Joe Kaz - Landscape Painter

Day on the Land - Crystal Springs

2008-06-22T11:13:00.006-04:00

"Day on the Land" - for some reason that reminds me of the classic Brian Eno recording "On Land", but instead of music... you guessed it - this has to do with painting.

Yesterday was "Day on the Land" - the 3rd annual fund-raiser / paint-out organized the the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance, aka the HLTA. Last year, it was at the Dvoor Farm, this year it was held at the Crystal Springs Section of the Teetertown Preserve near Califon, NJ. Crystal Springs is some recently preserved parkland - 291 acres of mature forest, active farmland and 5 ponds which are the headwaters of Spruce Run Creek.

This corner of New Jersey is new to me and the last few miles approaching the park, it felt more like I was in Vermont than in New Jersey. Since it's new to me, I went there a couple of weeks ago to check it out and I did this painting at one of the farm fields:

"Crystal Springs Fields"
8x10 oil on panel

Yesterday was the paint-out, and here's where I setup to paint - it was hot out, so I looked hard for a spot that would remain shady for a hours. If only I could find a spot where the horseflies weren't biting! This lane led to the farmhouse (which is no longer there):

While painting, one of the HLTA volunteers was gracious enough to bring sandwiches and snacks to the artists, and even offered to help carry my stuff back when I was finished - a nice change from my usual plein air routine of finishing the day tired and hungry! Here's the finished painting:

"Crystal Springs Farm Lane"
14x11 oil on panel

This painting, along with the work of the other painters and photographers out that day, will be auctioned off on October 19 at the Prallsville Mills in Stockton, NJ. Funds raised will go the HLTA. I'll post more details closer to that date.

Garden Walk, Lambertville

2008-06-15T19:13:00.005-04:00

"Garden Pathway, Lambertville"
14x11 oil on panel

I have to admit that most of the townscapes I paint are from photographs since I'm much more at home painting in remote places out in the woods. But, just like we did last year, Artists' Gallery members joined up with the Kalmia Club and many of us were out painting on the annual Hidden Gardens of Lambertville tour yesterday. And just like last year, I had a good time talking to all of the people that came to see the gardens. And true to form, I didn't put a single person in my painting, although there were many people out and about yesterday - that's something I really need to work on!

Here I am in action:

photo courtesy John Treichler

Sometime in October, the Artists' Gallery will hold a special exhibition of the paintings we did yesterday, with a portion of the sales going to benefit the Kalmia Club for the charity work that they do.

Savor New Hope

2008-06-12T11:33:00.007-04:00

"River Lea Farm"
20x30 acrylic on canvas

I'm part of an Artists' Gallery group show at the Triumph in New Hope, Pa. The show is titled "Savor New Hope: Showcase the Arts" and is part of a 3 day town-wide celebration of the visual, performing, literary and culinary arts that New Hope has long been recognized for. The theme of the show is food, and I'm taking a very loose interpretation of that theme by showing paintings of beef (cows) and those buildings that beef lives in (barns).

The show runs from June 11 through July 22 at:

Triumph Brewing Co.
400 Union Square
New Hope, Pa 18938
map & directions

Opening reception will be held on Wednesday, June 18 from 5:30 to 7:00 and I'm sure that the Triumph will do their usual great job at providing really good beer and hors d'oeuvres for the reception.

Artsbridge 14th Annual Juried Show

2008-06-05T17:22:00.004-04:00

"Spring on the Delaware Canal"
16x20 oil on panel

This painting was accepted into the Artsbridge 14th Annual Juried Show, which runs June 7 - June 29, at:

RiverRun Gallery
Laceworks
287 South Main Street (Rt 29)
Lambertville, NJ 08530

gallery hours: daily from 12 noon – 5:00 pm, except Tuesdays
Opening reception: Saturday June 7 from 6 to 9 pm.

The painting is a larger studio version of a plein air piece that I did last spring on the Delaware Canal near Phillips Mill, Pa. Hope you can stop by and see the show.

My work on PaintMap

2008-06-02T12:20:00.007-04:00

PaintMap is a new web site where artists can upload artwork and set the exact location of the painting on a Google Map. Way in the back of my mind, I thought it would be really nice to add something like this to my own website someday but I'm sure that would have been a lot of work, and thanks to the people at PaintMap, now I don't have to!

It's still a pretty new service but once it catches on and more artists from around the world add their artwork, it will be a really fascinating way of exploring the world through paintings. It seems perfect for landscape painters.

