Lazy Days of Summer, oil on canvas 16 x 20

Rain, rain and more rain....makes for some great days in the studio! This is a piece I recently completed and I am pretty happy with the result. With each painting, I try to find some lesson which I might try to learn. This piece was a culmination of many of the lessons or ideas I have been working on as of late. Specifically, I wanted the distant hill to read as a hill with distance, but not far distance...so I did not push it completely to blue hues. Also, I have been working on some pieces where I tried to show the stones and rocks at the bottom of a creek bed. I am still playing around with this and will do some more pieces in a similar vein. Above all, while this is a fairy green scene, I tried to play up the difference between warm and cool greens and used some stronger colors in the shadows other than darker greens. It was good fun and I am looking forward to getting outside to put some of the lessons I have been working on in the studio, into practice. Guess its time to say, "rain, rain...go away!
Lazy Days of Summer
Oil on canvas
16 x 20
Brandt-Roberts Gallery, Columbus, OH
www.andreworr.com

Single Peony, oil on canvas, 8 x 10

While we are still waiting for spring to come its nice to be able to think about what might be ahead in the garden this summer. I spent an afternoon, a very cold and blustery afternoon, working on this simple peony in a glass jar. I really enjoyed the simple and graceful composition with strong lighting. I was so pleased with the result, I arranged a few more in a simple, but larger set up. Maybe I'll get to that this week.
www.andreworr.com
Single Peony
oil on canvas
8 x 10

A Quiet Place, 20 x 24, oil on canvas

Finally after what seems like months and months of winter, we are seeing some signs of spring. What a truly welcome sight! This painting was created from some sketches and oil studies I did late last summer in North Bennington, Vermont. I was at this location on the Mill River for several hours so I had a great chance to see the changing light. While the final version of this painting is very different from where I had initially started, I like the front lighting aspect to this painting and was quite happy with the overall feeling of the painting. I continue to enjoy working from my plein air studies...even if they were completed months prior.

This painting along with several others will be on display with the Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, Vermont, as part of their Legacy Collection, until late June. For more information about the Bryan Gallery go to www.bryangallery.org.

Happy Spring!

A Quiet Place
20 x 24, oil on canvas
www.andreworr.com

Adirondack Evening, oil on canvas 16 x 20

Recently, we headed down to visit some friends in Massachusetts, taking in the Spring Bulb Show at Smith College. On rather cool and blustery March day, walking into the greenhouses at Smith, which were filled to overflowing with every spring bulb imaginable, was truly amazing. Once inside, seeing the colors, taking in the scents and the warmth of the atmosphere it did, indeed, serve as a reminder that spring will come, in spite of the snow which is still heavy on the ground. Painting summer scenes also helps to serve as a reminder that the cold days of winter will soon be replaced by the warm days of summer. This recent painting of a river in the foothills of the Adirondacks portrays a quiet summer evening just as the sun is starting to set. Some have called this a painting with a "spiritual feel." I look at it and think soon, I will see the grass in the yard, the flowers in the garden and the warmth of the summer sun. Guess I am ready for spring!

Adirondack Evening
oil on canvas
16 x 20
artsteph1@aol.com
www.andreworr.com

Breaking Light After a Morning Storm, oil on canvas, 18 x 24

After what seems to have been a very snowy and cold winter I must admit I am ready for some warmer weather. We have had however, some beautiful winter days. When I look back over photos of paintings I have completed in the last couple of years, I have been amazed at how many views of the Poultney River have been completed. I did a smaller plein air painting of this same spot last summer so this winter it was interesting to do a comparison of the area in a different season. There is something about the tree on the left that seems to balance the trees on the right and the day I was down there the light comimg through the trees seemed to give the affect that I was hoping to achieve. I like to paint winter scenes where the snow hangs heavy on the tress, I like use of back lighting in a painting, I liked the shapes of the trees and as you know, I enjoy painting water. All in all, I would say this was a painting that was great fun to pull together with many of the elements I truly enjoy painting. No matter how much fun I had doing the painting....no matter how much I like winter...I am still ready for the thermometer to reach 32 degrees.

Breaking Light After a Morning Storm
oil on canvas
18 x 24
www.andreworr.com

Stillness of Winter, oil on canvas, 24 x 30

After what seemed like weeks with little to no snow, the hope of a mild winter has indeed faded and given way to thoughts of a snow shovel, snow blower and yes, even spring. The snow is falling as I write and has been so for several hours. There is a softness to the tender grays I can see in the trees outside of my studio window. When the snow stops, the gray skies will hopefully give way to a clear, bright winter blue sky and the snow clinging to the trees will glisten in the bright light. This painting is somewhat related to the painting in my last post. It is of the Poultney River, but closer to Middletown Springs, Vermont. It depicts the bright sunny light radiating from the snow after a fierce storm. This painting was a true challenge, but thoroughly enjoyable. I hope you will enjoy it as well.

As part of a group of other snow paintings, this painting will be on display with the Bryan Memorial Gallery through February 27 in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Stillness of Winter
oil on canvas
24 x 30

Today's Legacy
Bryan Memorial Gallery
180 Main Street
Jeffersonville, VT 05467
www.bryangallery.org
January 21 through February 27, 2011

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