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a little ditty from maine several weeks ago.

 

this weeks posts will probably be a little longer than the last several months. ive been out of town alot and i realized my posts were getting a little too generic. thats what happens when youre an itinerant artist trying to make a living up and down the east coast. youre in a different bed every few months (and nights) and the road kinda saps your strength after awhile. not complaining, mind you just tellin' it like it is. so the posts sorta get shorter and shorter and less personal.

 

folks always tell me in emails that they like the blog because it gives them insight into the inner workings of the art business when youre fulltime and make every dollar for your bills off your art (or your teaching). so for the next few posts, i'll try to make some honest observations about this life.  before i do let me first say that when i write about the frustrations or not so hot things, that i'm in no way complaining about the life just telling the good AND the bad for those that are interested. and i dont want to make this about me so i'll generalize and say that i think most artists making their living doing this will agree with alot of the things i allude to? i'd be interested to hear from everybody and anybody in the comments section!

 

Todays mythbuster: that making youre living painting is slightly glamorous or romantic

 

not so. its nerve wracking. we have bills like property taxes, kids in college, you know, all that stuff, but unlike folks that get a weekly check, we dont know if we'll have the painting sales to cover them when they come due. i know i go to the mailbox every few days hoping there's a check in there and not a spider with a full blown web constructed. or if i go to my emails hoping for a love note from Paypal (saying someone bought a little study) but instead there's a note from Microsoft informing me that my friends arent doing anything interesting, i get nervous.

 

if i think too hard on this fact i get scared. so i dont think about it, i go paint instead, or make a few calls about business, or make a to-do list. something, anything to be doing something that has to do with the business. its like, if i think about how sketchy this all is, i'll fall off the high wire i'm on.so i really try hard to not think of it. you know how they say "dont look down!" when youre way up high and scared? same thing.

 

but yes, it is a cool lifestyle full of adventures, intrinsic benefits, and the risks (butterflies in your stomach) make the sale of a painting more than the sale of a painting. its a celebration that you went and did what you do, even tho you were worried about surviving. and someone who was equally worried about surviving (and eating) thought enough about the painting you did to give up a piece of their security (dollars).they wanted it bad enough to want to own it and take it home and because of that i get to paint again next week! how cool is that?

 

tomorrows myth to be dispelled- that painters get to paint all day, every day. i cant wait!

SOLD-Floating Toys-6x8

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a nice little cape body of water. like the shapes in this one. when i grow up i wanna be a shape painter!

$100-Sundowner in Maine-6x8

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this takes me back to my excursion into maine a few weeks ago. there was this cool little harbor that just lit up in the evenings. had some ferocious "blonde" misquitos. theyre not black like usual but a very dirty blonde color. theyre not to be outdone by their darker cousins. they'll make you swat and exclaim loudly the whole time youre painting!

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NOTE: Sailing Away-6x8 (september 2nd post) just became available again. it was sold but they traded it for another.

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an early morning view of some boats in rock harbor, orleans cape cod. wish i knew what i did to make the green boat look so authentic. i would do it more if i did LOL

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painted this off the bridge of a boat owned by jill and jim (my host family) in conneticut where i taught a few days ago. this is a sailboat on the conneticut river near lyme. thanks jill and jim for your hospitality!

just wrapped up two days with some great painters from the Delmarva peninsula in chestertown maryland. here's about half of them capturing the early morning light on eastern neck wildlife preserve. we had a wide range of painting experience from beginners, to one painter who taught painting herself in the area. its fun and challenging to see if i can keep all parties engaged without going over some heads or boring others where i'm making it too simplistic. i learn alot from all of my students everytime i teach. i'm headed to rehoboth beach delaware next. thanks to lani and dan my hosts in chestertown!

Something from Falmouth

Untitled-8x10

available at Rowley Gallery

 

this is from a recent painting trip to falmouth, cape cod. the cool little light house and lightkeepers house sits high on a hill looking out over the bay. it still warns mariners to keep away from the rocky shoreline. off in the distance on the horizon you can see a sliver of wonderful lavendar color called martha's vineyard. havent been there but linda and charlie, dear friends from mashpee say they'll take me on a painting trip over on their boat. arent they sweet?!

SOLD-Untitled-12x16

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now dont you wish this was you right now? nothing to do all day but paint beautiful Maine beachscapes in plein air!

 

this is rita putting into practice the stuff she learned at the recent Acadia Workshop Center plein air class i held. values, color mixing and simplifying the scene are at the heart of my curriculum and prepares you for the monumental task of painting something decent in the outdoors.

those who paint from photos in comfortable conditions, with smooth jazz playing in the background, north light streaming in their studio windows all day, and who have never ventured outside with paint and canvas, have no idea just how monumental! just saying  :D

Block Studies at Acadia Workshop Center

i did a demo of a block study to show the technique, a la cape school.

what a great bunch of folks ive got this week. they are so stoked on learning how to take their color perception and mixing to the next level. they hail from as far away as england, chicago, hingham mass, and orlando florida.

 

 today was day three of a five day. it rained most of the day as the remnants of isaac went over maine, so we painted in the plush Acadia WSC studios. tomorrow we'll hit a place called Seawall, a nice stretch of maine coastline and put into practice what was learned today about how to paint fast, and mix accurate color on the fly!

 

my orleans (cape cod) workshop next weekend has one spot left. let me know if you'd like to sign up. 

