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24×36″, oils on stretched canvas
$3,500.00 plus $125 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 large spring landscape is of the old Oak tree at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Pound Ridge, New York. Unfortunately, the tree was destroyed during a big storm. I really miss its massive presence in the landscape.
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.
5×7″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu, you’re right! This is an updated version of the painting I posted a couple of days ago. The picnic bench at the park was lopsided. I thought it was kind of cute and put it that way in the painting, but then decided to straighten it out. I also popped the white sailboat in the background. Initially, I liked it subdued, so that it appeared as a surprise when noticed. As I thought about it and looked at the painting, I felt a more prominent boat would make for a better painting. I also added a few more darks in the background and reds in the foreground. I’m leaving the previous version below so that viewers can see the changes I’ve made.
Today was absolutely gorgeous. I took the opportunity to finally get out of the studio, and went to paint with some friends at the waterfront park in Hastings-on-Hudson. The colors were soft, muted cool and warm tones of spring, so I included the bright red, somewhat-lopsided picnic table to throw a spot of more intense color into the painting.
I love the way this palette of colors is working, so I think I might stick with it for awhile. I used only Prussian Blue, Pyrrole Red, and Raw Sienna (plus white of course). Raw sienna was definitely the dominating color of the landscape today, so using that as my only “yellow” played into the scene perfectly. There aren’t any strong greens or yellow-greens in the landscape yet that would require the addition of a stronger yellow.
7×5″, oils on canvas covered 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.
This is another painting from the Hastings Waterfront Park — a different bench, different cluster of trees, different section of the Palisades, and different angle from the one I posted yesterday, plus it’s a vertical composition. The colors on my palette, however, remained the same.
I’ve gone back into the one I posted yesterday. Tomorrow I’ll post the new version of that one and explain the small changes I made. Stay tuned!
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
I had a true painting marathon on the day I did this painting, leaving the house at 7am and not returning until after 8:30pm. It was a fabulous day of great weather and beautiful scenery in Cold Spring, New York, along the banks of the Hudson River. I can well understand why some of the Hudson River School painters loved to paint from this very spot; I love to paint here too!
This was the last one of the day—attempting to catch the fleeting sunset colors during the few minutes before the light faded into darkness. There’s never enough time to “finish” one when painting sunsets on location. It’s really a matter of grabbing color as it emerges, and hoping for the best!
9×12″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Arches 100% rag hot press watercolor paper, double matted to 16×20.
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This was painted here in the Hudson Valley, by the lake next to my studio. I was so excited about getting out to paint that I ended up getting up at 4:30, while it was still pitch black. I dawdled at the computer and then all of a sudden realized it was already getting light out! Hoping to not miss my opportunity, I raced out the door just in time to catch this dramatic lighting on the lake and in the sky.
My palette for this painting was Hansa yellow opague, Ultramarine blue, Phthalo blue, Napthol red light, and Titanium white.
12×16″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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This is another painting that was started on location and completed in the studio this week. I showed the work in progress with an image of the scene in a previous post. The humped peak in the painting is Breakneck Ridge. The marsh is where Fishkill Creek empties out into the Hudson River.
When I brought the painting back to the studio and put it up on the easel to add the finishing touches, I pulled up all my photo references from this location. I’d gone there several times during the falll, so I had photos from much of the season. I decided to go back a few weeks in time to when there was more fall in the air and leaves on the trees. I think it added a lot to the painting to be able to fill out that foreground tree.
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!
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
24×36″, Oils on stretched canvas
$3,500.00 plus $125 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 has been a long time in process. It started out with a small monochrome study, followed by a color study, both completed on location. I then did an intermediate stage in the studio at 1/2 each dimension of the large painting. (Intermediate size was 12×18″.)
After a day and a half of working on the large painting in the studio, I took it back to the location a week or so later to work on it outside, where I could gather more information directly from the source once again. I felt lots of things were improved after that session of on site painting, but it still wasn’t finished.
I’ve put in more time on it here and there as it’s sat on the big easel in my studio, and I think I can finally call it finished! Here it is up on my studio easel during today’s session, with the studies next to it for reference. The studies are a progression toward the finished painting, but as you can see, I changed things that I wanted to improve upon in each version.
10×8″, oils on panel, unframed
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Painted on location at Tilly Foster Farm in Brewster, New York. I’ve bumped up this painting because it just made it into the local paper! Take a look!
5×7″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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This is a scene from Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Pound Ridge, NY. This county park is over 4,700 acres of rolling fields, beautiful trees, and hillsides with dramatic vistas. This is a 5×7″ plein air painting—done on location. The sun was in and out of the clouds and it was a real challenge to catch the light!
Click image for a larger, clearer view:
8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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Painted late in the day at Olana, overlooking the Hudson River.
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
9×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$325.00 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.
Today I returned to the location where I painted yesterday. When I first arrived there, the sky was totally blue. I had to run back to the car to get my glasses, and by the time I returned, there were white clouds. Twenty minutes later, there was this dramatic yellow sky. I decided to stick with that! It wasn’t long before the sky changed yet again, but I really liked the drama of the yellow. When plein air painting, at some point we need to stick with the plan; otherwise we risk spending the day chasing the light and never finishing a painting!
I’m really loving this spot where Fishkill Creek empties out into the Hudson River, and the mountains of the Hudson Highlands loom in the distance. I’m so glad I found this place! After so many years of painting in the Hudson Valley, it’s always exciting to find a spot that offers new and varied scenery.
Today I was painting along the Hudson River and it was quite the challenge! I went with two friends to this beautiful marsh/river view, where Fishkill Creek empties out into the Hudson River. The big hump-like mountain is Breakneck Mountain. It’s rather distinctive!
I didn’t have time to finish my painting before the light started to shift too much to continue, but I don’t think there’s all that much left to do. It will mainly be a matter of working on the foreground tree, a little sky finishing, and some adjustments to the background. I’ll repost it when it’s done. Here’s how far I got today on location:
This is the time of year when I’m trying to reap as much as I can out of what’s left of the milder weather. There will be plenty of bad weather days ahead to complete these in the studio, so I try to gather as much information about color and composition as I can while on location.
While out painting at Bannerman Island with friends two weeks ago, we were offered a show at Bannerman Island Gallery! The opening is this Saturday, November 14, 4-8pm. I’ll have some of my new fall works there, including the one featured below.
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.
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.
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.
I have painted this scene many times at different times of day. This one was painted at 12 noon on location. Notice how the light is flatter in the middle of the day. Shadows are not as dark, and contrasts are less pronounced.
6×8″, Oils on 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.
It was so cold standing in the wind at Olana while painting this that tears were running down my face!