My paintings can be found there at joekaz.paintmap.com - I won't put all of my paintings there but I will try to add those that cover the widest geographical range (although my range is pretty small).

The Evolution of a Painting

2008-05-27T20:43:00.004-04:00

Last month I did a plein air painting on the South Branch of the Raritan River. I liked how it turned out but felt compelled to try a couple of different versions of that scene and I ended up with 4 different paintings. I find this is a good exercise to do once in a while - taking the same scene and painting it again with a different attitude. You've already got the composition worked out, so you can concentrate on trying different techniques and see where it takes you.

First is the original painting that I did on location:

"April on the South Branch"
8x10 oil on panel

In this second version, I tried a much looser approach. I used a very minimal palette and mixed most of the colors right on the canvas as opposed to premixing them on my palette. This is a fun way to paint! Just scrape down if the paint buildup starts getting to thick:

"April on the South Branch II"
8x10 oil on canvas

Third, I wanted to try painting 100% with palette knives. I didn't use a brush at all, not even for the initial sketching and blocking in. This sure saves time on cleanup since it takes just a few seconds to wipe the knives clean. But I ended up with too many hard edges in the painting. I do like this version but I think my more successful works of late use a balance of brushwork and knife-work, each being used for what it's best suited. Or, maybe I just need more practice with the knife:

"April on the South Branch III"
8x10 oil on canvas

The fourth and final(?) version is a larger painting - 24x30 inches. I used the palette knife in the rocky areas on both banks of the river but decided the rest was better done with brushes. And I stuck with the limited palette again:

"April on the South Branch IV"
24x30 oil on canvas

Which got me thinking... in my plein air painting, I haven't done anything larger than 11x14 in a long time. Doing smaller paintings on location is usually easier for a number of reasons, but I really should try something larger. Probably not as big as 24x30, but... stay tuned...

Awesome!

2008-05-16T13:50:00.004-04:00

"May at Round Valley"
11x14 oil on canvas panel

From the spot I painted this, the water was about 20 feet below me on the left. Two kayakers were paddling by and I overheard:

"What's he doing?" he said.
"I think he's painting!" she said, "HEY! Are you painting?"
"Yes!" I replied.
"AWESOME!" she said as she paddled away.

A couple of weeks ago, I was painting along the Raritan River and a canoeist shouted out "Awesome!" when he saw that I was painting. I think paddlers need to expand their vocabulary a bit! Just kidding of course. My brother, John Kazimierczyk, is a pretty well known whitewater racer / boat builder and always seems to hold a national title in one racing class or another. He supports himself by designing and building canoes and kayaks from his home in the wilds of New Hampshire. Now how awesome is that?! If you're in the market for a canoe or kayak, or want whitewater canoing lessons, check out his website Millbrook Boats.

The above painting was done at Round Valley Reservoir, near Lebanon, NJ. It's at a spot just around the bend in this painting I did here last year:

"Pine Tree Trail"
11"x14" oil on linen panel

The Process of Creating

2008-05-09T11:36:00.009-04:00

Here's a quote from Judy Dunn's blog Artrepreneur that's worth repeating. It's good advice for artists, whether you're just starting out or you've been in the game a long time:

The process of creating is precious. Protect it from the critics. The product is just product. It is not precious. It is not us. Let the critics come out and have their say when you are ready to pause. Listen. Notice. See it as a way to learn and grow. And then thank your critics for their input, and tell them to go back in their closet. And get back to having fun creating, testing, playing, experimenting..... Own the process. It is sacred. And control the critics, their words can be valuable tools or deadly weapons.

I think that's really great advice. Every critic has their own opinion, whether it's your mom, or an arts reporter from Art in America. You can listen to them, but don't forget that your opinion counts too. Be true to yourself, follow your own path, and enjoy the process! I think Robert Henri was talking about the same thing when he said:

The goal is not making art. It is living a life. Those who live their lives will leave the stuff that is really art. Art is a result. It is a trace of those who have led their lives.

The product is not us, but it is a reflection of us - and that's only true if we follow our own path rather than trying to please critics. The important thing is to live your life, and enjoy the process.

A Plein Air Painter's Checklist

2008-05-08T19:36:00.009-04:00

"Otto's Barns"
11x14 oil on panel

I don't know of anyone at this farm is actually named Otto, but it's across the street from a place called Otto's Farm Park and it sounded like good name for a painting.

