Pink Chair: Incoming Tide to Solo Exhibit

Pink Chair: Incoming Tide to Solo Exhibit: This is the very first pink chair piece that I painted. It was before I had the revelation that happened in the next one. It was a lovely da...

Incoming Tide to Solo Exhibit

This is the very first pink chair piece that I painted. It was before I had the revelation that happened in the next one. It was a lovely day and the tide was coming in, making the water glow green over the rocks that were often exposed. This painting was later reworked in the studio, making it more dramatic than initially. It was a foretelling omen, yet I could not see what would be happening. The repainting in the studio would be part of a loosening up of my abilities to compose away from the subject matter,and this has resulted in an ability to produce large dynamic work, like the poppy piece you saw last week. 

Incoming Tide 8x8 Oil on Canvas

That day, after painting away from the cottage, I decided to paint off of the back deck. But first, I enjoyed the view for a while, sitting in the pink Adirondack chair in the back yard. It matched the shutters of the house. As I rested and, I thought of how much Mom would have loved that chair because of the color. Not thinking much more about it I painted it into the small piece. The chair looked good there, adding a touch of color. Little did I realize that the title I gave it was was foreshadowing what was about to happen. It was, indeed, an incoming tide of art work, all on the pink chair theme, that morphed from a few pieces done as grief work into a glorious celebration of my mother's life. Eighteen pieces of artwork hung in the Topsfield library and brought joy to many people, who responded to the images and the stories. The show will now hang in the Scala Art Center in January, and then travel to the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. I have not stopped, as there are now three new pieces that will be shown in the January show. The waves continue to lap higher on the shore.

The exhibit beginning area with my mother's autobiography 

and explanation of the exhibit

The chair itself at the exhibit!

The end wall with the three large pieces

The entry/hall wall

the board where people left notes for their loved ones

Pink Chair: Garden by the Sea

Pink Chair: Garden by the Sea: This painting will really grab you when you first see it. It is the biggest one in the series and has 25 bright red poppies in it! And like a...

Garden by the Sea

This panting will really grab you when you first see it. It is the biggest one in the series and has 25 bright red poppies in it! And like all of the others, it has its own story.

Garden by the Sea 36x48 Oil on Canvas

When I was in Rockland I was very taken with a pretty town park by the edge of the sea and took pictures there three times. I watched these beautiful poppies open and expand and start to flop a bit during the time I was there. There was also a small gazebo. While I was there, I met a woman, an artist also, who arrived on a bike, and who maintained the garden. She said she was not part of a garden club, she just did it because she wanted to, including putting plants in and maintenance. This painting was not working until I put her in and later I realized why and the connection to Mom. Mom was above all, committed to people around her. In each of her areas of connection, she had many friends and she was always contributing to some aspect of making her community better. Not only is there a community of 25 poppies in this piece, but when I put the gardener in the piece came together. Its not about the poppies, its about community, another surprise. My art always knows where I am going and it always gets there first.

Gardener by the Sea

Pink Chair: Exciting News for the Pink Chair Project!

Pink Chair: Exciting News for the Pink Chair Project!: ________________________________________________________________ I am delighted to share this news with all my followers: "Dear Lynne: ...

Exciting News for the Pink Chair Project!

________________________________________________________________

I am delighted to share this news with all my followers:

"Dear Lynne:

The review committee of Illuminations is pleased to inform you that your work has been chosen for display in the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.  We would like to accept all of paintings that you submitted for review.

As you know, the mission of Illuminations is to create a visually healing environment, offering enlightenment, inspiration, and encouragement to patients, family members, friends and staff through the visual arts.  We believe your work reflects that ideal and will bring joy to many men, women and children whose lives have been touched by cancer.  We thank you for submitting your work for consideration.

Your work will be displayed in the February 2012-June 2012 exhibit.  A formal letter will be mailed to you with more details."

Little did I realize how far this would be going when I painted this first piece in public on top of Mt. Battie in Maine. At that time I thought I would do 3 to 5 pieces. Now there are 18 in the exhibit (still on display at tthe Topsfield Library) and I have completed two since the exhibit opened. And I am still painting. 