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard, framed
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This painting was done mostly on location, with a few tweaks in the studio to finish it up. It is a scene from Long Dock (Beacon Point Park) along the Hudson River. I loved the rusty-orange trees against the distant blues of Mt. Beacon, and the brighter greens of the foliage that hadn’t yet realized fall had arrived.
24×36″, Oils on stretched canvas
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This large painting was done on location in Cold Spring, New York over a period of several days. It was pretty windy some of that time, and I thought the painting was going to act as a sail and carry off the entire easel from time to time! I was exhausted by the time the painting was completed, with the long days and long drives over to the location, but it was worth it.
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.
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!
20×24″, oil on stretched canvas
$960.00 plus $35 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 a fall plein air painting looking toward North Salem, across Peach Lake. It’s quite large for a plein air painting at 20×24″, and took several sessions on location to complete.
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.
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
Sunday was the Olana Paintout, an annual event at the estate of the late Hudson River School painter Frederic Church. As I drove along the road that runs through the grounds to the top of the hill overlooking the Hudson, I was immediately captivated by this brilliant red tree standing alone out on the field. I pulled my car off the road and set up my easel on the spot.
This was my first time painting since my hand surgery, and it sure was a challenge with a cast!
7 x 5″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard, unframed
$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.
There’s quite a collection of wonderful objects, architectural treasures, and river overviews to paint at this favorite spot along the Hudson. I was drawn by the strong contrasts of light and shadow as the sun began it’s shift to the west, and the rusty undertones of the statue.
12×16″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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There is nothing for a Hudson River painter quite like standing in the yard at Frederic Church’s estate and looking up at his home, paintbrush in hand. Spending an occasional day at Olana makes me appreciate the history and drama of painting in the Hudson Valley.
This painting, done on location at Olana, needed a few studio tweaks before I could call it done. As you can probably tell by looking at the painting, the drawing of the mansion took up most of my painting time on site! The sun was moving quickly and the lighting changed dramatically before I had a chance to wrap it up. In the studio, I touched up the trees a bit and altered the slope on the left side. Now it’s ready for a special wall—maybe yours?
8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This was painted early yesterday morning for Artists on Location in Garrison, NY. There was a misty drizzle on and off, so I found a spot off to the side of the dirt road where I could paint in my car! Each time it started drizzling, I’d take my pochade box into the car, only to re-emerge as the precipitation paused. When I was nearly done, the police asked me to move because they were afraid I was going to get run over! I moved over to that field on the right to finish the painting.
I’d really like to go back there soon to do a larger version of this painting. If anybody wants to commission it, please email me! This one is sold.
(Shadows along top of image are from the easel holding the painting)
24×18″, Oils on stretched canvas
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Although there were heavy clouds overhead today, I spent another day on location with this painting to finish it up. It is such a beautiful and tranquil spot. I was entertained by a little grebe in the pond, some friendly passers-by, and a friendly chipmunk! I’d like to go back in a couple of weeks when the foliage is further along and do another painting….maybe an even larger one next time!
5×7″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$135.00 plus $12 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 morning was overcast and looked like it was going to rain, so I was undecided whether or not to drive all the way over to the Hudson River to paint. In the end, I decided to go and do a cloud painting, and I’m so glad I did! The sky was fabulous, and although the clouds moved and changed quickly, I think I managed to capture the feel of the day.
6×8″, Oil 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.
I painted with friends last week at an overlook on the west side of the Hudson River. The scene was very dramatic as the filtered sunlight fought through the haze, bursting onto the river in patches of yellow light.
I’ve been painting, painting, painting lately, but haven’t had a chance to get all of these photographed yet. More to come during the week….Stay tuned!
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!
5×7″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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It’s not often that you can paint fog, haze, and bright sunlight simultaneously, but that’s what was happening at Boscobel yesterday! The fog was rolling down the river from north to south, so the southernmost mountains of the Hudson Highlands were still completely obscured by the fog. The closer hills were faded by the remaining haze, and the clearing skies overhead let the sun shine through onto the marsh and water.
Constitution Marsh is just starting to turn color. I could see the oranges and shades of rust beginning. Soon they will overtake the green and the marsh will be ablaze with its fall splendor.
What a time I had with this photo….The painting is warmer and brighter than I seem to be able to adjust for. I think maybe it’s time to start using a better camera to photograph my paintings!
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!
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.
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.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board with backing board (To be framed without glass like an oil painting.)
$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.
What was I thinking? I sat in the blistering hot sun at Tilly Foster Farm for hours to paint this. Even with my large beach umbrella for shade, the heat was too much. When I was finished, I walked over to where my smart friends were painting, under the shade of a huge tree! It felt 20 degrees cooler there. The great subject matter of this old truck was more than I could resist, even in the heat. The hay bales were glistening in the morning sun, and the large barrel of flowers provided the final, beautiful touch.
My palette for this painting:
Naples Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Primrose
Pyrrole Red
Transparent Red Oxide
Ultramarine Blue
Phthalo Blue
Jenkins Green
Titanium White
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard, unframed
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This was painted from a home high up on a hilltop in North Salem, New York. There were beautiful views of distant hills to the west, but when I saw these bright pink flowers against the dark foliage, I knew I’d found my painting spot!
16×12″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
$440.00 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 liked this painting from the time I brought it home from the painting spot by the lake. However, I never varnished it because I felt it needed more warmth in the water and foliage colors. I touched it up with the addition of some pinks, oranges, and transparent red oxide glazes. I am a lot happier with it now! What do you think? The original is below for comparison.
I’m one of those lucky plein air painters who has a default painting location right outside the studio door. In previous years, I painted here by the lake quite a bit. This year I seem to be traveling more and painting at home less. I think it may have something to do with the fact that my favorite tree to paint was decimated by a storm during the winter. Somehow, painting here just isn’t the same without that tree, but it made me turn my attention today to a different tree.
This little point juts out from the shoreline, with a charming willow tree at the end. I love painting willows, with their graceful clusters of leafy branches, and subtle color and value shifts. The wonderful early morning light and serenity made me realize that I need to paint here more often!
16×20″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
$800.00 plus $35 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.
Below is the painting in its initial form, as it came home from my plein air expedition. I was always bothered by that large piling so close to the center of the painting. Adjusting the composition, in this case, was very simple. By enlarging the piling to the right, I was able to remove that focal point in the center, rebalancing the painting. I think it works very well now! Below is the original, so that you can compare. Color and value differences that you see are due to the paintings being adjusted on different computers. (That gives you an indication of how different paintings can look from one computer to another, depending on our monitors and settings.)
This was painted on location in Cold Spring, New York, facing Storm King Mountain. I paint all over the Hudson River Valley, and the Hudson Highlands region certainly rates as one of the most dramatic along the river. I had to wait a long time for the clouds to break before they struck the mountain, but once the sun broke through it was quite spectacular.
