I participated this past weekend in the 4th Annual Northport Plein Air Event in the beautiful harbor side town of Northport, NY. I always look forward to this weekend as it is the first of these events which I do every year and, as such, is the first time I get to see a lot of my colleagues after we have all been tucked away for the winter. As is usual with events like this, the artists paint on Friday and Saturday and then the still wet paintings are auctioned off on Sunday. In the case of the Northport event, the auction is held at LaMantia Gallery on Main Street.

I arrived early and set up down by the harbor to paint. I was really impressed with the stillness of the water and the way the reflections seemed to drip off of the bottoms of the boats. I was very happy with the result for two reasons: first, I felt I accomplished most of what I set out to achieve and, second, it is a really wonderful feeling to know that on the morning of the first day of painting that you already have something good enough to submit for the auction. I called it simply "Northport Harbor".



I took a long break, visited with some friends, had a bite to eat and then set out to paint some more. If you are in the NY area then you know how hot it was during the afternoons over the past few days. My friend Ward Hooper suggested a view he liked from the parking lot of a local marina. When I arrived I liked the view as well and immediately set up and went to work. While the view was appealing, I was set up on the blacktop in the marina parking lot without any shade and, after about an hour, the heat started to really get to me. I started to feel a bit nauseous, thought heat stroke, and decided it was time to pack up and find a bit of shade. I don't normally post unfinished paintings but in the spirit of full disclosure, here it is.



After a good nights sleep and lots of re-hydration I was back early the next morning. There is a green market in the parking lot by the harbor every Saturday morning and every year I think to myself "I'm going to paint the green market"...and this would be the year. I set up in the parking lot between two cars and went about getting some paint on the canvas. From my perspective the market is situated in another parking lot which is bordered on one side by large trees. It was pretty easy to see that the overall color harmony was green and I set about covering my canvas with a warm green and transparent red oxide wash. With clean turps on my rag I drew the tents by carefully wiping out the green wash I had just applied and set about rendering the market without paying any real attention to rendering the trees. I loved the millions of shapes and colors and kept after myself not to render anything too completely. I was trying to prove to myself something that I had heard from a very fine painter named Ralph Oberg who said that you can "suggest" a great deal more detail with a well placed and very thick directional brushstroke than by actually attempting to render it. This is an unusual painting for me and it was difficult to complete on site as the green market attracts a huge crowd of people, most of whom would eventually make their way over to where I was set up to watch what I was doing. I really enjoy chatting with folks who stop by but it also had the effect of turning what is usually a two hour job for me into an almost four hour job. That coupled with the fact that the shade I had originally set up in had evaporated and I was now on an asphalt parking lot in the noon day sun. Having no real desire to repeat what happened the day before I decided to pack up and retreat to the shade for some lunch. I call the painting "Green Market-Northport, NY".



Sunday's auction was VERY successful for the Northport Arts Coalition and for myself. "Northport Harbor" enjoyed multiple bids! As has become an annual custom a group of us then head down to Skippers which is a great pub near the water to toast our success. Northport in June...I look forward to it every year!