plein air wednesday

I met Sue Gorman for another 'Plein air wednesday' at Aberdeen, OH's river park.

The view of Maysville is impressive from the park.  I was feeling ambitious, and thought I'd try and tackle a 20"x30" canvas.  I figured I would just use a bigger brush, and it would be the same as a sensible 11x14 or 16x20 canvas.  


My arm got much more of a workout, but I wasn't able to finish the painting...I stayed an extra 3 hours longer than our usual painting session.  However, the great size of the painting gives a great impression of a magnificant view!  I am finishing the painting in studio.

Sue left before I could photo her painting, but she did an excellent painting of the bridge in turquoise and oranges.  If she sends me a photo, I'll post it...it's very nice.

Then, after a swim at the YMCA, a storm rolled in, and I had to stop and take a picture of the dark sky contrasting with the autumn colors.

peace
ken

**update**
Sue sent me a copy of her beautiful painting for everyone to enjoy...thanks sue!

A week flies by...

Sorry for not posting on the blog all week:

A week goes fast when you are keeping busy....or maybe I'm just getting old.

Last wednesday, I met Sue Gorman for plein air wednesday. We painted a covered bridge on North Pole road (it's just outside Ripley, Ohio). A deer came close to the site where we were painting, but ran away as soon as I got my camera in focus.

I did, however, get some snapshots of a pair of artists in their natural environment!

School's in full swing (week 6). It's taking a lot of time I would really rather spend being an artist.
 
I went down to Augusta and painted Rosemary Clooney's house.

I spent a day cutting wood into picture frames. I still have to putty and paint.

Monday, I drove to Flemmingsburg to paint and visit my friend and opera singer, Jessica Cain.

Tuesday was school for the first half of the day, followed by an afternoon of studio painting!

Hope you all had a great week!

Oh , I heard my painting for fresh art sold for $800 at the auction. It was a great painting, but I'm surprised (in a great way) it did so well!

peace
ken

Plein Air In Augusta, KY

Sunday, I decided to drive down to Augusta and paint a house or something. The weather is perfect, and participating in "fresh Art" reminded me how much I enjoy plein air painting.


I planned to paint one of the historic homes that face the ohio river, but was surprised to see a giant sternwheeler docked at the river. I asked the captain how long the boat was going to stay, and when he said "a little over an hour", I quickly setup my paint, and threw paint on the canvas.

With such a short time to work, I didn't have much time to fuss over composition or details. I just painted in a rage...I knew my time to paint was limited, and I wanted to do as good as I could while the opportunity was there.

The finished product is not bad for a little over an hours work, but a valuable lesson was learned. Life is kindof like that...We all have limited time here on earth, and should try and have enthusiasm for our work and do as good as we can while the opportunity is here.

peace
ken

Fresh Art 2007

I endured a whole day of blue skies, a light breeze and incredible view of Cincinnat's skyline from Dree's Pavilion to make my painting for the "Fresh Art" auction. What a hard life!

This painting turned out so good, I almost hate to let it go. I did get a good photo before turning it in, so I can make prints.

I hope it fetches a good price for the museum. I'm going to miss tonight's auction, my car needs a little work before I am going to drive it long distances.

I have bad anxiety at social functions anyway!

peace
ken

September 14th - Judy Federer Day

For those who missed the retrospective of Judy Federer's paintings at the Augusta Art Guild, I've posted a lo-fi video of the building's dedication.

I am going to have to go back and see her paintings. The building was not big enough to hold all of her friends who came to celebrate her art. People were sprawled around the building, and I couldn't navigate through the crowd to view all 88 of the paintings on display. Judy was special, we are sure going to miss her

peace
ken

Fresh Art Sept 15-16

I've double checked my calendar, my car is running, and I am not going to miss this event. It's a fun fundraiser for the Behringer-Crawford museum. They have a great collection of Harland Hubbard's paintings.

If you haven't heard of Harlad Hubbard...imagine Henry David Therou living on a homemade shantyboat on the Ohio river as a painter...

The event is called 'Fresh Art'. Local painters meet at Devou Park, where the museum is located, and they create a work of art (start to finish) within the boundries of the park. Sunday evening, the museum hosts a dinner and auctions the paintings.

here's the link to the 'fresh Art' website


Jason D. Geil, from the Enquirer took a great photo of me at last year's Fresh Art. here's a link to his photo


I'm planning to paint from Drees Pavilion. It's such a great view!

uh oh

I just suffered a major consequence of trying to do too much at once.

I missed the Belleview Art Show. Don't tell the show organizers, but I thought the show was on Sunday. Something just wasn't working right in my brain. Hyde Park's artshow is on Sunday, and I guess I was confused.

I made the mistake because lately, I have been trying to do too much. School full time, A job, commission work, getting ready for the show...you get the idea.

To make myself feel better, when I picked my van up on saturday (I thought the show was on sunday) It ran for about 15 miles, and then it broke down! So my official excuse for missing the show was car trouble...it's semi-true, and much less humiliating than the truth.

My apologies to everyone who came to see me at the show. This has been a real wake up call, and opportunity to get my priorities in check.

peace
ken

Stretching Canvas

I found some time to try making my own stretchers for canvas. My table saw does a decent job putting a bevel on the wood, but I think a router may be a better tool for the job. I could also use it fancy up my custom picture frames a bit. Any tips from experienced woodworkers are appreciated.

I want to start painting bigger. With two newly stretched 20x30 canvases, I will have a great surface to paint.

peace
ken

its a lot of fun working hard

I spent much of the labor day weekend helping my friend at his restaurant in Augusta, Ky. I made a trip to Cincinnati to help my friend Samuel Ruder frame some work
 for an upcoming show.   
Monday I did some kayaking on the Ohio River.  
Tuesday, I made a trip to trip to Cinci to get some framing supplies
and stopped at NKU.

I had driven by the campus often, but never stopped to visit.  
It looks like a nice campus.  
I am not sure if I would want to drive 45+ minutes for class, 
but the the campus looks nice, 
and the technology building appeared to have all the 
comforts a geek like me needs.  
I even managed to get a halfway decent panoramic 
snapshot with my little pocket camera.

I offer printing services to local artists,
and have spent the rest of the day cutting matts,
and assembling matted print all day, but it
sure is nice to do work that I love for a living.  
It makes it much easier since the artist's 
(Barb Clarke) work is so nice to look at.

Oh yeah, If your in Belleview this Sunday, stop by and say HI, I'll be at Art In the Park...it's from 12-5pm.