Orchid

I was totally inspired by this purple orchid I saw while I was in the grocery store tonight.  I had to break out my macro lens and lights as soon as I got home.  Inspiration can strike lightning sometimes and usually leads to even more inspiration.

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

We spent the day Saturday with great friends in NYC. I always enjoy wandering the city with people who have not been there before. I get to see things in a different away and it always inspires me when I get a fresh perspective on the city. The photos above are details from one of my favorite sculptures in Battery Park called the immigrants. I play around with using HDR techniques with the bronze sculpture against a perfect blue sky and got some great results. I have decided to go back when I have more time on a warmer day and spend more time admiring this great work.

Sometimes seeing great art is what you need to get your creative juices flowing. Now it is time to head to the studio and paint for a while.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Some Last Minute Fall Photos From Skylands

I had postponed this mornings plans to take photos upstate because I needed to get caught up on rest, but could not sit still so took a ride to one of my favorite places to go with my camera, Skylands Botanical gardens in New Jersey. It was packed and there was almost no place to park and I felt a little lackluster (but still happy to be out in nature) about my photos. I have to say though after uploading them I am pretty happy with what I got and really glad I went out.

Sometimes you have to listen to your camera when it calls to you from the corner of the room!

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Ideas For Next Still Life

We were in Upstate NY this weekend for some time with family. During the day Saturday we went to a favorite Antiques place.... I found these great pewter pieces. They are old and a little beat up, but full of character. One of these setups will be a watercolor soon.

I have a back log of things I want to paint so it may be a couple of weeks before you see these pop up on the blog again. Daylight hours that are not consumed by work will be spent out with a camera capturing spring greens and adding to my Hudson Valley portfolio of images. So painting will be set aside for two hours a night after I get home. That will be fun!!

I mentioned the antique shop because they are a great source of inspiration for me a s painter. I get all kinds of ideas. So even if I only buy one or two things I usually end up with a bunch of ideas for new paintings.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Weekend

The lovely Wenderina and I are off to Cape Cod for the weekend to celebrate our twentieth anniversary! and to take a few fall photos if the weather cooperates. I don't know where the time has gone, but I am thankful for our wonderful life together.

I'll be back next week.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Where is your happy place?

sunset Cape Cod Bay - One of my happy places

Ok you are having one of those days.... You know the one.... You wake up and the water heater is dead and leaking in the basement, you get a ticket on the way to work because you were speeding to make up for the lost time from the water heater, when you get to your desk there are three people waiting for you for totally different things that you were unaware they were waiting for.... Then it happens all the noise is still there, but you have checked out and gone to your happy place. maybe just for a moment.... Maybe it is a defense mechanism to prevent your head from popping off of your body....

For me there are three happy places. My first is I am home on the couch, there is a fire crackling in the fireplace, I am reading and my beautiful Wenderina is by my side. Next Happy place I am with my favorite people in the world (including again the lovely Wenderina) we are enjoying cocktails and each others company while watching the sun sink away from the sky towards Plymouth, while Cape Cod Bay puts on a light show at sunset (I never get tired of that one) and I added this one to the list Sunday night while hiking in Harriman State Park. Hiking along a mountain trail with no sounds except the the soft crunch of pine needles at my feet and the sound of a brook splashing along happily beside me for miles. These three images can carry me through a lot of stuff.

Where are your happy places?

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Winter Art

I will be the first to admit that Autumn and Summer are my favorite and most productive outdoor art months. However this morning I was driving upstate and it was bone-chillingly cold. There was a great sunrise and just a hint of frost on the ground. I suddenly wanted my camera. I went back and found these two shots that were great results of getting out early on cold mornings, shooting and then editing the pictures in the comfort of my studio with a worm cup of coffee. Perhaps tomorrow morning I'll go take some shots. The take-away from this post is to make the most of the artistic opportunities the world presents to you. Everyday there is a chance to make great art.

Keep makin' art.

Carl

Art is Everywere

Hello fellow Artists,

Once again I have learned the lesson that You do not need to travel far to find subjects for your art. This morning I packed up my photo gear and headed to the state park planning to hit some of my favorite spots and see what I could find. I found roads closed, waterlilies not in bloom yet and too early around here for mountain laurel... Dejected I headed home. I decided to take my gear out into the yard as I noticed in late afternoon yesterday that the light hitting my wife's Rhododendrons was just beautiful. I did not expect anything this morning, but what did I find that the sun had just crept up high enough to back light the flowers and with the help of a three foot round reflector I was able to get this great shot.

The lesson is not to try to force your photography(or painting) Let it come to you. This does not mean not to plan an expedition and learn what will be where when if you as planning is a great part of getting the best images. I am just saying be open to what is around you when things do not go according to plan.

