One-Day, Painting/Drawing Give-Away for History Meets the Arts

This past Saturday I had my gallery -- Civil War Fine Art in Gettysburg, PA -- open from 10 until 8, and invited gallery visitors to watch and ask questions as I developed a small (6" x 9") watercolor and colored pencil painting on PastelMat, as well as enter their names in a drawing to win this composition at the end of the day. At 7 pm, I drew the name of a couple from Harrisburg, and will be shipping the finished, matted piece to them today.

The image is of the Stone House, a prominent landmark on the Manassas National Battlefield in Virginia. As part of my Civil War 150 Project, I decided that each year I do this One-Day painting/drawing event, I'll feature a landmark from a major battle of that anniversary year. Since 2011 is the 150th anniversary for the year 1861, and since the First Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run) was a significant event in that year, I chose this site to depict for this event. For reference for this piece, I used a black-and-white 1861 photograph of the house and edited out several of the people, as well as added in the color using modern photographs for reference. I hope the couple who recieves this painting will be pleased!

Days 4 and 5, Gettysburg Plein Air Paint-Out at the Fringe Festival

It's been a busy but productive week! On Monday, June 13, I painted in the morning with Dianne Lorden, Sue Gray and Jonathon Frazier at the Rose Farm off Emmittsburg Rd on the Gettysburg battlefield. Then in the afternoon I painted out at Hauser Winery in Arendstville on a perfectly glorious (albeit a little windy) day.

Tuesday, June 14, found me in the company of Claire Carnell, Linda Young, Paul Gallo and Sue Gray in the Devil's Den/Slaughter Pen area of the battlefield.

Today I was supposed to have painted at Meade's headquarters (Leister farmhouse) on the battlefield, but it was persistently raining/drizzling and not terribly conducive to toting an art set-up a fair distance, as there's no really close parking area to that farm. So I opted to spend my time preparing for this evening's Edible Art Tour, the kick-off to History Meets the Arts, where I'll be "stationed" at Lincoln Into Art (next door to my own gallery) with artist/owner Wendy Allen, gallery director Elaine Henderson, and photographer Dan Mangan. This is a ticketed event which runs from 5 - 9, and is a part of the Gettysburg Festival. Tomorrow and Saturday I'll have my own gallery open from 10 am until 8 pm, where I'll be focusing on my personal "Civil War 150 Project". Looking forward to it and hope you'll come out to visit!

Day 3, Plein Air Paint-Out at the Gettysburg Fringe Festival

Sunday I painted at the absolutely indescribably-gorgeous Beech Springs Farm in Orrtanna, with painting buddies Claire Carnell and Linda Young. We had a brief interruption for a pretty serious thunderstorm, but fortunately we were able to take cover in the barn on the property. The storm passed quickly and I was able to complete this watercolor and ink sketch in the remaining time. A beautiful day (after the storm, anyway), great company and idyllic surroundings. Guess you couldn't ask for more!

Day 2, Gettysburg Festival/Fringe Festival

I didn't participate in the Paint-Out yesterday, due to needing to open my gallery on a Saturday. But I did attend the Artists' Reception at the BarnArt 2011 exhibit at the GAR hall, where I learned that I'd won First Prize for my entry, Summer Sunset, McPherson Farm, seen above! This small (approx. 6" x 8") painting is done on PastelMat -- a sanded pastel paper that has a very fine grit, feeling almost like velour -- using several underneath washes of watercolor pencil and finished with layers of dry colored pencil for detail and enhancement. All in all, I've had a very exciting start to the Festival!

Today I'll open the gallery at around noon but then will close to join fellow painters Claire Carnell and Linda Young at Beech Springs Farm in Orrtanna, PA, at the Old-Fashioned Sunday Supper paint-out. After my return I'll reopen the gallery, and hopefully this evening or tomorrow morning I'll have a new piece or two to post.

Day 1, Plein Air Paint-Out at the Gettysburg Fringe Festival PLUS More Good News!

Yesterday (Friday, June 10) was a very productive art day for me! In the morning I set up at the Eisenhower Farm to paint. Turns out I was the only artist at that location, so it was very quiet, but I managed to find a nice spot in the shade a little distance behind the house and created this watercolor and ink sketch of the house and a portion of the barn.

In the afternoon I attended a free workshop at the Gettysburg Railroad Station hosted by Chroma, a manufacturer of "interactive" acrylics -- a product I had not been familiar with -- entitled Luminous Landscapes. It was interesting and though I don't generally work in acrylics I did create a small ground for use as the basis for a future landscape, based on the techniques and using the materials Jennifer VonnStein provided. If I find a vista that will lend itself to this base, later this week during the Paint-Out, I'll probably add Prismacolor ArtStix to see what effect that creates.

After the workshop Mary Beth Brath, Jackie Mickler and myself headed up to the square to do some more plein air work, with the news that a local television station would be arriving at 4 to do a short interview for Festival plublicity. They did indeed arrive at 4 but went off to interview a musical group first, and as I needed to be at the opening reception for the Adams County Arts Council Juried Exhibition shortly after 5, I just couldn't stay any longer and took my leave. Still, I did get most of the way through another watercolor and ink sketch which I'll hopefully finish today and post soon.

Then: at the opening reception for the ACAC Juried Exhibition, I was awarded second prize for a piece I've posted several times this year, Transformation/Liberation -- the second in my Sarah Emma Edmonds series! I was stunned and excited to have received this honor. Quite a day!