Pink Chair: Sharing your Thoughts

Pink Chair: Sharing your Thoughts: A beautiful ship that sailed by when I was painting at Marshall Point, Maine One of the items that I have at the exhibit in the Topsfield ...

Sharing your Thoughts

A beautiful ship that sailed by when I was painting at Marshall Point, Maine

One of the items that I have at the exhibit in the Topsfield library is a Remembrance journal. People sit in the pink chair, think of their own loved ones and write a message in the journal. It is my hope that this sharing can go on as the blog does, which will be for a while....


My friend Val, lost her mother recently She has posted some lovely thoughts about her but I was really taken with the quote she found and shared. She has approved my sharing it with you.


the quote:

"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

"

Gone where?"



Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There, she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" And that is dying.

"

- Henry van Dyke (1852 – 1933) American author, educator, and clergyman

Pink Chair: On site (plein air) or studio?

Pink Chair: On site (plein air) or studio?: painting at Popham Beach in Maine Studio door at 28 West Main St. In Georgetown, MA A follower has le...

On site (plein air) or studio?

          

                painting at Popham Beach in Maine       Studio door at 28 West Main St. In Georgetown, MA




A follower has left a wonderful question on my blog, and because it addresses something I have struggled with so long, I thought everyone might like to hear the answer.


"I'm from New England and read your comment with nostalgia! I find, however, when I take fotos and then paint in my studio from the fotos, that I tend to copy the photos carefully. Is that "as truthful" as paintings done in "pleine aire"? I was always told not to copy fotos. How do you get inspired art that way? Maybe I have to try to develop more immagination?"


I have spent most of my painting life feeling like you do. However, I have had an awakening this year. Because I needed to make larger paintings for my "Coastal Sunrise" series, I have had to paint from photos in the studio. Surprise to me, I loved it. And with the time available to stop and go back to a work, they have become stronger every time. This pink chair show is my strongest one ever and about 3/4 of them are studio pieces.

I take a photo because I sense something about the scene when I take it, or I take it for reference. I take many. I decide which one to use by which one hits me in the gut, a little bit. For each one hundred or more I take, I may choose one to paint. There is almost always a physical reaction in making that decision, again in the gut. It just feels right. Then I think the key is that I use the photos only when needed, to get proportions, anatomy, structure, composition right and go off from there. I am looking at the photo more in the beginning and almost never near the end. Sometimes I combine several because something is needed or I want to change the composition. For "Barrier Beach" I started with a plein-aire painting I was not happy with, then adjusted it until I was satisfied. I made the rocks bigger. I added more rocks from another photo, and finally it worked, to help show you what I wanted you to see (and feel): the feeling of the beautiful day, the warmth of sun shining on the barrier islands in the distance and the chair standing triumphant among rock after rock after rock.

One thing I do is say: What do I want you to see that I saw? And it is not just "this shape is green and irregular". It is more like: "This green shape feels like the damp moss in the northern woods near Haystack Mountain School of Crafts because it is glowing so bright, rich, and deep, and I can almost smell it" Then I'll make it even richer by adjusting the colors around it to spotlight the color.  My friend Mia Lane, the Canadian artist I traveled with, helped me see this fall that the challenge of the plein air work is a good training ground. How do you choose from all around you? Millions of decisions. Yet, each decision makes you stronger for when you go into the studio, and like soup on the back burner, you are nourished from it all winter. So, as much as I am enjoying studio work, I will be out again next spring. It is a way to "fill the well" of my spirit and keep my abilities sharp.

Pink Chair: "Barrier Beach""

Pink Chair: "Barrier Beach"": Barrier Beach When my friend Mia and I went to Cape Cod to paint, we both found it very difficult to get started at our first stop to pain...

