Postcard Invitation

I have two large pastel paintings in the Winter Members Show at the Southern Vermont Art Center in Manchester and was pleasantly surprised to see that one of them had been chosen for the postcard. It looks quite festive. Come to the opening reception on Saturday afternoon if you can; December 6 from 2-4.

Today marks 7 years of blogging here. The title of my painting featured on the postcard is Number Seven - a serendipitous good omen for the next seven!

Please look at Rodrica Tilley Gallery of available Paintings when you have time. The paintings on exhibit in Manchester are Number Seven and Community Garden, Putney.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are many, many things to be thankful for today...one of the small things is that there are still sheep in Vermont. I just love sheep...what is it about them?  There is a whole flock of brown ones on Western Avenue in Brattleboro. They were freshly shorn when they arrived at Solar Hill in September. and I thought they were goats. I should not have hesitated to paint them...who knows where they will be by spring. Maybe I will still get a chance this fall.

I hope your Thanksgiving is a warm and safe one. Eat hardy. Be nice.

This is the painting I fell on Halloween week. I think I actually improved it and with a bit of tidying up it turned out better than I had thought before the tumble/smearing.  

Two Finnsheep 12 x 16 soft pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist board framed and for sale on a wall near you soon.

Vermont Pastel Society Exhibit November

This month the Vermont Pastel Society is exhibiting some of their members work at Hooker Dunham Theater in Brattleboro. A blog post gives you a nice glimpse of the show including my painting, Dahlia Season (above) as well as details and links.

Connecticut River at RT 9

One chilly morning, Charlotte Fischer and I set up our easels on the old bridge (retired from vehicular service when a new one was built) to Chesterfield NH from North Brattleboro, VT. After 2 and a half hours on the bridge....not getting much warmer...we gave up...not entirely happy with our results, but at least glad we'd risen to the challenge. We both agreed that we had watched one of nature's magical miracles - foliage turning color before our very eyes! Really. There was much more yellow and gold along the banks when we packed it up than when we started.

This 12 x 12 will be for sale soon. It may need a few small finishing touches, but it is almost ready for framing. It is not one of those who hangs around the studio torturing me for months.

Community Garden in Autumn

I love gardens in all seasons; a little chaos - tomatoes under the tangle, kale in the fog. Nature has her way of getting the upper hand, certainly by October. The gardener is no doubt sealing up those last quarts of sauce in the steamy kitchen.

This is  one of a series of 24 x 30 pastels; three autumn gardens, one winter garden that I have been working on lately. Please leave a comment. I'd like to know what you think.

Gardens in the Off Season

I love gardens in all seasons; blanketed under snow in winter, after the ripeness of summer and before the new shoots of spring. Their structure can be loose or geometric, their fences shabby, sparrows on the bean poles. It is all redolent of growth, sunshine, fertility....really good earth! 

This is Number Seven, one of a series of 24 x 30 pastels; 3 autumn gardens , one winter garden that I have been working on lately. Please leave a comment. I'd like to know what you think.

The Pond on Rice Farm Road

It was an exquisite fall day in my neighborhood two weeks ago...and the days here have been mostly soggy for months. I spent the afternoon painting this Vermont scene amidst the birds (?) rustling in the cattails next to me and quite a few leaf peepers driving by on the dirt road.

That was two weeks ago and Black Mountain, where I live, has turned into winter rather suddenly. This is another of the Transitions series. 12 x 16 pastels.

My new studio is growing on me. And some days I can actually find what I am looking for. (Yes, I did put the pliers in that drawer, but why?) It is quiet and warm and bright and near home....and thanks to the local Tru-Value housewares guy, it smells good now. So, I am settling in for a long winter's work.

Later this month I am showing some of my new work at the Butternut Gallery and Second Story Books, in Montrose, PA as part of a show called FRACTURED; an exhibit of photographs, pastel paintings and writing that explores the social ramifications of gas drilling in Susquehanna County, curated by Michael Poster and Melissa Whalen Haertsch. FRACTURED will be on display from November 25 - with an opening from 6-8pm, Friday - through December 31, closing at 3pm. Zoe Poster and Pete Comly, among others, will have work in the show, too.

