10th Annual Crane Estate Art Show & Sale: Shifting Perspectives

Crane Estate Art Show & Sale is a wonderful art show at the Crane Estate castle. The many paintings, large and small look wonderful in such a beautiful setting. Entry to the show is free on both Saturday November 9th and Sunday November 10th from 10AM-4PM.

This year I will be entering a nice Fall painting called "Shades of Autumn"

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The second large painting is summer green colors with the sun peaking through the clouds giving an enchanting look at the landscape.

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Trina Schell runs this show every year and does an amazing job, thank you Trina. Of course she works with a committee to decide what will be arranged for the show. Last year they suggested that artists submit up to 3 small paintings and it was a very successful addition to the show. 

This year I'm including 3 small paintings 5" x 7" and I do hope you like them as I've enjoyed the challenge of working on a large canvas and then switching to a very small one and still trying to capture the mood of the scene and the special natural effects. 

 Marsh scene along Route 1 in Newbury.

  Enchanting trees arranged for a perfect moonrise.

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 Walking along the path up a gentle hill and viewing the moon above.   

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

A New Painting In The Lyme Art Association Landscape Invitational

Once a year in the Fall the Lyme Art Association invites well know artists to display paintings in the landscape show. The invited artists for 2013 inclute Stapleton Kearns, Barbara Applegate, Christopher Magadini and Barbara Bemis Adams. The show is on view from September 27 - November 9, 2013 at the Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme CT.

When visiting the show you will see two of my paintings displayed; Rising Moon shown in my previous post and a new painting Evening Marsh, shown below, you probably can't miss seeing this one.

Now I'm busy preparing for the Crane Estate show coming up November  8-10, 2013 so stay tuned for more new paintings,

Fresh Air Paintings By The Newburyport Ten

Visit the Newburyport Art Association some time between August 20 to September 1, 2013 to see the Newburyport Ten painters show. This year's show is an exciting display of Pleine Air and studio paintings. My display includes fourteen paintings most of which were designed and started out doors and then finished in the studio.

Reception Friday August 23, 2013 6:00  to 8:00 PM.

Rising Moon continues my series of paintings capturing the wonderful marsh scenes along the Rye, NH to Essex, MA coastal marsh. You can compare this painting to the grisaille shown in the post below. Notice some of the changes that were made during the painting process.  

Early Moring was influenced by the Ming Dynasty landscapes where sloping hills cross each other and meet where water runs between. This is a design I would like to explore more hoping to get more of the delicacy of Chinese painting and use of the unique tree shapes. The tree shapes are loosely taken from local scenes while the other shapes are conceived in the design process.

Hope to see you at the show!

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

New Paintings

Plein air painting my way as learned at Donald Jurney's workshops, check his blog.

Even though I paint outdoors it's usually a multi day process or a combination of outdoors and studio work. When I start outdoors it gives me a feeling for the place as well as clear visions of the parts of the scene. I start with a grisaille that allows me to make sure the composition is pleasing to the viewer. If it isn't right I can easily make adjustments. Below is a sample grisaille that I did recently. The finished painting may be quite different but we'll see.

Shows coming up and I'm trying to finish up some paintings. Here are two paintings ready to go. I hope you enjoy seeing them. 

Finished painting started last November at Rough Meadows preserve in Rowley, MA. The painting has been finished for a while waiting for the right show or maybe because I like it myself and don't want to part with it. I've named it "Autumn Rough Meadow".

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The next painting has a different feel to it and is a landscaped developed more abstractly by applying brush strokes and then searching the canvas for ideas and forms. In other words this painting is my own creation. A fun way to paint and sometimes it works well others times it's a wipe out and redo. I'm calling this one "Sunset Glow" unless a better name is suggested. 

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More to come....soon. 

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

Newburyport Ten Plein Air Show

The Newburyport Ten Plein Air group of painters has been a wonderful part of my painting for many years now. I remember my first day when I went down the dirt road through a small stretch of woods to see for the first time the expansive Nelson Island marsh.

Nelson Island At Sunset (photo)

On the left painting water colors in her car was Joan Hancock and on the right was Dan Shaw at his French easel next to Dan was Bud Smith (ie. Jacob Towle). Back a way toward the woods was Bob Gertz (Bob is now sadly deceased but his family is showing his paintings at the Newburyport Art Association) with a large piece of watercolor paper on a board with an amazing painting start. At the time they were all strangers to me, but not for long. They made me feel welcome and from then on they showed me how to plein air paint and what I needed to have with me to fight the bugs, protect myself from the sun, capture the light, compose the scene and choose the colors.

