5×7″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$125.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I went back to the waterfalls in Platte Clove; I can’t seem to stay away from there for long! This time I was test driving my brand new baby — the 5×7″ Guerrilla Painter pochade box. It’s so small and light, and I can take this everywhere for stealth painting on the go! I got it with the palette extension to give me a little extra space to hold my palette cup, brushes, and a clipped on rag. The palette is still small, but then again, so is the painting. For 5×7 size it worked just fine. It holds two wet panels instead of the four that their 6×8″ box holds, but the 6×8 is deeper and heavier. This one fits right into the pocket of my pack stool!

I’ve been so busy this week. My fellow Daily Painters Laurie Pace and Kimberly Conrad are visiting from out of town with their husbands. We’re all having a grand time. My Daily Painter friend Gretchen Kelly also came to join us yesterday. We toured some of the “Hudson River Art Trail”, managing to visit Olana, Locust Grove, North South Lake, and Kaaterskill Falls in a single day!

Tonight I’m cooking dinner for everybody — fresh corn from the local market, chicken breasts with pesto sauce, carrots, a huge salad, and stewed fruit with whipped cream for dessert. Mmmmmmm…..

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

8×10″, Acrylics
$260.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This was painted at the top of Kaaterskill Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in New York State. The stream comes down from South Lake and disappears here over the edge of the cliff.

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

Click to enlarge image:

10.5×13.5″, Soft pastels on UArt 600 archival, sanded paper
$295.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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, Pastels, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$160.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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
$695.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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 »

8×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar 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, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Sold | No Comments »

Click image to enlarge:

16×20″, Acrylics on archival board
$695.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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

9×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard

$350.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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, House portraits, Hudson River Valley, Lakes and Streams, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

12×16″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$495.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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 »

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″, Golden Fluid Acrylics on archival museum board (frame like an oil painting)
$165.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard

$160.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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, Oil paintings, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | 1 Comment »

12×9″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar 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, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Sale Pending, Sold, Waterfalls | No Comments »

8×12″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar 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, Catskill Mountains, Farm Scenes, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Sold | No Comments »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$130.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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 »

6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

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

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, Acrylic paintings, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold | 2 Comments »

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

This was one of those mornings with more atmosphere than I could dream for. The conditions kept changing dramatically every few minutes, so I picked out what I could of the sky, ground and water, and challenged myself to try to make a cohesive whole out of all those bits!

The highest peak in the painting is Kaaterskill High Peak, and to the right is Round Top. These two peaks dominate the landscape of Kaaterskill Clove, home to the Hudson River School painters…and me!

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

12×24, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$720.00 plus $30 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

If you think you already saw this recently, you did! I decided to work on it more in the studio, so above is (hopefully!) the final image of the completed painting. These long, horizontal formats show so small on the blog page, so here is another image that you can click on to enlarge it a bit:

I love this view of the barns against the eastern escarpment of the Catskill Mountains. This was painted on location, on this warm, breezy day of changing clouds and moving light. I loved the contrast in color temperature between the orangy fields and blue-green mountains, with the red spots of color contributing a nice focal point.

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

11×15″, Watercolor on Fabriano paper
$395.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

It was so windy along the Hudson River that my easel kept blowing over! I liked these benches under the big tree, awaiting visitors. The Athens Lighthouse is visible from this vantage point, but I decided not to put it into the painting. Initially I’d thought to include it, but in the end I thought it would be a distraction.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Olana and Hudson NY, Spring, Watercolor | 1 Comment »

This painting is matted to 20×16″, with an archival custom ivory mat and backing board in an archival polybag, to fit a standard 16×20″ frame. The painting itself is 15×11″, Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb paper.

$490.00 plus $30 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This little stone well caught my attention as it stood out in value and texture from amidst the tall evergreens.

16x20 and larger, 8x12 to 12x24, Available, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Spring, Watercolor | 1 Comment »

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

I posted the red oxide underpainting start of this work a few days ago. Today I finished it up in the studio. Hopefully it conveys at least a little of the magic that I feel beside this waterfall below the mountain. It is not an exact depiction of the location, but rather an attempt to capture the essence of the elements that lure me to this spot time after time. Pretty soon the foliage will be in full bloom and the scene will change dramatically, providing an opportunity to capture the vista in its newly-transformed state.

