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The landscape of Western Pennsylvania is a constant inspiration
to me. Many of these works were done "en plein air",
although trying to catch the right place at the right time with
weather conditions and daily work can be a real trick, so a fair
number were done from photographs. I am so influenced by the
changing seasons that I saw fit to arrange the artwork on this
page in order of seasonal subject or influence.
I work most often in
pastel, especially in the field, although I occasionally work
in watercolor from photographs. In addition, I work in pencil
and charcoal, working in extreme detail when at home with photographs,
and just doing quick "daily sketches".
Please click the links or browse to the bottom of the page for
these.
For art inspired by winter,
visit "WinterWhite",
my virtual show featuring small field sketches of winter views.
Dusk in the Woods
click on
the image for large version
MEDIUM: pastel, IMAGE SIZE: 32" x 34",
February 2006
Original: $2,000; Giclee prints: full size-$300, half size-$150 (ask about framing)
A painting
I've had in mind for a couple of years, depicting a scene near
me on conservation land in the woods near Robinson Run in Collier
Township, "Dusk in the Woods" can't be displayed adequately
on the computer. It's roughly 36" x 30", and the subtleties
of color are difficult to capture. It's that last moment of dusk
before the human eye loses its ability to focus, that moment
of intense blue that happens only between the atumnal and vernal
equinoxes. The sun has nearly set behind the trees, and the woods
will be completely still. I had been waiting for snow for two
years so that I could at least begin this en plein air, but no
luck this winter or last, and the painting could wait no longer.
Into the Woods
MEDIUM: Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 10" x 7";
1999, Sold This
is a place I visited to hike and explore called Frankfort Springs,
near Imperial, PA. It had once been a popular mineral springs
which people visited for health reasons, but all that is left
is the old spring house, all overgrown with small trees. It's
a protected place, and the site of many wildflower and birding
hikes. The brilliant spring sunlight on the grassy path leading
farther into the woods stayed in my mind long after I had visited
that magical spot, silent except for the whispering leaves and
multitude of birds. Click here or on
the artwork for an enlarged view of the artwork.
Summer Field
MEDIUM: Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 12"
x 9.5"; 1998, $300.00 matted and framed A quick little en plein air sketch
in the middle of a hot afternoon, I wanted to capture the heat
of early summer and the movement of a summer afternoon breeze,
complete with the sun moving across the field, keeping the shapes
and colors loose, avoiding the strictness of detail. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image. I
am unduly inspired by fields of grass. Click
here for a poem entitled "Field of Grass".
High Noon
MEDIUM:
Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 7" x 17"; 1996, sold The tall grasses sporting nearly-ripe
seed heads silhouetted against the depth of shadow in the trees
at the time when the sun is directly overhead was just breathtaking.
The puffy white clouds were so perfect, they almost looked fake.
What could any artist do? Those lustrous amber grasses demanded
the definition of detail. Click here
or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Color Study: Barn
MEDIUM:
Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 12" x 12"; 1998, $200.00 matted
and framed An en
plein air sketch in the early evening of a summer day, I wanted
to capture that moment when the shadows begin to color with the
angle of the sun. I watched as the shadow on the white barn went
from a very plain, realistic kind of gray to bluish to purple,
and the white glare on the trees changed to a warmer, lime and
gold tone, then sketched as quickly as I could. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
The Apple Trees on
a Windy Day
MEDIUM: Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 18"
x 22"; 1994, $350.00 matted and framed Another breezy summer day with fast-moving
clouds and shadows, the apple trees took center stage in the
middle of a field of ripening grass. I endeavored to capture
the movement of the leaves and grasses in the capricious breeze
with sketchy, impatient lines. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Cloud Study
MEDIUM: Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 5"
x 7"; 2000, $200.00 matted and framed Instead of sitting and watching the
clouds build and change and keeping the details in mind to use
in another work, I decided to draw the clouds themselves en plein
air, capturing the glare on the top edge of this one cloud as
quickly as I could before it changed shape and position. Click here or on the artwork for an enlarged
view of the image. And because I've studied so many clouds,
I was moved to write a poem about them entitled, of all things,
"Clouds".