"Barrier Beach""

Barrier Beach

When my friend Mia and I went to Cape Cod to paint, we both found it very difficult to get started at our first stop to paint at Gray's Beach. It was too sunny and hot; I couldn’t set up the easel with the umbrella because the wind would blow it away. I set up the chair and then realized that the tide was coming in too fast to do the painting that way. Then I moved the chair and tried again, but the rocks kept getting covered with too much water. And my feet hurt, and I felt all discombobulated. So I did the best I could and when we quit, was delighted to find a lunch place with air conditioning. Later in the studio, I reworked the painting and combined three different images. What made it work was more rocks, bigger rocks, and water coming right under the chair.

Each time I start a painting series, I have incredible barriers to overcome. This trip was no exception. There’s that lesson from Mom again – where there’s a will there’s a way……..and my own translations: just keep on keeping on, and put one foot in front of the other…….eventually you will make it. Thanks Mom, again, for this lesson.

                       

                       

                 

Pink Chair: Shelter

Pink Chair: Shelter: Location: The Poet's Garden, in Highland Park, Rochester, NY "Shelter" 24x30 oil on canvas I live too far from my home town to have been ...

Shelter

Location: The Poet's Garden, in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

"Shelter" 24x30 oil on canvas

I live too far from my home town to have been much help during my mother and father’s aging issues and final illnesses. My sister Georgie has been the rock and center of the family, the guard dog if something threatens, the news gatherer and communicator, and the warm home we gather in when we are together to celebrate. She has put in countless hours and more energy than anyone has in order to be there for our parents. This piece honors her work on behalf of Mom. It depicts The Poet’s Garden, part of Highland Park in Rochester, NY. Mom and I both loved the Poet’s Garden. It is a wonderful woodland setting with poems carved in the benches and tall trees and lush green. When my husband and I took our summer trip to Rochester, we went to the garden to take photographs. It was raining, a soft misty summer rain. I was taken with this scene, where my sister held Mom’s pink umbrella under the wrought iron archway at the exit. Shelter here is represented at three levels: The shelter of the massive trees and the ironwork; the shelter of the umbrella, but mostly, the security that Mom had because she was sheltered by Georgie against anything that would harm her.

Mom and I in Highland Park in the spring of 2008. This area is known for magnolias and is just outside the poet’s garden.

Pink Chair: Blog preview treat!

Pink Chair: Blog preview treat!: Here's a treat for you: Visit my homepage on my website for a peek at a special painting - It is the largest in the show! http://www.ly...

Blog preview treat!

Here's a treat for you: Visit my homepage on my website for a peek at a special painting - It is the largest in the show!




http://www.lynneschulte.com/

Pink Chair: A Viewer Favorite

Pink Chair: A Viewer Favorite: The show is up and looking great! I will continue showing you pieces you haven't seen. This one has been a favorite of all who visited my st...

A Viewer Favorite

The show is up and looking great! I will continue showing you pieces you haven't seen. This one has been a favorite of all who visited my studio.  It's called "Conversation"

Conversation 20x20 oil on canvas

In May, I exhibited my series of Coastal Sunrises at the Marblehead Art Association. Twenty five paintings grew out of a week at Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, Maine. I had this canvas started but not completed in time for that show. So I took the sky I had started, and added the foreground from two resources: a photo of the grass and rocks, and directly from the chair in my studio which I posed one way and then another. Then I gave each chair a coffee cup. This has two chairs – one for me and one for Mom – so I can show her the show she missed because she was not able to come.

Pink Chair: SOLO ART EXHIBIT OPENS

Pink Chair: SOLO ART EXHIBIT OPENS: "Against the Wind" oil on canvas 18x24" location: Friendship, ME REMEMBRANCE - THE PINK CHAIR PROJECT TOPSFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY One Sout...

Pink Chair: The Whole Picture, and a bonus!

Pink Chair: The Whole Picture, and a bonus!: My last post gave you your virtual invitation to the exhibit. However, part of the painting was hidden by the curve of the template I used. ...

SOLO ART EXHIBIT OPENS

"Against the Wind" oil on canvas 18x24"

 location: Friendship, ME

REMEMBRANCE - THE PINK CHAIR PROJECT

TOPSFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY

One South Common St.

