Sunday, June 13, 2010

LILIES AT ITALIAN LAKE

9X12
Another morning painting en plein aire. A small group showed up at Italian Lake in Harrisburg. Not the most impressive or scenic lake I have ever seen, but the lilies were blooming in the warm morning sun. So I chose to paint them up close.

Friday, June 11, 2010

TheBurg Newspaer Cover




Recently I received an email from Linda and Ted Walke mailto:Walkgallery@galleryatsecond.com
Gallery at Second
608 North Second Street Harrisburg
which said that through judging by both the gallery and TheBurg newspaper, my artwork above, Spice Awaits, had been selected for a future front cover of the newspaper.
They congratulated me for this selection and honor of becoming a featured artist whose work will be seen by tens of thousands fellow Pennsylvanians.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

PLEIN AIRE IN WILLOW PARK




A group of friendly, talented artists met in Willow Park in Camp Hill yesterday to enjoy the great weather and to paint. There were plenty of interesting and beautiful subjects around us. I set up shop in the gazebo--no bugs there. A passerby suggested that I was not really painting en plein aire, because I was cozy and comfortable in this enclosed area. In spite of his humorous observation, I pressed on. My view was cropped by the parameters of the gazebo. Just fine with me. It kept me focused on the one area.
This was only the second time I have painted outside in the last 30 years or so. It was very enjoyable.




Sunday, June 6, 2010

RICKY'S ARTWORK




Ricky came to visit our son, Chris, from Davie, Fla, close to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Ricky is our grandson through marriage. Ricky has just finished 7th grade. He brought some of his school artwork for us to see.
The first is a drawing of a sneaker, very well drawn with lots of details. The second was a project that involved drawing something creative, using a specfic word. He manipulated the word, water, to look like it was flowing from a jug held by hands of 2 races--nuturing a plant or seeds. Very creative and well drawn.


RYAN'S SERENITY

A peaceful scene
My daughter called one evening to tell me that my grandson, Ryan, had just brought home a painting he did in art class. I didn't even know he took art as an elective. I had painted with him when he was pre-schooler, just as I did with Caroline, his sister. I well remember taking them to the town pool one summer day. I brought colored pencils to occupy them during adult swim. Children were not allowed in the pool at that time. Ryan started to draw the concession stand and included some of the details, like the clock. As soon as the whistle blew, though, he was off to play in the pool. Ever since, I assumed that he had stopped doing art when he got heavily into sports as had his sister.
Ryan is a terrific football and lacrosse player. He is as fast as the wind and it's a joy to see him perform on the field. But what a special joy it was for me to see the result of his "performance" in art class.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

HOUSE ON PEFFER

acrylic on canvas
14x18
cecelialyden.com

I saw this red house standing alone in green field under a bright blue sky while on my way to Wildwood Preserve. It's hard to forget so vivid a picture, so the next bright sunny day I drove over the Harvey Taylor Bridge into Harrisburg and retraced my route till I found the house again. I took several pictures of it and of other homes in the area. There were row houses in the vicinity and I assume that the red house was once a part of a row of homes. You can see that the one side looks like it had been sliced. As it is now, the red house stands alone, looking tall and proud.