Keep makin' art!
Carl

Long Awaited Post Number 50

Hello Fellow Artists-

Well here it is post number 50 (YEAH). I have been off the blogosphere for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that! Work has been insanely busy and while I love Art and it nourishes my soul... it don't pay the mortgage if ya know what I mean. At least not yet. Someday I will take the plunge and watercolor and photography will be my retirement career. Hopefully in about 15 years when i am still young enough to enjoy the rigors of hiking to the perfect spot at some ungodly hour of the morning. I want to thank everyone who wanders in and everyone who is a regular reader... Your comments encourage me to keep at it and push ahead with my art. Thanks also to my wife W. Without her love and support nothing is possible!

Next post is the long awaited discussion on infrared B&W photography.

Peace,
Carl

Happy Mother's Day

Hello Fellow Artists:

Happy Mother's day to all you Mom's out there! May have a great day with your families and loved ones.

Today Our little friend the Mountain Blue bird makes another appearance. I first sketched him in my sketchbook a few weeks ago after seeing a great photo of him on "a Focus in the Wild" (one of my favorite blogs.. You should check it out) Today's version is a little more polished. My wife asked me to make a card for her mom with the bluebird on it. I think it turned out rather nice. He's a noble little bird.

This is one of my favorite things to do when I don't know what to paint is paint greeting cards. Strathmore sells blank cards and envelopes on heavy watercolor paper. They are 5x7 in size the paintings goe quickly. One way to make them look sharp is to use painters tape and mask out a 1/4 " white boarder on the cards. They make great gifts that are frame-able in and of them selves. Give it a try! I like to either do watercolors or ink and wash on the cards. They are great for a quick half hour project and give you the wonderful satisfaction of putting brush to paper. I recommend it as painting therapy and a way to jump start yourself if you have not painted in a bit. It is also a great project to do with your nieces and nephews as a project for fun or on a rainy day!

Happy Painting,

Carl

All in the Family

When I started this blog I mentioned I come from a family of artistic people. My Uncle Steven works in Pastel. One of his pieces, entitled River Walk was accepted in the show celebrating the centennial of Zion National Park. The Zion National Park centennial exhibit will be on view at the St. George Art Museum from August 23, 2008 to January 24, 2009. The juried show will travel after that.
Congratulations to my Uncle Ugghhh (his nick name from when I was a kid). This is a beautiful painting!

For more information about this show go to http://sgcity.org/artmuseum/zion_gallery.php

Painterly Effects in Photoshop

I normally tend to keep my photos separate from my paintings. but have been enjoying the work of my fellow bloggers out there who make paintings of their photos with programs like photoshop. One site that has been inspiring me is Janice Thomson's Beyond the Mind's Eye . So from time to time I'll post the results of my dabblings into this area that lies between my two pursuits of photography / watercolor. Let me know what you think. Today's image is the dogwood I photographed last week.

Keep on being artistic!

PS - topic of next post... What to do with that old 35mm camera?

Mountain Blue Bird

Hello Fellow Artists:

I am quite happy this week to have put aside my agonizing over what photos to put in my portfolio for the CCA review in May and found myself working on my painting again.

My thanks this week to Stacey Huston and her EXCELLENT blog A"focus" in the wild. I was inspired by one of the images on Stacey's site and she was kind enough to allow me to take a stab at painting it. The photo she took was of a lone Mountain Blue Bird on a branch on a frigid morning.

Here is my first attempt at it in my sketch book. It is not quite as good as Stacey's photo, but it has a charming quality of its own. I will paint another one this week and see f I can get it just right. If you want to see the original photo you'll just have to wander over to A "focus" in the wild.

Keep on Making Art!

Carl

An Embarrassment of Artistic Riches

As an Artist [Painter and Photographer] I thank my lucky stars everyday for where I live and was born. Growing up in the Hudson Valley and close to the Catskill Mountains, I have been surrounded by natural beauty my entire life. Whether it is the wild natural beauty of the Hudson and the Catskills that drew Thomas Cole, Frederick Church and the other Hudson River School Painters here in the 1800's or the current crop of painters and photographers working today there is so much to draw inspiration from. Every trail I Hike and park I visit reveals vistas that are new for me to explore as well as sites made famous by those before me.

Two of the outright masters of photography capturing the beauty of this region are Nick Zungoli and Hardie Truesdale. Both have books about the region that are just amazing and inspire me to get out and shoot and paint as often as possible. Thank you both for the beauty you have been able to capture. I don't know Mr Truesdale personally, but I have taken a workshop with Nick Zungoli on nature photography and the digital work flow and find him to be an excellent teacher and amazing photographer. I will take more workshops with him in the future. Both are masters of their medium and have produced images that have inspired me and taken my breath away for years. I highly reccomend you looking for their books and photos.