Topsfield, MA 01983

(978)887-1528

EXHIBIT November 1-29, 2011   

Library Hours: M 10-8; T 10-5; W 12-5;TH 10-8;   

F 12-5; Sat 10-5; closed Sunday   

RECEPTION 

Friday, November 4 from 5:30 - 7 PM

I will be presenting a solo exhibition of my recent paintings from November 1 - 29, 2011 in the meeting room of the Topsfield, MA Public Library. A reception will be held from 5:30 - 7 PM on Friday, November 4 "Remembrance - the Pink Chair Project" celebrates the memory of my mother in moving and beautiful images.  

I sensed her presence while painting an Adirondack chair of her favorite color - bright, knock-your-socks-off pink. After the initial surprise of that experience, I began placing the chair into various locations which had special meaning to me or Mom. In this way, I have created a cohesive body of work that shines as individual paintings as well as a sensitive and powerful grouping.  

Please continue to read my blog on the process, which will I will add to throughout the show, telling the story of each painting as it is posted. I will also be continuing to paint during the show on the series, so you will get the first news on those pieces as well. http://pinkchairpaintings.blogspot.com/. Bookmark it or sign up at the top of the blog to get these postings directly in your mailbox!

I will display the pink chair (or maybe two of them!) at the exhibit with a pink table and footrest, and I am encouraging an interactive component at the exhibit, encouraging visitors to sit comfortably and tell the story of their loved ones in a remembrance book. Mom's book "This is Me" will also be on display, along with some pictures of her so people can get to know her better. 

I invite each of my readers, especially those who cannot come to the show,  to contribute to the show by writing a bit about someone who was special to you that you would like to remember so that the sharing of this experience can grow and become richer. You can add the comments directly to my blog or e-mail them to me if you want to contribute, but do not want the comments posted. It is a great way to connect with the exhibit as well as my mother and me.

The Topsfield Town Library meeting room serves as a monthly exhibition space for local artists, featuring a different art display each month as well as a community meeting place. If you come during the week, you may want to call to check if there is a meeting or event in that room. Saturday is usually clear.  

A portion of each sale will be donated to childhood cancer research, as well as to the Friends of the Topsfield Library.

Pink Chair: The Whole Picture, and a bonus!

Pink Chair: The Whole Picture, and a bonus!: My last post gave you your virtual invitation to the exhibit. However, part of the painting was hidden by the curve of the template I used. ...

The Whole Picture, and a bonus!

My last post gave you your virtual invitation to the exhibit. However, part of the painting was hidden by the curve of the template I used. So here it is in it's entirety.

Remembrance 36x36 oil on canvas

I did this painting from a photo I took at Long Hill Sedgewick gardens, where I did "Meditation - First Lotus" which you saw earlier. This piece is the largest I have made so far. It is 3 ft. square! I do love it. I worked hard to try to get a spot where I would not see the chair, but I would see its reflection in the water. This was the perfect image for that. Like our memories, the image of the chair is there, but it is altered, by our perceptions, experiences, and by time. I find my memories of Mom are changed already. I am finding that qualities of my Mom that were in the background are coming to the foreground as I appreciate them more.

The bonus: After I did the above piece I did a second one. It is smaller, but it is also a reflection piece. It is called, (simply enough) "Reflection". I thought it would be easy after doing the big one. No way, it was harder that the big one, and I am not sure why. Life is like that sometimes. 

Reflection 18x24 oil on canvas

Pink Chair: Remembrance

Pink Chair: Remembrance: It is time to send out the postcards announcing my show. I have ordered them and here is your virtual invitation! You get it first, before a...

Remembrance

It is time to send out the postcards announcing my show. I have ordered them and here is your virtual invitation! You get it first, before anyone else!

Pink Chair: Daisy Love

Pink Chair: Daisy Love: Mom loved daisies - and she also wrote poetry. With no further ado: The Daisy I remember in my childhood, I was alking one nice day Wi...

Daisy Love

Mom loved daisies - and she also wrote poetry. With no further ado:

The Daisy

I remember in my childhood,
I was alking one nice day
With my mother, in a garden,
Where the flowers bloomed so gay!

I bent down to pick a rosebud,
(twas a very lovely hue)
but my mother said "Don't pick it,
for it's not the thing to do."

