New studio update! My husband made me this awesome 4×8′x3′ tall workstation for the framing/supply room in my new studio. I am so thrilled with it. What a talented guy! It has 36×48″ slide-out shelves for storage of large paper, matboard, and foamcore. The shelves slide out from either side, so paper can be loaded/unloaded either way, and smaller pads/sheets put in from both ends.

On the other side is a large, open area for all those BIG things that I never have a spot for, such as larger panels, frames and frames and more frames, and assorted boxes of “stuff”.

The table is massive, but he put it on casters so it’s a breeze to push it around the space as needed. It still needs a couple more coats of polyurethane, and I’ll be putting a sheet of homasote on the top to protect frames, cut glass, and protect materials. When priming panels and varnishing paintings, I’ll just throw a tarp over it and I’ll be ready to go with a super large work surface.

Here’s another photo from the other side:

Studio Tours | 1 Comment »

Click to enlarge image:

10.5×13.5″, Soft pastels on UArt 600 archival, sanded paper
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I was back up in Platte Clove today, painting the exquisite waterfalls in Devil’s Kitchen. We finally got a good, long rainfall a week or so ago, and all the waterfalls have been running strongly since then.

I haven’t broken out the pastels for a really long time, and this was so much fun! Can’t wait to do more pastel work.

The new studio is coming along. Expect a studio tour here on my website in the near future!

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls, pastels | No Comments »

12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

It was a gorgeous day today, and even though I was finishing up this painting from a photo instead of on location, at least I got to do it out on the patio and enjoy the gorgeous weather! This is a scene from Poet’s Walk in Rhinebeck, New York, along the Hudson River. It’s very close to where Chelsea Clinton got married recently. The mountains on the other side of the river are the Catskills.

I enjoyed all the layers of color in this painting. They add so much depth, and it’s always a great challenge to keep so much warm color and contrast in reserve for the foreground as I work from back to front and push the distances.

Here is an image you can click on to see a slightly larger photo of the painting:

8x12 to 12x24, Boats and Ships, Catskill Mountains, Dutchess County NY, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold | 2 Comments »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

My husband and I went on a picnic last week to Colgate Lake. We brought the dog along and had a wonderful day lazing by the lakeshore. I brought along my little 6×8″ Guerrilla pochade box and painted this while we chatted and he looked through a book of hikes in the area. On the right of the painting is the bridge that crosses the outlet and the dam. Rondo was most interested in lunch!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

Catskill Serenade
16×20″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on archival board
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

Here a clickable image, if you’d like to see a larger version of the painting:

This painting features a view of the famous of Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top mountains as seen from the Hudson Valley, where one enters Kaaterskill Clove. I did a small, 6×8″ version of this scene a few weeks ago and liked it so much that I returned to do a larger version.

16x20 and larger, Available, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, Uncategorized, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

My husband and I went to North South Lake to catch the sunset. There were streaks of red and golden yellow, and the first star appeared in the western sky. I tried to catch what I could with my brushes while he busied himself with camera and tripod.

The red in the painting is much, much softer than it appears in this photo, but I can’t seem to get the adjustments right to show it the way it is. I’ll just say that in this case, the image really does not do the painting justice! It looks a lot better in person, and is much more subtle.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Sunrise/Sunset | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I drove up to Frederic Church’s Olana estate late one day last week. I love the way the late day sun lights up the front of the mansion. I found a comfortable spot to set up in the shade, with the path leading up the hill and one of the beautiful trees there breaking up the surface of the building and adding a nice foreground element.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Olana and Hudson NY, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

8×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I was painting this beautifully serene scene at North South Lake in the Catskill Mountains, when a bright red kayak appeared as a perfect splash of complementary color! That’s Round Top mountain in the distance, painted from a different vantage point along the lake than my usual location. I found this new spot when my husband and I went for a hike around the perimeter of the lakes last week. Usually I paint near the tip of that peninsula on the right, but this new location enables me to add that point as a nice compositional element in the painting.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

Click image to enlarge:

16×20″, Acrylics on archival board
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I went back up to the Catskill Mountain House site, eager to do a larger painting overlooking the Hudson River Valley from up there. It was a fairly overcast morning, and looking out from the cliff’s edge, the most striking feature below me was the silver ribbon of the Hudson River off in the distance. The Berkshire Mountains merged into the sky beyond the river. Bits of farms and buildings peeked up from below as the morning went on and the haze started to lift, so I put some of those in too as they came into view.