For those who like to see some of the process, here is a photo of the Quinacridone Gold underpainting that I did for this one:
12×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This week I’ve been working on touching up paintings done previously. Often I am not 100% happy with a completed painting. I hold off on varnishing those for as long as possible, so that I can make changes to them when I get a chance.
There are things I loved about this lighthouse painting, but when I initially painted it on location, it was early April. The leaves were not yet out on the trees, and the grass had that dull, late winter color. The painting looked way too stark to me, although it was a pretty accurate representation of the scene at the time. I decided to push the season along in my reworking.
I’ve left the original below, because I thought it would be interesting to my viewers to see it and compare them. I’m interested in hearing your comments about the changes. I’ll be posting more of these altered paintings this week, along with their original versions. I hope you find it interesting!
If you’ve ever driven over the Tappan Zee Bridge, across the Hudson River, you’ve likely noticed this sparkling lighthouse near the eastern shoreline. This was painted en plein air on a very cold and windy morning, but I was inspired enough by the view to stick it out and paint. With the New York City skyline in the distance, the Palisades jutting out into the river, and the bridge behind the lighthouse, there was a lot to put into one painting. I liked including the foreground tree too, to give yet another dimensional plane to the work. I’m hoping to return many more times as the foliage emerges. Gotta love that red!
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.
I set out before sunrise this morning, hoping for another dramatically-colored sunrise by the lakeshore. Although the colors didn’t cooperate in terms of high chroma, the beautiful, subtle shifts in value and color made the red boat spring to life in its more subdued surroundings.
I toned the panel a light pink color with Rembrandt Permanent Red Medium, then worked a lot with soft color changes within a limited value range. I used only three colors plus white for this one, and for yesterday’s painting too:
Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Light
Rembrandt Permanent Red Medium
Utrecht Ultramarine Blue Deep
Clouds Over the Palisades: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 23
12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
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This painting was posted a few weeks ago without the barge and tug. I feel the boats change the painting enough to warrant reposting it. I think they add a lot to the painting, don’t you? When the barge and tug went by, I wasn’t far enough along with the painting to put them in. However, I was quick to grab them with my camera, and so I had the reference image to add them later. They help give scale to the scenery, and are so typical of the boat traffic that goes up and down the river in the course of a day.
I spent a great day down in Hastings-on-Hudson. This wonderful, small park is right on the Hudson River, with the cliffs of the Palisades looming over the far shoreline. The morning started out overcast, but broke into big, billowy clouds by late morning.
This is Number 23 in my Hudson River Quadricentennial Series of paintings, commemorating the 400 year anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river.
Below is an image of the painting before I put in the barge and tugboat.
Here is a detail of the boats below the cliffs:
Big Apple Skyline: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 30
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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This is the New York City Skyline as seen from a park along the Hudson River in Hastings-on-Hudson. I started this on location, and completed the painting in the studio. ‘Love those skyline blues! You can see the George Washington Bridge where it spans the Hudson just north Manhattan.
Breaking Blues at Olana: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 29
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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This oil sketch was done from just outside the home of Hudson River School artist Frederic Church. He had this classic view of the Hudson from most of the terraces and many of the rooms in his beautiful Moorish-styled mansion. The land was nearly all farmland back then. The trees have taken over since he lived here, and many of the vistas he enjoyed have become obscured by the overtaking foliage. I’m told that they will be doing some clearing in the not too distant future, to bring back some of those farmland views present in Church’s time.
There were a lot of visitors to the site while I was painting this. Occasionally the blue sky would poke through the layers of clouds as I painted, and I would snatch the opportunity to include those hopeful, fair-weather breaks of cerulean in the painting. Two minutes later, it would be completely overcast again. I found myself having to explain to visitors more than once that I really, really did see that blue sky just a minute ago!
Catskill Mountain House Vista: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 28
8×10″, Oils on sealed, primed 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.
When I arrived at the site of the Catskill Mountain House atop South Mountain early in the morning, I was above a heavy cloud cover. It felt like I was in outer space looking down at the earth! As I painted, more and more of the clouds gave way to the rolling fields below, and the Hudson River appeared out of the hazy covering.
It is from this exact spot that Frederic Church did his famous painting, Above the Clouds. This was a popular painting location for many of the Hudson River School painters.
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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We packed up at Olana amidst the thunder and lightning and crossed the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, heading to my Palenville house. Once we arrived there at the foot of South Mountain, we were greeted by a beautiful sunset even though we were facing east from the back porch. I pulled out a panel and set down colors and shapes, then finished this in the studio on Sunday.
A week before, my husband saw a bear back here in the late afternoon! No signs of Smokey while painting this!
Layers of Blue Mountains: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 27
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.
After visiting the Thomas Cole Historic Site, we crossed the Hudson River to tour the home of another famous Hudson River School painter: Frederic Church. A fabulous guide led us through his Moorish-style home, where we admired the eclectic collections and intricate wall stenciling. A second tour there brought us to a show of his works done on site at Olana, which just opened recently on the second floor of the estate.
Following that dose of inspiration, Gretchen Kelly and I wandered down a trail near the parking lot and came upon this beautiful view of the Hudson River and Catskills. We set up to paint in the strong, warm, late day light, but it wasn’t long before these beautiful, billowy clouds turned into thunderheads. I don’t think I’ve ever packed up my gear so quickly in my life!
You can click this image to see a larger view of the painting.
Summer Greens at Boscobel: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 26
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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Today began my five day painting trip. I started out this morning at Boscobel Restoration in Garrison, New York, on the Hudson River. This was my first visit to Boscobel this year since the summer greens took over the landscape. The day has been picture perfect, and I had a wonderful time doing this painting!
I don’t have my image editing software on my laptop yet, so during this trip, I’ll have to just post the images as they come out of the camera, without any adjustments. I tried to take this picture to take in part of the scene as well as the painting, so you’d get an idea of what I was painting. When I get back to my desktop system next week, I’ll add adjusted images of all the paintings to their posts.
Late Day Light on the Hudson: Hudson River Quadricentennial Series No. 25
10×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$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.
‘Gotta love the color and light along the Hudson River in the late afternoon. The grass and rocks glow, and there is always soft color above the horizon. There were lots of boats and ships going by too. I took photos of them and I’ll add one to the painting, then will repost it. If anybody chooses to purchase the painting before then, you get to pick the boat that goes into the painting!
I see in posting it here that the color is a little hot-looking. The coloring in the actual painting is softer and more subtle. I will correct it once I paint in the boat (probably next week or the following week) and reshoot the image.
10×8″, Oils on canvas
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This is a plein air painting that I did at New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. It was a beautiful day, and I set up in the courtyard garden facing the conservancy building. Just as I was finished setting up, an elderly couple came along. The man took a seat on the bench behind me, while the woman went off to further explore the gardens.
