Solo exhibition - "Verdigris" River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta

 It's been a long but satisfying day because I just returned from hanging my solo exhibition, "Verdigris", in the West Gallery of River Arts and it feels good to have it up and ready for the public. The following is my statement about the show which contains 53 works in various mediums and a large variety of subjects. I hope you get a chance to see the show and also come to my reception which is July 11 from 5-7(due to the holiday on the 4th). All are welcome!

 

The more I paint the more I realize just how important my life experiences, dreams, and environment, are to my work. I paint images that are not so much literal translations of the immediate world but rather ideas and feelings that come from those places to tell a story or express something about the beauty and mystery of nature.

    I work from photos taken of familiar places and during road trips with my husband throughout Maine, New England, and the southwestern states of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. The photos are used only as basic reference points which refresh my memories of sensory perceptions experienced along the way.

     Roads and trails have become a part of my recent landscapes, as well as New England style buildings with the simplest architecture. To me these dwellings have great presence and are representative of the resolute people who built and lived in them for generations.  I’ve felt the same connections while standing in awe in the ancient dwellings carved from the cliffs of Gila and high plateaus of Mesa Verde National Park.

    My show is a compilation of this life journey and how I see things. Every new scene builds upon the next in a storage bank of images. Thoughts and impressions run together when I think about a new painting. In the studio I pull cloud formations from one photo and combine them with subjects from another, colors and tone values are pushed a little…or a lot. I paint in my head often…those are the best paintings.

   Domestic animals are an interesting subject to paint. Dogs, cats, and horses have been such an important part of my life and have done more for me physically and spiritually than I can express. I find their body language and character a challenge to capture in any medium.

    Nocturnal paintings are a favorite genre because of the limited light conditions in which darkness or moonlit effects can create mysterious scenes. This type of light is a challenge to paint but offers more opportunities for subjects done with subdued color palettes and very close tone values.

  I’d love to hear comments from you anytime. Please feel free to contact me @ klynnpett@gmail.com or catch me on Facebook or my website www.karenpettengill.com where new work is posted often in my blogs.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Karen Pettengill

The Green Donkey

It's been a long hiatus from blogging. They seem slightly redundant when you can post new artwork and the stories behind them in much quicker fashion, and in my case, reach a larger audience on Facebook. Most of my Facebook "friends" are other artists and feedback from them has been great and I enjoy seeing their work as well.
One of the reasons for this post is to launch my new website which has been updated and has a crisp new look. I also have a solo show coming up in two months and it's time to start getting the word out.
More info about the show will be posted in subsequent blogs, FB and Linked In.
This is a new 14 x 11 watercolor - The Green Donkey, and features a scene from a small village we traveled through in southern New Mexico.
This little town had definitely fallen on hard times and we noticed that most buildings were run down and vacant. But the artistic spirit was alive and well and expressed in the form of full sized fiberglass donkeys hand painted by local artists and then placed all over town! Hence the colorful donkey in this painting. I noticed others on roof tops, in parking lots and in front of public buildings....all colorfully painted in different ways.
The architecture of this shop was so interesting and reminded me of the building facades in western movies.What can I say about the skies of the southwest....words cannot express...

Top Shelf Aucton for Maine Discovery Museum

It's been along time between blogs. Summer is a wonderful memory of many warm and bright sunny days...one of the best summers that we recall. We were busy every week. Now the crisp fall air is here and filled with smells of wood smoke, cooling earth and molding leaves. Things are winding down. We 're closing up the yard for winter and have a new garden shed to store plant pots, outdoor furniture and tools. Last week I made a delicious caribou stew, courtesy of a coworker whose husband got it during a hunting trip to Labrador. It was the first of many slow cooked comfort foods to come.

Every year at this time the Maine Discovery Museum's Annual Fall Gala and Auction in Bangor comes around. This show title is called, "Top Shelf" and was so named for the wall shelves painted by Maine artists invited for this year's show . The dinner gala is a big event in Bangor and I'm very excited to be included. The date for the gala is November 19.

It's always interesting to see what other artists chose do for their pieces.

I decided to paint a scene of Schoodic Point in Downeast Maine. We traveled through Acadia National Park in August and went just a little further north to this remote region of the park. It was one of my favorite locations....especially this beach on Frenchmen's Bay facing Cadillac Mountain in the distance.The clouds were so low and puffy we thought we could reach up and touch them as they floated overhead.

