At the cabin, time and materials abound

Highbush Cranberry, watercolor,
12 x 16

It's berry season in the South Central Alaskan woods! This Highbush Cranberry is tart but flavorful, and full of bright red juice. I cut these samples a few hundred yards from my studio cabin.

Rosehips, watercolor, 10 x 7

The rose blossoms are gone, now here is the fruit, with leaves already showing signs of approaching autumn. Another specimen from around the cabin.

Amanita, watercolor and ink, 10 x 7

Here is an Amanita mushroom, with some of the forest richness attached. Not edible unless you want to go through a long process of leaching out the toxins, but a bright note in the forest. Another sign of summer waning, there were several just off the footpaths around the cabin.

Robin's Nest, pastel pencil, charcoal, and graphite, 12 x 16

The robin built her nest in the eaves of the studio cabin. Once the chicks were fledged, we took it down, as it was precariously balanced. The egg turned up on a footpath about 10 minutes away, probably part of a different nest. I love nests. This one has an orderly architecture of mud and dried grasses.

Black Cap Chickadee Nest with Eggs, silverpoint on prepared paper, 9 x 12

This specimen is from outside our house in Anchorage. We found it fallen from a tree, eggs all quite cold and some broken. In order to use them as models, I had to blow out their contents, difficult with an egg the size of the small joint of my little finger, but I managed it. The nest and eggs were delicate and light, perfect for a rendering in silverpoint.

For more information, and to find out about purchasing any of these pieces, please contact me at 

info@carollambertarts.com

Art Sale in Anchorage this weekend!

 If you are in the Anchorage area, drop by the Dena'ina convention center this weekend for the Christmas Arts & Crafts Emporium. My artist friend Emily Longbrake has a booth and will be selling some of my etched and watercolor cards, and also some cards by members of Tectonic Press. I have also thrown in some small watercolors and one small oil painting as well. Original art, very low prices!! Hope to see you there!

November 22nd & 23rd, 2014 -

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sun.

Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center

600 W Seventh Ave. , Anchorage, AK 99501

 

Still having fun with pastels

I got going with pastels last summer, and since then I have acquired some nice materials. I am indebted to my fellow Alaskan artist and friend Kaye N Goodrich, who kindly gave me an introduction to pastel technique. 

I have oil paintings in progress, but this makes a nice change, especially during weeks when time is limited. The preparation time for working with pastels is shorter than for oils. (But the clean-up takes just as long!)

The piece below was inspired by an oil done in a drenching rain at Broad Pass. A virtue of oil paint is that it works fine even when everything is wet. I, on the other hand, got very soggy. Water's Return, 22 x 30, pastel on gessoed watercolor paper.

The second piece comes from colored pencil and oil sketches I made on trips through Broad Pass. The colors there are always vivid.  Late Summer Hills,  12 x 15.5, pastel on watercolor paper.

The next item is based on watercolor and ink sketches I made in southern France in 2011. The terrain was hills, olive trees, paths, and vineyards. I loved it and I look forward to working more of my sketches into finished pieces. Windy Path, pastel on watercolor paper, 12 x 15.25.

I am showing you Bed of Nasturtiums, pastel on paper, 11 x 15, for the second time, because I was not happy when I looked back at the photograph I used the first time. This is an improved photo. Though the difference might not be obvious, I feel better about it! 

I mentioned I was working in a few new media. This post is all about pastels, and I hope soon to post about my new printmaking projects. I will blog about new oil paintings soon as well. Thanks for your interest!

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

A little bit more on printmaking

This week I posted about etching, drypoint, linocut, and woodcut as methods for making durable, quality prints by hand. I also experimented recently with "soft ground" etching, which delighted me by producing a print that looks like a drawing.

"Soft ground" is a softer version of the "hard ground" wax used for etching. When etching with hard ground, one must use a needle to scratch the image into the hard wax. For this technique, one can press a design into the soft ground with a pencil. One transfers the image by drawing on a piece of newsprint placed over the wax-coated metal plate. The wax will stick to the other side of the paper, leaving a duplicate image on the plate, ready to be exposed to the acid.

I lay this little sketch (based on a drawing I made last summer, at the Kenai River) on top of a plate waxed with soft ground. I went over it with a pencil, pressing my marks into the wax.

 When I lifted my drawing off the plate, this image, in wax, appeared on the reverse of my paper:

Wherever the wax stuck to the paper, the plate was exposed. Into the acid bath it went. Then I inked it and ran it through the press with a piece of wet paper. Here is the print:

Now I can make as many of these as I want! Neat, isn't it? 

I like this image a lot, but I liked the soft brown of the wax so much I might print it again using a sepia colored ink. I could also hand color the final print with watercolor to give it the Alaska Landscape finishing touch. Mostly, I want to experiment more with this wonderful, simple way to make prints.

Next post, back to oil painting. I am doing some small pieces (6 x 6, 8 x 8) which will be very affordable, especially if bought unframed. Stay tuned, shoppers.

