Delivering Paintings

Always fun to drive, the Hawks Nest along Route 97 in NY

Yesterday we shipped three beautiful 8x10 paintings to the Travis Gallery in New Hope, PA. Lauren Travis has a large and varied collection of Peter's work and will be hanging the new paintings this week. They are $1200 each and can be previewed on Peter's website. They're really spectacular.

I also drove eight paintings up to the River Gallery in Narrowsburg NY. The drive up Route 97 from Port Jervis north is a beautiful drive along the Delaware and was very quiet on an overcast Monday. Narrowsburg is a charming small town along the river and is worth a trip if you're in the area. 

I had to show off my gas bargain - thanks to the Price Chopper Fuel Advantage Card

Picture Hunting in the Rain

Peter photographing this morning in Pine Island, NY

Peter's Video Demos

Peter making a video

As you may have seen or heard by now, Peter is making videos of himself painting. If you have not, it's well worth checking out. There are 2 versions, a shorter version (2 minutes)  that is very fun and a longer version (10 minutes) that is more educational. He is planning more demo videos in the near future and is filming as I type! Stay tuned...

SVA Junior Thesis Show '09

The end of the night

Congratulations to all of the junior illustration majors at the School of Visual Arts who have worked so hard on their Junior Thesis Project, "Beautiful Losers" currently showing at the SVA Gallery. The work is stunning and there was a tremendous turn out for their opening night. It was a lot of fun meeting Peter's students and watching the excitement of young artists out showing their work.

Stack of Studies

L.A.D. studies all packed up and ready to go to the post office

I shipped out a bunch of Landscape a Day studies today. They are going to homes all over the US; California, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Missouri. I can't wait for people to see the study (or studies) they bought and see how amazing they are in person. If you've bought a study and framed it, send me a photo!

Doxie Photos

Camy doing her best Clint Eastwood. Grrrrr... tough girl.

A bug's view.

Peter in the Landscape

Peter photographing

We were up early and out photographing by 9, which by Peter's standards is quite late. We both felt the need to sleep in a little after celebrating our good friend's 40th birthday. The sky was overcast and it was pretty cold out. We had a nice walk and took a bunch of photos. 

Peter on the path

This is a spot in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that Peter has enjoyed painting studies of lately. He wanted to revisit some of those motifs at a different time of day and a different time of year.

Peter with antlers

I took more photos of corn stalks and other bits of nature, but I mostly had fun photographing Peter today. I have a real fascination for adding antennae or antlers to people and I couldn't resist this last one of Peter in front of this lovely sycamore. Sorry Peter!

Peter took this one of me

Tuesday Night in NYC

Water towers at sunset

Peter had to be back in the city on Wednesday, so he decided to stay rather than driving home to PA and back again in the morning. At the last minute, I decided to join him. I'm glad I did. We had a fun dinner out with Lisa and her boyfriend Sam. It was a beautiful night and there were lots of people out celebrating St. Patrick's Day. We had BBQ. Sometimes I really miss the city... but most times I don't.

Silly treats in a bakery window -- I've always been a sucker for googley eyes

King of Monday Night, Night

My monday night card in with Peter's Tuesday morning things

On Monday nights, Peter goes to bed before 9 and gets up sometime between 2 and 3 am to drive into New York City to teach at the School of Visual Arts. He gets there way too early but is very proud of the fact that he beat all of the morning traffic. He's so competitve!

Somehow he manages to nap in the car until 7. He gets up, surprisingly refreshed, and has breakfast with his daughter Lisa, a sophmore at SVA, and then teaches 3 classes in a row from 9 until 6. He meets Lisa for dinner and then drives home, arriving anytime after 9 pm. It's a really long day for him, but it's all worth it. He loves teaching and it gets him out in the world for a day and he learns so much.

I always make him a card every Monday night -- some are better than others. It all depends on how tired I am or how inspired I'm feeling. This monday night's card came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Peter Painting

Peter at work on today's study

I wanted to show that Peter is doing more than just socializing in the studio! Here he is working on a Landscape a Day study from his photos of a walk we took last Sunday with our friends Mary and Rob and our dogs in the Delaware National Water Gap Recreation Area.

