ISLAND NEAR THE SUSQUEHANNA SHORE

acrylic on masonite
8x10

What a joy it is to be outdoors on a beautiful morning in a tranquil setting, painting with eleven other artists-all of us stretched out in various spots along the West Fairview shoreline. It is quite a pleasant sight to see.

My painting, though begun en plein air, was changed significantly when I got back to my studio. After consulting a photograph of the exact section I was painting, I could see that I had awkwardly placed my island and the background buildings on the masonite board. I lowered the buildings, raised the island and added some foliage from the shore.

Our plein air group has described a plein air painting as one that is done mostly on site, with perhaps some finishing touches in studio. This painting, though inspired by the setting, was done mostly in studio from my photograph of the site.

STILL LIFE A LA CEZANNE BY Cecelia Lyden

oil on canvas

24x28

I was an art history major a million years ago. There were several artists who became my favorites and Paul Cezanne was and still is one of them. He has been called the"father of modern art", because he began to challenge the notion that 2 dimensional paintings should render depth[ which is 3 dimensional] as realistically as possible, using linear perspective, atmospheric perspective, vertical position, etc. He and, later, most modern artists felt that the canvas was 2 dimensional and objects in the painting should reflect that. He "tilted" tabletops, which brought objects to an almost upright position. He outlined many things which tended to flatten objects. He loved shapes and colors and clung to representationl rendering of things, but latter started to fracture and flatten things, like rocks and mountains.

I am a representational artist. I can't shake my love of things, people, and vistas around me. Though I love recognizing geometrical shapes in all things around me, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to paint in a non-representaional manner. I like abstract work and respect artists that paint this way. I like Cezanne's still lifes because they combine "modern" ideas and techniques, but still depict the beauty around him in a recognizabe way.

For my painting, I assembled some of my things, some of which resembled objects from Cezanne's paintings. I tilted the tabletop, so as to see more of the shapes . I used a flowing drape and tablecloth to lead the eye around the canvas. I did not concern myself with realistic shadows and used dark lines to separate some of the things on the table. The colors are unrealistically bright. It was fun to paint in this carefree manner. Of course I had Cezanne to lead the way.