Noodling around in the summertime

This summer I finally went full time with the artwork, but, inevitably, other activities worked their way into my schedule: time at a remote cabin, and a trip to the Kenai river, getting in a winter supply of  salmon. And we got a dog, so I became a dog trainer. Life, in other words, intervened. Nevertheless, I noodled around with my sketchbook. Here are some results.

A graphite study of the birch just outside the cabin bedroom:

A quick watercolor of Mt. St. Elias, one of our prettier volcanos. That's the Kenai river in the foreground, where my friends were fishing for salmon while I kept the dog company!

I spent some time in the studio as well. Thinking about a still life I want to tackle, I made this preliminary sketch in charcoal. The second photo gives you an idea of how things are set up in the studio. Such a small space, but all mine.

There are no finished oil paintings in this post because I worked on painting florals for the rest of the summer. Florals are a challenge! Of three paintings started, I am satisfied with only one. It is drying and waiting for varnish and its "official" photograph, coming in a week or so. 

Our summer is ending, and I am headed east for a month of classes. I'm excited to see what will come of an intensive period of painting and drawing. More on all that later. I hope you had an enjoyable summer!

Plein air August and September

Recently, I drove a few hours north to catch some favorite views. My first attempt was a wet one.

It turns out that 2 umbrellas just make 2 drippy edges to get you wet! Only the painting stayed dry. Oil paints don't mix with water, though, so I was able to carry on until I was just too soaked.

I finished this in the back of the car. Thanks to the brave soul who took the photo with my camera.

The next time I tried, the weather was much better, but this is the only other painting I really like from the trip. I have lots of ideas to work with in the studio, though.

Several people stopped to take photos. Thanks to everyone who said hello and checked out my work, and special thanks to Jim Mayo, who included me in a video of his Alaska road trip, and to Cherie Smith and Roger Kulwicki, who took these photos.

In fact, so many people have taken photos of me at work over the years, I have just created an online collection of those photos. You can see them in an album titled "Painting in Public" on my Facebook page. Please have a look when you get a chance, and if you like it, please "Like" it.  

Broad Pass in Mist 

12 x 16

oil on linen panel

Snow and Streams

12 x 16

oil on linen panel

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Plein Air, July

This summer I helped out as cook on a cabin building project, and had a few hours to get out the paints and record the action. These 4 guys did an amazing job of completing the framing and installing lots and lots of windows during a 4 day frenzy. Luckily, the weather was glorious.

One of the structures on the property is a classic Alaska lean-to cabin, with plenty of sod on the roof. We don't know how long it will last, so it seemed like a good idea to paint it now.

I got my picture taken while I was at work. That hat is completely enclosed in mosquito netting.

These paintings are both now the property of the cabin owner.

One landscape has become two

Last year I went to Denali National Park and made a 16 x 40 painting of the view at Polychrome Pass. I had to put it on 2 panels in order to carry the wet painting-in-progress on the park bus. When I got home I framed them in one frame, but try as I might, I could not make the seam unobtrusive.

I finally took the panels out of the frame, cropped one, and now I have two paintings of the view at Polychrome Overlook. I think it worked out fine in the end. 

This year I will try to return to the same spot to do 2 more paintings. What I have done so far is only a small slice of a great view. 

Polychrome Overlook
16 x 20

Polychrome Overlook 2
16 x 12

oil on linen panels

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Arctic Spring

In 2009 I travelled north through the Alaskan arctic. This was at summer solstice. The sun was above the horizon all day, and when it was overcast, as in this painting, 4PM and 4AM looked about the same.

I didn't have the opportunity to stop for plein air work. However, I made sketches and lots of color notes, and did paintings from memory at the end of each day. This painting began as one of those.

The arctic is wonderfully green in June, with rolling plains leading off into the mountain ranges. This is the country of the great caribou herds. In this view, there is a small river, with snow still hanging on at the edges. Small wildflowers, deep green flowering shrubs, and slender grasses cover the tundra. A mysterious place.

Arctic Spring

9 x 12

oil on linen panel

To purchase, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Polychrome Overlook

This is the painting I began at Polychrome Pass. When I got the two panels home, I permanently joined them by fixing narrow strips of wood to the back. The result is quite sturdy, and the seam is not very noticeable.

If you enjoyed the photos of the bears and rams on my previous post, you might like to visit my Facebook page to see an album with more photos.

16 x 40, oil on linen panels, joined.

Please direct inquiries to me at: info@carollambertarts.com

Plein Air in Denali National Park, Part II

I only lasted 3 hours on my first day of painting, due to the high winds, and almost gave up. After I got to camp and had a meal, I felt better and decided to stick it out. The next morning the winds were down a bit. By eleven the wind died, the sun came up, and it was a glorious day. In a lull between buses, I had an unexpected visitor. He appeared from around the corner with very quiet steps.

Then there were two.


Over the next hour or so, several rams emerged from over the edge of the cliff. They were making an annual migration, and probably nervous about being at an altitude where bears might turn up.


Before long, there were photographers all over the place. Funny how that works.

I needed to catch the 5:10 bus, and got busy packing. I moved gear to the other side of the road so that I could hail my ride, but had to wait for the rams to mosey along. That's my easel and paint box on the ground.


