The Salon at Artworks

It's time for Trenton City Museum's the annual Ellarslie Open, one of the best juried shows in the region. This show always attracts artists from a large geographical area and for the past couple of years has been struggling with the problem of not having enough room to show all of the work that they would like to show. This year Ellarslie is partnering with Artworks to present "The Salon Show" - a show of entries that didn't make it into the Ellarslie Open but are too good not to exhibit. My painting "Hopewell, 3pm" will be in the Salon Show at Artworks:

"Hopewell, 3pm"
16x20 oil on canvas

Opening reception: Friday May 8, 6 to 9 pm at:

Artworks
19 Everett Alley at South Stockton Street
Trenton, NJ 08611
In the Mill Hill Historic District
[map & directions]
609-394-9436

The show runs May 8 through June 27, 2009.
Gallery hours are Saturdays: noon to 4:00 pm, and by appointment.

Ellarslie is the Trenton City Museum, downstairs is used for changing art exhibitions, upstairs features exhibits that showcase the city of Trenton's industrial history. Artworks is Trenton's downtown visual arts center, offering classes, exhibits and events to foster an appreciation of the arts.

While you're in the area to visit Artworks, it's well worth your time to stop in the nearby New Jersey State Museum to see the exhibit of Mel Leipzig's work - I'm a big fan of Mel but it's the first time I've seen so much of his work in one place. Mel has a unique way of looking a the world and it's a really amazing exhibit, so go see it!

Artists of Bristol 3rd Annual Open Exhibition

"Six Mile Run Farm"
11x14 oil on panel

The above painting will be in the Artists of Bristol 3rd Annual Open Exhibition being held at:

Lower Bucks Hospital
501 Bath Road
Bristol, PA 19007
(in the Hospital’s original lobby)

The show lasts only this weekend, Friday April 17 through Sunday April 19. There's a reception on Friday April 17 from 6-9 pm.

This exhibition is jointly sponsored by the Artists of Bristol on the Delaware and Lower Bucks Hospital. While I don't live anywhere near Bristol, they were encouraging artists from outside the area to participate and I was glad to oblige.

This painting was done at Six Mile Run Reservoir and I'm not sure if I should have been under water here. The surrounding land was acquired by the state of NJ in 1970 for a reservoir but those plans were eventually scrapped and it's now a park called Six Mile Run Reservoir - even though there is no reservoir and never will be! Six Mile Run is the name of the creek that runs nearby.

Addendum: My painting was award 3rd Place in the show!

Small Oils at the Philadelphia Sketch Club

"Montgomery Barn"
8x10 oil on board

This painting was accepted into the 146th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings at the Philadelphia Sketch Club. The show runs April 10 through May 2, 2009 at:

The Philadelphia Sketch Club
235 S. Camac Street
Philadelphia, Pa

Opening reception is Sunday, April 19 from 2 to 4 pm.

Although this is the 146th year of this annual juried show (isn't that amazing?!), it's the first time that I've entered. Needless to say, I'm very happy to have gotten in. I only recently became acquainted with the Sketch Club when I was invited to judge a show at the neighboring Plastic Club.

The Philly Sketch Club was founded in 1860 and is the oldest continuing artists organization in America. Many of America's great artists have been members or teachers at the club including Thomas Eakins, N.C. Wyeth, Edward Redfield, Maxfield Parrish, Daniel Garber, Ranulph Bye and Alexander Calder.

Normal gallery hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 1 pm to 5 pm.

Save the date: May

My next big show is coming up soon at the Artists' Gallery in May. It'll be a 2-person show with Beatrice Bork - a very talented wildlife artist. Between Bea's animal paintings in watercolor and my landscapes in oils, I think it'll be a really good show. Of course I'm a little bit biased, but I really do think so!

Right now I'm busy with all of the little details and odds & ends that go into doing one of these shows. Fortunately, in a 2-person show you have someone to split some of the work with: writing and sending press releases, designing and mailing postcards, selecting which paintings to show, varnishing paintings, ordering frames, framing paintings, telling everyone on the planet about the show... which is exactly what I'm doing right now. I'll post more details in a few weeks, but for now, I just want to let you know that:

The show runs May 8 through May 31 at Artists' Gallery in Lambertville, NJ
Opening Reception is Saturday, May 9 from 6 to 9 pm.

Also, Beatrice has just started a blog of her own, so you may want to keep an eye on that: Beatrice Bork, Artist.

The Battle of Princeton

Don't worry, I'm not going to give you a long history lesson, but these 2 paintings were done at a location steeped in Revolutionary War history.

"John Updike's Farmstead"
5x7 oil on panel

The Updike Farm only goes back to 1890, but is along the route followed by Continental troops on their way to engage British soldiers at the neighboring Thomas Clarke farm about a mile away. Now, much of this land belongs to the Institute for Advanced Study, where Albert Einstein did a lot of thinking.

"Thomas Clarke's Barn"
5x7 oil on panel

The Thomas Clarke House was built in 1772 by Quaker Thomas Clarke on his then 200-acre farm. On January 3, 1777, the Battle of Princeton was fought here, and the Clarke House served as a field hospital for the wounded of both sides. American General Hugh Mercer died here nine days later. The site is now Princeton Battlefield State Park.

I have no idea if this barn was here in 1777, but it gave me an excuse to brush up on some history. (The Clarke House would be just beyond the right edge of this painting. I'm sure I'll get around to painting the main house someday soon).

Lambertville Historical Society Show - extended

The Lambertville Historical Society Show at Coryell Gallery has been extended for another month. The new closing date is April 19.

By the way, in my last posting, the painting "Canal in Winter" shows the canal side of the Coryell Gallery - it's the light colored building in that painting.

Coryell Gallery at the Porkyard
8 Coryell Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530
[map and directions]

Small Works

Here are 2 recent paintings,both small, both winter scenes, both Lambertville, NJ:

"Canal in Winter"
5x7 oil on panel

"Lambertville Station in Winter"
5x7 oil on panel

I have a 2 person show with Beatrice Bork coming up at Artists' Gallery in May, and I thought it would be good to have some smaller works in the show. I usually do paint small but 8x10" is my usual limit. I wanted to go a little smaller for this show, so I'm doing a series of 5x7 inch paintings.

I know there's a whole genre of miniature paintings, down to 1 inch or even less... but that's just crazy! For the time being, I think 5x7" will be as small as I go. At this size, I feel I can still paint comfortably, and include a good amount of detail without altering my work habits much. Actually, I'm surprised just how much detail I can get in on these.

You'll hear more about my show in May as the time approaches.

After the Rain

"After the Rain"
18x24 oil on canvas

This is is a little outside of my usual stomping grounds - I was visiting a friend in Bloomsburg, Pa and really enjoyed seeing the surrounding countryside up there. Unfortunately it was a pretty rainy weekend while I was there but hey, I do too many sunny day paintings anyway.

This painting is on Utt Road near Rohrsburg, Pa, and once again it shows my usual motif of a roadway running off into the distance. I don't know why I do so many paintings of roadways but they're an endless fascination to me. I sometimes think of the flat asphalt road as a blank canvas which nature paints on, and it's my job as an artist to just notice. This scene was missing any strong shadows across the road, which I really love to paint, but I liked the puddles and reflections on the wet roadway - without those, this road would have remained just a blank canvas. I also liked how the little barn echoed the bigger barn and I keep thinking of them as father and son (which might be a better title for this painting, now that I think about it).