I'm enjoying painting outdoors on location again, now that the weather is so nice, and thought it might be interesting to share my checklist - the list I check carefully before leaving the house to go paint somewhere:

Paintbox items
paintbox	It's hard to forget this, but it may as well be on the list. I have a few different boxes to use, the EasyL from Artwork Essentials is my current favorite.
tripod	One of my paint boxes has a built in tripod, but 2 others mount on a separate tripod - just a sturdy camera tripod
umbrella kit	I used to paint without one, but since I got an umbrella that mounts on my paintbox tripod, I can't live without it. If the sun shines directly on your your painting or palette, it's very difficult to work. Dappled sunlight hitting your canvas is even worse. The umbrella from Artwork Essentials is really nice and well thought out.
palette	Built in to 2 of my paintboxes, but a separate item with another box.
paint: big tube of white warm & cool blue warm & cool red warm & cool yellow transparent oxide red a few others for variety	I paint with a pretty limited palette and just carry a few essential colors plus a few extras. White plus 2 reds, 2 yellows and 2 blues is what I consider essential - with these you can mix almost any color. But other colors have their place too. I often start a painting by blocking in with transparent oxide red - a beautiful red earth color which has a transparency I can't get by mixing my other colors. I love to use this color for underpainting. I also like sap green, dioxazine purple and yellow ocher.
turpentine or mineral spirits	for cleanup and for thinning the initial coats of paint
a painting medium	I mostly use the standard mix of linseed oil and tups, but have been trying out some faster drying alkyd mediums like Gamblin's Galkyd and Neo-Meglip.
palette cups	to hold the turps and medium
canvases or panels	something to paint on!
double ended push-pins	to separate canvases when carrying them around - I'll explain this more some other time.
brushes	Once I drove 30 miles and set up to paint, only to find I left all of my brushes at home. That's the day I started this checklist.
palette knives
pencil & charcoal	for the initial sketch
rags & paper towels	oil painting can be messy
short rope	On windy days, a bit of rope or cord can be very useful for securing your gear. Canvases and sun umbrellas make very good wind-catchers!
small pliers	for stubborn paint caps
small carpenters level	I like to insure that my paintbox and canvas are perfectly level. When painting buildings and other man-made structures, I can sight along the top of my box or canvas to judge angles. It helps me to get the drawing down accurately.
small adjustable carpenters bevel	No, I don't do carpentry out in the field, but I find this tool can be useful when drawing structures with complicated angles. Holding the bevel in front of me, I can set it to the angle of a complicated roof line, then transfer that angle to my canvas. I don't use a bevel very often, but sometimes it can really help.
sketchbook	Doing thumbnail sketches first is a good way to decide how you're going to paint something.
plastic bags for dirty rags	oil painting can be messy
small plastic baggies	To wrap around wet paintbrushes when packing up. I'll clean the brushes back home.
Miscellaneous Items
camera and spare battery	I like to record the scene that I'm painting and get more reference photos of the area for later studio paintings.
penknife	Comes in handy for many things out in the field
wide brimmed hat
sunscreen
water bottle	For drinking, not for painting
food	I rarely take anything to eat along with me, but I do keep this on the list.
cell phone
wear socks	I often don't when at home, but when romping through the woods, socks helps prevent poison ivy.
wear a non-white shirt	Wet paint is very reflective, and a white shirt can cause a lot of glare on your canvas and make it very difficult to paint - especially if the sun is hitting your shirt. Same with bright colored shirts. Dark blue is good, a neutral gray is best I think.

That may look like a big list, but it all fits into a small backpack that's easy to carry around. And there's nothing worse than setting up to paint somewhere far from home, only to find you forgot something essential.

April on the South Branch

2008-04-28T19:18:00.007-04:00

Well now that the weather is warmer, I finally got back outdoors with my paintbox. Here's one I did last weekend - it's on the South Branch of the Raritan River near Three Bridges, NJ:

"April on the South Branch"
8x10 oil on panel

It's funny, even though I've been painting in the studio all winter, I feel pretty rusty painting en plein air. In the studio, all your supplies are nicely laid out and organized (relatively speaking). Out in the field, you carry a pretty minimal paint kit, and setting up your spot to paint isn't always so simple. Here there was a rocky cliff to my right, and very little flat ground to stand on so I placed a big flat rock in the river, and painted with one foot on that rock, the other on solid ground. This was pretty near the spot where I setup:

Besides finding a more comfortable spot to stand, there's a certain rhythm of work you develop when painting outdoors: packing your supplies and not forgetting anything important, choosing your locations, setting up your easel and laying out supplies, working in the confined space of your portable paintbox, painting quickly since the light changes so fast, chatting with canoeists as they paddle by (one thought my painting was awesome!) and a myriad of other things that add to the challenge.

