plein air at Soundview, Greenport, NY

Every Wednesday from 16h to 19h, Amy Worth of the South Street Gallery in Greenport holds a plein air painting class at the Soundview. Yesterday was the first time I joined them, and we were lucky to have guest artist Duane Keiser demonstrating and critiquing.

Duane began a small oil painting; it was wonderful to see the view bloom and unfold on his small linen on wood canvas. The sky changed, the shadows over the water, sand and trees changed, and Duane’s painting was a record of the hour he painted. The last to appear under his brush were the few bathers in the water. It was a lovely painting. And then, it was out turn…

But, it was terribly muggy and hot. Some of us went into the water first and had to paint in salty damp swimwear (very worth it!) Some watched the demo and then packed up and left. And some sat in the sun and painted, roasting nicely. My oil sticks melted.

Duane went around and commented. My rocks that were silhouetted in the view seemed dark brown, but he pointed out that they were not: they had sun and movement, and he suggested color to bring in the vibration.   Mine is more an illustration than a painting. He used oil, and said to paint the big blocks of color first, “Once people start to draw people and umbrellas and houses, the painting stops and the drawing begins.”  So, I tried to put down blocks of color, and will keep on trying.

If you are a rock, I can do your portrait, in an interpretative way. Sorry, I cannot do people, yet.

where to find cool tshirts

This Saturday & Sunday (Sept 20-21), I will be peddling my wares at the Greenport Maritime Festival on the North Fork of Long Island.

Ships stationery, prints, paper signal flags, signal flag playing cards, Irish linen tea towels, ship buttons etc. will make their usual appearances.

Tshirts: grey with pink and orange type OR forest green with sky blue and bright green type. They will be available on my etsy shop next week. All printed in NY (except the playing cards.)

Can’t wait ’til next week for a cool tshirt? My favorites: Meow Man and Workboat Wear.

Workboat Wear is the very cool site of a captain working on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, with contributions,  …hijacked by… with contributions by the endless, inexhaustible talent of Fist o’ Fury Monkeyfist of Adventures of the Blackgang. A few bowsprite doodles have appeared on some of the Capt’s designs. 

 

Meow Man, is indescribable. Unique. Meow Man is.

art show at greenport harbor brewing company, this saturday

Hello, dear Friends!

You are cordially invited to my first solo show which will open this saturday at the very cool Greenport Harbor Brewing Company!

It is in a lovely harbor village on the North Fork of Long Island.

“Working Girls of New York Harbor: A Sketchbook of Tugs, Dredges and Ships”
Greenport Harbor Brewing Company
opening reception – saturday, 22 march, 7:30 – 9:30pm
exhibit runs through 31 May

 Greenport Harbor Brewing Company was founded in 2008 by Rich Vandenburgh and John Liegey. The beer is wonderful. The brewery is on the ground floor, upstairs is the gallery and tasting room.

This 1896 carriage house was  the Star Hose Fire House for many years. Sometimes barrels of leftover grains sit outside the building, covered with myriad happy sparrows.
I met Ann Vandenburgh, who runs the gallery at the Brewery, with Rich and John at the Greenport Maritime Festival when we had booths next to each other; I was selling art, they were selling beer. The long lines were for the beer, but I was happy for the company. And Ann offered me this show back in September.

Our neighbor on the other side of our booths was WPKN, a non-commercial, non-profit, all volunteer community independent radio. Starting to broadcast in 1963, PKN (Purple Knights Network) was named for the sports team back when the University of Bridgeport had a sports team. And when the University existed. Neither do today; all that remains is this fiercely eclectic radio station. Thank you, Kevin and Dave for the shout-out for the show from your station.

Thanks, Ann, GHBC, and All! maybe see some of you out here east, sometime. It’s a lively, lovey village, and a deep water port!

marion m.

Marion M. (1932)

Material: Wood hull
Length: 60.6 ft.
Breadth: 22.5 ft.
Gross Tonnage: 41
Depth of Hold: 5.4 ft.

Lovely Greenport, L.I. wooden freighter which carried oysters, potatoes, lumber, cordwood, and stones for jetty construction. She plied the Sound, making trips from as far as Massachusetts to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Known also as “chandlery lighters,” these versatile little boats carried supplies and drums of fuel to ships lying at anchor in the harbor. She had simple hoisting gear, an A frame cargo mast. You can see her, floating at pier 16, on the east river.