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

Rose and Pansy Bouquet

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A small watercolor done yesterday; I set up a tiny vase on my drawing table containing what I consider to be a wonderful bouquet of a single blossom of Winter Sunset Rose and some almost black, huge pansies.
It will be for sale during my upcoming Annual Summer Art Exhibit July2 through 11 here at the studio. The exhibit is open daily 10am-6pm with the following exceptions: July 2nd is an opening reception only from 6-8pm and July 11th the show closes at 4pm.

Hawley Farm

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Unusually restrained color for me in this typical Susquehanna County Farm scene. The image is 18 x 18 and will be for sale this summer at the Butternut Gallery. I am working on some new Susquehanna County pieces for an August showing by Bob Smith, Betty Bryden & me; part of a year-long celebration of the 200th birthday of our county. My focus for these new paintings will be places and small scenes that interest me; not the county icons. I'm on the look out for little buildings and quirky twists to a typical scene.

Blown Off the Field

I was so excited to be met with a day above 50ºF that I quickly grabbed the easel and a few pastels and drove down my road until I spotted a likely subject. A cold front was moving in quite fast and the sky was very active. I kept a death grip on the easel against the gusts and did manage to get the panel covered with color before the rain sent me packing. I don't care; it was my first day out since Nov. 4!

I like this painting...it has strong composition, interesting color and it is fresh & windy. I might normally title it 'spring thaw' but we are far from spring here and we've all ready had several of these thaws, then ice storms, then foot of snow and we're only a week into winter officially.

December Thaw (11 x 14 UArt #800 on panel) will get some finishing work and I will publish the finished piece then. Such a delight to get out of the studio even if it was brief.

BTW the studio is open for appointments during most of the winter. email is best rtilley@rodricatilley.com

From Various Bridges

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This is Secret Place, one in a series of paintings done from bridges. This is actually inspired by some photographs I took and a plein air painting done from a local bridge last October. It is in the current exhibit of my paintings at the Butternut Gallery, mentioned below.

When I am driving over a bridge, my head spins right and left to check out the view and then simultaneously look to see if there is a place to set up the easel or at least to park and take photos. In my very rural county I can often slow to a dead stop in the middle of the bridge to check out these conditions. Finding a favorable bridge is a real goldmine to me. Here in Pennsylvania, trees obscure everything, but they don't grow on bridges and for that I am thankful.

Spending a few hours painting on a two lane bridge where there may be four other vehicles passing me all afternoon is why I tolerate living in this remote (and somewhat backward) corner of Penns' Woods. Being on a bridge often means being above or near the tree tops and really gives a unique view of surroundings.

I am really chomping at the bit for some spring-like weather to drag the easel outside. In 2006 Susquehanna county suffered devastating floods; people lost everything including their land in some cases. It was declared a National Disaster Area and FEMA was here for months, but finally we have many new improved, wider and taller bridges over our myriad small creeks and streams. I plan to put them to good use starting with the first day above 45 degrees! So nice of the government to provide space at the edges for me and my easel!

Why Plein Air?

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Because that's where one learns to see...really see. Knowing what lurks in the shadows, what color the leaves reflect, even what the local sounds and smells are makes convincing paintings. Plein air painting for me informs all my other work. What I have learned looking at a mountain range in Arizona helps me paint my own Endless Mountains back in my Pennsylvania studio. Struggling against bright glare to see the waves rolling into the beach in Costa Rica teaches me something about the Susquehanna river. Just dragging an easel out your studio door for a quick warm-up painting will do so much for your skills. Plein air work teaches you to select for subject and compose to your canvas or paper borders. It teaches you to move along, speed it up and keep the energy flowing.

Plein air is the background, the homework for painting from other sources. I see many painters, wasting precious time, using photos when they should be out in the field observing. Once they've done that they may be ready to paint from photos and their own imagination.

Besides it's the most fun you can have and still call it work.

Day's End

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This is my first major painting of the year. I've been working on several large pastels in the studio and this one is the first to be framed. It will be for sale at The Butternut Gallery in Montrose, PA 570-278-4011. The show called Recent Landscapes and Wishful Thinking will open Saturday February 23rd. Cheryl Korb and I will be sharing wall space there through April 20.

I love painting for specific exhibitions; and I thrive on deadlines. I will have several brand new paintings for this show. Hope to see you there. This one is 30" x 18" image size.