I lifted my brush to make the first stroke, and a strong voice behind me said, “Aren’t you going to draw first? I think you should draw first.”
I could see that I was going to have a critic on board for this painting. The woman had done a quick disappearing act, and already I suspected I knew why.
As diplomatically as I could, I explained to the man that I do my drawing with paint. He grumbled. And so, I began. Those who paint know that we generally start with the large masses and work to the details. I started laying in the dark foliage and the form of the building.
“What about the windows? You’re forgetting the windows! Put those in now!”
He continued to try to direct my painting, but I stuck to my methods. He became increasingly frustrated as I went about my work my own way. Finally his wife came back for him. The man turned to his wife, pointed to me, and said indignantly, “This lady didn’t want to paint the windows first.”
She asked me, “How is the painting going? Has he been giving you a hard time?”
“Well, I’m getting critiqued!” I replied.
She laughed and said, “I’m sure you are!”, as she helped him up and they went on their way.
16×12″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
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Visiting the Hudson River School show at the Thomas Cole Historical Site last Friday made me think about many of my own paintings of the Hudson River, and how our contemporary, plein air pieces fit into the grand scheme of things. The Hudson River School paintings are filled with details, and tell a story about man’s journey—past, present and future. In the years before paint tubes, it wasn’t so easy to transport paints and equipment out into the field. As I looked over those paintings, I recognized many bits and pieces of the locations. The artists would go out into the field and sketch these bits and pieces, then come back into the studio and combine them into a grand work with a foreground, middle ground, and horizon, incorporating figures and animals representing man’s mark on the landscape and his journey.
I look at the Hudson River as a theme that flows through my work. I think those of us who paint plein air have been heavily influenced by many factors through the generations. While there are ateliers and painting schools that teach the techniques of the Hudson River School painters of past generations, there are also those who have been heavily influenced by the Impressionists, and the immediacy necessary to capture a scene on location under the conditions of changing light. It will be very interesting for those in future generations to trace back through these Hudson River styles as a more direct painting approach evolved.
As for me, I plan to go out and continue to paint my favorite river. I suppose I will leave it to the art historians to determine how we fit into the spectrum of art history!
This is a scene painted from a lovely waterfront park along the Hudson River in Nyack, New York. It faces the Tappan Zee Bridge, which was just barely emerging from the fog as I set up to paint.
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on 300 lb Saunders Waterford watercolor paper
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Painting along the shoreline of the Hudson River has great therapeutic value! This was painted on location at sunset.
6×8″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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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
5×7″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This was yesterday’s sunrise over the Hudson River, painted on location in Nyack.
6×6″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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I painted down in Nyack this morning. The skies were mostly overcast, but periodically there would be a break of brilliant sunshine that flooded the landscape with bright light. One of the Tall Ships was sailing off in the distance. I think it was the Mystic Whaler. It didn’t make it into my painting, but was a wonderful accompaniment to my morning by the shore!
These are the same trees that have those beautiful purple blossoms in spring. I was so sorry that they were no longer blooming, but I did put some hints of the violets into them as a hint of what they are.
9×12, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$325.00 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 painting was done on location while the Onrust was docked in Newburgh. It is Number 18 of my Hudson River Quadricentennial Series, in celebration of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson 400 years ago. This beautiful replica ship was constructed in New York by 250 volunteers! You can read more about the recreation of the Onrust here.
Leave it to me to forget my camera when I went to paint this on Monday. Even though I have a note saying “CAMERA” posted on the door to the garage, I often forget to take it along. The painting needed a little studio finishing, which I had to do from memory, plus I used the watercolor painting I did that day.
5×7″, Watercolor, double matted in ivory/gold to 8×10″, framed in antique gold/black, Price includes mat and frame
$145.00 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.
Today I went to see the Tall Ships as they docked in Newburgh, NY. They are on their way up the Hudson River in a Quadricentennial Celebration. Leave it to me to forget my camera. Ouch! But at least I had paints and sketching materials with me. The Half Moon and the Onrust were there. I settled in to paint the Onrust, and I’ll try to do the Half Moon later in the week at one of the other stops it will make as it journeys northward. You can read more about the recreation of the Onrust here.
I started out with this little 5×7″ watercolor, and also did an oil painting that I need to finish up in the studio, hopefully tomorrow. I’ve double matted and framed this painting in a lovely ivory/gold double mat, and a black and gold wood frame. Price includes mat and frame as shown below. It looks soooo much better in real life than in the photo!
Here is an image of the painting alone:
I hope to have the oil painting completed to show tomorrow!
8×16″, 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.
The other day, I saw these boats all lined up along the shoreline here by the lake and couldn’t wait to get out and do a wide-format painting of them. The clouds broke for a few hours today, so I dashed out during my window of opportunity. With rain this morning and more rain coming in later, I lucked out with a perfect midday break in the weather.
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!
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!
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.
6×8″, Oils on 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.
Our back yard along the brook is too wet to mow this time of year. The sweet Forget-Me-Nots take over there and create an exquisite mass of tiny blue flowers beneath the Purple Martin house.
Custom framed in a gold plein air style frame
12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
$600.00 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.
One more amazing day along the Hudson River at Nyack Beach State Park….I was surprised to find the Royal Paulownia trees still in full bloom. Everybody was out walking along the path with smiles on their faces in the warm breeze.
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.
I went to paint by a lake in Newburgh, New York with some friends from the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters. This little boat by the shoreline beckoned me. I sure he was disappointed that he attracted an artist instead of a fisherman!
12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
$600.00 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 got to Nyack very early yesterday morning, while the sun was still very low in the sky. It glowed at the horizon, and struck the face of the Palisades cliffs head on. The purple Royal Paulownia trees were blooming all over the base of the cliffs. I had to walk a half mile along the path with all my painting gear, but as soon as I arrived at this location, I knew I’d met my muse for the day!
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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While painting this yesterday in Nyack in the cold and intense wind, many people stopped to chat and admire the painting. One woman, after commenting on the diversity of the New York landscape, said, “I love New York! I love the Hudson River, the fall colors, the skies, and even the snobby New York City folks!”
Aside from any snobby New York City folks (and I haven’t encountered many!), I have to agree with her. So, I named the painting I Love New York. It’s hard to beat a view of Paulownia Trees along the Hudson River with dramatic skies!
10×8″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
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My plein air painting buddy, Sue, wanted to go paint at Nyack Beach State Park this morning. Conditions were freezing cold, very windy, and overcast. I was honestly not thrilled about this idea, but didn’t want my friend to have to go alone. I packed my winter coat, a thermos of coffee and lunch, and hit the road at 7am.
