I worked on my still life painting and did get it into evaluation mode. I signed it so it must be getting close. I think I have a little work to do on the background shadows. Linda worked on a painting she's been working on for a couple of weeks, it is looking really good. I will post images once we get done.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, be safe and be happy.

With our New York trip behind us we are looking forward to getting back into our respective studios and painting. I hope to have the still life I have been working on at a point where I can be in evaluation and final adjustment mode this week. Linda has several paintings in progress and might start something new. I never know until I walk into her studio what she might have going on. Unless we decide to attempt some "snow scenes" we should be in our studios for the rest of the winter. I hope to have my newest still life done in time to submit to the Oil Painters of America 2008 National show, I'll let you know if I make it.

On a technical note I have been playing with light control in my studio for almost five years now and think I am finally getting it under control. I have some more improvements to make when I take down my current setup. I didn't want to change in the middle of a painting, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Steven J Parrish

Linda, Sandy and I just got back from our "All art all the time" trip to New York City. Our main objectives were to see the Daniel Sprick solo show at Arcadia Fine Arts and the Dutch Masters exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Both show were amazing, but the Daniel Sprick show was one of the top three solo exhibits I have ever seen. My top three in no particular order; John Singer Sargent at the National gallery in Washington, DC, Richard Schmid retrospective at The Butler Institute of American Art Youngstown, Ohio, and Daniel Sprick at Arcadia Fine Art NYC, NY. If you have never seen a Daniel Sprick ( Or Richard Schmid for that matter) painting in person I urge you to do so. The elegant beauty that Sprick depicts what could be viewed as unappealing subjects (skulls, bones, dead bugs, egg shells, etc) has to be seen to be believed. I have admired Mr. Sprick's work for years but I was amazed at how much more spectacular the paintings were in person as compared to photographs and web images.

The Dutch Masters exhibition was overwhelming in its own right. Being a huge fan of Rembrandt and Vermeer this was a must see show. It was the MET's permanent collection grouped by how it was acquired, but to see it all on display together was worth the trip. We spent the most time analyzing the Rembrandt's and Vermeer's. I would have loved to have seen them when they were just completed and not after 400 years of age, cleaning, and restoration.

We also had time to visit galleries carrying paintings by Daniel Greene, Jacob Collins, and too many more to mention. Endless thanks to Sandy for guiding us around the city like a pro. Thanks also to Pat for providing us a room with a view from Central Park South so we could wake to a view of Central Park in Fall Color. We also visited the Salmagundi Club of New York to look around this historic artists club and view the American Artists’ Professional League Exhibition the same show that Linda won an award in last year.

Time will tell if our painting will be influenced by the great art we viewed on this trip, I hope it is.

I believe that art can change your life, so live with art in your life.

Steven

Here are the three finished plein air paintings form our recent painting trip. They were painted on site in one or two sessions. The painting of the train bridge was interesting because I was just a few feet from what I found out was a very busy freight train track. Several of the trains had to stop and wait for other tracks to clear, so the train engine was just a few feet away rumbling me and my easel and surrounding me with diesel fumes. A couple of railroad workers walking the tracks to do inspections thought I was crazy painting rusty old railroad equipment. I told them they see it so much that they had gotten used to its beauty, they laughed and kept walking. The other two are my first attempts at painting water, I think they turned out OK, I still need to work on the transparency of the non reflecting water areas. I will definitely paint more streams when I get the chance.

Steven

Our good friend Sandra Corpora spent the weekend painting with us and as usual it was a great time. It rained the first two days so indoor still life painting was the focus. The sun did come out and some frigid and windy landscape painting was attempted. Sandy finished a few paintings, Linda started some good paintings to be finished at a later date, and I started a big still life and almost finished my landscape. I keep trying to get paintings posted to this blog, and I promise I will, but you can always see what we have been up to on our websites.

http://www.lindavolrath.com

http://www.sjparrish.com

http://www.sandracorpora.com