Last Saturday

Unlike my usual Saturday sketching jaunt, last weekend the group was invited to a country place around 20 miles from the city. Although Iowa is renowned for being flat, it really isn't. Instead the land rolls and tilts, leaving small glens and ancient watercourses, especially in the southern counties. The acreage where I painted is one such piece of land. It slopes north from a gravel road, down to a small pond flanked by woods and a bright meadow. The house is a wooden geodesic dome under vast mature trees. The quiet is almost palpable, with the exception of bird song. 

"Emily's Place," oil on panel, 11x14

This time instead of watercolor, I did a plein air oil sketch, standing opposite the house on the bank of the pond. There was ample time to spend simply seeing and not necessarily slathering paint. A teacher of mine once said that you should spend considerably more time looking than actually painting. Excellent advice that I followed, since I had about 3 hours of reasonably consistent light. After the plein air session I finished details and corrected various places before adding a signature. 
 

Garden Lantern

"Garden Lantern," oil on hardboard, 14x11

Sometimes a routine studio tidy-up can yield forgotten works. Today while clearing up a stack of paintings in the studio I came across an oil painting dating from probably a decade or so ago. So far as I know I haven't posted this one before. It's an Asian lantern hanging in the shady garden just outside the studio. The lantern is purely decorative. 

City Wildflowers

"City Wildflowers," oil on panel, 12x9

This small oil is a view of a cluster of wildflowers--some would say weeds--beside a fire hydrant, not far from my studio. Sometimes interesting ideas come in mundane packaging.

Sherman Hill

"On Sherman Hill," oil on linen panel, 16x12

One of the places my sketch group goes is Sherman Hill, a turn-of-the-20th century area not far from the center of Des Moines. The neighborhood is dominated by big Victorian houses, some still serving one family, some broken into apartments. The paint jobs of many echo the styles and colors of the time they were built, so you see bright colors and sometimes unusual ones. 

Here, the autumn colors and slanting light were my primary interest. The area is well-named, hilly and filled with mature trees. This particular studio painting is a result of many watercolor studies and reference photos.  

The Red Umbrella

"The Red Umbrella," oil on panel, 8x10, private collection

This painting is a nocturne of a small side street in Rome. A shop's yellow light bathes the street and figure. Done in the studio from personal references and imagination. Sold long ago. 
 

The Patriot

"The Patriot," oil on panel, 16x20

This portrait was done in my studio from studies at a workshop with William Whitaker, The model, Les, was a WWII veteran and a B-24 "flying sergeant" pilot. 

Courtyard

A sketch of the courtyard of the Des Moines Art Center. The sculpture is "Man and Pegasus." To the left is the Pei Building (designed by I.M. Pei, who designed additions to the Louvre), and to the far right the Meier Building, designed by Richard Meyer (who did The Getty). It was still too early for trees to leaf out, and the weather was chilly.