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

28×42″, Oils on stretched canvas
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Finished at last! This was such a great painting to work on. Those of you who have been following along may remember that my client for this painting sent me samples of her carpet colors to work into the landscape. They were gorgeous rusts, ochres and muted greens. Selecting a specific color palette is a great way to commission a painting that you know will go with your decor!

Here’s a link to the painting’s beginnings, if you’d like to see how I started it.

Here is a link to the color/compositon study for the large painting.

Lastly, here is a link to the plein air painting I did on location. I took my painting gear up on the chair lift!

16x20 and larger, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Greene County, Landscape, Sold | No Comments »

9×12″, Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico
$160.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This was my first go at painting this particular waterfall, but it won’t be my last for sure! I had to tiptoe across stepping stones to a little island in the creek to arrive at the ideal vantage point. The painting location was shaded by an overpass while the waterfall was in sunlight, so this will be a fabulous spot on a hot day! There’s been a lot of rain, and combined with the snow melt off South Mountain, the waterfalls were gushing this weekend.

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

8×10″, Watercolor on 300# Fabriano Artistico hp
$125.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is one of my favorite areas of the Catskills to go hiking, picture-taking, and painting. The mountains are so dramatic, and there are places where the road winds through the clove and drops off so steeply that it takes your breath away! This one was painted from a photo. Doing this made me eager to get back there again. I can’t wait till spring arrives!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Watercolor | 4 Comments »

This is a progress image of the 28×42″ commission I’m working on. It all started when my client and her dear hubby met at Hunter Mountain in New York State! She saw this painting on my website, which I did from the top of Hunter Mountain, and purchased it through RiverWinds Gallery, where I had it displayed.

She decided that she wanted a large version to take up a wall of her dining room, and wondered if I’d be willing to incorporate some of her room colors in the painting, and omit some of the colors of that smaller version that didn’t go with her decor. She sent me these color photos of her carpets which displayed rich earth tones perfectly suited to landscape work, but far different from my usual palette.

Because both the color palette and proportional ratio of the painting were to change for the commission, I decided to do this third painting using the same ratio and colors as the commisioned work, which I posted the other day. (See below the previous post below or click the link.)

From there, I moved onto the full size version of the painting. Here’s the large, white canvas looming before me in the studio:

The first steps were to tone it, place the compositional elements, add the dark areas and pull out the lights.

Then I started going in with color. The first photo in this post shows the current state of the painting. From here I’ll be pushing the lights and darks, adding in more of the colors from my client’s samples, and making adjustments as I go. I’d like to drop that foreground horizon line a touch too….It keeps on creeping up all by itself when I’m not looking!

16x20 and larger, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Greene County, Landscape | 2 Comments »

8×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$350.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

If you like this painting, please cast your vote for it in the Art Guide competition! You can do so by clicking the “like” button on this link.

This is a color and composition study for a 28×42″ painting that I’ll be starting soon. I wanted to keep the palette as limited as possible, and also to keep the colors a bit more muted and earthy than is typical for me. My colors for this painting were:
Raw Sienna
Venetian Red
Prussian Blue
Cadmium Yellow Pale (just a very small amount)
Titanium White

I tried to do the painting with just the first three colors, but in the end it really needed a bit of Cad Yellow Pale, so I gave in based on sheer need!

8x10 and smaller, 8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Landscape, Oil paintings | 2 Comments »

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

Just a few miles from this location, Thomas Cole did his famous painting Lake With Dead Trees. That became one of the most important works of the Hudson River School painters. I saw this scene along Schoharie Creek nearby and snapped a dozen photos, determined to paint it at some point as an homage to Thomas Cole, who shared my appreciation of this little corner of the earth.

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Sold | No Comments »

12×9″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard

SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This is my favorite place to go for a walk, so it’s not surprising that I’m turning it into a series! You can see a progress image of this painting on this post. So far, the series consists of just this painting and The Road Home in Fall. Late winter, spring, and summer versions will be coming as the seasons emerge. I’ll probably paint those on location.