Imagine my joy upon arriving there and seeing these exquisite Royal Paulownia Trees along the path beside the Hudson River as it wound through the park. (I confess that I didn’t know what they were, but I asked the Park Ranger!) We didn’t get much sunshine, but the skies were a lot more interesting than just those silvery, heavily overcast days. I’m so glad I went. In fact, I’m going back tomorrow!
6×8″, oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
Today was the big Artists on Location event in Garrison, NY. I was expecting the skies to clear, but that didn’t happen, and this was painted in the rain. Fortunately, I had my big “ShadeBuddy” umbrella with me, and the winds were calm enough that I could use it!
The huge sailboat off in the distance came by at just the right time, and provided the perfect element to scale the painting and give it a focal point.
8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard panel
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This charming lighthouse sits on a cement platform in the middle of the Hudson River between the towns of Athens and Hudson. I had the pleasure of viewing it from both sides recently. On this occasion, I chose to paint it from the Hudson side, but I’d like to go back and paint it from the Athens side soon too.
In case any of you think you saw this a few days ago, it’s not your mind playing tricks on you! I saw a bunch of things I decided to change. I added more darks into the foreground water, glazed the rocks there with some cooler color, popped in some extra darks in the tree, added greens and blues into the background, and popped the lighthouse a bit more. It was only about 20 minutes of touch-ups, but I feel it made a significant enough difference in the image to repost, and delete the old image.
12×12″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
$425.00 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 was painted on location at the beautiful Hastings Waterfront Park on the Hudson River. There were a couple of fishermen there, and one of them was kind enough to pose for me. Thank you, Sean!
8×6″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
$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 went to paint with a friend up in Clermont, New York along the Hudson River. Jan provided the perfect focal point for my painting, with her painting umbrella glistening in the strong morning light, and her rust-colored shirt against the spring greens. Clermont is a nice painting spot with mature trees, a lovely garden, and the Catskill Mountains rising beyond the river.
Jan and I have a show coming up in Rhinebeck, New York from June 5-July 15 with two other artists. The opening is on June 5 from 5:30-7:30pm. I’ll post more about it soon…Save the date if you can come! If you’re in the Rhinebeck area and interested in attending the event, I’d be happy to send you one of our show cards with images and location details. Please email your full name and surface mail address to me, and I’ll be sure you get one.
18×24″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.
Today was another stunning day at Boscobel Restoration in Garrison, NY. The Cherry Blossoms are all gone now, so I turned my attention to the overview of Constitution Marsh and the Hudson River. It was amazing how fast the light changed. The light and shadows on the hills reversed itself, and the marsh became cooler and darker as it was silhouetted by the light coming from the south. I kept my original plan with the morning light. The photo below shows the scene in the afternoon with my almost-finished painting.
This painting has wonderful presence in its large size with the strong color and light. I can’t wait to see it in a frame!
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
9×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
$325.00 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.
What’s with the meteorologists these days? It was supposed to be overcast and raining, but I awoke to brilliant sunshine and mild temperatures. After all the rain we’ve had lately, I figured the trout stream at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation would present some good plein air opportunities. The water was rushing over the rocks, and the spring greens were out in force.
This was my first chance to try my new 9×12″ Guerrilla Painter pochade box. I absolutely love it! I sat with the box on my lap. It’s got so much more palette space than the thumbox, and as a bonus, an standard 9×12″ disposable palette pad fits right in the box, making clean-up a snap.
You can see that by the time I was nearing the finish line on this painting, it became overcast and I lost my light:
My palette for this painting was:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Permanent Alizarin
Burnt Sienna
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Viridian
Titanium White
12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.
This painting was started on location along the Hudson River waterfront in Athens, NY last weekend. I started setting up to paint at 9am, admiring the way the sun lit up the side of this little red building by the shore. Within an hour, the light was completely gone and the building was in shadow! Then the water got brighter and brigher, until by 11am, all the values in the scene were the reverse of when I began painting. Plein air work sure can be a challenge!
Fortunately, I’d taken a photo just as I started to paint. Working from that, what I had captured on location, and my memory of the way the scene appeared when I began, I finished this up in the studio.
There are a couple of other paintings I’d like to do from this waterfront park in Athens. I’d never been to this location before, but I will definitely go back again! I’m told that the recreation of Henry Hudson’s ship, The Half Moon, will be docked here permanently in the not too distant future! I’ll be wanting to paint that for sure.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on 8 ply 100% rag board
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
The Cherry Blossoms at Boscobel wind around this little path. It goes along the Hudson River, and then circles around behind the herb garden, where the Cherry Blossoms are joined by dogwoods in bloom and apple trees.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Saunders Waterford 100% rag watercolor paper, 300lb cp.
$200.00 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.
Every spring, it’s a race to paint the Cherry Blossoms before they go. It seems that as soon as they bloom and rain comes along, which it does constantly this time of year, they are gone until the following spring. I love this view of them against the mountain.
5×7″, Oils on Ampersand Gessoboard
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….Back to my favorite subject this time of year! Not to worry….The season for Cherry Blossoms is so short-lived. In a week the blossoms will probably all be gone, and I’ll have to wait another year to paint beside them again.
There are five Cherry Blossom trees in this arc by the Hudson River at Boscobel Restoration in Garrison, NY. Each one has such character, and although they all have those bushy, bright pink blossoms, their shapes are quite unique, and the light hits them differently. I enjoy picking out different ones to feature in each painting, exploring their similarities and differences, and the way they fit into the total scene with the Hudson River and Constitution Marsh behind them.
10×8″, Oils on mounted Multimedia Artboard
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Here’s a little break from all those Cherry Blossoms! I’ve painted this Dogwood overlooking Constitution Marsh in its bright red, fall splendor nearly every year, but never in the spring flowering stage. The real challenge for me was to decide how I could best display those white blossoms against the very light blue sky.
This painting is done on the new, mounted Multimedia Artboard. It is an archival support that can be framed just like a hardboard panel. I’ve enjoyed painting on this surface from time to time because of the way it takes both oils and acrylics. As the support itself is brittle, I back it with acid free foamcore for framing. They have just come out with a new version of the product which is already mounted on the foamcore, making it more durable for travel purposes while maintaining the lightweight benefit.
For small paintings, I sometimes feel the weave of canvas interferes with the painting. As you can see here, the smoother surface of Multimedia Artboard allows me to work without that concern. I don’t feel I need to fight with unwanted texture.
I tend to like fairly absorbent surfaces. I can put more paint onto them, and avoid some of the streakiness of slick surfaces. I give the Multimedia Artboard a coat of Golden Matte Medium diluted 20% with water to cut down on just a bit of the absorption. The paint applies beautifully to the surface.
I’ve used it now for both oils and acrylics, and highly recommend this archival material. You can read about the product at www.multimediaartboard.com. You can order it by writing to the company through the link on the website. I’ve put up a link to the site from the right sidebar on my blog too, so you’ll always be able to find it here.