This Canson MiTientes board has a fabulous surface texture, varnished to a beautiful sheen, and can be framed without glass like an oil painting. It’s my favorite surface for acrylics. Stay tuned for a special series on this surface sometime around November!

16x20 and larger, Available, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

8×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This was another painting done pulled off to the side of a country road while out exploring. I love this scene and definitely want to go back to do a larger version sometime. I’ll bet it will be even more beautiful in fall, but then again, winter would be gorgeous with the red barns against the white snow. This time of year, I’m usually so tired of the green, green, green of summer; but this summer I seem to have found lots of elements to balance the greens in my paintings, and I will actually be sad to see summer come to an end.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

This is another entry in my Shades of Gray, monochrome value study book. It was painted en plein air while out sketching with my friend Karen the other day. I’d already done the full color sketch of the red barns (which I posted a couple of days ago), and was waiting for Karen to finish up her painting. That was the perfect opportunity to pull out my container with the acrylic values already laid out and look for a second composition. I loved this curvy road going off into the distance, and it presented me with a wide range of values to work with.

Sketches | No Comments »

12×16″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

My friend Karen and I like to drive around looking for locations to paint; then we pull off the road and set up when we find something that appeals to us both. We came upon this spot the other day that we’ve been admiring. The problem has been that there is no good, safe spot from which to paint this scene. We decided to throw caution to the wind and set up in the middle of the bridge. It’s around a hairpin turn, so we figured the traffic couldn’t move too fast there anyway, and the drivers would have plenty of time to see us. Fortunately for us, we didn’t encounter a situation where two vehicles had to be on the bridge at the same time! We made sure to only take up half the road; It’s a good thing that it’s the road less traveled! The bridge up in the distance is the New York State Thruway (I-87).

Here’s an image that you can click on for a slightly larger version:

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | 1 Comment »

I went out painting with my friend Karen on Friday, and decided to do some sketches rather than a focused effort on a single painting. This was my first sketch of the day — beautiful barns up on the hillside that we’d been admiring on our painting outings for quite some time. This one was done with Golden Fluid Acrylics in my 10×10″ Kraft paper sketchbook.

Farm Scenes, Sketches | 1 Comment »

16×20″, Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard

This was painted on location in my back yard. There’s a little path beyond the tree line that leads back to a beaver dam and pond — now almost dry due to the fact that we’ve had so little rain this year. This needs some studio work before I can call it finished. I’m going to put it aside for a week or so and then decide how much further I’m going to take it.

Demos/Work in Progress | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

After painting the pond and mountains in monochrome, which you can see in yesterday’s post, I did painted it again using a limited palette of colors. This was done with just Transparent Yellow Oxide, Transparent Red Oxide, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White. Most of the lights were pulled out with a rag rather than painted in with white or a tint. Light colors portrayed this way have more luminescence.

I’m looking forward to revisiting this scene for a full color version, especially in fall!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

The little monochrome painting above was done at a pond up the road from me that has wonderful mountain views. I asked for permission to park and paint there, and the gentleman in the driveway said that his wife was also an artist, and that I should go knock on her studio door and say hi! Well, I did that and made another new artist friend in the area! It turns out that she will be in a show with me next weekend. Such a small world! Her studio overlooks this dramatic view, and she had an especially beautiful winter scene that she’d done from the window.

I used the opportunity to do a monochrome painting, then a limited palette painting. I’ll go back again and do a full color version.

In addition to the value paintings I’ve been doing in acrylic, I have an oil painting setup to do monochrome studies easily and quickly in oils. I use the Judson’s Guerrilla Painter 6×8 watercolor box, Gamblin Light, Medium and Dark Portland Grays, plus Ivory Black and Titanium White. I also keep three colors in here for limited palette studies: Transparent Yellow Oxide, Transparent Red Oxide and Ultramarine Blue. (You can click this image to enlarge it a bit.) It has a cover, and fits right inside my 6×8″ Guerrilla pochade box.