8x12 to 12x24, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Sold, Winter and Snow Scenes | 1 Comment »

8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$260.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I was out walking my dog through the snow-covered meadow when I spotted these long shadows leading toward the house. Fortunately, I rarely go out without my camera! Long shadows in the middle of the day are one of the benefits of winter. Although I’ve used many compositional elements to lead into my paintings, I don’t think I’ve ever used winter shadows like this. Now that I’ve given it a try, I want to do more!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Winter and Snow Scenes | 3 Comments »

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

I was out walking my dog on a snowy morning last week. The snow would start and stop, and there were some occasional, dramatic breaks in the clouds. I was fortunate to encounter one of those breaks as we came to where the path drops down a hill. I love this spot, with the tall evergreen sitting atop the rock outcropping as the path plunges downward. The cloudbreak added to the impact of the vista. I pulled out my camera and snapped a dozen pics! This was painted from one of those photos.

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Sold, Winter and Snow Scenes | 1 Comment »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$160.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

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!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Quadricentennial Series, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Olana and Hudson NY, Plein Air--painted on location, Sunrise/Sunset, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

8×10″, oils on canvas covered hardboard
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is one of my plein air paintings that hung around the studio for months waiting to be finished. Well, today was the day!

There is a magical, little brook that comes down from South Mountain and through our property upstate. It flows under a bridge that spans our driveway, and cascades down moss-covered rocks in a small waterfall. I didn’t even know it was there until after we’d bought the house, but I’ve been entranced by it ever since. It seems to be compositionally perfect from nearly any angle. So far in addition to this one, I’ve done one gouache sketch of it from the other side, a monochrome painting sitting on one of the rock ledges where the water cascaded past me, and an oil painting from the other side of the brook while the phlox was blooming in fall. In spite of all these views of the scene, I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface of the hundreds of fantastic compositions possible from this special little place. There are numerous other waterfalls in and around the property, and although this one is the smallest, I feel it is by far the most beautiful.

I lost my favorite old palette and had to replace it this week. I went over to Jerry’s Artarama in Norwalk to check out what they had, and came away with this wonderful new palette. Today was my first opportunity to test drive it; I love it to bits! Now I’m glad I misplaced the old one.

The birds got to take turns coming out to play today. I love that I have more time with them during the winter months when I’m working more indoors. Here are the adorable ones: Mango and Coconut. They are extremely sweet and gentle. Mango goes to anybody and loves to socialize. Coconut is extremely handsome, but is not so well endowed in the brains department. LOL

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

8×6″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$150.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I love this scene from the top of Hunter Mountain. I’ve painted horizontal landscapes from up here, but wanted to see if I could get something to set up well as a vertical. I think this works!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Landscape, Oil paintings | 1 Comment »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

All the leaves are down now, and the temperature has dropped substantially. I fear that we won’t be seeing anymore 60+ degree days until spring emerges! I sat outside with my little pochade box this afternoon and painted this with just three colors (and white):
Winsor Newton Cadmium Yellow Pale
Winsor Newton Bright Red (Pyrrole)
Utrecht Ultramarine Blue Deep
Utrecht Titanium White

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

10×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sized Canson board
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Painted on location in Acra, New York.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | No Comments »

8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sized Canson board
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Painted on location in Acra, New York.

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

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This painting was started a couple of weeks ago on a very chilly morning at the top of Kaaterskill Falls. It just needed a few minutes of studio touch-ups to call it done. This is one of my favorite painting spots, and I go there often to paint the stunning cascades as they spill over the rocks before plunging down the 279 feet of Kaaterskill Falls. It is the tallest waterfall in New York State.

This was a favorite spot of the Hudson River School painters as well. Back in those times, there was a dam up here to hold back the flow of water. A bucket would be lowered to the viewers below, who would each pay into the bucket for a water release to view the falls. Snack and drinks would also be lowered down to complete the attraction.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River School, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Waterfalls | 3 Comments »

7×5″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$130.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

My friend Claire came to visit a few weeks ago. We both set up our easels in my driveway to catch the dramatic foliage against the cooler blue-greens of the mountain. The late day light was fleeting and the mosquitoes were fierce! I didn’t quite have time to finish on location, so I finished this up in the studio today.

