Richard Lindenberg, who used to work for Sennelier Professional Oil Paints, was on hand to give a color mixing lesson. It was fantastic. I haven't mixed colors in a color wheel format in many years, but it was a great reminder, and I learned about "Chinese Orange", a color specifically commissioned by Cézanne. It's sort of a burnt umber, rust orange red color, but has a great transparency to it so it can be used to varnish, or when mixed with white, it is more opaque.Christin taught me to pre-stain my canvas with an acrylic color and water, to give it a warm undertone and get away from starting with the blank white of the canvas. The color I used was a warm sienna red color, which was perfect for the reds in the awning of the coffee shop.

In the Studio Today...Second Commission of Two & Christin Coy Summer Workshop

Detail: "Bike at the Cabin"; Original painting 12"x 16", o/c, 2009.

I have created paintings that inspired a commissioned copy of the original, sold painting. This time, I was asked to create 2 of the same painting; one for a client and one for her brother. The painting request was from a combination of photos taken at a summer cabin in Vermont, but the client did not have a photo with the lake behind the cabin... this was my job, to paint the lake in to make it look like the cabin was on the lake... which it is, but the photos were not taken to show this properly. I am glad to finally be done with the second version of this painting.

My June news is that I will be taking a summer workshop with Marin Landscape Painter, Christin Coy, beginning in July. I look forward to getting out of the house with my paints for 5 weeks, and hopefully, I will be able to use the time to work on my landscape paintings with bikes in them, for the Mill Valley Depot show in September. Please save the date for a September 1st, 6pm reception at the Mill Valley Depot.

I visited Mill Valley yesterday to measure the walls at the Depot Cafe & Bookstore, and plan out my show. I am looking forward to filling the space with Marin cycling related scenes. It should be a lot of fun for me, and hopefully too, for the great cycling enthusiasts in the Bay Area.

In the Studio Today... MALT's Annual Show!

I have been attending the MALT show for more than five years now, and anticipate it every year. As a plein air landscape artist in Marin County, this is the most coveted place to exhibit one's work. To be accepted to MALT for their annual show is an honor, when there are hundreds of landscape painters that would like to hang their work on the walls of Druid's Hall in Nicasio. For me, it is a goal to be included in this group some day, but for now, I enjoy visiting the show each year when I can, and talking to the artists, who often are there to share and discuss their paintings.

The drive to Nicasio alone will have you feeling at peace with our natural surroundings, and then to enter the show is just magical. The walls in this small space are packed like a patchwork quilt; every painting packed into the Hall contributes something unique and special about Marin county farms and land that has been preserved by Marin Agricultural Land Trust. It is a joy and treat for me to be there each year, if not as an exhibiting painter, at least as one in spirit! Please go and support MALT on May 16th(my Birthday!)from 2-5pm, or on May 17th, from 10 -4pm. They offer books, greeting cards and other items that are fairly priced and make great gifts, as well as prints and paintings. Visit the MALT website for more information, and some great audio interviews with participating artists.

You may also want to take a look at the MALT website and a new MALT Blog that is written about Ranches and Rolling Hills, and full of information and inspiration about art and farming, by Elisabeth Ptak.

Finally, you may also want to visit the blogs of 2 MALT artists I have had the pleasure of venturing out to farms with through the "Art on the Farm" group trips:

• Christin Coy's Blog
• Richard Lindenberg's Blog

Enjoy!