SHAPES AND SHADOWS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/linen

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

For decades I have raced by this structure, always noting its composition of multiple shapes, but in too much of a hurry to observe any interesting cast shadows. I finally took the time to check it out more carefully and took some photos. I stopped in an adjoining building to ask its function. Imagine the confused looks on the faces of the two female clerks, working in this rather drab office space when this elderly lady walked in the door; and their incredulous expressions when I explained that I was an artist and wanted to paint this [hulk of a] building. One of the women understood when I said I loved all its comprised shapes and their cast shadows. Unfortunately, they would not permit me  to paint on site-too much truck traffic. So I painted from one of my photos. The building is a distribution storage facility for livestock grain-ADM Alliance Nutrition in Camp Hill.

SPANGLER MIILL CONSTRUCTION By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvasboard

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

I first came upon this monstrosity of a building while driving on Spangler Mill Road, seeking paint sites. I was winding down a curvy, narrow road, when, wham, up popped this huge structure on my left, sitting right on the road. I pulled into an empty lot across the street to carefully study it- not very pretty, but amazing sculptural shapes and volumes. This was not the picturesque landscape I was seeking, but I still wanted to paint it.

I came back to the site with two other artists, early, on a sunny morning. We all agreed it was an interesting subject, but, as artists do, we took different approaches. One artist painted a long view of the building, with emphasis on the trees and bushes around it. The other artist seemed interested in the shadows on the shapes, using pinks and purples. I was interested in how the small and medium shapes  appeared to grow out of the larger shapes, as well as the morning light and shadows, emphasizing the building's sculptural qualities. I also wished to convey my initial reaction of surprise at the sight of this massive structure, which was, so inartistically, plopped right on the edge of the road.

GREENS GALORE

 ORANGE CANOE ALONG THE CONODOGUINET

GOOSE GATHERING IN NEW CUMBERLAND PARK

 

 

SHIPOKE DRAMA

These four pantings are the results of eight plein air paintouts so far this summer.The other four were not completed.

EARLY SPRING WATER LILIES

oil/canvas

18x24

www.cecelialyde.com

 

This work was painted from a photograph I took at White City Park, Florida this past January.

THREATENING RAIN

oil/board

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

lyden1819@comcast.net

 

Lately, it seems that my plein air excursions have occured on overcast to threatening weather days. It makes for hastily painted canvases and quick visits. I've come to enjoy these experiences, though. I mix my blues, burnt sienna and white for a stormy sky-plop the colors down in the sky part of the composition and swirl my brush around till I get a dramatic look-perhaps a bit more dramatic than the sky in front of me, but so much fun. 

MECHANICSBURG WATER WORKS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/linen

16x20

www.cecelialyden.com

 

This is the second time I painted and sold this scene.This time I was commissioned by a man whose wife's great-uncle and grandfather built the house many years ago. They were from Columbia, PA, originally. Their family name was Glatfelter or Gladfelter. It is to be a Christmas present for her. I am so pleased to be part of this thoughtful gift.

RIVER VISTA By Cecelia Lyden

 

 

oil/stretched canvas

2'x3'

www.cecelialyden.com

 

This was a commissioned painting. The client wanted a view of the Susquehanna River that was different than the one from her condo window[ seen in the upper left]. I took several photos from both sides and up and down the river. I emailed her all of the digital images [ hooray for technology]. She chose this vista in a populated area. She wanted a lot of the river, bridges, her condo, but did not want too many other buildings in the painting--nor any trees in the foreground. I convinced her that some foreground trees keep the river from "running off the canvas."

 

I kept her posted as I continued to paint, but she has not come to see the painting yet. This is the nerve-racking time for me--worrying and hoping the client will like the painting.

MECHANICSBURG, ALLEYS, AWNINGS, AND AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE

 

I "discovered" Mechanicsburg forty-three years ago when my family moved to Camp Hill,PA from Tarrytown/Ossinng, NY. Though both locales are as old--Mechanicsburg early 1800's,Tarrytown, middle 1600's-or older than our nation and are in northeastern states, their historic architecture have different looks and styles. I fell in love with the color of the brick buildings, with their heavy wooden doors and window trims, their arched passageway, narrow alleys between houses, leading to charmng back yards. All of these features reminded me, and still does, of the architecture that appears in Dutch genre paintings. Main Street in Mechanicsburg was lined with mature trees which provided restful shade and created rich shadows. About 25 years ago, the  State cut all those trees down to widen the road. People, including myself, were saddened, but happily the skinny "twigs" they planted as replacements have have grown and Main Street looks charming and inviting again. 

 

 

 

YOUNG PLEIN AIRE ARTISTS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

 11x14

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

These are two young painters participating in the Quick Draw in Willow Park during the Camp Hill Plein Air Event. As a retired elementary art instructor, I love seeing young people engaging in any artistic endeavor. I chuckled at the positions, on the ground and the wall, they took to view and paint their subject--not sure if the apple was the subject or a snack or both, but I snapped their picture, and painted them from my photo. 

NEIGHBORS' POPPIES AND AZALEAS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

11x14

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

Both of these paintings were done en plein air in my neighbors' yard. Feeling no pressure to finish in one sitting, I returned two and three times to complete each painting. The proximity to each location in their yard made this easy. There are many other nice spots here and I am welcomed to return whenever I want.