For info on how to bid for your favorite shelf go to http://www.mainediscoverymuseum.org/

Two special pieces are offered on Ebay..one of them is donated by author Stephen King!

An afternoon in Shapleigh

My work keeps me pretty busy and it's interesting but I really look forward to my days off, especially when the weather is so nice. Steve needed photos of a new listing in Shapleigh so we made an afternoon of it.
While he was at the town hall gathering information I took Koda for a walk through the sweet park in the village center. I was surprised by a pair of handsome Canadian geese with a family of seven fluffy gray sygnets. Dad and mom walked toward me with threatening looks as I approached them for photos. You can see the pond and bridge in the photo of the geese. The gardens and gazebo are beautiful too. From the poo covered sidewalks I'd say they own the place for now.
When Steve finished we headed north to Limerick to pick up lunch, then we found a quiet lakeside spot on West Pond in Parsonsfield to eat.
The bottom photo is of old Mousam Grange which is across from the town hall and the park.
I'm inspired by the scenery in Maine and paint these places in my head..getting to the studio is quite another thing....

3 Phases of the painting "Native Son"

Here are three phases of an acrylic painting called, "Native Son", which was completed two years ago.
I couldn't get the photos set up correctly on this blog so the first phase is actually the one on the bottom . The canvas has been covered with a terra cotta underpainting which is just like the papers and panels used in my pastel paintings. The warm tone makes the cool color palette in my work sparkle. It's rare that I paint on a white or light toned background.
I paint with a big brush(house trim painting size)
and use all the tips and edges for blocking in and shapes right down to the smallest areas including the mooring line. The only time I use a small brush is for my signature. I found that this works for me because I have to move my whole arm to get what I want...there's more energy in the strokes. Yellow was added midway then white and green mixtures were scumbled over areas of the boat. I used a dry scumble of greens on the water for depth and reflections.
The scene is from memory. When I was a kid we lived near Casco Bay and these islands could be seen from the beach where I spent many summers. How fortunate I was....

The outboard motor was my favorite thing to paint..love the shape of it, especially the little prop in the sun.

The clouds came from a photo I took in the California desert around Palm Springs.

The skiff....well... she was on dry land in the middle of December...

Who's your Buddy now.

This is 'Buddy' a handsome mixed breed dog owned by a friend. He reminds me of a German Shepherd in this portrait, especially with his large upright ears and coloring. His direct gaze speaks to his personality which I'm told is strong and energetic but lovable.
This guy loves to run and he has just the right home for it with a big beautiful field on the owner's property and plenty of pesky wildlife around to keep him entertained..like a family of foxes.
His new mother loved him from the start, but he was a handful and his dad wasn't quite sold on the idea. It took a little time but Buddy worked his way into everyone's hearts and now his dad takes him everywhere.
This is acrylic with touches of casein mixed in, painted on a terra cotta toned panel. I started using toned pastel papers several years ago and use that same underpainting for acrylic and casein. You can see it peeking through in the background and in areas of Buddy's chest and neck. I like the warmth and cohesive quality of this method.

Photoshop experiments

The pastel panels I ordered should arrive tomorrow and until that happens I'm playing with recently finished acrylic paintings in Photoshop. We've had this program for about 12 years now and it's been really helpful when it comes to altering paintings for the "What ifs". I'm never satisfied with a finished painting...there's always something I should've done differently and this program gives me a chance to try it. I've also found that by flipping a painting horizontally distortions are easy to spot. That's come in very handy since there's no mirror in the studio and dragging some of my paintings down spiral stairs to the bathroom is an accident waiting to happen.

Here are three versions of the acrylic painting 'Puddy' and it's interesting how the hues and tone values change the feeling. One of the applications makes him look like he's moving.

These are my favorites..

Cape Porpoise In Winter Light

Easter was a great day for Steve and I. We had a good hike in the morning then a short break before going to our son's home to celebrate the holiday and two family birthdays. The weather was cooperating for a change so we had a cookout prepared on their new hot dog cart that will be set up in Freeport this summer. Check it out on Depot Street.

