"The Moods of Nature" in Stowe, Vermont

This weekend I have a show opening at Galleria Fine Arte' in Stowe, Vermont.



I've been working for weeks selecting and finishing paintings for this show. 
Dusk 11x14 oil

I looked through my plein air work and chose ones that fit the theme of the show.
Afterglow 11x14 oil

I added finishing touches to some of them, while others were ready to varnish.

Moonrise 16x8 oil

I wanted to show a variety of seasons and landscapes.

After the Snow 12x16 oil

 I noticed a lot of water images in this group of paintings .

Red Sky 8x16 oil

I painted some of them along the Maine seacoast and others in the mountains of New Hampshire.
Reflection 24x24 oil

One was painted in a meadow very close to where I live.
Winter Walk 12x16 oil

Another on a deep ocean bay just a few towns away.
Safe Haven 28x38 oil 

I also noticed that I really like capturing reflections...and moods. Twilight is becoming a favorite time for me to paint.  
Twilight 11x14 oil

I've never been a big fan of painting buildings. I noticed at night they change into something else. Their boxy shapes merge into the landscape and their lit windows are beacons. Their reflections transport them into another world.

Cabin Glow 8x10 oil

It is this other world that I am interested in.   

Reflection Study 11x14 oil

This desire to paint nocturnes arises from a childhood memory.  I was six years old the first summer I went cat fishing at night.  It was magical being out in a row boat on a pond in the dark. The stars twinkled on the surface of the water.  Farm lights glowed in the distance. It was only when you hooked a fish and hauled it up in the beam of the flashlight did you remember that you were floating on deep water. 

Quiet Cove 8x10 oil

“Day and Night: The Moods of Nature,” a collection of new paintings of peaceful, luminous New England landscapes, by Mary Byrom , opens on Friday, Dec. 9, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Galleria Fine Arte, 6 Sunset St., Stowe. 

Food for the Palette

I've discovered that painting is an endurance sport, especially if I'm outdoors painting for long lengths of time.  I notice that if I make good choices and eat enough food I'm fine no matter how long I'm out there.  

I change what I eat according to the season. We are having our first snowfall in Maine as I write this. The really cold weather hasn't arrived for real... yet. 

Back Road Field Study 8x16 watercolor

This morning I changed my breakfast to my cold weather menu.  I had a huge cup of steaming hot decaf coffee and a slice of baked oatmeal. Yum !  It's the best stuff ever!  I'm hooked!

I'm trying it out as my new cold weather breakfast. I can have it packed and ready when I have to dash out early in the morning to paint.  

Ogunquit River Field Study 8x16 watercolor

This week I'm doing some big chunks of studio time in-between my plein air trips. 

Carvers Harbor Field Study 8x16 watercolor

 Vermont Pasture Field Study 8x16 watercolor

I'm finishing up some paintings I started outdoors and beginning some new larger paintings from field studies.

My wonderful husband Marcus was home today and fixed lunch for me! I eat the same thing almost every day and never get tired of it. 

My field sketches are so important when I am painting in the studio. I paint large paintings en plein air finishing them on location and sometimes in the studio.

I also paint large paintings completely in the studio using my field studies as the basis for the paintings.

Clouds Moving Out Field Study 11x14 watercolor

For years I was only a studio painter, then I was only a plein air painter. Now I do both. The two have merged and I am really focusing on this development.

Lobster boats in N'oreaster 8x16 watercolor

I have a super lovely studio. It's all bright and airy. In the summer it's cool and shady. It is also warm and toasty in cold weather. On sunny winter days it fills with light. 

I travel a lot in warmer months to paint on location so I don't often get to spend much time in my studio.  In winter I usually paint closer to home so I can work on large paintings in the studio.  

Winter Marsh Field Study 9x12 oil

I'm coordinating my winter indoor/outdoor schedule so I get enough fresh air and studio  time every week...I'm looking for that nice balance.

