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

Available for direct sale for a limited time only.

This began as a plein air painting this past October. Just as the sun sank below the horizon, the sky lit up like a fireball. As often happens (especially with sunsets), color and light are just too fleeting to finish on location. I’m so busy painting outdoors at that time of year, trying to catch the last bit of fall color, that many of these don’t receive their finishing touches until winter sets in and I’m working in the studio.

I was so happy to pull this one out today and finally get to finish it up. I never get tired of painting these Olana sunsets. Every night there is so different; I can understand why Hudson River School painter Frederic Church chose this location for his exquisite Moorish castle on the hilltop. One of my favorite Frederic Church paintings is a winter view from Olana that he painted en plein air. I’ve never painted from there in winter, but I am determined to brave the cold and do it this winter!

For those who have Twitter and would like to follow me as I tweet away (which is maybe once a day), you can find me here and click to follow me on Twitter .

But what’s an artist to do on these rainy days without a working studio? My dear husband suggested I temporarily take a room in the basement, and set it up to use in the meantime. He took me out to buy a rug, and it has all these great built in shelves for my supplies.

It even has South Mountain as one wall of the room!

It may not be an ideal working space, but I am so happy to have a place upstate where I can work indoors now, in addition to my plein air painting. I have a great studio in Brewster; now I have no excuse not to paint when I go upstate either!

As always, feel free to email me with any questions; I always love to hear from all you art-lovers out there.

Jamie

Each spring, the U.S. House of Representatives has a high school art competition. The winners from each district are then hung together in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Today I was one of five artists hanging the show for Congressman John Hall’s 19th Congressional District. We hung over 90 paintings by area high school students at the Putnam Arts Council gallery space at Tilly Foster Farm, in Brewster, NY. Congressman Hall will be presenting the awards on Monday, May 11. You can read more about it at the Putnam Arts Council site and also on Congressman Hall’s website. Congratulations to all the students who are in this show! Be sure to stop in to see it if you’re in the area. It’s always worth a trip to Tilly Foster Farm to see the newest arrivals in historical animal species, antique farm equipment, shows at Putnam Arts Council, and the change of seasons!

Other artistic ventures today included cutting a huge bouquet of lilacs from my yard. If it pours tomorrow as it’s supposed to, and I don’t feel like working from a photo, I’ll have these beautiful flowers to paint and smell in my studio.

Last but not least, I took a walk outside this evening, where I was hoping to get some photo references from which to paint the yellow sky I saw over the lake just before sunset. In the process, I inadvertently scared off a Pileated Woodpecker exploring a rotting tree stump, saw a Green Heron flying overhead, and enjoyed a cute muskrat swimming in the brook. I almost didn’t notice the deer on the other side of the brook. He was so well camoflaged that he was nearly invisible. He stood there staring at me for a long time, before turning around and trotting off. I took a picture of him, though I’m sorry it’s not a sharper image. Can you spot him?

Here’s a closer crop to show you where he was “hiding”:

Tomorrow I’ll be doing a frame inventory and ordering frames for some upcoming shows (more on that soon…), but hopefully there will be some time to paint too!

“I took the story to mean that context is everything. Our presentations, lessons, dress, demeanor can make a very big statement. True, quality is great, but it has to work in context.”

“Here is my two cents on this issue. I, too saw the video of Bell playing in the station. My first thought was: Wow! It’s incredible how people are ignoring him! Almost immediately afterwards I thought: if I were a serious busker, I’d be playing on the platform where people actually have to WAIT to catch the trains. That’s a captive audience and more likely to notice me.”

A few commented on the comment left on my blog post at the bottom:
“Wow that’s a slap of cold reality about life in the big city – make’s me glad I live in a relatively small city with plans to eventually move to a smaller town! A good lesson for us as educators to question whether there are other sides to the story. ”

“I saw this story last year and I can relate totally to it. When you are coming off the train you are usually in a hurry to get to where you are going. I don’t think the poster’s comments are off the mark. Trains may come in every 5-6 minutes, but they don’t come from everywhere that often. I take the train to doctor’s appointments in Philadelphia. I can either get into Philly 40 min. before my appt. or 10 min. before my appt. It is about a 10 min. walk to the doctor’s office, so that is the best choice, but I don’t have time to dally. Also, since I only do this every 3 months, I sometimes have trouble remembering how to find the right exit from the train station, so I am concentrating on which way to go and trying to not get mixed up in the crowd of people. I don’t pay attention to what is going on in the station. On the trip home, I sometimes have extra time and might stop to listen to a musician, but that will depend on what time I get done with my appointment. Trains going back home only run every hour, so if I don’t have time to kill, I am in a hurry to catch a train. If I do stop and listen to someone playing music in the station, I am going to be careful- “

Thank you all for your points of view. They bring up many factors at work on the scene, and issues I’d not considered.

Isn’t it interesting that during Halloween month, Black and Orange led the pack? I’ll be putting up a new poll this evening. Many thanks to all the participants!

16×20″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

From this spot nestled in the Catskill Mountains, there are gorgeous views from every angle. I can’t wait to go back in different seasons to experience the changes. This was painted from a photo I took while vacationing there with my husband, though I have painted here en plein air as well.

I was curious to know who visits my site, so the last poll asked you if you are an art lover/collector, amateur artist, or professional artist. The results were:
Art Lover/Collector: 25%
Amateur Artist: 38%
Professional Artist: 38%

Many thanks to those of you who voted. I’m not surprised by the results, as I also love looking at other artists’ sites! Poll results will remain on the right sidebar, and as more accumulate, I may move them below the gallery listings.

Jamie