Salmagundi Spring Auction

Juat got word that this new oil will be part of the Salmagundi Club Members Auctions this spring. The club. The works for sale will be on view at the club (47 5th Ave, NYC) March 18-April 4, with auctions in person and online March 27 and April 3. 

"Wading," oil on panel, 9x12

Before bidding you'll be able to review the whole show and place bids online at salmagundi.org. 

https://salmagundi.org/2025-scny-spring-auctions/

Changing Light

"Whiterock Morning," oil on panel, 9x12

One of the things we commonly read is that the Impressionists--mostly Monet--only worked on each painting for a few hours a day because the light changed too much. That's certainly true for me as well. Most times when I've worked outdoors I find that completion of a standard-sized 9x12 painting takes up to 4-5 hours but the light changes so much that I usually come back for a second look. 

"Whiterock Afternoon," oil on panel, 9x12

That's precisely what happened with these paintings from my time at Whiterock Conservancy, a couple of years ago. In each case I spent two sessions trying to capture the light on a favored vista. The first, a morning work, is based on having the low morning light cast on the hill beyond a small river. The light is warm and full, making the green hill look yellow-green and highlighting the wildflowers on the river bank in the foreground. 

In contrast, the afternoon painting was made with sunlight streaming left background to right foreground, giving the hill and wildflowers a completely different appearance. The foliage in the foreground is slightly darker because of the shifted light, and only certain clumps of flowers catch the changed angle and intensity. 

Retrospectively I wish I had taken time to do several more views of this or another motif to specifically see how the light intensity and angle alter physical appearance.

Snowy

"Up North," watercolor on paper.

These past days have been frigid here in Iowa, with below zero lows and deep snow. It made me think of this watercolor from a winter past. 

Done during my early years of watercolor painting, this work remains a favorite of mine.
 

Sledding, Snow and Sketching

"Sledding at Waveland," wc/ink on paper

Last week, just before the polar vortex brought a bitter cold blast, we had perhaps 7 to 9 inches of snow, our largest accumulation this year. It was enough to shut down schools and businesses for a day or so. 

The sketch group, undeterred, met and went looking for someplace outdoors. One of the oldest city golf courses opens on snow days for cross country skiers and sledding down it's prodigious slopes. We went out to see if anyone was there and discovered dozens of sledders in small groups and family units, but the cold was too much to sit outside. Instead I hiked a short distance to a better vantage point, then quickly did a rough graphite drawing, opting to retreat to my car to add watercolor. After I splashed in colors I accented certain spots with waterproof ink, then went back with a bit more color.
 

Raccoon Rocks

"Raccoon Rocks," casein on bristol, 11x14

A few years ago I experimented with casein paint both for sketching and for studio works. This casein painting is a view of the Raccoon River in Waterworks Park, about a mile from my home studio. I did this from sketches and reference photos, trying hard to understand the properties of casein. The paint is opaque, goes down smoothly, and is easily thinned with water. But once casein dries it's nearly bullet-proof. If you don't believe that, remember how hard it is to clean dried milk from a glass that's been standing for a day or two. The colors available comprise a full range of cool and warm hues, too.

 

Casein Woods

"Studio View," casein, ~12x5

This small sketch was made using mixed media in the sense that the underpainting was done using a violet acrylic wash and the scene itself rendered using casein paint. As mentioned in past postings, casein is made using milk solids The resulting paint is water-soluble, dries rapidly and makes a permanent dry layer. 

This particular small sketch was made in a mixed medium way--that is, a violet acrylic wash followed by a casein overpainting. Monet did something similar in his oil by using a violet underpainting (the complement of yellow) in his plein air works. The limited palette was an interest as well. The view is the woods outside my home studio in late spring a few years ago.
 

Regret

"Regret," oil on unprepped panel, 20x16 (approx), private collection.

This painting, "Regret," is something of a mystery. That is, I recall it well and remember making it, but details and images (with the exception of this one) are scanty in my records. It was sold the first time I displayed it, during an arts festival in Iowa. 

The painting is loosely based on an image I saw online but simplified and painted quickly with some areas of the underlying unprepped support remaining completely untouched. 

 

Windows

"Windows," wc/ink ~8x10

This watercolor sketch of a large display window enclosing several stained glass windows was an interesting subject at West End Salvage last weekend. Stained glass with light behind it is challenging but unless one's intent is a detailed realist work, approximation serves well enough.