I'll be painting outdoors primarily now so it will all come back to me, but that painting on the South Branch might be the last one with bare trees for a while because it's greening up very quickly around here. With the April showers here this week it almost seems like you can watch the buds opening, things are turning green so fast. Spring has definitely arrived!

Pinot to Picasso - Vintage 2008

2008-04-21T12:39:00.004-04:00

The Arts Council of Princeton is having their annual fund raiser Pinot to Picasso this Friday, April 25. It's a wine tasting / art auction to raise money for the Arts Council. Local artists donate paintings which will be raffled off in a tombola style lottery. This is the painting I donated - it's a scene at Coventry Farm, on Elm Road, just outside of Princeton, NJ:

"Coventry Farm Boardwalk"
8x10 oil on panel

Tickets to the event are still available, details are on the Arts Council of Princeton's website. And I just love that title, Pinot to Picasso - Vintage 2008!

Winter Drive

2008-04-16T19:52:00.007-04:00

In honor of spring, and the warm weather which finally arrived, I painted my first snow scene of the year! I regret letting another winter go by with no outdoor painting, but there was very little snow around here this winter, so I did this one from a photo of one of the few light snowfalls that we did have. It's looking down my driveway towards the street:

"Winter Drive"
24x18 oil on canvas

Here's a closeup of how I painted the drive - click this one for a larger image - I love to pile the paint on sometimes, and that seems to work well in snow scenes like this:

The Ferry House

2008-04-09T19:49:00.008-04:00

You might have noticed that I like painting tree shadows on roadways, but this isn't a new painting, it's a new place where I'm showing my paintings:

The Ferry House
32 Witherspoon Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
map and directions
Reservations: 609-924-2488

The Ferry House is a very nice restaurant in the heart of Princeton, NJ. My paintings are up now and should be there for a few months. I've never painted right in the town of Princeton but I'm showing some paintings that were done very nearby.

I'll have 15 to 20 paintings on display, here are a few of them:

"Rockafellow Road"
8x10 oil on board

"Clayton Park"
16x20 acrylic on canvas

"Wertsville"
20x16 oil on board

"Montgomery Windows"
11x14 oil on board

The Ferry House can get pretty busy, so reservations are recommended. Owner and chef Bobby Trigg is doing pretty well for himself and will be opening 2 additional restaurants in the area soon. If you've never been to The Ferry House, it's worth a visit.

And maybe I will paint that tree shadow across Witherspoon Street in front of The Ferry House someday...

October on the Raritan River

2008-03-26T20:16:00.007-04:00

"October on the Raritan"
16x20 oil on canvas

I know it's March, but I just painted this October scene. It's another view of the South Branch of the Raritan River a few miles from my house. I did a small plein air study here last year on Halloween Day, and based this studio painting on that study.

It's been a few months since I've painted on location, but it's starting to feel like spring and I'm looking forward to getting outdoors again with my paintbox.

Artists Gallery Group Show

2008-03-11T20:40:00.013-04:00

The Artists' Gallery, the 18 member artists' co-op that I belong to, is having a group show at the Hopewell Frame Shop Gallery:

Artists' Gallery Group Show
March 11 - April 26, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday March 15, 6 to 8 pm

Hopewell Frame Shop & Gallery
24 West Broad Street (Rt 518)
Hopewell, New Jersey

It's also going be the last show hosted by Abby Frantz, gallery owner. After 32 years of picture framing and almost twenty nine years of running her shop in Hopewell, Abby has decided it is time to move on. During the run of the show, the Hopewell Frame Shop will change ownership, but the new owners will continue to run it as a frame shop and gallery.

"September at Three Bridges" is one of the paintings I'll have in the show, painted on location in the town of Three Bridges, NJ this past September.

Here's the scene I started with:

And her are the steps in my painting process, ugly stages and all. (There are always ugly stages.) Right from the start, I thought the silo looked better with a rounded top on it:

The finished painting:

"September at Three Bridges"
11x14 oil on panel

Abby has been very supportive of the Artists' Gallery and has hosted shows for many of it's individual members over the years so it's sad to see her go, but we all wish her luck in her future adventures. Please come out to the opening on Saturday, March 15 and give Abby a warm send off!