As we were heading homeward through a field of daisies fair -
I was filled with joy and pleasure
at the great profusion there.
And my mother smiled and told me
that since these were only weeds
I could pick as many"flowers"
as would fill my every need...

by Carolyn Schulte

I just had to honor her with this painting:

                      Daisy Love 18x24 oil on canvas

Pink Chair: "Grief Work"

Pink Chair: "Grief Work": Rockport, MA is a very special place for me and has always nourished my art. I used to say my car went there all by itself! So it naturally...

"Grief Work"

Rockport, MA is a very special place for me and has always nourished my art. I used to say my car went there all by itself!  So it naturally came to pass that I had to take "Mom" there too. I set up right on the T wharf but instead of doing "Motif #1", the building that has inspired so many artists, I placed the chair on the pier high over the water, looking out to sea, through the jetties on either side. It was a gray day, cloudy, but comfortable. As often happens, many people stopped and enjoyed the work, and heard the story of the pink chair paintings. It was a 4 hour session, longer than usual because of the interruptions. I left the water empty until almost the last minute, when all of a sudden, a children's sailing school with small sailboats came tacking back home after their lesson. Without thinking, I quickly painted them into the piece, and it was almost done. The sky was pretty boring, all grey and kind of flat and I said kiddingly, "Mom, can you do something about that?" Within 15 minutes, the sky took on a interesting pattern of clouds with tiny bits of blue, which I gladly painted in......Later, after packing up the car, an extreme tiredness came over me. I could barely make it to the bench, where I laid down for a while. Ravenous, I finally got up, and still tired, barely made it to the restaurant. I ate quietly and again, barely made it back to the car. I have never been so tired after painting, and had felt none of it during the painting process. Later, showing the painting to my friend Teresa, a therapist, I told her the story. She said: Lynne, you are doing grief work. You need to plan a nap after every painting. I said I didn't actively feel sad or grief; I had just been painting. She said "Lynne, look at it! That is grief work if I ever saw it!" Then I saw the powerful message of that small (14x14) piece. I instantly knew the title.

"Lessons Learned, Sailing Home"

Pink Chair: Comments Welcome

Pink Chair: Comments Welcome: I found buttons to change the comments so that anyone can comment! You don't need to join anything. I will be approving comments so this sho...

Comments Welcome

I found buttons to change the comments so that anyone can comment! You don't need to join anything. I will be approving comments so this should work. Comment away! Please! Let's see if it works!

Pink Chair: Seashore Painting trip

Pink Chair: Seashore Painting trip: Mia and I traveled to painting spots and galleries in Cape Cod, Maine and Cape Ann last week. It was a whirlwind tour, complete with pink ch...

Seashore Painting trip

Mia and I traveled to painting spots and galleries in Cape Cod, Maine and Cape Ann last week. It was a whirlwind tour, complete with pink chair, overnight items, and two artist's supplies and wet paintings. We painted in Yarmouthport, Chatham, Wellfleet, and Sandwich and took photos at many more spots.

Mia and Lynne at the Nubble Lighthouse

Near the end of our time together, Mia and I spent a day touring galleries in Maine and then a finale at the Nubble Lighthouse. Ahh, the perfect spot! Beauty, admirers, restroom and gift shop, and even a seafood restaurant!

One wonderful Cape Cod stop was at the Chatham Fish Pier. There is a observation deck above the fishermen bringing in their catch. We had a great view of the flats and houses, boats, and buildings. But the best part was watching the seals try to get the fishermen to throw them some fish pieces!

Another great stop was Wellfleet. We found a perfect spot next to a building with shade and a great view! I found myself carefully positioning "Mom" exactly under the church steeple in the center of the picture. Later looking at it, I realized that this painting empahasizes Mom's central love in life besides her family: her church. The art I create is always zeroing in on the truth and I can usually only read it later.

Lynne Painting  at Wellfleet

Pink Chair: A Beautiful Garden

Pink Chair: A Beautiful Garden: I have painted many times at the beautiful Sedgwick Gardens at Long Hill in Beverly, MA. It is the headquarters of the Trustees of Reservati...