The Last Bale
MEDIUM:
Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 16" x 9"; 1996, $400.00 matted
and framed This
piece was intended to be a bright, warm rendering of an autumn
field, except that by the time I got my easel set up a pretty
heavy cloud cover had moved in and showed no signs of leaving
too soon. I decided to make the best of the time I had set aside
to draw en plein air. There's something touching about a quietly
rustling field in the dim light of that heavy overcast, the leaves
mostly gone, no sounds of birds or bugs, peaceful yet sad, waiting
for the finality of winter. That last bale left behind just did
it for me, and I was glad to have captured this moment of quietude
and rest. Click here or on the artwork
for an enlarged view of the image.
Harvest of Color
MEDIUM: Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 21"
x 13"; 1996, $500.00 matted and framed This scene on a back road near my house
is just so colorful every autumn, and the sunlight was perfect
to enhance the leaves and grasses as well as the goldenrod and
asters in the field. Those deep and definite shadows on the road
and wispy clouds in the faded blue sky define a crisp and sparkling
autumn afternoon. Luckily for me, the weather obliged when I
had the time to spend a few hours in the field. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Deserted Cottages
MEDIUM:
Pastel; IMAGE SIZE: 17" x 8.5"; 1999, $400.00 matted
and framed Drawn
en plein air in a spot near North East, PA, on Lake Erie, this
had once been a campsite, but the lakeside cottages were boarded
up and much of the place was overgrown. Still, the peaceful spot
with only the sounds of rustling leaves, waves and shorebirds
was entrancing. Click here or on the artwork
for an enlarged view of the image.
Morning Snow I and
II
MEDIUM: Pastel;
IMAGE SIZE: 8" x 8"; 1998, $350.00 matted and framed,
$600.00 both
We only get heavy
snows every few winters here in Western Pennsylvania, so being
able to revel in the sparkling beauty of a winter morning after
a heavy snowfall provided much inspiration. These two scenes
are actually in my suburban backyard. I was fascinated at the
multitude of colors in the early morning sunlight as it reflected
on the snow, and in the colors in the shadows. Click here or
on the artwork for an enlarged view of Morning
Snow I and Morning Snow II.
For more art inspired by winter, visit
"WinterWhite" my show featuring small field sketches
of winter views.
Tracings
MEDIUM: Watercolor; IMAGE SIZE: 4"
x 6"; 2000, $150.00 matted and framed A view out of my back door in winter,
I am always fascinated at how the bare branches of the trees
silhouetted against the eastern sky can turn into many visual
effects. Click here or on the artwork
for an enlarged view of the image.
The Fallen Branch
MEDIUM:
Watercolor; IMAGE SIZE: 4" x 6"; 2000, $150.00 matted
and framed We had
enough snow this past winter to cover the grass with a nice smooth
blanket. The morning sun cast long, rambling shadows on the snow
in my backyard, and that branch that had fallen last summer provided
plenty of inspiration for me as well as a perch for many birds
and the local squirrels. The next two pieces were from the same
series of days as well, when the shadows reached across the yard.Unfortunately,
these pieces were difficult to scan and so the colors are a little
inaccurate. Click here or on the artwork
for an enlarged view of the image.
Colorful Shadows
MEDIUM: Watercolor; IMAGE SIZE: 6"
x 3"; 2000, $125.00 matted and framed My scan doesn't capture the colors
I saw in the snow and shadowspurple, blue, red, green in
the tree shadows and yellow, green and pink in the snow. The
more I looked at it, the more colors there were! Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Gentle Shadows
MEDIUM:
Watercolor; IMAGE SIZE: 5" x 6"; 2000, $125.00 matted
and framed As the
sun moved over the sky and the shadows shortened, a slight hazy
cloud cover moved in and the shadows grew less defined and less
colorful, but began to resemble gentle ripples, like water in
a pool. Click here or on the artwork
for an enlarged view of the image.
For art inspired by winter,
visit "WinterWhite",
my show featuring small field sketches of winter views.
WORKS
IN PENCIL
Acid Rain
MEDIUM:
Pencil on paper; IMAGE SIZE: 16" x 12"; 1993, $300.00
matted and framed This
piece is called "Acid Rain" because it illustrates
the effects of such on the higher elevations along the Appalachian
Trail in Eastern Pennsylvania. It looked as if a fire had moved
through, leaving bare trunks and bent and broken trees behind.
I wanted to capture the stark feeling of desolation in one small
scene. Click here or on the artwork for
an enlarged view of the image.