I’ll post the limited palette version of this painting tomorrow.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Painting/Pochade Box, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, Sketches | 1 Comment »

6×8″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on archival museum board (frame like an oil painting)
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This painting was done on location on the cliff of the former site of the Catskill Mountain House on South Mountain. On a clear day, the view overlooks 60 miles of the Hudson River and a vista that extends all the way to Massachusetts. However, on this day, we were treated to a spectacular display of atmospheric clouds both below and above us, with occasional peeks through to farmland below and glimpses of the river. I love revisiting this location. It always has something special and new to offer. I guess that’s why Thomas Cole and Frederic Church kept coming back here too!

Another thing that made this day so special was that I was accompanied by friends L. Diane Johnson from North Carolina, and Ruth Ann Sturgill from Ohio. It’s not often that I get to paint with friends from so far away! We spent a wonderful couple of days together, and I’ll be posting more about what we did and painted as I have a chance to finish up and photograph the paintings.

I’ve been so busy painting up a storm out on location over the past couple of weeks that it’s been impossible for me to keep up with photographing work, blogging, and putting on finishing touches. Now things are settling down, and I’m hoping to get all these things up for you to see!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

Things are moving along here with the construction of my new studio, and I think I can see there will be light at the end of the tunnel! The ceiling has been insulated, wired for lighting, and sheetrocked:

Electric lines have been run to the far wall, and there will be outlets between every window:

Wall insulation is underway too:

Demos/Work in Progress, Studio Tours | 1 Comment »

Golden Neutral Gray Heavy Body Acrylics in a watercolor sketchbook

I’m starting to really love doing these monochrome studies. They are such wonderful practice for improving the way we see values. Having the pre-mixed Neutral Grays has made all the difference in the world, and has turned this from a tedious chore into a fascinating adventure.

I sat outside in the yard in a comfortable chair after standing up and painting all morning, and painted this study under the shade of my favorite tree, with a cool breeze blowing.

Sketches | 1 Comment »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I’m still continuing on with my exploration of the waterfalls in the Catskill Mountains. Old Mills Falls is exquisite, with a beautiful, large, transparent pool at the base. I really want to go back and do a larger version of this as well. It’s a pretty steep descent to the falls, so I just stuck my little painting box in my backpack and went hands-free.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | 1 Comment »

12×9″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

Yep, back to Hell’s Hole again in the Devil’s Kitchen area of Platte Clove to do what I seem to enjoy most these days — painting waterfalls! This eastern section of the Catskills is so loaded with waterfalls. Many of them are challenging to get to, but some are roadside and easily accessible.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | No Comments »

8×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This is the farm where I buy all my fresh produce. Nestled in the Hudson Valley just to the east of the escarpment of the Catskills, they have acres and acres of strawberries, corn, zucchini, and all other kinds of vegetables. The beautiful setting against the mountains is an artist’s dream, and it makes for a dramatic scene under any weather conditions. I happened to catch it this time just as a storm was getting underway. I took a picture and then painted it from the photo, under the roof of my patio in the rain.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This waterfall in the Catskill Mountains provided the perfect cool, comfortable spot to go painting on a hot day last week! The water was crystal clear and glistened against the moss-covered rocks.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | No Comments »

12×16″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on Canson Board
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This was painted on location yesterday overlooking the Hudson from the grounds of the beautiful Vanderbilt Mansion property in Hyde Park, New York. A group of us were painting up there behind the mansion. We just about finished our paintings when it started to rain. I was using Golden Fluid Acrylics because I just adore the pigment load and the consistency. It glides across the surface as easily as oils. If it had been any warmer and drier, I’d have switched to the slow drying Open line instead. I figured I’d probably be forced into making the change half way through, but was able to finish up with the Fluids.

This Canson board is one of my favorite painting supports for acrylic. It can be purchased in a number of different colors. I cut it to size, and although it’s not necessary, I size it twice with Golden Matte Medium diluted 20% with water. That decreases the absorbency of the surface, and the paint sits beautifully on top. Once I apply an isolation coat and varnish to the dry painting, the surface has a deep, glossy richness to it like no other, with that lovely MiTientes texture visible. I frame them just like oil paintings on hardboard or stretched canvas.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Dutchess County NY, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

Continuing on with my monochrome value studies in acrylics, this one was added to my Shades of Gray sketchbook this morning. This was also done with the Golden Neutral Gray acrylics plus black and white. I think I’m starting to really enjoy these, much to my surprise!

