My First "Artists Talk" this Saturday

If you happen to be on Newbury Street 

this Saturday between 1 and 3, 

come in to the Copley Society!

(#128 between Dartmouth and Exeter)

I'll be giving a "talk" about my 

Solo Show "Beach Peeks"

In the Red Room Gallery.

(Now blue) 

I'm prepared for anything 

and will have my laptop for show and tell. 

Hand outs, reference materials, and stories. 

Air-conditioning and Refreshments! 

BTW: The show is up until August 22nd!  

Keeping Things Simple

Look how happy you can be with so few "things"!     

"Keeping Things Simple"

8 x 10 

(available at Munson Gallery) 

I had to schedule an Apple One to One session 

today to find out where my new friend, "I Cloud" 

put my "streamed" photos. 

(More on that later.) 

 Call me old school, but I think 

this guy is on to something! 

Technology Melt Down

I got an I Pad for Mother' Day and

it started a technology melt down that hasn't stopped. 

Since then, I have purchased an updated I Phone,

two new operating systems for my Mac Book Pro, 

then a brand new Mac Book Pro,
(because the old one crashed)

Apple Care, and a years worth of One to One. 

All so I can have I Cloud.
Not sure yet why that is such a great thing
but now that I have One to One,
I get to hang out with those
cools kids at the Apple Store and will figure it out.

Cello likes the restaurant next door 

because she can sit outside with us!  

Then the company that has been hosting my website
www.nancycolella.com

just decided to shut it down.
I went two weeks without knowing it was down! 

I've got it back up and running again with Go Daddy but now 

 need to design an entire new website 

because I Web is being phased out!  

This is getting expensive and way too time consuming! 

Personally, I'd rather be painting!

Happy as Clams

The last few storms and weird weather we're having
 has brought up a lot of debris but has
apparently made fishing pretty exciting.

Fisherman  are everywhere!

"Six Two, Sox"

8 x 10 

These two were as happy as the clams washed up on the beach.
I think that was the score when I walked by! 

  

Note: I overworked this painting.
I wiped off that guy with the beard threes times. 

Shame on Cello for letting me spend so much time on it! 

She is supposed to start misbehaving after an hour!

We are adjusting to working in the "satellite studio" at the beach.

Bare bones. Kind of like camping. 

Well, with air conditioning.

Tuesday Morning Group

Our Tuesday Morning Group 

was finally able to meet today!  

We gathered at my friend Lori's beautifully resorted 1700's farm 

bursting with subject matter. 

Barns, gardens, horses, tricycles, chickens, 

dog houses, ponds, fields of daisies. 

We were all giddy, yet slightly terrified.   

I chose this scene because of the dark green/ orange contrast. 

We talked about the importance of doing a quick 

dark/light value sketch when painting in actual sunlight. 

(Or at least, getting an image of it!) 

Then you have to STICK with that pattern! 

If you chase the light, you will end up with mud. 

In our case today, the sun suddenly disappeared!

So it was a good lesson. 

Note how the shadow shapes have disappeared on the building.  

Painters make such great paintings! 

Wendy was in the paddock with the horses! 

Mine finished 

Christine has an app on her phone that is a view finder. 

With grids and everything!  

Sue did this from an image she took on her phone 

in the last twenty minutes. 

How fun is that!?

  

Post Workshop Challenge

"Beach Bike"

8 x 10 

I decided to use some of the tools I learned at the Tim Horn workshop for this. 

I added a warm and cool of each primary, plus sap green to my pallet,

and concentrated on color temperature.

(I changed the color of that cement wall three times!)  

I also used a warm toned board instead

 of the middle value gray I am used to. 

(I found myself distracted by it at first,

and couldn't wait to cover it up!)

All in all, it was a challenging, but fun morning! 

Thank You!

A great big thank you goes out to the staff at the Copley Society

 for such a wonderful opening last night!

This huge banner was outside on Newbury Street when I arrived!   

Then when I saw how the show looked

in the "Red Room" painted "Beach Blue",

I was thrilled!  

They thought of everything. 