A Beautiful Garden

I have painted many times at the beautiful Sedgwick Gardens at Long Hill in Beverly, MA. It is the headquarters of the Trustees of Reservations, a wonderful group dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of our state's lands. Here's their website:

http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/northeast-ma/long-hill.html

I decided that I would take the pink chair there and set up next to a beautiful water feature with lilies and lotuses. As I set up, I was told that I was lucky - that the lotus had just opened for the first time. It was just gorgeous in it's delicacy and I was taken by the sense of being in the presence of an ancient and exotic flower. I knew Mom would love it, so I set her chair up close to it so that she could get a good look.

 

I painted for several hours, always receding further away so I could have the benefit of the shade. I do like shade when I paint! I managed to stay in the same relationship to the chair so I could paint the same view. The painting came out a very rich green, and becaue of the oriental flower, I deceided that it looked like Mom was meditating quietly behind the blooms. I like the way the leaves come in and out of focus and the way they arch over the chair like they are protecting it.

Meditation (First Lotus)

There will be more to the story of this little pond and flowers. While I was there, I took a lot of photos from every angle, including my goal: to get some with the chair reflecting in the water. I am now working on the third one in this mini-series, so stay tuned!

Pink Chair: Traveling Again

Pink Chair: Traveling Again: A plein air bunch of paintings coming up! I've been working in the studio for a while, but next week, I'm getting out. Mia Lane is coming...

Traveling Again

A plein air bunch of paintings coming up!

I've been working in the studio for a while, but next week, I'm getting out. Mia Lane is coming to paint with me and we are going to go plein air on the North Shore of Boston and down to Cape Cod. Mia is a Canadian artist who is known for her awesome animal paintigs and who recently has moved in some different directions. She took one plein air painting and created a whole show from it, gathering new ideas. Check out her website @   http://www.mialane.on.ca/
I met Mia this summer when we visited my cousin Bill and his wife Marnie in Canada. Mia ia Marnie's sister-in-law. Bill and Marnie started the very popular and wonderful campground, Desert Lake Resort, now run by their daughter. Visit the campground site at http://www.desertlakeresort.on.ca/ and see just how cool it is, and beautiful, too.

We had a wonderful time there taking "Mom" on the pontoon boat when we toured around, looking for loons.

I will be putting my pink chair in the car and taking it on-site again as we paint together. I'll let you in on what is happening later in the week!

A Question for my Readers

I am perplexed about this piece. I absolutely love it as is. For me it says all that I went to Maine for. It has fabulous color and a I felt a strength that I didn't know I had on the day I finished it. Coincidently, I finished it the day before I had the awakening that I was going to be doing Pink Chair paintings. (see post for August 27) I had to leave because of a storm before it was finished and came back  to finish. I had an incredible feeling of intensity when I was painting, like I had to do it fast - strong - NOW!  It is part of what put the power in that tree.

Now, There are some lovely spots of pink here and there that go with the pink chair. I could easily paint a pink chair, maybe back there under the back tree, and make it part of the series. Somehow I feel it is already a part of the series. Maybe the strength I felt had come from Mom and was just waiting inside to be named on the next day when I would be doing the first transformative painting, the one in which I felt her presence.

What do you think? Should it be part of the series without the chair? Should I paint the pink chair in? Any thoughts?

Climb Every Mountain

View over Camden

After doing a two pink chair paintings at the cabin, I realized that I was looking at my new series. The bottom line was that I just didn't want to do anything else and I felt that this process would help me in my grieving. I had sat for a long time with Mom's book, reading again all she wrote about her life. What a gift that was! But now I was ready to move ahead in public and I had a whole day ahead of me. I decided that because it was a rare good weather day, to go up the auto road at Mount Battie. 