Sketches | 1 Comment »

I set out Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Titanium White, Carbon Black, and all the Neutral Grays in between that Golden makes in a plastic container with compartments and a seal. Value studies are so important, but premixing all those grays ahead of time can be cumbersome enough to put it off time and time again. Now I have no excuses, and this container makes it so easy to pop the lid and paint at a moment’s notice.

This book is about 6×9″. I’m reserving it for my value studies in acrylic, and have dubbed it “Shades of Gray”.

Here’s the first page. The cow was painted from a photo I took on Friday. The little landscape was painted here by the lakeshore this morning.

Demos/Work in Progress, Sketches, acrylic paintings | 1 Comment »

8×10″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on Canson Board
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

I went out to the lakeshore very early this morning to try to grab some morning color before a thunderstorm moved in. I was there just in time, because it started to rain just as I was putting the painting away!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Boats and Ships, Brewster and North Salem, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Peach Lake and Brook, Plein Air--painted on location, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
For purchase information, please email me at JamieWG@aol.com.

It may seem like I’ve fallen off the face of the earth lately, but actually I’ve been so busy painting that I haven’t had a chance to post the paintings! This painting of Kaaterskill High Peak and Round Top was done very early one morning. The contractor who is building my new studio wanted to beat the heat and cut through a masonry doorway at 6:30am! That gave me good incentive to make the most of the early light in the mountains.

There were cows out in the field. I was hoping they’d come close enough for me to be able to see them well enough to put them into the painting, but they stayed way off in the shade. Of course, as soon as I was finished, they all sauntered over to the fence to say hello and see the finished product!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | 1 Comment »

Click image to enlarge:

8×16″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

This is a plein air painting that I did in May at Garrison Landing. It needed a few minutes of tweaks in the studio before posting and still needed signing, so I had to wait until I had the Fluid Acrylics out again!

I really enjoyed doing this painting; I need to do more street scenes! I so love the serenity and natural beauty of the Hudson Valley that it’s hard to pull myself away from that in order to paint more of our contemporary and man-made environment.

Fluid acrylics are so much fun. When I first started using acrylics, I used heavy bodied paints and diluted them to a more fluid state. It was very frustrating that this would also dilute the pigment load, and the paints would go streaky on me. Then I learned that the Golden Fluid Acrylics are formulated to have a very high pigment load already in that perfect fluid state. I was in heaven! I’ve loved using these ever since. They do dry quickly, so on a warm, dry day of plein air painting, I switch to Golden OPEN. The Fluids are also perfect for underpainting because they dry so quickly. Then I can finish the painting with Golden OPEN, which gives me extended working time and stays wet on my palette. These two products are so much fun that I sometimes wonder why I ever bother with oil paints!

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Cityscape/Townscape/Urban paintings, Cold Spring and Garrison, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, acrylic paintings | No Comments »

5×7″, Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This past weekend, my husband and I hiked out to Huckleberry Point in the Catskill Mountains. From the vantage point of these rocks, you can see east over the Hudson Valley to the Hudson River and beyond, south across Platte Clove, and west toward the Catskills and through the clove. It is truly one of the most spectacular places I’ve encountered in these mountain meanderings. We found the hike to be more strenuous than what the guide books described, so if you go, be prepared! We brought our walking sticks along, plenty of water, and lunch to have a picnic — things I’d definitely recommend to others who venture out there.

The painting above was done from one of the photos I took there. You can see the Hudson River near the horizon, working its way southward, and disappearing behind the Gunks.

I pulled out the acrylics this morning. Every time I paint with acrylics I ask myself why I ever paint in oils. These are just too much fun to be legal. I used Golden Fluid Acrylics today, with plenty of Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid to keep the paint workable. My palette for this painting was:
Hansa Yellow Opaque
Diarylide Yellow
Pyrrole Red
Cerulean Blue Deep
Prussian Blue Hue
Jenkins Green
Titanium White
I loved this palette!

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold, acrylic paintings | 2 Comments »