My Blurb book, guest sign in, price list and a 

gorgeous orchid!  

So many unexpected friends and patrons showed up, 

I was honored and astounded. 

I'm still reeling. 

Thank you everyone who came! 

The show will be up until August 22,

 so if you didn't get in town last night 

it could be a fun summer outing! 

  

Fun News!

I am excited to announce my new representation 

at the Cove Gallery in Wellfleet, MA.  

If you are in that part of the Cape, do stop in! 

I have ten paintings there, 

mostly figures! 

Check them out here.

Note: I am still represented at the Munson Gallery in Chatham, MA 

so will only be showing work in the Cove Gallery in Wellfleet, MA.

New work at the Munson will be posted by the end of the month. 

Needless to say, it's been a very hectic spring!  

Can't wait for those lazy, hazy days of summer

(and some plein air painting!)  

Solo Show -Beach Peeks- Opens Thursday!

I delivered the paintings on Thursday and
was pleasantly surprised that 

walls of the "Red Room" have been painted

 "Beach Blue" for this show!   

It's perfect. 

"Weekender" 

20 x 30 oil 

Thursday June 14

5:30- 7:30 

158 Newbury Street

617-536-5049

If you can't make it to the opening,  

the show is up until August 22.

Just stop in the next time you are on Newbury Street! 

(Between Dartmouth and Exeter) 

then let me know what you think! 

You can get a "Sneak Peek" of complete show on line here.

Think I need to get something "Beach Blue" to wear that night!?

Back to Work

Here is a painting I did from my own photo 

during the Tim Horn workshop. 

"Tucked Inn"

8 x 10 

It was challenging to get that sand color warmer 

than the house color! 

And that reflected light under the eave.

Well, Tim helped me with that. 

I have been traveling for over a week now.

I'm finally home and am excited about getting back to work!  

Day Three of Tim Horn Workshop

Sunday was gorgeous 

so we all met back at the boat yard. 

Tim did a demo of this scene,

simplifying it.  

The finished piece. 

Note how warm his lights are and how cool his shadows are! 

My new pal, Jean Cauthen from North Carolina 

and I set up in front of this typical Long Island structure

and had a blast trying to simplify it! 

Here's a bad image of my result.

Tim was very helpful and offered a lot of great tips.

He is a very generous instructor and I highly recommend 

his workshop! 

I had to leave early to get the ferry 

but the rest of the class painted again that afternoon. 

I feel rejuvenated and ready for a summer of plein air painting! 

Thank you Tim!  

Day Two of Tim Horn workshop

It was raining on Saturday so we met at the gallery 

where Tim did a demo from a photo. 

He worked from an image of the Monhegan Light house

and again, put in all the shadow shapes first. 

 Adding in the shapes in light.

(This looks more yellow than in reality because of the lighting in the gallery) 

Again, I found his demo incredibly informative. 

He stressed a lot about getting the right "temperature"

 as well as the correct values.   

Then we all painted from his photos

He really helped me with the reflected light on the side of the small shed 

and under that eave.

At the end of the day

Tim shared some his best paintings of last year with us on his laptop. 

He described what he liked (or didn't) about each one
and I found that incredibly informative.

Tim Horn Workshop Day One

There is so much to blog about I don't know where to begin.

I think I'll share this all in a few posts. 

Friday, day one, the eight of us met at the South Street Gallery 

where Tim talked about equipment and the 

importance of doing a value sketch when painting outdoors.  

Then we went out back where he did a 

very informative demo. 

Doing his value sketch. 

The scene behind the gallery of his first demo.

His finished piece.

It was magical watching him mix just the right values 

and put them in all the right places! 

Then we went to the local boat yard in the afternoon

to paint.

I chose this very complicated scene,
because of the great dark and light pattern.  

I used ultramarine for my block in (as he does) 

and laid in all my dark shapes first. 

All was going along fairly well, 

until the wind picked up and the clouds came,

and by the time I went to put in my "lights" 

the whole thing had gone to "hell in hand basket". 

It was a wiper! 

I got great photos though and will probably try this again! 

So glad we have two more days!