Menace to Society

photo courtesy of john clayton

 

here i am accused of being a menace to society as i paint provincetown, cape cod, a city where nothing is a crime, except painting on the streets apparantly. no, really the cop was called and he responded but told me that i wasnt breaking the law, and could proceed with my painting. all the while john c. is snapping cell phone pix and snickering at me!

 

it all started with a man complaining and cursing, that i was too close to his fence and to leave my spot, which happened to be on public property, to which i less than politely declined to do. enter the law, who responded twice asking for my i.d. and asking me a bunch of questions. luckily the motorbike cop was originally from alabama and hadnt heard a southern accent like mine (and his) in ptown in ages, so he didnt hassle me any further and i finished the painting.

 

my current crime spree is in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island Maine, enjoying my intimate class of 5 students as we menaced the island with brushes and paints on day one of a five day workshop for Acadia Workshop Center.

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 i'm in northern maine tonite getting ready for my workshop at Acadia Workshop Center on Mt. Desert Island. got in last night from the cape and got to work finding a harbor to paint in. then today i got aquainted with the island so i'd know where to take the class this week. found breathtaking cliffs, beaches, harbors, and tidal marshes all over the place. cant wait to get started.

 

above is from cape cod atop High Hill (as it was known back in the day). thats marthas vineyard way off on the horizon.

SOLD-Sheila's Door

 Sheila's Door-6x8

Summer Toys-8x10

available at Rowley Gallery

 

have driven by these beach stuff stores for weeks, attracted to the beautiful colors of brightly colored floats glistening in the sun. finally broke down and painted it.

 

you gotta click on the image and check out the swan on the roof and the pink noodles under it. wish i could lay down paint like this ALL over the painting. i get shivers thinking of what a painting would like like if i could!

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got into a boatyard very early one morning and saw this striking scene. my favorite part of the painting is the warm beautiful color note of reflected light on the shade side of the hull.

 

the trick to reflected light is to make sure that the reflected color is not too light in value and that it reads warmer (or cooler) than the surrounding color without breaking up the mass. thats something hawthorne and hensche always stressed at the cape school. another one that said it all the time was charles sovek.

 

this blog has been going on for years now and when you blather on as much as i do you forget what you wrote, but check this out. dont get frustrated with all the things you have to remember to do when youre painting! ive had a very successful trial lawyer, and then later a surgery wiz, tell me that they thought  painting was really tough! so take heart! anything worth doing is worth whatever you have to do, to do it well.

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another painted in r.i. The morning i did this, it was sorta foggy and the light was really diffused. its really fun to play with the middleground (and background) to capture the atmosphere on this type of day.

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done over in east providence, rhode island on my way up to the cape. theyve got one tuff security guard on the hill we painted this from. seems folks can buy the land around these beautiful scenes and then they can keep you out. or they can try, right Kathy?   :D

$100-Fort Hill Hillside-6x8

email me to purchase

there's a subtle beauty thats hard to capture on a day like this. the values are much closer together from shadow to light on each object and the saturated colors of a sunny clear day drop out into beautiful muted versions. this is a cool area of Eastham called Fort Hill. home to a whaling capt back in the early 1800's, who was the richest man on cape cod at that time.

Yellow Towel-6x8

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First in Corn Hill Series

Orange and Pink Breeze-SOLD

8x10

This is the first in a series i'm doing around Corn Hill in Truro.

NFS-18x24-Under the Pier at Surf City

Under the Pier at Surf City- SOLD

note: dont know how it works when youre a subscriber to my blog,  but i posted three times today and dont know if only the top one shows up in your mailbox, or not. if you just see one post go to mikerooneystudios.blogspot.com to see the other two (theyre both for sale)

done on a july evening when the sun was just starting to strike under the pier. i love doing this motif so if you'd like one, drop me an email and we'll talk!

Also dont forget i've got a workshop in Bar Harbor Maine at the Acadia Workshop Center Labor Day week. if you'd like to sign up drop me an email and i'll get you up with Gail the sponsor.

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Teaching News
i'll be teaching on Martha's Vineyard the third week of August. if youre over there and would like to have some instruction on painting loose and colorfully outdoors, drop me an email and i'll give you the info. the scenery doesnt get much better than the Cape Islands late august.

$100-Shellfish House-6x8

$100 plus $10 s/h

to purchase with PayPal or credit card click the "buy now" button below

really lousy internet connection here on the cape so i wont be writing much until i can find an internet cafe with wifi,

with iphones do they even have that kind of thing anymore?

Conneticut Workshop Added

Just added a one day plein air workshop in Lyme Conn. for the 18th of Sept. Cost will be $100 and i'll most likely do a demo, explain how to simplify complex subjects, a bit on composition, and then how to quickly block in big shapes to capture the light. then you'll paint and i'll work at the easel with each person on their own set of challenges.then a critique at the end of the day.email me to hold your seat.

p.s.- there are some seats left in the Orleans Mass. (cape cod) w/s in late september.

Corn Hill Cottages-16x20

this is one from last year on the cape. its called corn hill and these cottages are up on a cliff 75 ft up looking out over the ocean and Ptown. one of my favorite spots on earth. you feel like you could touch an angels heel when youre up there looking out 10 miles towards the blue horizon. just love the way the colorful beach towels sway in the breeze.