Here is the current list of Artists' Gallery members, all of whom will have artwork in the show:

Beatrice Bork, Gail Bracegirdle, Jennifer Cadoff, Merle Citron, Rich Harrington, Charles Katzenbach, Joe Kazimierczyk, Alan Klawans, Sheila Letven, Florence Moonan, Taylor Oughton, Alla Podolsky, Marc Reed, J. Stacy Rogers, Doug Sardo, Carol Sanzalone, Stacie Speer Scott, and John Treichler.

Hunterdon Life

2008-03-09T15:19:00.012-04:00

For folks not familiar with this area, Hunterdon County is the region in central New Jersey that I paint most often. The first week of each month, the Hunterdon County Democrat newspaper contains an issue of Hunterdon Life magazine, and the March issue of Hunterdon Life contains an article about me:

Sorry about the full page picture of me, and I usually don't walk around with a handful of paintbrushes - that was the photographer's idea. All kidding aside, I think the photographer, Ben Scheetz, did a really nice job and I can't thank the reporter, Lillie Dorchak, enough for writing such a great article.

You can click the above images for a larger version, or visit the Hunterdon Life website for a more readable version of the article. The images reproduced on that website are way too intense in color saturation, but the images in the magazine and the photos above are pretty close to what the paintings look like in real life.

I believe that the article about me in Garden State Town & Country Living is still out on newsstands if this one isn't enough for you.

The Buttinger House

2008-03-07T12:06:00.009-05:00

I don't know if the 'Buttinger House' is really the name of this place but I have to call it something. The house is at a nature preserve managed by the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association near Pennington, NJ. It's a park I paint at pretty often. I did these paintings from some photos I took last summer - they show the front porch and a side door to the house.

"The Side Door"
16x20 oil on canvas

"The Front Porch"
24x30 oil on canvas

For an interesting bit of history: the house and land for the nature preserve were donated to the county by Muriel Morris Gardiner Buttinger, who is a pretty fascinating person. Besides studying psycho-analysis in Vienna and being analyzed by Sigmund Freud, she was active in the anti-fascist Austrian underground during World War II and later wrote about those events in "Code Name Mary: Memoirs of an American Woman in the Austrian Underground".

Artists of the Mills II

2008-02-18T19:41:00.003-05:00

"Prallsville, Beginning of Summer"
11x14 oil on canvas on panel

The 2nd annual "Artists of the Mills" invitational art exhibition at the Prallsville Mills is coming up soon. I'll have 3 paintings in this show, including the one shown above. Just like last year, artists who won awards in previous "Images of the Mills" shows were invited to participate in this invitational.

The show runs from Wednesday, Feb 20 to Wednesday, March 5.
Opening reception is Friday, Feb 22, 6 to 9 pm.

The mill is located on Rt 29 in Stockton, NJ, just at the northern edge of town.

A portion of the sales will go to benefit the Delaware River Mill Society, who is responsible for the restoration an maintenance of the Prallsville Mills complex.

Along Reaville Road

2008-01-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

"Reaville Road Barns"
12x36 oil on canvas

This group of barns always catches my eye and it seemed a good subject for the 12"x36" canvases that I've had for a while. I've been wanting to do a series of wide, panoramic format paintings but the right subject never presented itself. I think this barn grouping works, but my next challenge will be framing it. (Odd formats usually require custom framing.) Nevertheless, I think a series of paintings in this format would look good together. Now I just have to find the right subject matter...

New Hope Arts, Inc.

2007-12-21T18:08:00.000-05:00

My solo show at the Triumph in New Hope is over, but the sponsors of that show, New Hope Arts, Inc., wanted to hold onto a few of my paintings to show in their permanent gallery space across the street. So I'll have about 6 paintings there for a couple of months at least.

New Hope Arts mainly shows sculpture in their gallery but fortunately there is some wall space for a few 2 dimensional works. The show going on now through Jan 12, 2008 is "Works In Wood" - a national juried show that is well worth seeing.

New Hope Arts is located at 2 Stockton Street, New Hope, Pa - it's on the corner of Bridge and Stockton Streets.

One of the paintings I'll have over there:

"Larsen Road Barns"
11x14 oil on panel

Poets and Artists Reception RESCHEDULED

2007-12-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

Due to inclement weather, the Poets & Artists reception for "The Road Not Taken" which was schedule for tonight, has been postponed until Tuesday evening, Dec 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

It's been a mix of snow, sleet and rain all morning, and ice is starting to build up on the trees and wires - a good night to stay home!

