Transitions

For the last few months my husband and I have been traveling back and forth between southern Vermont and our home of 35 years in Pennsylvania. We bought a house with 5 acres on Black Mountain near Brattleboro and are preparing to move there full time this summer. The frequent 5 hour trips back and forth, although providing a great chance for landscape viewing, often leave me feeling disoriented.

I think I'm going to go with the flow and make some paintings of two similar landscapes that may blend together in unknown ways. I'll be working on 12 x 16 boards with a plein air easel in VT and a new studio easel here in PA. The location of these pieces will be nebulous; somewhere between southern VT and northeastern PA; someplace between plein air & studio work. But the size and subject and medium will give me a sorely needed continuity right now. I may not know what clothes are in which closet in which state, but I'll be able to find my winter north woods color palette.

This is the first of the transitional pictures, as well as being the first painting of the year for me.

Transition #1 12 x 16 pastel

Looking East from My Studio Window

SOLD
Returning from a month in sunny, but cold, northern New Mexico this sight was a bit of a shock. It turned out OK though (most of the shovelling and plowing was all ready done); just left me with some easel work to pull this together. It is 9 x12 and will be put in a black rustic wide wood frame with a thin gold bevel to match the snow scene from January. Thanks for having a look and keeping the homefires burning.

Earth Stewards Coalition Art Show

I am feeling very possessive about the beautiful Susquehanna River. A half century of canoe trips gave me an intimate knowledge of her islands and banks. I’ve swum in her waters; cold, rushing, warm, meandering; sometimes murky, sometimes clear. I’ve slept on her gravel banks next to toads and herons. I’ve shared her beauty and adventure with my own daughter and saw her grow strong, as I did when I took some of the river’s power and made it my own.

And I’ve seen the devastation that this river is capable of. Don’t anger her.

More river paintings at www.rodricatilley.com

The Earth Stewards Coalition Art Show is organized by an ad hoc collectiveof activist women artists called "The Gaia Grrrls: from Binghamton NYwho are trying to increase awareness about the potential ramifications of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation of New York State & Pennsylvania. The purpose of this show is to give artists an opportunity to express their feelings about the situation, and hopefully to alert the public at large to what may happen in our communities.

First Fridays in February & March (2/5 and 3/5) from 6-9pm in City Plaza Gallery, as well as during regular business hours in Binghamton, NY's City Hall. City Plaza Gallery is located in Binghamton's City Hall. My painting is a large pastel of Standing Stone in Bradford County and it will be for sale after the exhibit.