My painting “Prairie Oak” has gained acceptance into the New England Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.

The exhibit runs from April 12 to May 14, 2008. The Center is located at 4404 Route 28, Cotuit Massachusetts (link Google Map). Exhibition hours are 10am to 4pm, Monday through Friday and 10am -2pm on Saturday. The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Saturday, April 12 from 4:30 to 7:00pm.

The New England Watercolor Society (NEWS) was founded in 1885 as the Boston Society of Watercolor Painters, and subsequently renamed the New England Watercolor Society in 1980. Its 27 charter members included some of the best known names in American Art such as Charles Curtis Allen, Frank W. Benson, George Hallowell, F. Childe Hassam, Louis Kronberg, Otis Philbrick, Maurice Prendergast and Charles Woodbury. Honorary members include John Singer Sargent, and more recently Andrew Wyeth.

Three of my works included have been included in an exhibit at the Bennington Center for the Arts. The annual exhibit includes work of nineteen Bennington, Vermont area artists. This year’s exhibit inlcudes the work of nineteen local artists and features paintings, sculpture, and jewelry. The exhibit will be on display from February 1 through May 26. The exhibit reception will be Saturday, February 16 from 5 to 7 pm and is open to the public.

My three works include two recent studio works and an older plein aire painting.

“Front Garden Lily”

This painting is one of the many florals that I produce during the spring and summer as my wifes perennial garden cycles through its many varieties. Lilies dominate the gardens in mid-summer and become the subject of lots of sketches and paintings. Like many of my floral works, this one is a small work - 7″ x 9″. Many artists make large, flamboyant works out of floral compositions. For florals, I prefer smaller, intimate works that draw you close, and provide the sensation that you see the garden “eye to eye”.

“Westward”

This painting was inspired by the view looking west over the rolling hills and low mountain ranges in western Vermont and eastern New York. It is 9″ x 13″ in size. Summer is a delight in this part of the world - warm days with just enough humidity to make it feel like summer - days right out of a story book. This painting is feels like a Vermont story book summer day.

“River Bend”

River Bend is very different from the Westward and Front Garden Lily in a number of ways, it is a somewhat older work, was painted plein aire on a full sheet. It was painted on location on the upper Hudson River. Being a plein aire work, its technique is very direct and energetic. When working outdoors, weather conditions affect the technique. The rate of drying is usually significantly faster than in the studio. Using plenty of water is key, as is working quickly and decisively.

The Bennington Center for the Arts is located at 44 Gypsy Lane in Bennington, and Arts brings world-class fine art, history and theatre to the residents and visitors of Southeastern Vermont. The Center’s permanent art collection, sales exhibitions, live theatre by Oldcastle Theatre Company and exhibits within the Covered Bridge Museum are available to visitors throughout the year. Art exhibitions and theatre productions are constantly changing, so please check back frequently and visit often…

Tony’s watercolor painting “Prairie Oak” will be exhibited as part of the Southern Vermont Arts Center 16th Annual Winter Members Exhibition.  The exhibit opens with a reception on Saturday, January 12 from 2:00 - 4:00pm, and continues through Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

“Prairie Oak”

“Prairie Oak” is a studio painting inspired by a work painted on location. The subject of the painting would seem to be the tree, whose shape dominates the pictoral space. Actually, the tree is the foil for the real subject with is the light that strikes portions of the trunk directly and reflects up into the branches snuggled up under the dense summer canopy. Much of the painting is executed with a very direct manner, laying in color and value in a single application. The foliage canopy especially was painted in this way. In contrast, the effect of reflected light on the trunk was created in a very methodical application of color layered in washes, one over the other. The result is a work rich in color and light which evoke the feeling of sitting under a large shady tree on a a summer day.

As I mentioned earlier, this painting was developed from a work painted on location. Despite the title - “Prairie Oak” - the genesis of the painting comes from a work painted in a location far from any prairie. “Common Old Man” is the original, on-location painting.

“Common Old Man”

“Common Old Man” is a painting of a weathered old tree on Boston Common - hard to be further from the prairie. At first glance, the relationship is not very evident. Certainly, the technique is not similar. Like most of my on location painting, this work is very direct and instinctive. Looking closely though it is possible to discern the basic structure of the “Prairie Oak”. Obviously, the setting of this painting is such that there would have been a lot of other things happening in the near and distant backgrounds. Those things were eliminated in this painting, giving the work a somewhat “prairie” feeling. That attitude was retained in the studio work.