Just a reminder, that the show runs until Jan 11, 2008 at:

D&R Greenway Land Trust
at the Johnson Education Center
One Preservation Place
Princeton, New Jersey 08540

"Winter Over Amwell Valley"
12x24 oil on canvas

Starling Migration

2007-12-10T12:16:00.000-05:00

Totally unrelated to painting, but I was pretty amazed by this: If you've ever seen a mile long cloud of birds migrating in the fall, I felt like I was in the middle of one of those migration paths the other day. I noticed the light flickering outside my window, which was odd because there are no trees there to cast shadows. I looked outside and like in a Hitchcock movie, my yard was being invaded by birds - European Starlings, I believe. They were streaming in from north to south, and stopping in my back yard for a break. I've never seen so many birds in one spot before. This kept up for about a half an hour, then it was quiet again. These photos are from my dining room window:

Holiday Show at the Artists Gallery

2007-12-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

At the Artists' Gallery, we're doing our usual group show - instead of using the front room for a 2-person show, we're using that space so that all gallery members can show their work for December, January and February. Our December group show is titled:

Of Art and Ornaments
Hot Art for a Cool Season

In addition to the usual artwork we show, gallery members have created Holiday ornaments - all original artwork at very reasonable prices. My contribution will be some handmade porcelain ornaments that I made quite a while ago. I used to do a lot of ceramics back in the early 90's and I still have a few of these on hand - I think they look good hanging in the house year round, so they're not just Christmas ornaments:

Besides the ornaments, I'll have some new, very small paintings up. I did a series of 5x7" works recently, and since our Holiday shows usually feature smaller works, it seemed like a good time to bring them out. Here's one:

"Ridge Road, October"
5x7 oil on panel

From Plein Air to Studio

2007-11-27T20:21:00.000-05:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was busy working on 2 large paintings inspired by 2 small plein airs that I did over the summer. I know that 24" x 30" isn't large by some artists' standards, but for my current mode of working, it really is.

"Stockton Bridge"
8x10 oil on panel

Here's an 8x10" painting I did on location back in August. I'm standing below the Prallsville Mills, looking down the Delaware River towards Stockton, NJ and Center Bridge, Pa.

Often when I do a larger studio painting from a plein air, the studio work takes on a life of it's own and comes out quite different. You think I'd be in complete control of this but that's not how it works for me. Sometimes I think it's good that they're so different but this time I was really happy that they're not. I think (I hope) that the larger version captures the same beautiful summer day feeling that the smaller version has. Here's the studio version:

"Stockton Bridge (large)"
24x30 oil on canvas

My second subject

"Under Stockton Bridge"
8x10 oil on panel

was based on a plein air that I did in early September. At the time I painted this one, I really wanted to be higher up on the river bank, but street level wasn't a good place to setup, and part-way down the bank was simply way too steep to stand on so I painted down by river level. Which was a nice place to be, but not exactly what I had in mind. The painting did capture the feeling and colors of that day, but in my studio version, I used some photographs in addition the plein air painting, to do the painting that I really wanted to do that day. The plein air painting was my reference for color and mood but the photographs were necessary for the big change in perspective. This is what I came up with:

"From Stockton To Center Bridge"
24x30 oil on canvas

Stockton is a nice little river town, and the Stockton Inn is good stop for food & drinks. The iron truss bridge I painted here was the site of Edward Redfield's famous painting "The Burning of Center Bridge", where the wooden covered bridge on this spot went up in flames one night in 1923. (Center Bridge, Pa is the town across the river from Stockton, NJ.)

Garden State Magazine Winter 2007/08

2007-11-22T18:08:00.000-05:00

Garden State Town & Country Living magazine has an article about me in their Winter 2007/08 edition, out on newsstands now through the beginning of March 2008.

Every issue features an artist in their Gallery section, and of course it was quite a thrill when they contacted me and asked if I'd be interested. Arts reporter Cathie Viksjo felt that my work has "a beautiful realism that our readers will like very much".

Since it's the winter issue of the magazine, one of my snow scenes was chosen to accompany the article - Amwell Valley Winter - a painting currently hanging in my solo show at the Triumph Brewery in New Hope, Pa., which runs until Dec 17.

I must say that I thought the article was a bit too flattering, but a friend said it describes me perfectly. One minor thing I'd like to correct though, is that when bicycling across the country, I rode pretty much straight west from Virginia to Colorado - not to Chicago as stated in the article - that would be crazy! From Colorado, we followed the Rockies north to Montana, then west again to Oregon. And it was a road bike, not a dirt bike. Other than those very minor points, I suppose the article sums me up pretty well:

You can read the rest of the article here on my website.