Oxford Gallery Exhibition

I was invited to exhibit in a group show at the Oxford Gallery in Rochester. The title of the show is Waterway West: A Salute to the Erie Canal. I had done paintings of the Erie Canal in the past but I wanted to create some new images for this show. I biked and walked along the canal to gather some new reference material. I completed all three paintings within about a four or five week time frame. This was very much like an illustration assignment...I had a theme and a deadline for the work to be delivered. The top piece is an oil on canvas (24" x 30"). The subject is an old lock near Kendrick Drive, in Rochester. The middle ( 12 x 16) and bottom (13 x 20) images were completed with gouache...remember?...I'm enjoying the gouache medium again. The Exhibit opened today and runs through October 16.

Re-Discovering Gouache

In my last post I talked about the potential positive effect of taking a break from your normal work routines. This sailboat piece ( 9x 12 ) was done with gouache after having not touched that medium for about two years. I had the usual anxiety that I would not have any idea how to use it...or that the results would be horrendous. On top of that I was doing this as an in-class demo...just for added pressure. But it all comes back and feels fresh to me. I find that I'm using the material in a different fashion and with results that I could not have predicted. As artists we always have to find ways to fight off boredom and at times this can be done by re-visiting materials and methods that have been on the back burner. In this case I'm excited about gouache again.