New Gallery and artistic home

Just attended my first monthly meeting as a member of Southern Appalachian Artist Guild (SAAG) and hung these two paintings in the gallery at the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association in Blue Ridge, Georgia.

Happy Painting!

Cherokee Falls

These beautiful falling waters drop over the cliff into an emerald pool of clear water.  It is worth the steep hike down to the bottom just to enjoy this peaceful spot for a while.

This is a 9x12 oil on canvasboard.  Email me for price and availability.

Chattanooga - View from Bakers Street

I have joined a group of plein air painters from the Chattanooga area, and this is one of the first places where we met and painted.  We were standing in an abandoned lot on Bakers Street, looking across the river to downtown Chattanooga, with the chalky bluffs reflecting in the water.

This is a 9x12 oil on canvasboard.  Email me for price and availability.

Sentinel Pine and North Carolina Farm

Browsing through some old paintings - here are two from the turn of the century.

Sunset with sentinel pine.  What I liked the most about these two scenes was the intensity of the sunlight.  The Sentinel Pine was painted in late afternoon light, but the farm below was painted in early morning light.

North Carolina farm scene - sunrise.

Bold Coast Competition Winner

I have just learned that my submission, Fouled Gear, was chosen by the Bold Coast Scenic Byway Corridor Advisory Group to be one of 3 images used to represent the Bold Coast region!  Please follow this link for a DRAFT view of what these keepsake artcards will look like.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/97dpbsw17iw8ff9/POSTCARD%20DRAFT.docx

There will be 10,000 copies of each image printed and distributed to visitors in the Bold Coast region.

DISCOVER Maine’s Bold Coast

Jonesport Public Library Silent Auction

The Jonesport Public Library means a lot to me.  That's where I was invited to first show my work in a public venue by the Art in the Library group, spearheaded by Marshia Brown.  These shows resulted in some of my earliest sales, giving me much needed moral support.
This coming Thursday, August the 7th, they will be conducting a silent auction of a whole lot of donated stuff, including one of my paintings, Triptych:  Evening Shadows, Carrying Place, Hancock.  Hope to see you there!

Robin Rier, left, with her donated painting, with me and my painting on the right.

Triptych:  Evening Shadows, Carrying Place, Hancock.  6 x 12 x 3 - $600 retail price.

Jonesport and Great Wass Island

I had the honor of painting with renowned artist and workshop instructor Robert Beck this week.  We started out on Tuesday painting on Great Wass Island, on somebody's porch, pelted by rain and fighting on-again - off-again fog.  On Wednesday, we painted from inside a crab processing plant, again looking out on rain and fog.  Finally, on Thursday, we were able to paint en plein air, with actual sunshine and blue sky. On Friday, I was able to rescue three of the paintings...

Jonesport Public Library Show - Featured Artist

This morning, my three good friends and fellow artists Robin Rier, Nancy Kahler, and Jolene Harmon helped me hang 19 of my recent paintings and a few of their own.  The show looks great and will be on display the rest of the month.  Here is a photograph of one of the groupings:

 

I suppose there are many milestones an artist must reach as his career develops:  participating in a joint show, making the first sale, securing gallery representation,  and in my case, having a one-man show.  While this is not strictly speaking a one-man show, at least I am the featured artist, supported by three others.  I feel good about having reached this milestone and looking forward to many more!  Thank you Robin, Nancy, and Jolene!

Come visit us at the opening reception this Saturday from 2:30 until 5:00 at the Jonesport Public Library. 

Announcement: One-Man Show - sort of...

I have been invited to put together a one-man show at the Jonesport-Beals Peabody Memorial Public Library during the month of July.  I will be hanging a selection of my work on Sunday, July 6th, and the show will open on Tuesday, July the 8th and go through July 31st, with the Opening Reception on Saturday, July the 12th from 2:30 until 5:00.  If you are in the area, I would love to see you there.  Let the fun begin!

These and others will be shown.

I have invited three other artists to join me:  Jolene Harmon, Nancy Kahler, and Robin Rier,  They will hang 2-4 works each.

Peer Critiques

Over the years, I have come to treasure opportunities to participate in group critiques, either after a plein air outing or, as in this case, just a group of artists getting together for an informal critique of each others' work, as a help to solve problems with a painting or just to get feedback from other artists whose opinions you respect.  I brought several paintings to this gathering, but one in particular stands out, because I was so impressed with the sharp eyes and great suggestions of the other artists - all members of the In Town Gallery co-op in Chattanooga, TN.  Here is the painting, Cape St. George Light, as presented to the group.