The leaves are already gone from that bright foreground tree on the top of the rock. Fall always passes so quickly!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | 5 Comments »

12×15″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Framing available upon request at additional price
$500.00 plus $30 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Today I brought my new Beauport easel down to the beaver pond. I tried to send progress images to my Facebook page from the painting location, but it doesn’t look like they arrived there. I’ll have to get help from my daughter the expert! I don’t have my imaging software here, so the photo above is shown without any adjusting of the image.

Below are images I took with my camera phone and attempted to email to Facebook. It’s not the greatest camera, but at least I remembered to take progress images this time! My viewers are always asking for them, and I never remember to take them.

Just as I got this easel set up, it started to sprinkle. The Beauport sets up easier than you’d think. It can hold a really BIG canvas! Look at how small this 12×16 looks on this big easel! LOL

Fortunately, the sprinkles were short-lived. The sky was looking better and better, though it doesn’t show up in the photo. That’s one of the wonderful things about painting plein air. We see so much better than a camera lens. I started blocking in my darks and then local color.

I waited to put in the sky because it kept on improving. I was glad I waited, because by the time I decided to put it in, it was much better than it was when I started the painting. I was surprised by how much fall color there was out by the pond. The rest of the property is barely showing hints of fall. Here is the painting nearly finished.

I am really loving this easel. I used a covered Masterson palette with a pad of 12×16″ palette paper in it. That and a 12×16″ panel carrier fit into a Creativo backpack, along with my paints, brushes, camera, paper towels, and brush washer. I was surprised by how quickly and easily the easel set up and broke down. The lid of the Masterson palette worked out well to hold my turp container and some paper towels. I found the holes in the easel legs to be handy brush holders!

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Lakes and Streams, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

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

This little waterfall presents a nearly perfect composition from any angle. I think I’ve painted it from five different spots now, and I feel I’ve only just begun to explore it’s potential as a painting subject. This past weekend, its charm multiplied as the phlox bloomed profusely along the shoreline of the creek.

With all the rain we’ve had this season, the mosquitoes have been out in full force. I doused myself with heavy-duty bug repellent and stayed out painting for as long as the mosquitoes would let me!

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Flowers, Gardens and Flowering Trees, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, Sold, Waterfalls | 3 Comments »

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This painting was also done from the top of Hunter Mountain, this time facing eastward toward Kaaterskill Clove, made famous by the Hudson River School painters. The mountains you see in this painting are the easternmost mountains of the Catskill range. Beyond them stretches the Hudson River Valley. Through that cleft in the mountains on the left lies the former home of Thomas Cole, and across the river is Olana, home of Frederic Church. Many of their most well-known paintings were of scenes between here and there.

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

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

On Friday I took the Hunter Mountain “Skyride” (read “chair lift”!) up to some spectacular vistas from all sides of the mountain. My husband went off to hike to the fire tower while I returned to a favorite spot to paint. The weather was gorgeous, and hints of fall were evident in the foliage.

I always forget to stop and take photos while painting outdoors. I get so wrapped up in what I’m doing that I don’t even think about it until I’m already home! I just happened to remember to snap a shot of this painting alongside the scene.

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

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

The DEC said that we couldn’t build a pond along the stream in the woods, but the beavers kindly did it for us! I set my stool out there yesterday and enjoyed listening to the frogs and birds as I painted this. Occasionally, a duck would come in for a landing, plunking down into the water.

I used my little 6×8″ Guerrilla Painter Thumbox. I love that thing! With the palette extension on, there is enough mixing space for 5×7, 6×6 and 6×8 paintings.

Palette:
Rembrandt Transparent Oxide Red underpainting
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Cadmium Red Medium
Ultramarine Blue
Viridian
Ivory Black
Titanium White

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

5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Fabriano Artistico hp watercolor paper, matted to 8×10″ (Mat and backing board included in price.)
$135.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This was painted from the Waterfront Park along the Hudson in Athens, NY. I actually went there hoping that one of the Tall Ships would be there that will be parading up the Hudson next week. Unfortunately, no ship was there, but these red benches looking out over the river under the Chestnut Tree captured my attention. Without a ship, they became the focal point of my painting. Two women came along and sat down on one of the benches, chatting and gazing out onto the water, so I popped them into the painting too!