Studio visit with Phil

Peter shows Phil some of his photo reference

Peter's friend, photographer Phil Valcarcel spent the day at the studio. He wanted to see a painting being created and to photograph Peter at work. They discussed everything from art to life and had a great day sharing ideas together.

Photos From a Walk

I loved the rich colors in this cut log

I've walked by this tree hundreds of times. 

It's so massive and I never noticed it until today.

A squirrel's left over snack debris looked like like a religious offering in the woods.

Bits of Color

Watching the ground on a walk at Milford Beach

Peter has always told me that nature is more colorful on an overcast day. When I first met him, I would have argued that was true on a bright sunny day, when the sky is a deep blue and the trees are green. But now when I look, I see that the world is full of contrast on a bright day. You see extreme highlights and shadows that are beautiful in their own way, but it's hard to see into the shadows or bright spots to see what's really there. On an overcast day, when the light is even, the colors are deep and rich -- especially when things are a little damp like they were on my walk yesterday -- and you see oranges and purples, reds, plums and mauve and many shades of greens and blues that you can't see on a sunny day.

Studio Visit with Graig

Graig and Peter talk about adding more chroma to liven things up

Baseball artist Graig Kreindler came to visit the studio today. A former student of Peters, Graig stops in every once in a while to talk to Peter about painting and show him what he's working on. Today it was 3 Lou Gehrigs, 2 Mickey Mantles and a Christy Mathewson. We always feed him and try to open his mind to new flavors. He's come along way since his student days, but still wouldn't eat the shrimp in the Fra Diablo we made for dinner. He sure missed out!

To see more of Graig's paintings, visit www.graigkreindler.com

The genius of Graig Kreindler, Wrigley Field 1945

Late Winter Walk

Snacks in a corn field

Spring Melt

It's muddy out there!

It feels like spring is here in northeastern Pennsylvania. The snow is almost completely gone, and the ice is out of the stream. Peter and I will miss winter but the warm air sure feels nice.

The edge of the stream last week

Last Day Rome

The rooftops of Rome

This photo is from the last evening of our trip. Rome. What a beautiful city. It was sad to leave but always good to get home.

Thanks so much to everybody for making Italian Week on Peter's Landscape a Day blog such a success. If you missed out, he is planning another Italian Week soon.

Perfect Tuscan Valley

Morning mist

This photo was taken from my favorite road where I walked at least once a day, usually more. It was amazing to roam some of the property that made up the vineyards and olive groves that go into making the wine and olive oil of Pasolini dall'Onda Borghese.

Shady Spot

Olive trees on the edge of a freshly plowed field

It can be surprisingly hot in Tuscany in October. I spent a lazy afternoon under these olive trees; daydreaming and doodling in my sketchbook. If you want to know what bitter tastes like, try eating a fresh olive.

Sunset Trees

Trees line the road that passes Tizzano

I loved the wiggly dark forms of these trees against the plum sky and house lights.

Fruits of the Villa

Me with apples

Fruit growing on trees will never cease to amaze me. I'm a suburb kid and I'll never grow tired of picking fresh apples and lemons and limes and figs, basil and rosemary. Every day, I found something new to eat on the property of the villa. In this photo, Peter caught me filling my arms and pockets with apples. 

Fresh picked apples in the Tuscan sunlight

Later that day, I was delighted to see how beautiful the apples looked in the late afternoon sun -- almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.

Tuscan View, Three Ways

Early morning light, view from Tizzano

Midday light, view from Tizzano

Sunset, view from Tizzano

Evening Walk, Tuscany

Perhaps the most beautiful walk in Tuscany

The owner of Tizzano, Guido Pasolini, was very generous to allow us access to all of his property. This road was close to the villa and we walked it often, photographing it at different times of day. What a beautiful place.

A Week in Italy

Peter at rest in Tuscany

It's Italian Week on Peter's blog (March 1st-March 7th). He will be featuring 7 studies from a trip we took to Tuscany last fall. While he is highlighting recent studies, I'll be posting some photos from our trip.

In Tuscany, we were guests of our good friends Mary and Rob at Tizzano in Barberino Val D'Elsa. There's a beautiful grape arbor on the property where I caught Peter in a quiet moment. Mary and her sister Gay made a delicious grape tart from the grapes that we picked. It was a lot of work peeling all of those grapes but it was delicious and one of the great experiences of villa life in Italy.