HEATHCOTE GARDEN PATH By Cecelia Lyden

acrylic/oil/stretched canvas

9x12

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

I love a garden path as a subject for a painting. They can suggest adventure or mystery, as well as a casual stroll or peaceful journey. This path is in Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce, Florida. I went there with other artists to paint, twice this past winter. There wasn't much in bloom, but I did spy this twisty tree with curvy branches and foliage, hanging over a shaded path with some sunlight streaking across it.

An artist tries to move a viewer's eyes all around his painting. He wants them to see everything, starting with the most important and eventually all the details.Paths are such natural/easy way for the artist to lead a viewers eye "into" and around a painting. Also assisting this journey in this painting are the trees trunks, branches , and foliage. They twist, wiggle and move up the side of the canvas, across he path, down the other tree ,and across the path again to the twisty shadowsin the lower right corner and up and around again. 

TWO VERSIONS OF FOGGY MORN By C. Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

The first version of this segment of woods at Samuel Lewis State Park is closer in mood and atmosphere to the actual time and setting. When I paint en plein aire, I usually try to create the actual "plein aire", the lighting, the weather conditions, etc. We were completly "fogged in" that morning. There were no shadows or lights, just gray skies and trees receding in the mist. I liked the first version a bit, but I wanted to show more sky and to "punch up" the foreground a little. So I brushed over some of the branches, creating more negative space around, and therefore, more focus on the foreground trees. As the morning wore on, the fog diminished a bit and the sky lightened up. I reflected this slight change by adding some more white to my sky color.

A CEMETERY, RECLAIMED By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

Inspired by a story in our Harrisburg Patriot newspaper about a local Vietnam veterans group becoming caretakers of the Historical Lincoln Colored Cemetery, I sought out the cemetery. It containes the remains of about 80 Afro-Americans, some veterans of the Civil War. I got permission from the owners of the property for a group of plein air painters and I to paint there . It's in a very small and carefully tended area, surrounded by serene, beautiful farmland. Its peaceful setting and clusters of trees reminded me of some of the Gettysburg battlefield settings, but its simple tombstones and small size made it much more humble.

LIVING WITNESSES, The COPSE OF TREES AT GETTYSBURG By Cecelia Lyden

oil on stretched canvas

16x20

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

lyden1819@comcast.net

I paid my first visit to the battlefield at Gettysburg this past Thursday. I had passed by it many times on my way to visit my cousin who lived nearby. I went there to paint with my fellow plein air painters, but I did not get much work done. Armed with my camera, I was just like the many tourists there that morning, snapping one photo after the other.

It was a cloudy, chilly morning, which lent itself well to the somber setting. Many have told me what a beautiful , serene landscape it is--how spiritual and peaceful it is, worthy of great reverence. I felt all of these things and yet I also felt profound sadness. The Civil War has always been, to me, the saddest of wars. Six hundred thousand Americans dead in battle, from poorly treated wounds or from disease. Americans fighting Americans and still the Civil War continues in today's politics and in the reenactments of the violence of the North against the South.

I finally settled on the Copse of Trees to paint, learning about its significance later. They are aged, but still standing, protected and revered as living witnesses of the violence that took place there. My depiction of the trees was determined upon learning of the fierce and bloody hand to hand combat that took place around them in July, 1863. Also my son, who was watching me begin the painting, commented that he had read of the great amount blood spilled there . My canvas had a red underpainting, which had bled through. I then decided not to surround the old trees in a peaceful , quiet setting but, to show them as writhing, twisting and agitated and to depict the violence by using more red in the sky and ground. I felt this rendering more closely expressed my feelings about the Civil War and all wars.

SPRING BEGINS IN FLORIDA By Cecelia Lyden

oil on stretched canvas

8x10

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

lyden1819@comcast.net

What a sight to see bright green foliage growing on bushes and trees in February. By the time we left Florida in early March, blossoms were on trees and flowers were blooming. I am remembering fondly those sights as I, and others, wait for winter to depart here in PA.

ALONG ALLIGATOR ALLEY By Cecelia Lyden

oil on canvas board

6x8

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

lyden1819@comcast.net

This is another FLA landscape, done from a photo, while I wait for the weather to warm up. It's nearly April and the temperatures are below freezing here in PA. Plein air painting for this 70 year old is not "on the table."

CATTLE RANCH ON FLORIDA TURNPIKE By Cecelia Lyden

oil on stretched canvas

16x20

http://www.cecelialyden.com/

lyden1819@comcast.net

I remember my mother saying that she did not like Florida--it was too hot, too flat-she would say-and not that interesting. I guess I grew up with that image of the state of Florida--hot, flat and boring. It took my getting old, getting sick of winter, and retirement to finally experience the state of Florida for more than a week or two.

For the past 2 winters, my husband and I have spent January and February on the ocean in Fort Pierce, Florida. I have discovered that Florida is warm, not hot, flat, and not boring. In traveling across the State, I have seen beautiful scenery, interesting tree formations, gorgeous colors of sunrises, sunsets and the ocean.

I have joined a group of Florida plein air painters and have been to many interesting locations to paint. Next year we hope to go to one of the many cattle ranches in the area. I'm looking forward to that.

This painting was not done plein air, but from one of several photos I took on the way to the University of Florida in Gainesville. Our granddaughter was playing in a lacrosse game that afternoon, 3 hours away from Fort Pierce, where we were staying. So we did not stop. I just kept clicking away, at 70 miles per hour, at all the potential paintings I saw in front of me. Happily, most of them came out unblurred. I will paint one or two more.