6×8″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
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Today began with a light haze, giving a silvery glow to the atmosphere over the Hudson River. The cherry blossoms are in full swing at Boscobel, and the reddish color is coming into Constitution Marsh as it springs back to life from winter dormancy.
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Permanent Red Medium
Permanent Alizarin
Transparent Red Oxide
Cerulean Blue
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Chromatic Black
Titanium White
My apologies for the slight glare on the left side of the painting. I’m a terrible photographer. That glare is only in the digital image, and not on the painting.
Click painting for a larger, clearer image:
12×16″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
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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.
6×6″, Oils on Ampersand Gessoboard
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I didn’t feel like straying far from home today, so I set my chair outside in the yard and took in the first blooms of spring under the stand of evergreens. My little dog kept me company, the temps were in the high 40s, and the sun was shining. It’s hard to ask an early spring day for more than that! I’ve been peeking at these hyacinths from the window for a week or so, and I’m glad I got to paint them before they disappeared for another year.
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Light
Permanent Red Medium
Permanent Rose
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Venetian Red
Chromatic Black
Viridian
Titanium White
6×8″, Oils on 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.
Today was heavily overcast, with showers predicted. I had a hard time deciding whether or not head over to the Hudson River to paint at Boscobel. In the end, I figured that any day of plein air painting is better than a day without plein air painting! For my efforts, I was greeted by this striking yellow sky, and extremely dark blue background hills. I’ve done many, many paintings of this view, but have never seen it quite the way it looked today.
Boscobel Restoration is in Garrison, New York, along the Hudson River. The view overlooks Constitution Marsh and West Point Military Academy.
Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Lemon
Raw Sienna
Permanent Red Medium
Venetian Red
Cerulean Blue
Ultramarine Blue Deep
Titanium White
5×7″, Watercolor and ink on Fabriano Artistico 140# hp
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Every so often, I like to play with paints and ideas like a child in a sandbox. Today I did some small plein air paintings, experimenting with different styles and ideas. This abstract landscape is based totally on design and composition. The idea was to support an energetic design with bold contrasts, adventurous colors, and strong lines. I looked for elements in my yard along the brook, and arranged them for a dynamic composition. I examined the color of each large section of the landscape, and selected a pure, higher-chroma color to represent that segment of the painting. The colors are cerulean blue, cobalt violet, cobalt blue, and raw sienna, plus waterproof black India ink applied with a brush.
8×6″, Oils on Raymar canvas panel
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I painted at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation today, admiring the subtle spring colors by the trout stream. My palette consisted of:
Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow Light
Pyrrole Red
Transparent Red Oxide
Raw Sienna
Cerulean Blue
French Ultramarine
Ivory Black
Viridian
I’m sure I didn’t need so many colors to portray this subtle landscape, but they were already on my palette, so I figured I’d put them to work!
8×6″, oils on Raymar canvas panel
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This magnificent spot, with the red barns nestled in the valley below the Catskills, is about five minutes from our house. There are mountains and rolling fields everywhere you look. Locations like this one are what make me realize why the Hudson River School painters were so drawn to this area!
It was only 26 degrees yesterday morning when I painted this, so it was done from the warm comfort of my car, parked off on the side of the road!
8×6″, oils on Raymar canvas panel
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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.
7×5″, oil on panel
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Painted on location (en plein air).
5×7″, oils on canvas covered hardboard
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5×7″, Oils on Ampersand Gessoboard
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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.
6×8″, ois on sealed, primed hardboard
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This painting was started a few weeks ago en plein air and finished up in the studio. I love this view of the Hudson River and surrounding hills, painted from a peninsula along the riverfront.
12 x 16″, Oils on Canvas covered hardboard
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This is a plein air painting that I did awhile back of the famous water tower along the Hudson River at Hastings-on-Hudson. There was a big environmental feud brewing between residents who wanted the tower restored and kept as a local landmark, and the property owner who wanted to avoid the high costs of restoration and just tear it down to build something more lucrative. I love the warm colors and interesting shapes, and wanted to be sure I had the opportunity to capture it in paint before it disappeared. I’ll have to check back and find out what the current status is, and whether or not the residents will be able to keep their landmark.
5×7″, oil on canvas covered hardboard, unframed
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This painting was done on location at Peach Lake in the Hudson Valley of New York State.
5×7″, Oil on canvas covered hardboard
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This old stone barn at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is just loaded with character. It’s a wonderful subject in any season, but of course nothing beats fall!
8×10″, Oils on Raymar linen panel
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Palette: Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Permanent Rose, Ivory Black, Titanium White
Painted on location at Olana in Hudson, New York.
6×8″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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This painting was done en plein air at Olana during the workshop. The palette is just Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Permanent Rose, black and white. It was an interesting exploration of warm and cool color without a blue on the palette.
8×10″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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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.
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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This was painted yesterday at Boscobel Restoration in Garrison, New York, when the sun finally emerged from the heavy cloud cover as promised. The light shimmered on the Hudson River, and the backlighting on the red tree made it glow like Christmas bulbs.
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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Although I go to Boscobel several times every year in fall, I never get tired of painting Constitution Marsh as it turns from the greens of summer to the blazing colors of fall. The Hudson River was shimmering brightly this morning despite the clouds, as if the sun somehow sought out the river in spite of the overcast skies. It was another fabulous fall day to be out painting.
6×8″, Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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This is my favorite tree along the lakeshore here. It turns this bright crimson color in fall, and I love the twists and turns of the trunk.
I painted this with my new little pochade box! It is the Guerrilla Painter Thumbox with the palette extension and watercolor palette. I filled the watercolor palette up with oil paints. That palette gets covered with the mixing palette, so the paints stay wet and it’s really fast to set up. Here’s a picture of the new box with a progress image of the painting:
8×10″, oils on Raymar canvas panel
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Painted on location at Olana in Hudson, New York. (Home of Hudson River School painter Frederic Church)
6×8″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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When the haze lifted, the view of the Hudson River suddenly appeared in the distance!
6×8″, oils on sealed, primed hardboard
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It was raining pretty heavily at 6:30am and I wondered if I should go up to the beautiful home of Hudson River School artist Frederic Church for the day. I finally decided to take the chance, and drove up to Olana.
It was heavily overcast when I got there, but the rain had ended. I set up my easel along this path winding down through the fields, where I enjoyed the serenity, atmospheric light, and fading distances.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
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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.
12×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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This painting was started on dull, dreary, rainy Sunday. It was lifeless and boring, so I went back to Tilly Foster Farm this morning when the sun was shining to “turn on the lights”. I like it much better now as a happy day painting!