It really caught some eyes as I put the pink chair out on the edge. Tourists enjoying the view were saying "Boy, you really want to be comfortable up here". But as I spread out my paints and sat a distance away, my purpose became clear. Throughout the afternoon, people stopped and talked. I used a combination of transparent watercolor under opaque gouache, a new thing for me this summer, which I like better than transparent watercolor alone. I told the story of my mother and the chair over and over, and gave out the business cards that seemed to please people. Telling it over and over seemed to help me. The afternoon wore on and the crowd thinned. I slowed down as I got near the end, very reluctant to go. But finally, with the sun setting and the chill coming in, I finally picked up my paints and headed home. I really love this piece. I am transported back there instantly when I look at it.. 

A Surprise

I took one of my beloved trips to York, Maine. Besides  the required trip to Stonewall Kitchens for tastes of all their goodies and lunch, I like to go to the John Hancock Wharf. It is a beautiful spot on the York River. It has a nice pier and it also shares the location with a great gallery, the George Marshall Store Gallery  ---

http://www.georgemarshallstoregallery.com/

This is a great little gallery that has contempory and traditional art. I'd like them to represent me some day. It was the store that sold the stuff that John Hancock's Wharf unloaded. Eventually it because a central trading spot for all kinds of merchandise. So the spot has history, and art, and lots of beauty.

It was a gorgeous day and I did not have the pink chair with me but I decided I would paint anyway, because conditions were so perfect. I set up my paints and easel on the wharf (found shade and a great view) and started laying out my composition and getting in a few base undercolors on a small piece of paper. I suddenly did a double take. There, in the upper left of what was going to be my composition, was a pink adirondack chair just like mine, with other colors. It was in the perfect spot for my composition. I literally had not seen any of the chairs when I set up. Did you put it there, Mom? I swear I hadn't seen it at all. As my sister Georgie said, Cool..what I thought of is that the chairs with "Mom" were her friends visiting.  She would so much more enjoy a beautiful day with others than alone, right?

Well, I gladly painted it in.

Circle of Friends

Mixed Transparent Watercolor and Gouache (opaque watercolor)

First painting

Between Sunlight and Shadow

Today I worked on the first painting I did and finished it. When you first do a plein air painting, there often are areas that are missed or need enhancing. It is a delicate dance to touch up without losing the original feeling. As I sat there ready to work on this piece in my studio, I felt again the sense of Mom being there.

The Beginning of the Story

I had only one day to unpack from my mother's funeral and repack for my planned trip to Maine to paint. Along with my clothes and art supplies, I took a heavy heart to a beautiful cove in Cushing, Maine. Solitude is good for both grieving and for making art. After getting settled and getting acquainted with the area and places I wanted to paint, I started painting. I did two paintings of the cottage I was staying in, several watercolors from the dock, and one of the gorgeous lupines. It was the perfect time to catch them at their peak!

Cushing, ME      Lupines (photo)

After painting away from the cottage, I decided to paint off of the back deck. But first, I enjoyed the view for a while, sitting in the pink adirondack chair in the back yard. It matched the shutters of the house. As I rested and, I thought of how much Mom would have loved that chair. It was her color, an intense knock-your-socks-off pink. Back on the deck, I started painting and decided that the chair looked so good there, I would paint it in. I was not prepared for what happened. I took a lot of care with this painting, painting an underpainting first, to check the composition and value areas. I was taken at how the chair sat on the line between light and dark in the yard. As I carefully started to paint the pink chair into the work, all of a sudden I sensed the presence of my mother. She was there! in the chair! And she has stayed with me through this adventure in painting.

the chair in sunlight and shadow (photo)

under painting

I'll show you the final painting on the next post. The camera and photo is in the studio and there is a hurricane between us!

Welcome to my Pink Chair Paintings Blog!

Pink Chair in Sunlight and Shadow (photo)

This is a blog about painting a pink plastic adirondack chair. I'll let you in on the story as I complete the series I am doing and show you paintings as they are completed. The chair represents my mother, Carolyn Elizabeth Pedersen Schulte, who passed on June 5th, 2011. She was a wonderful woman, full of love for everyone around her, and she loved this bright color pink. She was proud of me as an artist and would love what I am doing. I take the chair to favorite places of hers and to places or situations I know she would have liked. It is a way for me to grieve and to celebrate her life. I talk to her as I paint and make sure that she would want to be where the chair has been placed.