Critiques:
1 - the white trim on the shaded end of the house is too bright - it needs to be darkened
2 - the blue sky should be lighter at the horizon than at the top of the painting
3 - considering this is a bright, sunny day, there should be more sunlight on the grass lawn
4 - would like to see more obvious sunlight on the right side of the black top of the lighthouse, the palm fronds, and the palm tree trunks

I agreed with all of these suggestions and fixed them.  Here is the "after" photo.

The two photos were taken under very different light conditions, but even allowing for that, the revised version is so much better.

The moral of this story?  Seek out opportunities for getting input from others, particularly from other artists whose opinion you respect and value.  Thank you, Marie Miller and company!

Fouled Gear

Last summer, before the lobsters had really started moving in good, these two dedicated lobstermen decided to go fishing for halibut. They invited me along as the official photographer, and this scene was among those I captured - "Fouled Gear". Watch out for the sharp hooks!

Oil on canvasboard, 11x14.

Afternoon Light

Just finished putting final touches on this little ditty.  This is from a point of the Mooseneck peninsula in Maine, looking West towards the Narrows.

This is painted in oil on 5x7 canvasboard, using knife and brush.   $150 framed.

Karsten's Korner

My dear friends and greatest collectors recently sent me this photo of their collection of my paintings.  The paintings represent Maine winter, spring, summer and fall, and they have them arranged in a corner of their dining room.  I am currently working on a major (24x48) commission for them.  Thanks guys!

Cape St. George Light

As you come off the bridge onto St. George Island, Florida, this replica of the Cape St. George Light greets your weary eyes - and what a delightful sight it is!

If interested in this painting, contact artist at kittelsen@aol.com.

Thompson Island Plein Air Revisited (See earlier post)

Sometimes, after you have finished and signed a painting, another pair of eyes might see something you missed.  Like clouds that look like Mickey Mouse, or in this case, a straight line of purple beach flowers that look like rocks.  My wife looked at this painting and commented:  "That straight line of purple-grey rocks looks weird".  Well, when my wife speaks, I listen.  Looking at it I had to agree.  So, yesterday I followed her advice and made the straight line of flowers a little more uneven, added a few flowers to the left of the big rock, and put some brighter spots of purple and fuchsia on the flowers.  Voila, the offensive line of rocks is no more!  The lesson here?  Another pair of eyes can be an important tool in inproving a painting, and even after a painting is "finished" it's not to late to make corrections.

Thompson Island Plein Air - August 3, 2013

Three of the Plein Air Connection members painted (in the rain) at Thompson Island on Saturday August 3rd - Kay Carter, Becky White, and me.  When the drizzle turned to light rain, we retreated to Sylvia's in Ellsworth for lunch.  I finished my painting in the studio today, three weeks later! 

This is an 11x14 oil painting on canvasboard and will be priced at $500 once it is framed.

Goose River Cove, Waldoboro

The Plein Air Connection members painted in Waldoboro this past Saturday.  Michael Vermette and I painted different views from the Goose River Cove on the beautiful shore property of Tom and Connie Hammermeister.  My painting was purchased by the Hammermeisters at the wet auction that night.  Thank you, Connie and Tom!  One of my challenges was the rapidly ebbing tide - probably 6 feet from the time we started painting until we finished...

 

 

Goodbye!

Sometimes, it's really hard to part with a work of art.  This one was particularly difficult to part with - I have so many fond memories of hauling my own lobster traps around the ladle, my boat "Grammie" loaded with eager family and friends, all straining to see if there were any lobsters in the trap.  This painting is also a tribute to the subject of the painting, my young friend and mentor in the lobster business, Jason Tyler and his wife Holly, his boat's namesake.  They bought this painting yesterday - it really does belong on their wall.  Thank you, Jason & Holly!

 

 

Jason's buouy is in the lower right and mine (blue - white - navy) is in the center of the island reflection.

A Pair of Schooners

Back in the mid nineties, when I had just dusted off my old paint brushes and started painting again, I painted these paintings of a schooner.  The ship is called the Bluenose II, and is a replica of a famous Canadian lobster fishing schooner (using dories to haul the traps) and successful racer called Bluenose.  They were both built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.  I sailed briefly on Bluenose II when I was working in Halifax, where she is usually moored during summers.  I was so taken with this beautiful schooner, I had to paint her, twice - about a year apart.  These paintings (18x24) are not for sale (reserved by family members), but I do accept commissions!

Spring Thaw

One of the many little trout treams that abound in Maine, ready for the first fishermen!  I love fresh caught trout, cooked over an open fire!  This scene is from Trescott, Maine.

This is an 8x10 oil on canvasboard, beautifully framed, priced at $300. This one is now at ARTSANDCRAFTSOFMAINE in Lubec.