8x10 and smaller, Acrylic paintings, Available, Boats and Ships, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Paintings, Hudson River Quadricentennial Series, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location | 2 Comments »

6×8″, oils on canvas-covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

I went to my friend Marcia’s house for lunch the other day. Next door to her, there’s a fabulous view with a red barn and distant mountains. It was very overcast in the morning, and raining later in the day. However, in between there, while I was painting, the weather was picture-perfect! Somehow I got that ideal window of opportunity. I knew the wet weather was supposed to move in, so I just did this little one. It started to rain just as I was finished and packing up to leave!

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

8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sized archival matboard
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

My friend Nancy and I went up to the top of Kaaterskill Falls yesterday morning. We didn’t expect it to be so cold and blustery out there on the ridge at the mountaintop! We weren’t dressed for those kinds of conditions. We thought we’d been there for hours because we were so chilled, but when we asked a passing hiker what time it was, we learned it was only 9:39am!

Back in the days of the Hudson River School painters, there was a dam constructed near this site. Tourists would pay to see the falls (from the bottom), and water would then be released from the dam for a spectacular display. The dam is no longer there, but there was still plenty of water rushing over the edge while I was painting!

For this venture, I used the foamcore pochade box I made. It weighs almost nothing, fits in my backpack, and even holds four wet panels. When I’m painting in the Catskills, I know I can always find a rock or fallen tree trunk to sit on, so instead of a stool, I carry a very light closed cell foam cushion in my backpack. They can be found in gardening centers; they’re actually made for gardeners to kneel on as they work.

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

6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

The rain finally held off long enough and clouds parted to spill sunlight on the little field of alyssum through the trees. The backlit scene provided lots of contrast, adding to the warm yellow glow of the bright flowers. I sat in my folding chair with my new Guerrilla Painter 9×12″ pochade box in my lap. I love the additional palette space in this box. There’s an adapter to hold 8×10 and 6×8 panels, so I used that for the first time too, to paint this little 6×8. It worked out so well, and even carries the wet panel.

Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Permanent Alizarin
Burnt Sienna
Ultramarine Deep
Viridian
Ivory Black
Titanium White

8x10 and smaller, Available, Flowers, Gardens and Flowering Trees, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | No Comments »

Click painting for a larger, clearer image:

12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
$440.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

For the past several days, I’ve been craving a painting day up in the Catskills. I loaded all my gear into my car this morning and drove up to do this painting this afternoon, then turned around and drove back. It was worth the trip for the exquisite weather, spring buds on the trees, and beautiful mountain views. The grass was shimmering in the sunlight, and I could hear the rushing of a waterfall as I painted.

I need to get better at tree identification. I don’t know what kind of tree this is in the foreground. I know it’s not a maple because it doesn’t have those rich, red spring buds. I love the twists and turns of the branches, and the trunk glistened where the light hit. That’s South Mountain in the background.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location, Spring | 2 Comments »

Click painting for a larger, clearer image:

16×20″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on archival canvas panel
$695.00 plus $30 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I started this painting a couple of weeks ago from a photo I took in Palenville, and worked on it a few days since then. For some reason, it seems to have taken me forever to get this one off the easel, but I think it is finally done.

Fifty years or so ago, you’d have seen the grand Catskill Mountain House looming on the escarpment to the right of the peak of South Mountain. Today it’s just an amazing view from up there that extends for hundreds of miles, and takes in over sixty miles of the Hudson River. The spring melt cascades down the mountain in streams and waterfalls that gave Palenville its nickname as “The Village of Falling Waters”.

This painting was done with a limited palette of Raw Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Primrose, Red Iron Oxide, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, and Titanium White.

For some reason, the left side of the sky looks darker than the actual painting. It’s always impossible to get the digital image to exactly match. The room lighting must have been darker on that side when I snapped the picture!

