Looking to the North, Middletown Springs, Vermont, oil on canvas 18 x 24

It has been a while since I last posted to my blog. Maybe posting more often should be a New Year's resolution. This painting was recently completed, from photos and sketches I made along a road in the hills around Middletown Springs, Vermont. I was trying capture the feeling of mid morning light coming through the trees on a warm summer day. The past few weeks have been somewhat busy. I won an award for a painting (my previous post) from the American Artists Professional League exhibition in New York as well as another painting which won the Arthur T. Hill Memorial Award for a landscape by an artist under the age of 45 from the 127 Annual Member's Exhibition of the Salmagundi Club, also in New York. I am truly honored by the receipt of this award. Finally, I wanted to post some information regarding some upcoming workshops. I will also have another oil painting workshop in the fall, information on that will follow. Have an enjoyable holiday season.

Andrew Orr painting workshops:
painting the still life in oil
Tybee Island, Georgia February 19-24, 2011
www.gaseimnarsbythesea.net

one-day workshop, painting florals
Southern Vermont Arts Center
Manchester, Vermont, April 16, 2011

one-day workshop, painting trees
Southern Vermont Arts Center
Manchester, Vermont, April 30, 2011
contact: Rmadison@svac.org
www.svac.org

Golden Evening, oil on canvas 20 x 24

It has been a long while since I made my last post. It has been such an incredibly busy summer, I simply haven't taken the time to do so. Now, I have stacks of material to post, so I should be putting more up in the weeks to come. The summer started off with a great show at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, then a plein air class in Iowa. After the class in Iowa, I spent some time painting in Nova Scotia, spent some time in Dallas and then back home for an outdoor show. I just finished up with the North Bennington Plein Air Competition in Bennington, Vermont where one of my painting placed 2nd in the overall competition! I have participated with shows at the Guild of Boston Artists, the Bennington Center for the Arts and will have a painting in the National Exhibition of the American Impressionists Society. The painting in this post will be included in the 82nd Grand National Exhibition of the American Artists Professional League, to be held at the Salmagundi Club in New York in November. Wish me luck!
Golden Evening
oil on canvas
20 x 24
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Mettawee Reflections, oil on canvas 20 x 24

I realized it had been some time since my last posting. I have been working feverishly for my show which is now on at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. Its a marvelous facility and I feel fortunate to have a solo exhibition of my paintings now on display.
Andrew Orr
New Works on Canvas
Southern Vermont Arts Center
West Road
Manchester, Vermont
www.svac.org
The exhibition runs from June 19 until July 20.

Mettawee Reflections
20 x 24, oil on canvas
sold

www.andreworr.com
artsteph1@aol.com

Frosty Morning Along the Poultney River, oil on canvas, 20 x 24

It has been a very long time since my last post to this blog. For the past several weeks I have been teaching a series of painting workshops in New Zealand; what a truly, lovely part of the world. I so enjoyed my time there and very much enjoyed every moment with the participants of my classes. Home for a few days to get the peas and lettuce planted and off to Michigan to teach another workshop. So this will truly be my last winter posting for a long while! This piece is again of my beloved Poultney River, only a bit further down the river than in some of my usual painting places. It had snowed the night before and the snow was heavy in the trees. The beautiful and soft morning light seemed to cast a pale lavender tone throughout the entire scene and I tried to balance the cool morning, heavy snow and the early morning light in very cool tones of lavenders and blues. I am so eager to get back out into the field and very eager to work on some paintings with the spring greens. The light is lovely this time of year with little to no humidity. Guess before I head out, I better plant a few more rows in the garden. Happy Spring!

Frosty Morning Along the Poultney River
oil on canvas, 20 x 24
for purchase inquiries, please contact me directly
www.andreworr.com
artsteph1@aol.com

Last Snow of the Season, oil on canvas, 12 x 16

Seems as though I have been burning the candle at both ends and maybe even in the middle last couple of weeks. I haven't had a chance to post as often as I would like. At any rate, after what seemed like a winter of very little snow, in this part of the country, we finally had a good storm a few weeks ago. I had an opportunity to get out on a warm sunny day and this piece is the result. It will be my one of my entries into a show co sponsored by the Bennington Center for the Arts, The Bryan Memorial Gallery and the Nature Conservancy. The area where I painted this piece is a lovely spot along the Poultney River, right near the New York border. I have just recently discovered the Nature Conservancy and am amazed by the concept of the preservation of natural habitat for plants, animals and for the enjoyment and respect by all.

Last Snow of the Season
oil on canvas
12 x 16
please contact me directly for purchase details
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Along a Winter Morning Walk, 16 x 20, oil on canvas

While the rest of the country has seen some record breaking snow falls, in this part of Vermont we have seen relatively little in recent weeks. Finally, a few days ago we had a nice snowfall. I had some time the morning after the big storm and armed with my camera and sketch book, I went out for about an hour or two and took a large amount of photos as well as made several sketches. While I love working outdoors, plein air, I think sometimes an approach of spending time in nature, observing, watching, recording with pencil and paper are equally as important. This painting is the result of some of these direct observations from that day. I had walked down a road towards the Poultney River and when I turned around I saw the beautiful light streaming through the snow laden trees.
For purchase inquires please contact me directly.
Andrew Orr
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Sunflowers, Apples and Copper, oil on canvas 16 x 20

With the winter winds howling outside, it's nice to be able to think of the warmer days ahead while working in the studio. I think this still life grew out of the thoughts of those days which seem so far away. With this painting, I wanted to convey a sense of warmth and comfort through some very common objects. As with all of my paintings, a sense of strong light direction in combination with lost edges was a focus.
Sunflowers, Apples and Copper
oil on canvas, 16 x 20
please contact me directly for purchase details
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Sunflowers and Hydrangeas, oil on canvas 20 x 24

There is something I find magical about a combination of blues and yellows. I never get tired of seeing this color combination nor do I get tired of working in these colors. In this setting I enjoyed adding in the elements of the white hydrangeas as well as the blue and white porcelain pieces. I think the brass added a nice touch and the variation of the reflective surface added some interest to the overall composition.
Sunflowers and Hydrangeas
oil on canvas
20 x 24
please contact me directly for purchase details
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Coffee Time, oil on canvas, 20 x 24

The last few weeks I have been working on several still life paintings. This piece was a lot of fun to work on; I enjoyed working with the glass in shadow and trying to push the white daisies into the background. I always tend to enjoy working with sunflowers and wild asters, a familiar combination of flowers from my growing up in New Mexico.
Coffee Time
oil on canvas
20x24
please contact me directly for purchase inquires
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

"Bits from the Kitchen" oil on canvas, 16 x 20

I thought I would give it one more go with the onions and the garlic, so this most recent still life is the result. I am pretty happy with the ending and the onions and garlic went nicely into the mashed potatoes for this evening's supper.
Please contact me directly for purchase details.
Bits from the Kitchen
oil on canvas, 16 x 20
www.andreworr.com
artsteph1@aol.com

"Autumn Still Life" oil on canvas 12 x 16

During the hectic holiday season it was hard to grab a few moments to complete any larger work. I decided to work on a group of smaller still life paintings with similar objects only trying to come up with variations in composition. I enjoy painting copper and enjoyed adding in some dried corn as well as onions and garlic for textural variety. We finally have some snow so hopefully this week I will be able to head out and work a bit outside. Happy New Year.

Autumn Still Life
oil on canvas on board
12 x 16
please contact me directly for purchase inquiry

www.andreworr.com
artsteph1@aol.com