12×16″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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This 12×16 oil painting was started on location, and finished up today in the studio. It highlights the strong oranges present in the landscape in fall. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the blazing orange-red fields at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, where the brilliant tree in the foreground is lit up with additional rusty and orange tones.
12×12″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
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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.
6×8″, Oils on board (sealed, primed hardboard)
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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.
6×8″, acrylic on sealed, primed hardboard
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I once knew a wonderful painter named Mike Pacitti, who passed away a few years ago. He used a few different colors to underpaint with. One of them was called Burnt Carmine, made by Rembrandt. I remember it as a strong carmine/crimson color mixed with black. Even with black in the mix, I was surprised by how strong the color was when I saw Mike use it, and yet his paintings were filled with beautiful subtleties.
I decided to try something like that while waiting for clouds to break along the Hudson River in Cold Spring. I mixed Quinacridone Magenta half and half with Carbon Black, and used that to do the underpainting for this little plein air. It was much stronger than the colors I normally use to lay out my composition and values. No matter what you use to paint over it, the magenta seems to work its way through. Part of me thinks it still comes through too much. Another part of me thinks I’m just not used to it, and that I kind of like the effect.
What do you think? (Please click “comments” at the bottom of this post to let me know rather than emailing, because I’m getting swamped! 😉 )
12×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Raymar smooth canvas panel
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This was painted late in the afternoon on location in Cold Spring, New York. It was one of those perfect pre-fall days, filled with the glow of the late day light and the Hudson River breezes. I took the photo below after completing the painting, so the light and shadows had changed somewhat from the time I started. I kept going out to the car to get more things, so you can see that by the end of the day, I had accumulated enough stuff on site for three artists!
12×16″, Oils
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Click to enlarge:
24×30″, oils on stretched canvas
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This painting was done over a period of several days on location from one of my favorite painting spots at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River, NY. It is a view of an old farmhouse currently occupied by one of the preserve managers. The fields turn brilliant colors starting in late summer and continuing through the fall.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
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This beautiful cove sits nearly deserted beside the major road, Route 3, that runs along the shore of Mt. Desert Island as you enter from the mainland. I spent a quiet morning painting here with Gail Ribas (head of the Acadia Art Workshops) and her mom. It was a hazy, still morning, filled with serenity and subtle colors.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Canson board
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Sand Beach is one of the most beautiful spots in Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island, Maine. We settled in for a morning of bright sunlight and strong wind—too strong to use my beach umbrella for shade. The rocky slope and blue-green water were a challenge to paint of the very best kind! I set my painting chair in the sand and used my lightweight painting box to capture the scene.
8×10, oils on canvas
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Painted en plein air on Mt. Desert Island, Maine.
8×10, oils on canvas
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Painted en plein air on Mt. Desert Island, Maine.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sized, “Pearl” Canson board
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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!
8×10″, Golden OPEN on Multimedia Artboard
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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.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on “Pearl” Canson board
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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.
10×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylic on “Pearl” Canson Board
Please email Jamie at JamieWG@aol.com if interested.
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!
10×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on “Pearl” Canson board
This scene is available as a studio/commission original painting in any size/price range. Please email Jamie at JamieWG@aol.com if interested.
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:
12×16″, Golden OPEN on canvas covered hardboard
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A member of our plein air group got permission for us to paint very early in the morning at this fabulous location beneath the Palisades in Nyack, New York. It’s not long before the sun travels high enough to dim and cool the light on the cliff face. Although the sun was in and out of the clouds (mostly in), we did get some good color on the rocks. It was a fabulous location. I’d love to return in fall!
I just returned from my trip up to the Catskills, where I painted in the footsteps of the old Hudson River School painters. I visited the locations depicted in the paintings, and had an amazing trip doing my own versions from those famous spots. I’ll start posting photos and paintings from my trip beginning tomorrow. I’m still photographing the paintings and sorting through images. Please stay tuned!
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Raymar canvas panel
$265.00 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 was down painting in Hastings-on-Hudson this morning. The Hudson River view was gorgeous as always. The sun hit the cliffs in the early morning light, giving them a reddish color. As the morning wore on, they became darker and more violet. I am always amazed by how much the color of the cliffs changes so quickly there. I stuck with my early morning version.
After painting, I went to a wonderful exhibit at the Hudson River Museum of the work of Anna Richards Brewster…..highly recommended!
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
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I had a meeting up at Olana today, home of Hudson River School artist, Frederic Church. Although I didn’t have time to pull out all my gear to paint, I couldn’t resist at least doing a sketch while I was there. I saw a nice bench under a tree next to the mansion, so I pulled out my sketchbook, fountain pen, and watercolors, and took advantage of the shady spot while sketching. (You can click the image to enlarge it.)
Materials:
4.5×6.5″ Derwent journal
Lamy Safari fountain pen with converter
Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink
Winsor Newton Artist watercolors
10×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics 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.
12×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics 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.
I had a wonderful excursion to Nyack today to paint along the Hudson River. The day was supposed to be very hot, so I left home early this morning to beat the heat. When I arrived at this wonderful path along the river, I was captivated by the yellow, atmospheric sky over the far hills across the river, and the shapes of the trees. This spot is very close to the parking lot, but I saw no reason to venture further, and set up my easel.
I used more than my usual limited palette for this one, expanding my colors to a whopping seven tubes!
Buff Titanium
Naples Yellow
Cadmium Yellow Primrose
Cadmium Red Light
Transparent Red Oxide
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White (hardly used it at all)
The buff titanium and naples yellow were great additions to my palette for this particular scene. I think they’ll likely become staples for these atmospheric, early morning paintings.
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on linen
$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 Lower Hudson Valley Chapter of New York Plein Air Painters gathered at Stonecrop gardens in Cold Spring, New York today. Usually when we paint in Cold Spring we paint along the Hudson, but this beautiful garden presented us with some welcome and varied changes of scenery. I started out down by this beautiful pond, with a stone bridge reflecting in the water.
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on 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.
On Thursday we had a very special plein air event take place. Seth Golden, from Golden Artist Colors came down from their headquarters in New Berlin, New York with the full color line of the brand new Golden OPEN Acrylics. Members and guests of Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters (our local chapter of New York Plein Air Painters) were able to try this product for the first time. I’ve been using it since last August, so I was thrilled to be able to have so many of my peers give it a test drive. I helped fill palettes and answer questions for much of the day, but I did get to paint this small one along the trout stream when things settled down in the afternoon. Many, many thanks to Seth and Golden Artist Colors for this fabulous opportunity.
I’d also like to extend a special thank you to Rick Rogers and Beth Herr, Preserve Managers at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. They allowed us to reserve the Kimberly Bridge Picnic Area for this event, along the trout stream in the preserve. It was a perfect setting, with plenty of subject matter to keep our plein air crew happy, and tables for all the gear!
