6 X 8" oil on archival linen. The light had that delicate sheen that it often has in early spring, when everything is so fresh and delicate.
Ending 5/2 at 8:00 pm! Wakefield Farm Shed With Dogwoods.
Ending Friday, May 2 at 8:00 pm is this auction:
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| Wakefield Farm Shed With Dogwoods: Built 1781 |
First local plein air of the season, I painted this last Monday at the gorgeous Wakefield Farm. The farm is in my back yard and houses 25 horses. It was built in 1781 and has many of the original structures, including this shed.
I was taken by the beautiful aging grays of the shed's walls against the brilliant pinks, white and apricots of the flowering dogwoods. What a sight! As I painted at least five people came over for pleasant chats and comments. A day that will not soon be forgotten.
The original oil is 5X7" and is on archival linen board. The painting is unframed. This is how the painting would look framed:
Thank you for your interest.
Wakefield Farm Shed With Dogwoods: Built 1781
Starting at Auction tomorrow, Saturday April 26:
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| Wakefield Farm Shed With Dogwoods: Built 1781 |
First local plein air of the season, I painted this last Monday at the gorgeous Wakefield Farm. The farm is in my back yard and houses 25 horses. It was built in 1781 and has many of the original structures, including this shed.
I was taken by the beautiful aging grays of the shed's walls against the brilliant pinks, white and apricots of the flowering dogwoods. What a sight! As I painted at least five people came over for pleasant chats and comments. A day that will not soon be forgotten.
The original oil is 5X7" and is on archival linen board. The painting is unframed. This is how the painting would look framed:
Thank you for your interest.
Rural Landscape With Plantation Barn 1 Auction
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| Bleak House Plantation Barn 1
Auction listed at htt1http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/198951
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The first in a barn series at the Bleak House Plantation in Earlysville, VA, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At this nitial painting stage, I'm there to understand the correct structure, lighting and "mood" of the building. This barn has it all. It's imposing, to be sure, and as the sun was slowly heading down, the barn's history ebbed forth.
I'm often at heightened state of, well - anxiety - at this stage. There is only so much time to get things painted correctly, and especially settle on the shadow's shapes. If you can imagine, what's calming are the barn sparrows and doves quietly having a conversation while an intruder (that would be me!) makes strange stroking motions on an easel and board.
This barn was built in the 1700's, when slaves worked the plantation's wheat, tobacco, corn and livestock.A dream-like glow seems to infuse the barn, much like the way I view the plantation.
This original oil on archival linen board is 7" X 5", and is unframed.
This painting would look like this if framed:
This painting would look like this if framed:
Red Barn Star
The painting below was just added to my gallery at Daily Paintworks.
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| Red Star Barn |
As a new member, I'm beginning to build my gallery there and have added this image to it. In addition, I'm offering auctions of original fine art, two of which are live now:
Bleak House Plantation Barn 3
Sedona Day's End
Hope you have a moment to visit and bid!
Bleak House Plantation Barn 3
Sedona Day's End
Hope you have a moment to visit and bid!
Rural Landscape With Plantation Barn Auction
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| Bleak House Plantation Barn 3 |
This gorgeous, symmetrical barn is just down Buck Mountain Road in Earlysville, Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was irresistible, it had to be painted; and what I like about this oil is how free the brushstrokes became. The structure became a dreamlike symbol of it's history, and it's history is deep.
The Bleak House Plantation was built in the 1700's and covered hundreds of acres planted in corn, tobacco, wheat and other crops.
This original oil on archival linen board is 7" X 5", and is unframed.
This painting would look like this if framed:
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| Bleak House Plantation Barn 3, Sample Frame |
5 Ways To Identify A Painting For YOUR Taste
There are so many choices of painting styles - when you're in the market, it helps to quickly narrow down what appeals to your individual taste....(continued below)
Working on a series of the Bleak House Plantation Barn located in Earlysville, VA. What I'm liking very much about this painting is that I'm loosening up. A dream like, luscious quality is infusing the structure - a quality I very much feel when I'm looking at this venerable barn.
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| Bleak House Barn III |
This original is available for sale as a 5 X 7" oil on archival linen board. Framed in a gorgeous custom gold and black floating canvas frame.
Helpful purchasing guidelines:
1. What's your budget? You can purchase original pieces of art - art that will increase in value - for less than $500.
2. When looking at art samples, what draws your eye first? This includes identifying that eye-grabbing trait: A color or colors? Subject matter, pattern, abstraction? The stroke (or lack of) of the artist's hand?
3. What size? This seems obvious, but are you open to whatever appeals? Or are you trying to fill a big space over the sofa?
4. Will the artist's work appreciate in value? If this is important to you, take the time to look at their awards, their statement about their work, their Biography. These will tell you if they're in it for a quick fling or have the staying power needed to increase the value of their art.
5. Are you buying from your heart? If so, that magical quality that drew you in is likely to capture others as well. Successful collectors bring their hearts, their instincts AND their minds to the table when making an art-purchasing decision.
How to Paint An Emotional Icon
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| Bleak House Barn 2
I have to have a reason to paint. There is so much local history here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge that's it's tough to focus on just one thing. A focus on the barn at Bleak House Plantation tempers an impending sense of overwhelmed-ness that comes with so many choices.
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Having just seen Twelve Years A Slave, that's what I'm thinking of as I read about the history of this plantation. I'm revisiting this barn series at the Bleak House Plantation in Earlysville, VA. Built in the1700's when slaves worked the plantation's wheat, tobacco, corn and livestock.
I wandered around on a hot spring day, capturing many opinions of what this barn meant to the surrounding landscape. It was silent but for the birds in the country, yet I could hear the voices of past inhabitants and the earth gave up hints of previous homes and outbuildings. Google search was an enormous help in finding obscure references to the slaves that worked here, their names, position, ages, value, etc.
This particular viewpoint is the third in the series. I simplified the structure, concentrating more on the light and shadow colors and shapes. Emotionally I wanted something beautiful but imposing, as this barn was a symbol of prosperity and enslaved toil.
This original is available for sale as a 5 X 7" oil on archival linen board. Framed in a gorgeous custom gold and black floating canvas frame.
Barn Door Blue Bucket Photo
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| Blue Bucket Barn Door |
This was a shot from the inside of the horse barn. The glowing blue bucket; the canoe; the light - were irresistible. There is no peace like that inside a horse barn. It's the opposite of sitting all day at a computer. Organic? You bet. In a very, very good way.
There may be a painting done of this in the near future. In the meantime, prints can be purchased here:
http://catherine-twomey.artistwebsites.com/art/all/landscapes/all
Have a great weekend.
Fall Farm Entrance and the Yellow Gate
Just finished this commission. What a joy it was to paint. You get the last vestiges of fall in the bright orange maple leaves and bare branches. I had to do the right hand background three times before I was happy with it. Another lesson in "Less is More."
It's hard to imagine living in a place so beautiful, so ready to pull you in. This is an 8" X 10" on linen panel in a floater frame. The recipient was "Touched and delighted." Thank you!