Heritage Farm -Sept. 4, 2018

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Our regular Plein air season ended at Heritage Farm in Bolton, CT. Starting on Sept. 18, we will be taking it inside at Arts of Tolland for our winter open studio.

Summer is winding down and nature dresses up with some of her finest colors. The fields are dotted with pinks and yellows. It is the final thrust for our winged helpers to get drinks from asters, goldenrods, and joe pye weeds. The swelled corn is nearing its harvest time, and the field next to the newly painted farmhouse will soon be nothing but stubble. On this day, though, the corn swayed and bent with its golden heads, colors going from shades of pale yellow to dark green. It was a perfect day for capturing the artistic landscape. 

Nine of our artists took on the heat and humidity to make their way to this historic farm, a favorite with the TCAA. It has been a great season this year with few Tuesdays cancelled due to weather issues. It has been a wonderful sharing experience, and a break for many of us from our daily routines. 



This is the season for wild grasses. Ronnie saw the light bouncing off of some of the grasses and took some lovely photos. They were haloed from the back, bringing out the best of their shape and texture. Thanks Ronnie for sharing. 

Photo courtesy of Ronnie Klukas




The trees around the farmhouse became a favorite to sketch or paint for our artists. It was one of the few places where there was shade and a breeze so most congregated in that patch. It adds to the camaraderie, allowing us to tell stories and have many laughs as we sketch. 

Peg used graphite for her sketch and Adrianna used a ballpoint pen to set her lines, then she added watercolor after for some color and more dimension. One does not need special tools to draw a scene. It never fails to amaze me how often many of our artists use common every day items for their on location art. Even a number 2 pencil is fine for a quick sketch. 


                         







On the other side of the farmhouse, in another patch of shade, June tried her hand at using several methods for her subject of the barn and corn. She began with graphite on watercolor paper, shading and toning as she tried to mimic Linda's method from last week. Then she tried setting the sketch with water. After that, she applied color with Tombo Watercolor markers, blending with water and the blenders provided by each marker set. Not happy with the result, she went home and used soft pastels to add more highlights and detail. The mixed media result is interesting.
                                                       



Kathy also chose the barn for her subject. Ordinarily she is a watercolor painter, and has begun exploring oils, but on this day she decided to try her hand with soft pastels. Her surface was Ampersand pastelboard, which should be available at most art stores such as Jerry's or Dick Blick. The pastelboard has a texture that feels like an emery board, and really holds on to the pastel. It
    also blends easily.   

               




Her blending method used a sponge wedge on some, but she preferred using her fingertip for the clouds. We don't all adhere to generally accepted methods of doing things on our outings. The fingertip blending is something that many pastel artists avoid, because it does smudge the pastel strokes, but it does add a nice softness to something like a cloud, which works well.

That is all to share for this, our last Tuesday painters. However, we are experimenting with an extended plein air season. The outings will be on Friday's or Saturday's, to accommodate our members who miss our Tuesday sessions due to other commitments. For information on locations and dates, please refer to our website at TCAA Welcome. Join our mailing list for notification of where and when we will be having our next fall painting day. 

There will be an added blog page for our TCAA activities coming up. It will cover our evening art meetings, our demonstrations, our annual shows, and our artist of the month. Stay tuned. A link will be provided once it has been set up.

As always, if you wish to share your completed work, or want to add photos to our gallery, send your photos to jmitastudios@gmail.com


                                                                   GALLERY









Photo courtesy of Ronnie Klukas

Photo courtesy of Ronnie Klukas



Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken by June Mita.












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