16x20 and larger, Available, Catskill Mountains, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Winter and Snow Scenes | No Comments »

8×6″, oils on Raymar canvas panel
$85.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Monochrome studies are such a great way to work on values. When I don’t have time to do a full-color painting, a monochrome sketch is always a good way to spend the time. I mixed together leftover paint from a morning painting to create this reddish-brownish-purplish mix, took a seat on the nearest rock, and used that with titanium white for an oil sketch of a small waterfall.

Here’s a photo of my Guerrilla thumbox at work with this painting! Isn’t it the cutest thing? It holds everything I need for small paintings.

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

12×16″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$440.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Kaaterskill Clove was one of the favorite painting locations for many of the Hudson River School artists. Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey and many others painted these mountains in centuries past. It’s easy to see why they were drawn to this dramatic location. The Hudson River provided easy access upstate from New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley. The mountains are only 10 miles inland from the river.

Here is an image of the work in progress, after the underpainting and initial color layer:

Here’s how I set up to paint from the computer for works larger than 8×10″. I prefer this to using printed photos.

The colors I used are:
Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Raw Sienna
Cadmium Red
Cerulean Blue
Cobalt Blue
Ultramarine Blue
Viridian
Ivory Black

These are the mediums I planned to use for the painting. It’s the first time I tried the Weber Res-n-gel, but it didn’t tack up as quickly as I’d hoped. I think I prefer just turp, or turp and a tiny bit of Liquin for the underlayers.

I use a glass palette in the studio with a sheet of brown kraft paper below it. It is so easy to clean. I had a glass store cut this 16×24 piece of 1/4″ glass for me and grind the edges.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the steps and materials used along the way.

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Demos/Work in Progress, Greene County, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Palenville and Catskill, Winter and Snow Scenes | No Comments »

5×7″, Oils on Ampersand Gessoboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This painting is done from a photo I took along Platte Clove Road, between Saugerties NY and Tannersville. The road is narrow and winds around the mountain, with sheer cliffs alongside, and is so dangerous that this portion is closed in winter. The views are breathtaking. My husband and I pulled off to the side of the road to take some pictures. After years of looking for a vacation home, it was this drive around Kaaterskill High Peak that narrowed our search to this dramatic area of the Catskills.

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold | No Comments »

5×7″, Oils on Ampersand Gessoboard
$125.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Welcome to my new backyard! As you can see, it’s going to be a pretty exciting place to paint. It felt great to pull out the oils again and get back to my favorite passion—landscape painting.

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Lakes and Streams, Landscape, Oil paintings, Palenville and Catskill, Plein Air--painted on location | 1 Comment »

Click to enlarge:

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.

16x20 and larger, Catskill Mountains, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

At the workshop today, Kenn spoke about hard and soft edges and did a beautiful painting demonstrating the topic. Then it was our turn to try our hand. It was freezing cold outside and raining on and off. Sometimes on those overcast days, the skies can be grey and dreary, but today there was lots of variation and color in the sky as the rains came and went from west to east. I had my painting umbrella, so I fared better than most.

I don’t have my light box setup here to photograph my paintings. The lighter clouds are much warmer in color. I’ll get a better photo once I get home and will then swap the images.

8x10 and smaller, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Plein Air--painted on location, Sold | No Comments »

8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
$250.00 plus $15 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I love this spot in the Catskills with the little red barns. I’ve been doing a bunch of compositional and color studies to select a composition for a large painting of the scene. This is the third one I’ve done. It was painted mostly on location, and touched up a bit in the studio.

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

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

The Catskill Mountain area has some of the most exquisite vistas in the Hudson River Valley. Roads that wind through woodlands suddenly open up to fields with tremendous, breathtaking blue mountains looming in the distance.

This scene fell so perfectly into a square format that I considered myself very fortunate to have a 12×12″ panel with me! I started this painting in early afternoon, and the light on the scene got better and better as the afternoon went on.

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

6×8″, Oils on board (sealed, primed hardboard)
$150.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I just got back from a plein air painting trip to the Catskill Mountains. This little 6×8″ oil painting was done beside a charming pond in Acra, New York. As I approached the pond from the far side, it didn’t look all that interesting. Then I turned around and saw that huge mountain looming in the distance! Wow! I’m told it is Windham High Peak.