After such a full day I like to go to the studio in the evening to paint. The act of painting has become almost like an act of meditation. I think it's the result of painting more often in the past two months and just getting into a rhythm. I care less and less about little mistakes and let them be.

I liked the roof shapes in this scene of Cape Porpoise, the dock with the light bouncing off the poles and the land across the cove. This little harbor will be busy soon...I like to remember it this way.

A walk in the woods

On Easter morning we decided to take a short hike on a new trail here in Pownal, cleared by volunteers of the Royal River Conservation Trust. This organization received grant money to install two bridges and extend a public trail system connecting Bradbury Mountain State Park to Pineland Farm in New Gloucester. The new section includes a beautiful wooden and steel bridge that spans the Chandler River and was just completed about a month ago. The trails are all open, free to the public, for hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing and horse back riding. We are fortunate to live in a place where these natural amenities are at our doorstep and can be enjoyed every day.

We met like minded neighbors who were hiking with their two boys and were just as impressed with the work as we were. We plan to go back often this summer and bring our family members too. Koda enjoyed the walk and gave me a happy face on the bridge.

One of the photos shows an ancient piece of farm equipment left there long ago. Many of the original farm's stone walls are still intact and run everywhere through the woods down to the river. They are covered with rich

green lichen now and mark off old cow pastures.

Tight Quarters - New Harbor

New Harbor is just outside of Pemaquid Village and is unique in that there are two separate harbors in the town.

This one is narrow, deep and stretches inland to the right and out of frame. It's more protected from the open ocean than the other larger harbor out of frame to the left and around a V shaped peninsula. There are several docks on both sides of this gut with many pleasure craft and working boats moored or tied up all through here. I actually left out three other boats that were jammed into the photo shot, but even so, these four remaining boats are pretty snug in the scene. While we were here the ocean swells rolling in from the mouth of the harbor tossed the boats up and down, swinging them precariously close to each other. I wanted a composition that would convey a sense of tight quarters and moving water. The jostling maneuvers must be exciting to watch on a busy summer day.

Friendship Harbor in the Fall

Two years ago we drove up the coast and took some roads out to coastal peninsulas we'd never visited before. It was a sunny October afternoon so we decided to check out Waldoboro and continue on out to Friendship. I say 'on out' because Friendship is fairly remote and way off the beaten path..our kind of place. The village was very quiet as expected and the summer homes were tidy and buttoned up tight. Only the local residents live there year around..and maybe a few city transplants. I wondered if the locals look forward to this time of year or miss the people from away...easy answer. Down on the docks it was business as usual with fisherman bringing in traps and securing equipment for the coming season. The original founders of this area sure knew what they were doing when they settled here because the harbor is a well protected cove and the water is calm. I heard alot of men talking but couldn't see them, but I did capture one of their companions sunning himself next to a truck. He got up and wondered up to see me. Acrylic 5 x7.

Pemaquid in Red

I've done a second study of a summer home in the village of Pemaquid because the porch, window and barn shapes really intrigue me, especially in strong sunlight. The organic tree shapes help break up the geometric forms of the buildings that really are on this property. I think the cast shadow of the tree in front of the barn draws the eye behind the house creating more depth. This is a birch panel that started with a bright green under painting..it pokes through in parts of the lawn and in the trees behind the house. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but it's interesting to experiment with unusual color combinations using everyday scenes like this. Maybe I'm addicted to color..?

Painting Maine

Blueberry fields are stunning in the fall when the leaves turn a brilliant crimson .The feeling I have for a scene like this is difficult to capture in a painting. Red and orange paints don't do it justice and my ability to execute it. This field is on a back road in Union, just inland from Camden and Rockland. We were there two years ago for a long weekend enjoying the countryside and celebrating my birthday.

We visited Savage Oakes Vineyard which isn't too far from this spot. Their grapes and blueberries grow side by side on a sweeping hillside way up behind the tasting house. We bought a bottle of their blueberry wine and saved it for the family's Thanksgiving dinner. It was so delicious..that bottle of wine defined this time and place as well as any painting.. This is 8 x 8 deep birch panel.

Spring Travels through Maine

While a possible snowstorm heads it's way to our neck of the woods we'll count our blessings and enjoy the bright sunshine of the past few days..Take'em while you can is our motto!