Return to Autumn

Some of you may recognize this to be the plein air painting demo I started in the garden on October 12, 2010 during the Artists' Open House Weekend. The time was right today to finally finish it...something about January makes me want to clean up leftover business. I'm glad I had this one hanging around.

A thank you & a (mild) scolding

photo by Rodrica Tilley

Thank you to the hordes of happy art lovers who turned out for the Artists' Open House Weekend...I was too busy selling & wrapping originals & prints to actually take any photos of you all enjoying the fabulous autumn weather in my garden. It was a wonderful ending to my 14 years on this county-wide studio tour. I'm moving to Vermont in 2011 as most of you know. I so enjoyed seeing friends, fans & familiar faces.

The garden received many compliments. People were surprised that it was colourful! To my way of thinking a fall garden can be a little too subdued without DAHLIAS! Yes, they are a fair amount of work...you must dig, wash, label & store them after the frost...sort of like potatoes; you need a cool, frost-free storage spot...like the basement. But, that done you can forget about them until mid- to late April. Then drop the tubers in pots of gro-mix in the greenhouse or sunporch or living room window. When they sprout, water them and plant them out with 4' stakes in mid to late May. So those of you who go to the trouble of growing tomatoes & marigolds, may want to steal a corner for some real fall color. And in a lucky year that may begin in July and last until October. Your house will be full of bouquets.

Swan Island Dahlias is my favorite source...and their catalogue is great reading. I don't go for the dinner plate dahlias, but you may. Dahlias are a great investment...buy them once...plant & give away forever.

The Big Gold Tree - Demo

Here is the finished painting (bottom) that I started on October 12th in front of those of you that watched the pastel demo at my studio. It was born of a sketch from my mind rather than a photo or plein air study. I am happy with the gold glow of this pastoral autumn scene. I like the various textures. It has a lot of energy, but still conveys a quiet peace. The composition is a little quirky, which I like, but it works.

I've included the top image which is how I left it that day after about one and a half hours of intense work. The middle image represents another couple of hours work, as does the final one...add an hour for sketch work...and several hours of looking and thinking...plus framing...and selling.

I am often asked how long it takes me to make a painting. My temptation is to say " four hours and 40 years"...meaning it used to take me a long time...now I know what I am doing and it still takes me a long time because I am not so easily satisfied. That said, some paintings paint themselves and some sell themselves, but that is not the norm....most take hard work...and time....and I love it.

It is 14 x 19 and will be for sale soon at $650 framed.

Two Recent Demos

I have finally finished Front Walk which was painted mostly during the Artists' Open House Weekend on October 13th. Although I fussed and adjusted details quite a bit I think those of you who watched the painting appear in the front studio garden will recognize it as the same painting, but finished. At the end of my demo that day I knew I had some choppiness...too many competing areas in value. Luckily I kept the colors limited to a fairly narrow range because the texture & values were contrasting and bordering on chaotic. By constantly looking at this painting I feel I have worked out it's problems and made a dense and complex garden scene with the warmth of a perfect aurtumn day in my tangled garden.

Last week I was asked to give a demo in front of Hill Country Artists. They are a great audience; asking educated questions and absorbing concepts like sponges. What fun. House with Blue Roof is my finished painting and not much was done to this one after I left the meeting.SOLD

Both will be for sale soon at $400 framed in rustic gold wood frames. If you write to me I will tell you where they are being shown.

Revisiting a Site

Over the years I've noticed that certain specific locations are fertile ground for my paintings. This particular place has given me more than a few good paintings. It is a comfortable place to paint on a bridge. It is rare to have low traffic while enjoying an elevated vantage point. Many years ago I realized the benefits to be gained from returning to "the scene". At that time I was persisting, stubbornly, in trying to paint a certain small waterfall with disastrous results time and again. On my self-declared final try I got a painting I liked. I think it was then that the light bulb went off! I need more than one painting session to learn enough about a location to make a decent painting. These days I have fewer failures and more successes the first time out, but it is still a pleasure to paint a familiar spot on an unfamiliar day and see what kind of "new" painting emerges. In fact, it is very rewarding and comfortable.