It felt wonderful to pull out the oil paints again! I’ve gotten really hooked on the Golden OPEN paints, but oils sure are great too.

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

Click to enlarge:

24×18″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

This large painting was done using my plein air study, “The Base of Kaaterskill Falls”, as a reference image, along with a photo I took at the scene. I did a value underpainting in Transparent Red Oxide before going in with local color. One of the things I love about the Golden OPEN paints is the way the underpainting shows through without mixing and muddying the color. I would have had to wait for my oil paints to dry before continuing in order to achieve some of the effects I got here with Golden OPEN.

This was one of the spots painted by many of the old Hudson River School painters, and many of the new ones too! This painting is just the bottom tier of the falls; there is another tier above!

16x20 and larger, Catskill Mountains, Fall, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River School, Hudson River Valley, Landscape, Sold, Waterfalls | 2 Comments »

5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Fabriano Artistico 100% rag watercolor paper
$125.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I am painting a number of views of this charming red barn in the Platte Clove area of the Catskills. One of them will become a large painting at some point this year. I’m testing out a number of vantage points, crops of the scene, and colors on my palette on small paintings to decide which I like best. I am liking this one a lot!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape | No Comments »

8×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
$395.00 plus $25 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

This is the third in my series of paintings from Platte Clove in the Catskills. This road to the distant mountains, with the tall post entryway, in the strong, late day light, provided a view that was truly irresistible to paint!

8x12 to 12x24, Available, Catskill Mountains, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape | No Comments »

6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Raymar smooth canvas panel
Custom framed
$290.00 plus $20 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

Anybody who’s taken a drive through the Platte Clove area of the Catskills understands the incredible beauty that abounds at every turn and offshoot along the road. This was one of the spots where my husband and I just had to jump out of the car to take photos! I didn’t have time to paint on location there, but I’ll be doing more from my photo references for sure, and plan to make it a point to allow time for plein air work there next time around!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape | No Comments »

8×6″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Raymar smooth canvas panel
$115.00 plus $10 shipping and insurance within the Continental United States. For local sales, shipping charge will be allocated to NYS Sales Tax. Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com for International purchases or with any questions.

I’ve finished posting the plein air paintings from my Hudson River School trip, and am now beginning to work from the photo references I took. Many of these are deserving of large canvases. I’ll be doing these small ones now, then selecting from these scenes to do big paintings once the weather turns cold and I’m in the studio for the winter.

This charming red barn by the stream in the Platte Clove area of the Catskills yielded lots of potential paintings, so there will be more to come from different vantage points of this charming little burst of color amist the greens. The stream there was the icing on the cake!

8x10 and smaller, Available, Catskill Mountains, Golden OPEN Acrylic Paintings, Greene County, Hudson River Valley, Landscape | No Comments »

8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sized, “Pearl” Canson board
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.

Many Hudson River School painters, including Thomas Cole and Jasper Cropsey, painted from this spot high above North South Lake. I can see why they derived so much inspiration from this location.

Although the view faces west and offers spectacular sunsets, my husband and I opted to make the one mile climb up there in the early morning to beat the heat. I sat on a large rock slab in the shade provided by the huge Sunset Rock, and used my small, foamcore pochade box, which was a real godsend on this trip!

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When Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole painted from this very spot, he had both eastern and western views. Now the western view is overgrown, but the eastern view still goes all the way past the Hudson River to the Berkshires.

The Catskill Mountain house was a popular resort back in the early 1800s, but like most of the Catskill resorts, later fell into disrepair as tourism in the area declined. All that remain are two stone pillars leading to the site, and of course the awesome view.

My husband and I set up by this ledge overlooking the valley. I was painting and he was taking photos. What a peaceful way to end the day.

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Hudson River School artist, Thomas Cole, painted from this very spot for his painting, Lake With Dead Trees. All those dead trees around the lakeshore are now gone, and if anything, the lake looks even more pristine than it does in his painting! North and South Lakes used to be separated by an earthen dam, and South Lake was private property. Eventually the land went to New York State. The dam was removed, and the area has since been referred to as North South Lake.