Keep painting [and taking photographs]

Carl

Sunday - Painting - the Pitfalls

Hello Fellow Painters (and Photographers)

You have heard me grumble here about being uninspired or not having time to paint (Ad Nauseum). On further reflection that is not the reason... After all I have time to complain about not painting right?? So what is it then? I love to paint and it inspires me. So what gets in my way?

Well I searched the dark corners of my artistic soul... Don't worry friends I am not about to slice my ear of for art... or any reason. What I found is I put too much pressure on myself to make a masterpiece in the 60 minutes I have given myself to paint this week. I really have to get over myself. The best painters in the world fail as often as they succeed. So why should I feel driven to create a finished masterpiece every time I pick up a brush? Who knows. I do know it can be crippling. Thank goodness I don't take this approach to the rest of my life or I'd never get anything done. So what did I do you ask??

I changed (Not exactly lowered) my expectations. First I reminded myself that I started painting because it is fun and I enjoy it. Next I realized I am painting for me and if I need to make a messy, muddy, wreck of painting because my mind is processing stuff from other areas of my life and I cant commit 100% of my focus to painting that is my prerogative. Painting makes me feel good so I should do it just for the sake of doing it. Art as therapy is a fine thing and not to be discounted.

Having said all that I still want my painting time to be productive. After all if it is not I could be working on my blogs, cooking, brewing etc etc. So what do i do? Well.... I give myself a break and paint a subject I know well and have had success with before. How do i keep this fresh you ask? Good question. I always find a I need thank you cards for plenty of reasons so I paint thank yous. Strathmore makes a line of watercolor cards and envelopes in a 5x7 size. This gives me a chance to knock out several in an hour. It keeps my supply of thank yous stocked and gives me a chance to explore a familiar subject in different ways. This is great! I get the satisfaction of painting, my time is not "wasted"

The examples at left are of Highland Light on Cape Cod. It is one of my favorite subjects. Now I have painted. I feel good about what I did and I have an idea about how to go about painting it the next time I am ready to work on a larger version of it.

What are your little tricks to keep you painting and enjoying what you are doing?

Keep Painting,

Carl

Inspiration to Paint

Hello Fellow Artists:

OK. I am on my way into the studio to paint. What am I painting you ask? I am not sure yet, but I was inspired the other day. I went to the National Gallery of Art and saw the Turner exhibit. First of all catch it before it closes this month if you have the chance. I was inspired by the draftsmanship and rendering of detail in the early work and the explorations of color in his later years. Turner took landscape painting and elevated it to a grand form. His influence on the Hudson River School painters is undeniable. Enjoy this painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by Turner while I go find the bottom of my drafting table and start to paint.

Lesson for today... When you need inspiration to spark your own work. Go to a museum and look at art created by others. It never fails to get me ready to start painting after some time away from the brushes.

Happy Painting

Creative Juices

Hello Again Artists...


What gets your creative juices flowing? For me it is seeing a scene in nature that strikes me. That is why I never leave the house without my camera bag... but the real world gets in the way doesn't it? Seeing a great scene and saying "I'd love to paint that" doesn't mean you have time to stop and photograph it when you are heading to work and a re dangerously close to missing your first meeting of the day. Then one day you are so busy... the creative spark takes a vacation and the idea of painting seems to take way too much energy... What then?



Well gentle reader then I turn to you all for inspiration. I read blogs about painting or visit one of the many great daily painters blogs. Reading about other people going thru the same thing or finding a way to tune out the outside noise and finding time to paint gives me hope! So keep reading and writing those art blogs... and if you have been lurking here, but not writing anything just send me a reply with a link to your site or blog. I'd love to see it and will mention the ones I find here. While art is a singular and sometimes lonely pursuit it also feeds off of the fire and inspiration of other artists.



I also have shelves full of books on watercolor instruction. Some are good and some are bad, but they all have something I can use. Maybe it shows a great color combo i may not have tried or has an inspiring image I might try to make my own version of (as a warm up exercise). So what is my favorite book on Watercolor? It is the one pictured here. the "Basic Watercolor Answer Book" by Catherine Anderson. Her glazing techniques are wonderful and really glow. I really enjoy Catherine's paintings. I do not always paint in her glazing style, but I turn to the book often for humor and inspiration. I am always mindful of keeping my colors clean and enjoying the act of painting. Thank You Catherine. Your book has gotten me out of a couple of painting slumps!

Keep Painting!