The Neighbor's Garden

"The Neighbor's Garden"

7x5

Oil on Panel

startng bid $50

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I was painting off the porch in Friendship and wanted to do another small painting before I closed down for the day. But I had been painting the harbor (to my right) all day and wanted something different. Lookng across the street, I saw a garden with irises I had not really noticed before, hidden as it was by trees and parking. I enjoyed painting this even though the rocks made me insane (only for a while!)

Inside the Shop

"Inside the Shop"

7x5 

Oil on panel

starting bid $65

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This little guy is the newest addition to the "Working Waterfront" series. Sometimes I like to work small, sometimes just do creative play. This started as one of those, but I really started to get into it and I like it and now it has formally been admitted to the group. I love the way the yellow and orange-red just bounce around the shop inside the window, and the way the ones in the window kind of shimmer. Hmm, I wonder what tha shop is like now, in the winter? Even with the little stove there, it must be awfully cold.

Yellow Boat

Yellow Boat

10x8

Oil on Panel

This piece has been sold. Sorry!

This view was straight from my porch while I was staying in Friendship - and it now graces a wall of the cottage in which I stayed. It's lovely and makes you just want to walk down next to the railing and go out to the end of the dock, where the fisherman bring in their catch. Or maybe just go down there to it and listen to the waves and harbor sounds. 

"Bait Truck Delivery"

8x10

Oil on Panel

This piece has been exhibited and
has a high quality exhibit line frame, contemporary floater style

opening bid $180

buy it now $340

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I was lucky enough to have an entire week in Friendship, Maine. I stayed in a house immediately adjacent to the town dock. From my vantage point on the large farmer's porch, I had enough material to paint for the entire week. I never took my supplies off the porch! If I turned around, with my back to the street, I saw the next dock, and it was one with a lot of activity. This was June and everyone was getting ready for the season. Lobster traps and ropes and buoy of different kinds were piled and made great patterns of color. It looked great. But one day a bait truck came to deliver the necessary product. It was there a while as the delivery was negotiated and accomplished. I loved this part where the two men came together, all their attention on something between them. The perfect moment to catch. This piece was primarily done on site and touched up in the studio.

Shack Window, Friendship, ME (Framed)

8x10

Oil on Panel

still wet

Framed with contemporary float frame, light wood

Limited time only

sold

You walk down the rickety pier covered with traps and surrounded by boats and rough beauty. In the window you stop, taken by the wonderful collage of bits and pieces of the fisherman's world: peeling paint, a buoy unique to the family; weathered wood, used, useful, and trashy stuff; you can feel cold water, salt air, hope of a good catch, memories, despair, swelling seas, and hard work. Suddenly this is more beautiful than the sky and sea.

"Checking the Traps" (Framed)

18x24

Oil on Canvas

Framed with light wood contemporary floater frame

sold

When I visited `Maine, I was taken by the working waterfront and it has become my primary subject matter now. The piece shows a couple of lobstermen checking their traps behind a field of buttercups in Friendship, Maine. Recently, I heard that the lobster boats built in Friendship are considered the best.

"Friendship Harbor Walkway"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89

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"Friendship Gold" (framed)

Friendship Gold

8x10

Gold Frame

oil on panel

$225

Friendship, Maine, is a delightful town at the tip of the long finger of land that includes Cushing. There are scenic working waterfront areas and areas more residential, but it has been the inspiration for 3 paintings so far. It is one of those places that makes you want to slow down and just enjoy. I was scouting painting spots and I fell in love with this golden seaweed floating on the waters. I loved trying to push the colors to help you see that shimmering gold.

"Almost Low Tide" Framed

"Almost Low Tide"

Oil on Panel

8x10

$255

Gold Frame

This is the first of the work from my recent trip to Maine. For this piece, I was in a great spot in Friendship, Maine. It's a beautiful little town at the tip of the landmass. I had brought my lunch and was searching for the right place to feed the soul as well as the body. I found it next to a boat ramp to the water, and I loved the way this angle on it let the water wander back in space. So I enjoyed my lunch and then did this painting. It is totally plein air, with not a touch-up in sight. The rocks in the foreground are loose and awesome. I put this image on the postcard for the show in Cushing, ME on August 10, 2012.

Remembrance -The Pink Chair Project #12 - "Against the Wind"

Remembrance -The Pink Chair Project #12 - "Against the Wind"

          

"AGAINST THE WIND"

Oil on Canvas

18X24

$780

Available for delayed sale (see below)

I wanted to paint a piece with the sea in the distance and lupines in front. This piece had to be adjusted dramatically from the photo I worked from, which was taken in Friendship, Maine. The houses were made smaller and the sea closer. I first painted the chair as it was in the photo, facing toward the viewer. I just didn’t like it, it didn’t feel right some how. So I took it all out (ouch!) and re-did it, using the pink chair in my studio as a reference, this time I faced the chair toward the house. This piece has areas painted very thinly as well as thickly and an intense sense of drama, unusual for me. I am still trying to get the message of it clearly, as there are several in there. It is clear that there is something going on with that white house, a conversation of sorts, but what does it mean? Are all those lupines representative of family? Is the white house on the edge of the canvas about looking forward to a hereafter? I certainly didn’t expect that to be such a strong element. My title gives a clue as to what I feel. Right from the beginning this piece has been called “Against the Wind” I always see the chair as counteracting the forces that are pushing against it and up the hill. My sister clarified it for me yesterday when I discussed the difficulty of producing a solo show while suffering from chronic pain: “You have a goal in mind and you will reach it!  I know the "where there's a will there's a way attitude".  It came from Mom. (This) attitude has been a big part of my life.  I have thought of her saying that often all my life and often said it to my kids.” Thank you, Georgie. You made that part so clear. But, hmmm, there is still that white house. Ideas welcome!

I am now sharing my current show with my readers and daily paintworks viewers. This show is currently traveling and will be available for purchase after the travel is completed, around mid-2014. Paintings may be held until then with a 10% down payment. E-mail me or see my pink chair project blog, for details

This exhibit tells the story about painting a pink plastic Adirondack chair. The chair represents my mother, Carolyn Elizabeth Pedersen Schulte, of Rochester, NY, who passed on June 5th, 2011. She was a wonderful woman, full of love for everyone around her, and she loved this bright color pink. She was proud of me as an artist and would love what I am doing. I take the chair to favorite places of hers and to places or situations I know she would have liked. It is a way for me to grieve and to celebrate her life. I talk to her as I paint and make sure that she would want to be where the chair has been placed.