This spot was, gratefully, very easy to get to. It’s right near the Recreation Center for the Catskill Park, run by New York State. Visitors can rent kayaks, rowboats and paddle boats to use on the lakes. There are swimming beaches and campsites. Although there was plenty of activity, there was also a beautiful serenity there.

After our strenuous hike up to Kaaterskill Falls, my husband and I found a shady, quiet spot along the lakeshore to spend a quiet afternoon.

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This is the second painting that I did at Kaaterskill Falls in my quest to follow the trail of the Hudson River School painters. Just as I was completing the first, the sunlight began to hit the falls. Tempted as I was to move on to another location at that point, I decided to stay and paint the falls from the top while I had the light. There were lots of hikers climbing up at this time. I was surprised that most of the hikers didn’t go early to beat the heat like I did!

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On the first day of our trip, we visited the home of Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole. The house was part of a 100+ acre fruit farm during his lifetime, owned by his wife’s family. She had to sell off most of their possessions after he passed away, so there are a lot of reproduction and period pieces in the house, but few that were actually there when Thomas Cole lived in the home.

Here is a picture I took of the famous view from the porch of his home. Unfortunately, it was heavily overcast that day, and the wonderful Catskill skyline that Cole had was obscured by cloud cover.

Adjacent to the house was a barn. Cole converted half the barn into his studio. The interior has great north light from a ground level window and one above. The walls inside it are brick and wood, so even with the cool north light, it has a warm, cozy feel. Many of his things were still there in the studio.

Between the house and barn is an outhouse. You wouldn’t think it would warrant a picture, but I took one because it has the distinction of having three seats. Why, I can’t imagine.

I didn’t get a chance to paint there, but they have a fabulous, small exhibit now of his plein air works in the house. Back then, the Hudson River School painters would go out into the field and do these small works to use as references for their huge paintings. One thing that struck me about the small paintings done as “field studies” is the large amount of detail incorporated into the work. I suppose that because they didn’t have small cameras to bring along, the relied only on these studies to produce their large paintings, and needed to include as much information as possible to bring back to the studio with them. They were certainly stunning, complete works in small formats. Here is an example:

Starting at Thomas Cole’s house was a wonderful start to our trip. It set the stage for all the locations to come. I felt inspired, setting out to visit the spots where he had painted. Having seen the exhibit of his reference paintings for the studio works, I decided that I would keep whatever paintings I did on this trip, and use them as my own references, alongside photos I took, to do studio and commission paintings.

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What is the tallest waterfall in New York State? Niagara? Nope, guess again. It’s Kaaterskill Falls!

My first opportunity to paint on our trip, following in the footsteps of the old Hudson River School painters, was after climbing a half mile up to the base of Kaaterskill Falls. You wouldn’t think one would have to climb so far uphill to get to the bottom of a waterfall, but it is indeed far up the mountain. I don’t think I would have made it without my new ultralight painting box in my backpack. I didn’t have to carry a thing, and my pack was nearly weightless. Here’s a photo of the new painting box and my palette for this painting. I’ll be posting more photos of how the box was constructed in the week to come. You can see that I’ve added an extension to it, which can hold my brushes and palette cup.

In the early morning light, most of the fall was in shadow, so I chose a scene that focused on the waterfall/cascade right at the base, where the light was strongest. By the time I was finishing up this painting, a little light was just beginning to hit other parts of the falls. I stayed to do a second painting that included the top tier of the falls as well. I’ll be posting that one tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Thomas Cole and many of the Hudson River School painters painted from this very spot. There are beautiful cascades all the way up the trail to the base, inviting a series of paintings. In fact, the beautiful Bastian Falls is right at the bottom before the trail even starts to ascend, but it’s definitely worth it to make the climb to the top to experience Kaaterskill. I’m sure I’ll be coming back here many times in the years to come to take advantage of other locations along the way.

We intentionally went the day after a heavy rain, figuring that there would be a significant increase in the amount of water coming over the falls and the drama it created. We were right! Most of the paintings and photos I’ve seen of this waterfall display a far narrower stream of water. We chose the right time to go, even if the way up was a little wet and slippery!

Edit: I just checked the image above on a different monitor and it looks a little too light, so depending on your monitor, this image below may be more accurate:

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