Turned out they wanted me to move, so that they could comfortably hike up the trail behind my position. I did my best to keep a respectful distance, but soon found myself in a bit of a swarm. Eventually we all got sorted out, the bus arrived, and everyone got to see them again, up on the hill around the corner.

The next day, the weather was back to cold and windy, but it never got as bad as the first day. Here is a photo taken by Mr. Michael Mauro on painting day 3.


I'm particularly grateful that he sent it, because I had managed to damage my own camera. Thanks, Mike! I lasted another 2 days, then headed home to complete the painting in my studio. My next post will show the final result.

Plein air in Denali National Park, Part I

Right after Labor Day I made my annual plein air painting trip to Denali National Park. In past years I have camped at the west end of the park road, and concentrated on the views in the vicinity of Wonder Lake. This year I stayed on the east end, car camping at Teklanika campground, and riding the green buses west to my painting site.

I also changed how I worked. Previously I painted as many small panels as I could during my week in the park. This year I decided to go for the big picture. I set up at Polychrome Pass on the first day, and spent the entire time on one painting.


Because I was riding the bus with all my gear every day, I needed a way to carry a large wet painting without completely disturbing the paint, my fellow passengers, and the wonderful bus drivers. My solution was to use two 16 x 20 panels. I clamped them together to make a 16 x 40 surface, and packed them in a 16 x 20 panel carrier for the trips to and from camp.

I also ordered a new easel, and I was really happy with it. This design is called a Take-It-Easel, and is beautifully made. The first painting day was difficult, with wind gusts up to 40 mph. My easel was steady! The weight of my paint box anchored it well. I went for the original rather than the cheaper knock-offs, and am glad I did.

I also carried a piece of heavy cardboard, measuring about 10 x 30, to help brace the outer edges of the panels. That was the most awkward item to carry on the bus. However, once the panels were clamped in place, all was well. Until that moment I had to throw big rocks on whatever I needed to put down to have a free hand.

Here's my notebook with rocks and my foot, since both hands are holding the camera. No matter how hard the wind blows, I make my Munsell notations. For those who are interested in such things, the view was very much in the 5YR range, with some variations in the YR and R hues. Luckily, I used my notes from last year to mix up and bring what I needed.

I chose Polychrome Pass primarily for that great sweep of glacial plain, with rivers, mountains, snow, skies, and weather. My second reason was human presence. Every one of the many buses traveling the park road stops at Polychrome Pass. I met 50 - 60 friendly and enthusiastic people a day, had my picture taken about 20 times a day, and ran out of business cards. Next time I'm bringing at least 300.

I figured that, because of the many buses, the wildlife might choose to be elsewhere most of the time. As much as I like to see wildlife, I preferred to see wildlife at a respectable distance.


Once I had spent a few days there, my attitude shifted a bit. There was a bear close by for several days, and I am sure the bear knew of my presence, but like all the other bears in the area, my bear was too busy putting on fat for the coming winter to indulge in idle curiosity. Just in case, though, I kept the bear spray on a belt around my waist.

Before long, just about everyone in the park knew about the crazy woman standing out in the wind 5 or 6 hours a day, easy to see from a distance in her bright yellow rain gear.

Many thanks to Mr. Rob Chambers for the photo at the top of the post, and to the kind person who took this one with my camera! More photos in Part II, coming soon.

Denali Plein Air Trip Part 6, McKinley in Autumn 2

On the last glorious sunny day I hiked back down the McKinley Bar trail, hoping the frost had not entirely wiped out the colors we saw on our rainy day hike. No such luck, the trees were going brown, though there was still color in the low vegetation.


While I was working, two young men from Fairbanks/North Pole, Chad Odom and Diego Servan, hiked down the trail and stopped to talk and take pictures. Many thanks to Chad Odom for these photos of me and my set up.


They were interested in how I set out the paints on the palette. I explained my strings of color, arranged by hue, value, and chroma (for more on strings, see my post of 8/18/10.) . These were colors I premixed and tubed for the trip. You can see some reds and yellows from the Munsell soils book, and some blues and greens from the Munsell student book. It sure is easier to squeeze colors from a tube than trying to mix them on the palette while fighting off bugs!


As I worked on the painting, it occurred to me that I was in danger of falling into heavy cliche territory: big mountain, autumn colors, reflecting pool, perfect, right? Or maybe not, maybe too much like a cheap postcard????

Luckily, there was a broken up tree just to my right, which relieved a bit of the perfection. Those familiar with paintings of McKinley will say, yes, but the mountain with dead tree in foreground is also a cliche. Point taken, but my tree is even more broken up than most, so I think it does the job.


Here is an oil sketch, McKinley Bar Trail Reflection, by Mary Bee Kaufman, painted at a nearby location, but before the colors were completely gone. I like how the trees, with their variety, shadows, and reflections, create visual interest, and how the soft edges portray the indistinct boundaries of the marsh stream. The whole effect is light and delicate.

This is the final chapter of our plein air trip to Denali National Park. Look for a link to Chad Odom's blog here soon. He is about to start some world travel, and will be posting more of his excellent photos on his blog as he goes.

McKinley in Autumn 2 is oil on linen panel, 10" x 12"

To purchase, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com