Marsh Evening Field Study 11x14 oil

I notice I burn a lot of fuel when I'm painting outdoors in the cold. And I notice that I have to eat hot food at the beginning of the day and the end of the day to feel right.  If I eat cold food for breakfast or a salad for dinner I get chilly.  

I keep my studio temperature in the 50's.  If it is too warm I become overheated while painting.  I'm always moving and walking around when I'm at the easel.  It's a habit. When I'm outdoors I walk away from the easel to get a view of the painting from a distance.  I do the same thing indoors...I like staying in motion.

Moon Night Field Study 8x16 oil 

PAINT EAT SLEEP

Short Days, Long Nights

I painted outdoors for 5 years. I did not like painting in a studio once I painted en plein air. I knew I'd have to go back inside one day... so in preparation for that day I built a new studio. 

It is painted off white(including the floor) and has banks of 5,000 lumen lights overhead with a mixture of color balanced spot lighting.  These past few weeks I've been in the studio painting...I''m painting large paintings from sketches and field studies; both water color and oil .

I have a practice of doing sketches, watercolors and oils on location. 

Some are very rough.

I stand in one spot and keep recording what I am seeing.

I turn to my left and sketch and paint that view ...

...then turn to my right and do the same...

I will walk around and try to capture enough detail and a feeling of the place for me to be able to remember what was important to me at that time. 

I used the watercolor sketches to put together this oil painting. I'm trying for the essence of the place, the soul of the day...its not quite finished.

I do these very quick value/temperature studies to sample colors and see how much chroma the mood will bear.

I'll do a fast watercolor just to get the feel of the action. These clouds were racing out to sea after a thunder storm cleared out.

A  quick watercolor value study gives me a feel for the simple masses and the shape of things, like wandering with my mind through a place before I decide how I want to depict it. Its very liberating to do this. It helps me to get familiar and comfortable with a place.

   

On location I do rough sketches first, quick watercolors..then I often will do a series of quick 20 minute oil sketches back to back. Why?  I've found that if I paint like this I will often have something good from the lot that I can take home and work with.  I'm a real process painter. I do hundreds of starts, 5x7, 6x8, 8x10's on location.  So now I'm painting in the studio I have no shortage of reference material for these large paintings I'm working on. 

Water colors ~ 6x8's, 90 lb. sketch paper 6x10, 90 lb. sketch paper  8x12  300 lb. Arches rough 

Oils ~ 8x10 linen on panel, canvas on  panel

PAINT EAT SLEEP for more views of paintings.

Big Paintings Need a Big Easel

I didn't need a studio for about five years. I just painted outdoors,  brought them home and put them on a table in the garage to dry.  I couldn't stand painting indoors. When I started painting in plein air after years of being in a studio I wanted just the sky as the roof over my head. 

Things change. I just bought a Beauport for painting outdoors and on Friday a local painter wanted to sell a large studio easel. Since I'm painting larger these days I thought I'd better get it. I went to Janet's studio to pick it up. 

Marcus came to help me.  We brought tools to take it apart. No need ! It fit easily into the Subaru.    

The only piece we had to take off was the pole. 

Marcus was very happy we didn't have to use the half mile of rope we brought with us!

The hatch closed easily and the trip back to my studio was a leisurely cruise.  Just not liking moving stuff to my studios in my 20's. Then it was always a hair raising adventure. 

Marcus could practically do this himself.

It came with extra parts to telescope the pole even higher.  No need for that right now.  

Here's a 30x40 canvas sitting on it.  Theres plenty more room for a bigger canvas. 

And here is the poor old easel that was sitting in my studio with that larger canvas on it.  It just about filled it up .   Marcus eyed this lonely little easel with a delighted look on his face. I can see he will be using it soon.  Next, he will want to move into my studio to paint next to me.  Good thing he has a job and won't be around all the time ...or I will have to build a bigger studio!