Once again I will be painting at Lion's Park in Niskayuna, NY for a week along the Mohawk River in the little train station.  I am looking forward to this mini adventure and have the perfect painting in mind. This will be my third year during the same time and month during the last week in May. Come visit and take in the views. Hours will be posted for the week.  I will be sure to post my painting progress and  be sure to come look at the art work by other fellow artists throughout the summer. 

​As an oil landscape artist who recreates the language and truth of nature, I have a close kinship to representing the concept of water, sky, and foliage in variant states of matter.  For instance, as I look at an austere November sky or the sedimentary progression of shale bedrock, I see the elements of nature in various stages of fall transition.
 
In image 1, it was important to translate an impending wintry cast of afternoon light by using tints of cool hues to show far off distance. In image 2, the depiction of morning light required combining soft mixing white with a cadmium yellow hue to evoke radiant warmth.  In image 1, I applied a tissue and Q-tip rather than a brush to soften the edges in the clouds and to create streaks of light.  As I used these techniques, I was mindful on how the direction of light may travel over water or grassy area.
 
Next, the movement and the behavior of water or grassy dune had its own structure.  In image 1, I used cross hatching that gave way to unexpected hidden images over the underpainting. In image 2, I focused on the variation within a cascading water scene. This meant a thicker paint application for faster water and a thinner consistency for dissipating water. In both compositions, I was keenly aware of keeping the flow and momentum alive.
 
Overall, these two selections represent the concept of nature’s transitional elements – and how they interplay.