"House On Orchard Street, Bennington, Vermont"

Feb. 19, 2012 - Tree Trunks in the "Y" Woods

Tree Trunks in the “Y” woods.  Today is the second day of my Wet into Wet Watercolor workshop and rather than try to start another sketch during lunch, like yesterday, I did this work in the morning before leaving for the class.  Our neighborhood has the great benefit of having a preserved stand of woods in its midst.  Called the “Y” woods, for reasons that I don’t know, it is a great place to walk the dog, ride a trail bike, XC ski (when there is enough snow to do so) or just stroll through.  It is home to all sorts of wild critters, from the mundane – rabbits, mice, squirrels, deer – to the somewhat exotic – bear, moose, fox, coyote and even, according to one neighbor, Canadian Lynx! It is common to hear the call of owls emanating from the woods at night.  In fact, while out walking the dog just a couple nights ago, we both heard the call of a Great Horned Owl low and rumbling through the trees!   This little scene presented itself near the edge of the woods as the morning sun caught the standing and fallen trees and cast gray-blue shadows.

For the first time in this series,  I used Fabriano Aquarello paper fitted into a home-made sketch book.  Being a slick paper, it works in a very similar way to the paper in the Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Feb 3, 2012 - Silk Road Covered Bridge Bennington, Vermont

Silk Road Covered Bridge,  Bennington, VT.   Like most winter days in VT, it was “cloudy with breaks of sun” as the forecasters like to say.  When I sat down to paint, there was sun light hitting the left – south – side of the bridge and some of it was passing through the lattice structure and landing on the white door casing on the interior right. By the time the drawing was done, the sun was pretty much gone.  I left the sun & shadow pattern on the inside of the doorway never-the-less.   The finished sketch is about “9 x 12″ and done in a D’Arches 140lb CP watercolor paint book.

Winter colors dominate this sketch, just like they do in the previous two – Feb 1 & Feb 2, 2012.   It is a challenge to create enough variety in the grays and other low intensity earth colors to keep shapes from merging with one another too much.    The grays in this sketch are mixed from either ultramarine or cobalt blue with burnt sienna, raw sienna or Quinacridone burnt scarlet.  Using these five pigments in varying combinations creates a nice variety of color and value which gives the sketch the look of winter without being too somber.

This can’t really be described as a “wet-into-wet” watercolor painting, and yet the technique is used in a number of places – especially in creating the look of distant forest without much fuss.   Beyond the distant trees in the background, it is also used on the foreground right roadway, the sky and in laying in the initial rusty, violety (if there is such a word) red on the covered bridge itself.

If there truly are trends that take hold, become popular and then eventually give way in watercolor, I would have to say that ultra, macro realism is the current look and technique for watercolor painting.  All the big national and regional watercolor exhibits seem to have more every year.  Sometime that doesn’t leave much room for those of us still painting in “older”, less trendy styles and techniques.  I tend not be a follower, so will continue working in the style and with the techniques that produce what I like to describe as “representational impressionism” seen in most of my work.

In the classes that I teach, I have noticed my students having two very different reactions to the wet-into-wet watercolor technique.  They love the look it produces, but seem to feel nothing but frustration when trying it themselves.    By popular request and in response to both of these reactions,  I have put together a new class called Wet-in-Wet Watercolor and will be offering it for the first time in just a couple of weeks.  The class will teach the basics of the technique along with several skills needed to handle wet-into-wet watercolor without, or at least with less, frustration.  Not only will the class teach the skills but is guaranteed to loosen up the work of anyone using them.   More info on the Wet-in-Wet Watercolor class can be found by clicking here.

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Open Studio Weekend – First up, this coming weekend is the Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend. You can visit my along with more than 230 other Vermont artists studios.  It is always a great weekend and I enjoy welcoming everyone who stops by.   This coming Saturday & Sunday, May 28th & 29th, 2011 – 10am to 5pm both days.  My address is 206 Crescent Blvd, Bennington, Vermont.  Click here for a google map.

Solo Exhibition – Izabella’s Eatery, Bennington, Vermont - A summer long exhibit of some of my recent work opens at Izabella’s Eatery in downtown Bennington. The Opening Reception will be held Sunday, June 5, 2011 from 1pm – 5pm.  Izabella’s is located at  351 Main Street, Bennington, Vermont. Click here for Google map and place page for Izabella’s

Cranford, New Jersey “Paint the Town” Plein Air Competition – For the second year, I’ll be participating in this juried plein air painting event & exhibit.  Twenty-eight seasoned plein air painters will decend on the quaint community of Cranford for 5 days of intense plein air painting followed by an Opening Reception, a 2-hour Quick Draw, and a Grand Exhibit.   All of this takes place June 7 – 12, 2011 in and around Cranford, New Jersey.  For info, directions etc. check out the Paint the Town Home Page.

Look forward to seeing you at one, two or all three events!  For more information, questions, directions, etc. contact me by: email at tc@tonyconner.com,  or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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"Early November"

Vermont’s natural scenic beauty is enhanced each spring when the work of Vermont artists and craftspeople can be seen firsthand during Vermont’s 17th annual Open Studio Weekend May 23-24.

My studio will be open from 10am – 5pm both Saturday and Sunday, May 23 & 24.  I’m looking forward to again  welcoming visitors my studio, showing new works and discussing my work, materials, processes etc.

Open Studio Weekend is a statewide celebration of the visual arts and the creative process. Bennington County, Vermont is home to many fine artists and artisans including the other members of The Artisans of Southern Vermont. The other twenty-nine members of the group will also have their studios open this weekend.  The fine work represented by this group includes other paintings, jewelery, pottery, furniture, sculpture, and more.

Take the Artisans of Vermont Open Studio Driving Tour and be eligible to win a $150 gift certificate to the artist’s studio of your choice. Simply visit at least 8 of the 30 Artisans of Southern Vermont studios, get the artists signature and then leave the form at one of the open studio locations. Drawing to be held on June 15, 2009.  Open Studio Driving Tour map, instructions and “Studio Sleuth” form downloadable here.