The Hawthorne Barn

Twenty Summers is the name of the events currently taking place at the old Hawthrone Barn on Miller Hill Road. Among the many concerts and symposiums is the week long Cape School of Art classes, which I'm also teaching, along with Cedric Egeli and Hilda Neily. 

Charles Hawthorne taught in this historic building for decades until his death in 1930. 

It has been 80 years since the school has held classes in this Barn. 

Arthur Egeli began the classes by giving a Portrait demonstration, followed by Cedric Egeli's class in portraiture.

In the afternoon learning to see color class was held with myself and Hilda Neily teaching.

Both classes where well attended. 

This historic barn was created as an art studio for artist's to paint in. The large north light window creates a beautiful steady light making ideal circumstances for the artist to continue working no matter what the outside light conditions are.

Arthur Egeli gives a talk about portrait fundamentals .

Lilacs on Law

I couldn't resist painting these Lilacs, two days ago. I will go back today and finish this painting. The use of the pallet knife really gives the picture texture and rich color, which I"m after for this painting.

I like painting on law street this time of year because it has a view of the water. Besides it's quiet for now.

The Perfect afternoon presented an excellent opportunity to finish my painting of Lilacs on Law.

I basically cleaned up the painting getting rid of the white unpainted areas and then added a couple details, here and there.

Twenty Summers Cape School Journey The First Summer

While I was a student at the Art Student's League in New York, I took a trip to Provincetown. I fell in love with the town right away. A friend told me that I could take a landscape painting class at the Cape Cod School of Art on the top of Pearl Street.
The Magical old barn that once was Charles Hawthorn's Studio was everything a historic art school should be.
Drying racks full of colored paintings that went back 80 years. Dusty bottles, pans and various still life objects cluttered paint chipped shelves.

The Cape Cod School of Art was owned at the time by Lois Griffel. Lois was a student of Henry Hensche. Lois encouraged me to come back to the school the following summer. "This isn't a school to learn how to paint pretty landscape pictures, this is a school where one learns to see color" Lois told me.

The paintings seemed very pastel to me and I wasn't sure why and then I realized they where filled with color and light. Somehow I realized I was going to not only learn to see color this way but, that I would live in this old barn as well. In fact my journey had begun at this point. I ended up spending four summers living in that barn.

A bird decided to keep me company one morning and stayed on my shoulder the whole morning.

The back of the barn was called the sandbox because Hensche filled it with sand, thinking you could see color better. I spent hours and weeks painting still life and blocks wanting to see the color the way that was reflected in the pictures which hung in the old barn.

That old barn on 46 Pearl street was really a part of Americana and the last hold out to bohemian Provincetown. Provincetown was changing when I was painting the summer of 1995 but it was still a thriving art colony and community that encouraged young painters making possible to spend a summer learning something frivolous as seeing color.
The current Provincetown is still a wonderful walkable town full of galleries, restaurants, beaches. The artist I am today is  due to the training I received and the experience of living  in a wonderful art community in a simply time, that is no longer.

Spring Views

I am starting a seres of spring paintings this week. I will need to go back to location at least once to finish these two paintings. The rooftops is a favorite view of mine. The trouble with painting on the spot is  that spring is a  fairly short time around here. If rain comes for a week my chance to finish will be next year.
My paintings require a little study to them. I don't like to paint plein air paintings in the studio because they loose the freshness and you could easily alter the light key, or cancel out the sense of logic a painting should have.

The above scene is done in the morning. I'm focused on the tree in the far right. All the buildings are in shadow except for the roofs.

The same scene in the second painting, only this time it's in the afternoon. All the building are in the light and the tree is in shadow.

East End Market

Yesterday I made a small painting sketch of the East End Market, in Provincetown. There isn't a lot of green this time of year and the trees are still bare. Spring is quick around here and it gives me a chance to paint views otherwise covered by foliage.
I painted these two spring scenes, with different brush techniques; giving texture to the painting.

East End Market Oil on Canvas 8x10

East End View oil on canvas 8x10

Falmouth Art Guild Mud - Head Demonstration

Yesterday I took the quiet  drive to Falmouth, to the Falmouth Art Center; where I did a mud head demonstration.
I've talked about the mud head and the significance it has to Cape School painting.
Charles Hawthorne at the early part of the last century taught simple mass painting by setting up young models on the beach and made his students use putty knives to keep them from making useless details.

I have a mud head from the 1930's that was found in the studio and was used for insulation.
I started my demo by giving a talk about this type of painting and then we went outside and I did a demo of a woman sitting with her back to the sun.

Cape School Of Art study. Artist unknown.

My class will be held at the Falmouth Art Center in June.

Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM 
June 21 - 22, 2014

If you look I have a paint gallon to weigh down my easel. Before I started the demo the wind blew my whole easel over, spilling paint everywhere. Ugh ,welcome to plein air painting. Well my friend Ed showed up and we quickly cleaned up and I was able to start the painting.

I have to admit that when I was asked to teach this class by the guild I was apprehensive. My thoughts where that there are certainly more artist's who's portrait skills are finer. 

The truth about the mud head is that is far removed from fine portraiture. This type of painting simple and fun. The artist isn't tying to render a strong likeness they are learning to make there painting feel like the person sitting on the beach in sunlight.

Landscape, portrait and still life must be handled in the same way, especially in the start.
Through simple masses of color coming together. "One spot of color coming against another spot of color.

Back to Provincetown

On my way home I stopped by New York and caught the Anders Zorn show at the National Academy Museum. I saw the same show in Boston this past fall. I couldn't resist seeing it again. Some of the paintings where not present in the New York show. The National Academy is a small museum and much of the show was on different floors. Having the show in different rooms and floors gave you a break, the paintings where spread out and made the experience enjoyable because you could stand back and really see how inspiring the work of Zorn is.
The small exhibit of Zorn's etchings was amazing.

Mr Ogden by Anders Zorn

It was great to be back in my studio again and start working on a still life painting. I spent the day setting up and painting a still life.