August 20, 2013 is the opening day of the Newburyport Ten Plein Air Painters annual show at the Newburyport Art Association The show will be open through September 1, 2013. The reception is Friday evening August 23, 2013 6-8 PM.

Hope you will be able to visit this show and enjoy the variety of paintings done by myelf and my friends from the Newburyport Ten group. Here is the group of friendly, adventuresome and a little silly dedicated painters.

ABack row: Margery Jennings, Bud Smith, Janet Macleod, Dan Shaw, Dale Greene.Front row: Susan Luca, Susan Spellman, Marjet Lesk, Cynthia Cooper, Susan Stranc. 

Missing from the above photo is Janet Sutherland. Oh, here she is painting at Plum Island Point.

Janet Sutherland

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

Lyman Allyn Museum and Lyme Art Association Show

Happy to report that three of three artworks were accepted for a show at the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London, CT. This time two of the works are drawings which I hope you enjoy. The third piece is a plein air painting of the Eight Mile River in Lyme CT at the Pleasant Valley Preserve.

This show is sponsored by the Lyme, CT Land Trust Preserve, the Lyme Art Association and the Lyman Allyn Museum For more information about the show visit the Lyme Land Trust Preserve Web site at http://www.lymelandtrust.org/event/celenrating-lymess-beauty/

            

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

Spring Is All Around Today

Buds on the trees, small daffodils and crocus in the garden, time for a new start.

Yesterday I delivered the "Morning Marsh, Salisbury" to an antique home in the Joppa section of Newburyport to hang proudly over the large original fireplace in the family room. It's so nice to watch the wonderful homes in Newburyport being restored and cherished by the owners. Newburyport has many wonderful antique homes of different styles.

For a short look at history in Newburyport visit http://newburyportchamber.org/pages/History/.

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Morning Marsh displays the early marsh in the spring where the grasses remain golden reddish/brown from fall and the leaves on the trees are sparse and yellow/green. 

Spring means the start of a new season of painting outdoors in New England. This year I hope to capture not only the scenery around the north east coast of Massachusetts but also the New Hampshire  White Mountain area.

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

Four On The Wall At Lyme Art Association

The jurors at the Lyme Art Association "Annual Associate Artists Exhibition" accepted 4 of 4 of my paintings to hang in the show. I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to have my paintings in their lovely galleries. As artists our work is constantly being judged and we have to get used to times when our work is not accepted. We may spend weeks working on a painting and then finding out it isn't going to be part of a show. Being rejected isn't always because the painting is bad; it may be because it doesn't fit with the other paintings accepted into the show. Jurors are sometimes most interested in creating a cohesive display of artworks.

The two paintings in the previous post plus the two paintings below will be in Old Lyme, CT. from January 11, 2013 to February 23, 2013. Hope you can make it to the show.

This painting was done at the end of last summer on the grounds of the beautiful Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA. From the lower stables of the estate there is a path that rises above the fields and marsh. If you follow the path all the way it ends at the back side of Cranes Beach. Along the way one sees beautiful vistas. One day while painting here a deer slowly walked into the scene I was painting. 

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At times it's fun to create a landscape painting by placing paint strokes on the canvas and see what shapes appear. By recognizing the shapes as being part of natures many parts a landscape soon appears. The artist is then free to create a mood with color and form. 

I enjoy both methods of creating landscape paintings.

                                                                     

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com

2013 Happy New Year - Lyme Art Association Show

The Lyme Art Association is starting it's 2013 art shows with the 21st Annual Associate Artist Exhibition. I was informed that I am now an Associate Artist and eligible to enter this special show. Below are two of the four paintings that I'm delivering to the show. The jury may or may not include these painting so please check back while I wait to hear from the judges, probably by January 11th. 

The marsh painting above is from the the Rough Meadow under painting in my "Plein Air Painting - A different Approach" posting. I've changed the title to Tidal Marsh because the stream in the above painting is a path at low tide and I wanted people to be aware that the water at high tide can be quite deep. There are warning signs before crossing the path but I'm sure many people are drawn by the adventure of seeing what is on the other side and return to a water covered path. Maybe I should call it "Beware, Tidal Meadow" or "Check Your Tide Chart Before Crossing"..

The Associate Artist Exhibit is from January 11, 2013 to February 23, 2013. This art association in Old Lyme Connecticut has a long history and is situated near the famous Griswold Museum where the American Tonalists  and later the American Impressionists gathered to paint in the summers. A wonderful place to visit.

Comments email: sbluca@gmail.com