I began a painting of the Taylor Sawmill in Derry NH. This is a water powered, vertical sawmill and operates two Saturdays a month when the water level is high enough. I began with a very smooth canvas and a monochrome painting of Burnt Sienna to work out the composition.
I have the sky, trees and dam roughed in; and I’m now making some structural corrections as I go along. This is one of those paintings that is going well right from the beginning. Stay tuned!
The recent show at Mann’s Apple Orchard on June 12th and 13th went well. This was the first time the Art Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley (AIG) has held a show in this venue. Saturday was warm and muggy, but that didn’t stop the scores of attendees.
I set up on the front porch, adjacent to the tent that held just over 100 art works from the AIG artists. I continued working on a new painting of a Red-winged Blackbird I photographed along the Pow-Wow River in Kingston, NH. This painting is now 75% complete.
There was a steady flow of patrons stopping by to chat, ask questions and admire all of the terrific art work shown by these talented artists. I had four paintings in various stages of progress, and was able to show folks all of the steps, from canvas preparation to finished painting, using the “story boards” with progressive photos of the work.
I won a third place ribbon for September Beets and received many wonderful comments about the painting Apples in Sunshine from the visitors. Jim Collins painted a pair of swans and won Best in Show and the Popular Vote for his beautiful work. Congratulations, Jim.
Sunday was cool and damp with a slightly smaller attendance. The folks at Mann’s Apple Orchard provided a great venue, and were extremely helpful with the arrangements and support for the first Art in the Orchard show. Thanks to all for coming to the show.
I began another painting Sunday evening. A family in the neighborhood sells fresh eggs, and they were kind enough to let me take photographs of the chickens. I had been thinking about this painting for a while, and all I needed were photos of the birds. This is the first step in the process. As always, I begin the under-painting with a complementary color.
I’ll post updates as this painting progresses. Oh, the eggs were wonderful! Stay tuned.
Fine Art by Don Whittemore 