Winter still has a small grip..but it's weakening and spring is definitely on the way.

Steve had a property to show near the New Hampshire border on tuesday so I went along for some photos of the region....and lunch.

We drove into Rochester, New Hampshire, for a quick bite and stopped on the way back for photos in the pretty village of Alfred and a few other places. The light was perfect for cool shadows and reflected sun. This antique shop's windows are packed with old books and intriguing pieces..we'll have to go back and check it out another time. The mansard roof and dormers remind me of a big fancy victorian hat. The steeple located on Main Street in Rochester stood majestic with the wispy airbrushed looking clouds behind it. New England is still a beautiful place even after a miserable winter.

So many scenes to paint..time just flies...

Painting a Day-or every other day

The Painting a Day has turned into more like a painting every other day but I'm satisfied. I've done more paintings this month than usual and it's been a challenge to get myself up to the studio after working all day.

This little study is of a summer field next to the Basin Recreation Area in Evans Notch..located right on the Maine New Hampshire border. The sky was breathtaking that day...so blue and wonderful cloud formations.

We love this region and go there often. There's a National Park campground that looks inviting too.

The campsites are private and wooded..with hot showers and a small lake nearby. Hiking trails, kayaking and sitting by a fire at night sounds pretty inviting right now.

5 x7 acrylic and available for $75 including shipping.

Painting a Day-Puddy in the Leaves

This fellow's name was "Puddy". He was a big beautiful cat owned by a friend. I used a wonderful photo supplied by her for this portrait study of him walking through the leaves. She has a good eye for photography. The view of him from above and texture of the leafy matter around him made for an interesting perspective and contrast in textures. There was a pretty maple leaf sitting on his back in the shot but it might've drawn too much attention from the main subject so I left it out. I have another photo to work from for a second study and will try that too. This one is for MJ and I hope it brings back fond memories of this special family companion.

Painting a Day-Alburquerque, N.M.

This great classic car was parked on a shady side of the street in the Old Plaza of Alburquerque, when we were there last summer. It was in super condition and drew a lot of attention. I loved the front grill and visor over the windshield. That visor is a real nice feature to have on a car in a places like the Southwest where the sun is intense. It was 113 the day we drove into Tempe, Arizona, and that was a little overwhelming for New Englanders like us, but we found a sweet hotel with a nice refreshing pool and free drinks..that made it easier to take.
The grill on this car kind of looks like a smiling face to me...very welcoming I thought.
We traveled on some sections of Old Route 66.
It isn't at all like it used to be but I'd like to go back to this region some day...
This is called, " A Friendly Face in Alburquerque", acrylic 5 x7
My husband might not let me sell this one.

A scene from lake side in Jefferson Maine last summer. My son and his family rented a cozy little cottage for a week and the weather was fabulous the entire time. They invited us for a cookout that included a boat ride down the entire length of the lake which is about 9 miles.

This region is just a short ride from busy Route One but often overlooked by out of staters.

We love sitting by the campfire on a summer evening and watching the sun go down..just listening to the water gently splash on shore. There's nothing like a few toasted marshmellows to round off a good barbeque.

Acrylic 5 x7. Available for sale.

Painting a Day - Portrait of Steve

This is my husband Steve. He was sitting on a bench at the top of a mountain in New Hampshire during one of our short vacations when I took this great photo. We had just received news that our brother in law had died unexpectedly and our moods had turned somber. The White Mountains are a region we head to frequently to recharge our batteries. The natural beauty of this National Park always puts things in perpective for us so we couldn't have been in a better place to process this tragedy.

Steve thinks I flatter him here..not so. I hope his strength and character come through in this study even a little. He's been knocked down pretty hard by a rare auto immune disease and bounces back every time it hits. On this fine day, with the warm sun on our backs and a breathtaking view of the valley and mountain range stretched before us..we were feeling pretty lucky....

Painting a Day- Dusk in Bristol

I painted this small study of sundown on a winding road in Bristol. There are more great scenes from this area near Pemaquid to paint such as New Harbor, and Chamberlain to name a few. My husband's family once owned a small cottage in that area. It would've been nice to have it now...it was right on the water.

We have dinner guests this evening so I won't post another painting for two days.

As you can see painting telephone and cable lines isn't my forte.

Acrylic 5 x7.