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
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The other day, I stayed at Olana until sunset to paint the Hudson River overview from the top of the hill. The river has a very distinctive shape from here. You can always spot a painting of the Hudson done from Frederic Church’s home.
12×16″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed 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.
This was painted on location in the heart of the Hudson River School, at Frederic Church’s Olana estate in Hudson, NY. You can feel his presence on the property and all that inspired his work. There is a complex of red barns with views over the valley and out to the Berkshire Mountains. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect morning to paint there.
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Saunders Waterford 300lb rag watercolor paper
$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’ve been so busy out painting on location that I haven’t even had time to take photos of the paintings! This one was painted in Hudson, NY at Olana, home of Hudson River School painter Frederic Church. This overview of the Catskill Mountains is up by the top of the hill near the residence. There were wildflowers in bloom all over the fields, and the day was picture-perfect.
8×10, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
This is a work-in-progress image of my second painting from Nyack. I had to move my spot when the tide started coming in and lapping at the feet of my Soltek easel! I took the photo before I changed painting spots, then worked on the painting a little more and signed it. I forgot to take another picture when it was completed, and now it’s sold!
Like the first one, the colors are a bit off due to being photographed outside with all that blue reflected light. Memorial Park in Nyack was a great spot to paint. I’m sure I’ll return there someday to do some more.
8×10″, Oils on Raymar oil-primed Belgian linen panel
$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.
It was 70 degrees and sunny this morning, with a very light breeze. You can’t ask for much more than that when out plein air painting! I’ve been driving pretty far to paint lately and couldn’t stand the thought of another long trip, so I stayed within a half hour and went to the Chinese Friendship Pavillion at Lasdon Park in Somers, NY. There were two geese honking away with their little goslings, and a bullfrog serenaded me while I was painting.
I’m probably going to tweak this one a little in the studio and will repost after that’s done.
4×6″, gouache on Strathmore cp watercolor paper
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.
Behind the barns at Muscoot Farm in Somers, NY, there is a beautiful path that winds around the fields. This was painted en plein air along one of those serene paths.
5×7″, Gouache on Fabriano Artistico hp watercolor paper
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I was back up painting at the castle today. Since I did so many paintings of the Hudson River overview from up there last week, I decided to do a smaller view of part of the castle today. You can see the river peeking from below in the background. It was a beautiful day, but very cold up there on top of the world! The castle blocked the wind and I was sitting in the sun, soaking up the warmth.
12×16″, oils
$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.
Morning is such a beautiful time at Tilly Foster Farm. The light on the side of the horse shed and the distant views in this scene caught my attention. I stopped in my tracks and set up my easel. Every time I think I’ve painted here enough, I see another five scenes to be painted!
8×10″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Saunders Waterford 300lb cp
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This is an afternoon scene painted on location from The Castle in Garrison, overlooking the Hudson River and the sharp curves around West Point. What a location! Breakneck Ridge was occasionally thrown into deep shadow by clouds overhead. I thought it very dramatic! The light is quite different from the morning view that I posted yesterday.
12×16″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
SOLD! Please email me at JamieWG@aol.com to inquire about a similar painting.
I went back up to the castle today and finished this one finally! You can see the work in progress and a photo of the scene I was painting on this thread.
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I was able to get permission to paint at the old Garrison Castle today. I stood out on an upper floor balcony, with a straight shot above West Point, upriver, through the Hudson Highlands and beyond. You can even see Bannerman Island next to Breakneck Ridge from here. The river does a complete, tight “S” curve at this point between West Point and Constitution Island. It must be quite the navigational nightmare for a large ship. It is a staggeringly beautiful view.
It started out as a sunny day, but quickly changed over to cloudy, and then the rain showers moved in. (The photo above, painted toward the end of my session, was clearly after the light had changed!) This is a very complex scene, with layers of hills and mountains extending all the way through the Highlands, to the cliffs of the Shawangunks, and even to the Catskill Mountains beyond the Gunks. Plus, all those buildings at West Point! The shifting weather made a tough scene even harder. I had to pack it in before I could finish. There’s not too much left to do on this; I’ll either finish it from a photo I took, or else try to get permission to return.
Here it is in its current unfinished state. It’s 12×16″, oils on canvas covered hardboard. I’ll post it again when it’s finished.
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on Fabriano Artistico rag watercolor paper
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This painting was started en plein air in Cold Spring, New York. There was a lot of construction noise from the site next to this one, so I ended up leaving the location and finished this in the studio from a photo. It was about 80% completed on location. I love this spot in the Hudson Highlands, with the purple mountains looming over the river.
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8×10″, Oils on primed masonite, custom framed
This painting has been published in Plein Air Magazine. It is one of my favorite early spring plein air paintings, done at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Pound Ridge, New York.
12×24″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canvas covered hardboard
$600.00 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.
It’s hard to beat springtime in the Hudson River Valley. This is a scene from Teatown Lake that I paint every spring. This morning, it seemed like I didn’t have my head screwed on quite right. I left the house feeling disorganized, had to pack up on location before leaving the car, and ended up forgetting my water. You can’t paint with acrylics without water! I went back up to the car to get the water, got back to my painting spot, and realized I didn’t have paper towels or my glasses! I managed to use old, somewhat soggy paper towels that were stuck in a zip-lock bag in with my painting gear. That didn’t solve the issue of the glasses, but sometimes painting without my glasses can help me see the big shapes without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail. The swans were nesting again to the right of the bridge, where I see them every April. It’s a tranquil spot with a magical feeling.
Palisades in Lifting Fog
5×7″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on canson board
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When I arrived at the Hudson Riverfront this morning, it was totally fogged in and I couldn’t see anything but this tree and picnic bench! I decided to paint that while waiting for the fog to burn off. It lifted as I was painting, revealing the striking cliffs of the palisades on the far shore, so I had to put that into the painting!
6×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on sealed, primed hardboard
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It didn’t look like the clouds were going to break today, but I decided to take a chance and drove down to Teatown Lake Reservation in Ossining, New York. The sun was in and out, but it did peek through long enough to light up the scene for me a few times. The swans are back there nesting on the other side of the bridge, and one would swim under the bridge past me, and back again, every so often. The last time he swam by, I was just finishing up the painting. It was the perfect time to put him in!
I paint this scene every spring, but usually from the other side. I’ll be going back again next week, so there’s still a chance for me to do my usual vantage point. There are a few scenes that I like to paint every year. They serve as a sort of barometer for me as the years go by. I can see changes in style, color, and ability as the years go by. I’ve always found this scene extremely challenging, which is why I like to paint it every year.
16×12, oil painting
$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.
This was painted on location at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve. It’s one of my favorite early spring locations, with subtle color and beautiful Swan Lake.