To the Library
MEDIUM: Pencil on board; IMAGE SIZE:
20" x 16"; 1993, Sold In exploring the capabilities of pencil on board,
I rendered this piece in all-out detail, drawing almost each
leaf in the late-afternoon autumn sunlight. The two figures are
little girls heading for Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie,
PA, where I live, and they're headed there after school. At this
level of detail (which, unfortunately, my scan does not show),
this piece took me about a year, off and on, to complete. Click here or on the artwork for an enlarged
view of the image.
DAILY
SKETCHES
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice
It works the same for artists, although it might not seem like
much to ask to fit in just a few minutes of artwork
every day. If Im not actively working on a piece, I will
often go for days and not touch a medium to paper. This between
time is not the time for performance, but for practiceto
experiment with new media, to work with a different subject,
and just to loosen up.
I do this by carrying a little 5 x 8 sketchbook plus
various pens and pencils whenever I walk or ride my bike. The
size is easy to carry and limits me to a small area for rendering,
therefore precluding me starting on a masterpiece when Im
freezing my feet in the snow in the woods. I customarily work
in colorin pastel or watercolorand I come to rely
on their soft qualities and the color itself. The black and white
media makes me use a different part of my brain.
In addition, I work largely
from photographs for my portraits and even landscapes, and I
have the time to study the image for days or weeks before I decide
which details are most important andhow to deal with certain
other details, and those details in the photograph dont
move. This little drawing session affords me the opportunity
to draw from lifeand forces me to make moment-by-moment decisions
about what I see, and deal with movement and changes in light
(not to mention the weather), thereby strengthening my visual
process.
And even though these are just little practice sessions, theres
a special one now and then.
The Path of the Elves
MEDIUM:
Charcoal pencil; IMAGE SIZE: 5" x 8"; 1999, sold These trees stand on the ground of
the Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, PA, most of them
planted about the time the library was built in 1898. They seemed
to describe a little pathway around the outside edge of the grounds,
and who better to walk there but the elves? Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Beechwood Farms Pond
MEDIUM:
Charcoal pencil; IMAGE SIZE: 8" x 5"; 1999, $150.00
matted and framed Beechwood
Farms is a local nature reserve known, housing the offices of
the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. The grounds are
open for hiking, and this little pond with reflections of dried
cattails lent itself to a quick sketch. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Light Woods
MEDIUM: Pen and ink; IMAGE SIZE: 8"
x 5"; 2000, sold Oh,
the stark deliberation of bare tree trunks in the snow...it's
fascinating that the woods, so complicated with saplings and
underbrush in the spring, summer and fall, can be reduced to
a simplicity of line in winter snowfall. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
The Sentinel
MEDIUM:
Charcoal pencil; IMAGE SIZE: 5" x 8"; 1999, sold One lone tree catching the last of
winter's daylight, clinging to the side of a hill caught my eye.
But even though alone on the hill, the roots firnly held the
ground, spread like fingers, and the tree was straight, unbent
by wind or the rigors of holding itself on a hill. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
The Sparrows in the
Spruce
MEDIUM: Charcoal; IMAGE SIZE: 5"
x 8"; 2000, Sold I
was snowed in one day, but determined to do at least a little
sketch. I keep several feeders around my house, and this old
spruce is the waiting room for sparrows in line for the feeder
outside my front window. It's a familiar scene, just outside
of my studio, in direct view when I look up from my computer.
Click here or on the artwork for an enlarged
view of the image.
Tree Study
MEDIUM:
Pencil; IMAGE SIZE: 4" x 6"; 2000, sold Rained in another day, I decided to
render the tree branch that hangs closest to the side window
in my studio. It was most interesting that day because the rain
enhanced the shapes of the branches and created highlights where
there would not normally have been any. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
Ross Colonial Cemetery
MEDIUM:
Pencil; IMAGE SIZE: 6" x 4"; 2000, sold This cemetery in Carnegie, PA, atop
a hill which was a longtime lookout over the Chartiers Valley
for both Native Americans and early settlers, dates back to at
least the Revolutionary War. The sunlight is brilliant up there,
and stark against the weathered grave markers. Click
here or on the artwork for an enlarged view of the image.
For art inspired by winter,
visit "WinterWhite",
my show featuring small field sketches of winter views.
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