Michigan Singles Cover!

 'Michigan' painting chosen by musician to illustrate his new song of the same name. And you can get the mp3 from Amazon for only $1.29. It's a pretty great song by Nick Flessa. 

(And the original painting is still available from Butternut Gallery or me for a bit more, framed, ready to hang on the wall.)

 

HELLO, Susquehanna County!

Time to hit the road again...The Butternut Gallery in Montrose, PA is showing a selection of paintings from this recently completed project...(and some of my garden pastels and watercolors as well) through the end of October. You are invited to the opening celebration of the exhibit Saturday afternoon, September 24th, 3-6pm. I'll be there and I'd love to see you, too.

From Stonington, Connecticut...

...to the Texas panhandle...

...to Homer Spit, Alaska...

to Arkansas...

to Idaho and many points between...

...it's been an adventure-filled project. And great fun sharing my travels and finished paintings with you!

While it lasted...

...showing paintings from the 50 states project was great fun. Many people have told me personally how much they enjoyed looking at the work and reading about my trips and travails (nothing on the scale of the Lewis and Clark expedition, but I did much of it by myself). Here are a few residuals from the Brattleboro, Vermont exhibit:

 The Commons  published an article by Arlene Distler on the occasion of The River Gallery School of Art expanding into the Main Street-level space and opening the lovely new Gallery 34.

http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=13514&page=1#.VmGxyMoVdRk

I was quite happy being featured in the print and online editions.

Guest Book entries are of great interest to artists and their galleries...and also other exhibit go-ers, I have noticed. I always try to write something favourable when I view someone's artwork. It is helpful to read the artist's statement and/or bio. These can be very enlightening (beyond ?why THAT color?) and may explain what you are looking at.  It is always possible to find the one good aspect to comment on....but that is just who I am. Let's not forget what a brave act sharing our work is....musicians, writers, performers and actors know this and may be more prepared for public sharing than, say naturally reclusive painters and poets. I have never written anything in a guest book so eloquent as this young woman from Bennington did. I love it.

 

Thank you and many Happy Trails to you all.

Gallery 34 Exhibit

 A steady stream of visitors came to the Friday night exhibit opening. It was a fun evening and the 21 chosen state paintings look great on the walls; very accessible for viewing  through the windows on Main Street - a pedestrian-busy sidewalk, night and day. Thanks for all the favorable comments left in the guest book.

these two photos by Michael Poster

Selected works from the Fifty States Plein Air Painting Project are being shown at Gallery 34 in Brattleboro through December 1, 2015. The hours are 9-5:30 weekdays. If the door is locked go upstairs to River Gallery School of Art and someone will let you in. Or you can contact me and I will un-lock the door. 34 Main St, Brattleboro Vermont 802-257-1577.

Exhibit at Gallery 34

photo of Rodrica by Zoe Tilley Poster

During the month of November I am showing some selected works from this Fifty States Project at 34 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Gallery 34 is a new street-level space and I love it.   Hope to see some familiar faces on November 6, Gallery Walk...and by appointment or chance...during the whole month. Let me know if you are planning a trip to my town. 

Alaska!!!

OMG! It really is my fiftieth state painting (and my first trip to our forty-ninth state). Six years 'working' on this project. What fun it has been.

Katchemak Bay, Homer, Alaska

We drove the Kenai peninsula down to Homer and saw the pale turquoise Russian River with many people fishing. We saw glaciers and snow covered mountains, a moose, nesting bald eagles, fields of lupines. We stayed at Land's End Resort on Homer Spit in Kachemak Bay where sea otters played outside our window. It was our 40th wedding anniversary celebration. We spent a great deal of time lounging on the deck watching fishing boats go by. Homer is great. (We like working towns...we live in one - Brattleboro Vermont.)

We took the Denali Star train to Fairbanks... a civilized way to travel. Caught a glimpse of Mt. McKinley through clouds. We loved Fairbanks, too. Especially Just Short of Magic, Alaska Dog Mushing School and Educational Tours. There was no snow, of course, but we got to pet, feed and cuddle 28 Alaskan Husky sled racing dogs and discuss breeding traits; lead, wheel, swing dog positioning, harnessing, different sleds and life at 40 below.... one of the traits mushers breed for is good appetite; you want all dogs to eagerly put their faces in their bowls and eat all of it immediately before it freezes. That dog food fuels the race. Looking for a real Alaskan experience? Go to Eleanor's mushing school this winter and sleep in her Yurt B and B. It is way COOL. She is wonderful.

Our other favorite thing we did in Fairbanks is visit the Museum of the North at University of Alaska. That museum of art, history and culture ranks very high in our list of favorite museums anywhere. It's a beautiful contemporary ice chunk of a building. that gave us a warm welcome. We spent the entire day there and were still reluctant to leave due to the fact that we may not return soon.

We visited Alaska at the summer solstice and especially in Fairbanks it never really got dark. Lots of things were open late and it made for a relaxed day, knowing you wouldn't run out of daylight. There were some zombie fishermen whose dream had come true; fishing round the clock non-stop. They were lugging full coolers of salmon and halibut home to prove it.

Nice to finish this Fifty State Plein Air Painting Project with an Alaska adventure. Now I get it...why people love Alaska. This is what I can say about every state. Now that I have been there and stayed a little bit I see the charm of them all. They unite to form a diverse and beautiful country.

I will be exhibiting selections from the project and I'll let you know where and when. You have seen the whole collection unfold here. Thanks for taking the trip with me.

Washington

A beautiful, perfect Saturday morning on the Columbia River; Port of Camas-Washougal to be specific. What could be better? (well, not having an infected Vermont spider bite on my ear would help..but never mind...who's complaining?) So everyone and their brother, dog, kid is putting boats in the water and unloading fish from boats and really enjoying the start of a great day on the river.

Then something happened that I don't think ever happened to me before; a woman jogged by and stopped to tell me "You picked the most beautiful place around here for your painting. No Kidding, I've been all over the Northwest and this is the prettiest." That was a wonderful thing to say to someone who had been led to that spot by intuition, not experience or referral. Mostly when I am painting some train cars, or neighborhood corner garden passers-by tell me about a really pretty location and suggest I go there to paint. I always say 'I will, thanks'. I have tried not to rely on the state icons for this project. I like to find a scene that appeals to me and make a good picture out of it. It's the regular, every-day things that tie us together as a politically diverse country.

After I had made most of a picture of the Puffin Cafe,  Michael Poster and I walked down to have some "Caribbean Cuisine, Pirate Cookin' and Spirits".  It was very good. We loved the bartender. She may have concocted a potion to banish spider bites and swollen faces. I may not have been the first patron she's seen with a fat ear and red lopsided face...she serves pirates, after all.

Oregon

Portland... the Brooklyn neighborhood to be specific... flower gardens spilling over the curbs, brightly painted homes, studios and vintage vehicles still in daily use; this is the setting for this bright and casually comfortable flower garden. There are thousands of pictures here, but time limited me to only one on this trip... besides there was relaxing to do and a truly inspiring visit to the Portland Japanese Garden, as well as sketching and rose ogling.

The fire-engine red tire swing planted with petunias caught my eye, but when I saw the back garden I realized the tire swing would not fit into my small pastel painting. Regretfully I resigned it to the huge Not Painted but Really Good file in my mind. The homeowner-gardener here used her grey-green house as the perfect backdrop to a garden of many colors... just what I like! I did not meet her, but a neighbor agreed with me about the beauty of this home garden.

My husband, Michael Poster,  who accompanied me on this trip to the Northwest, really enjoyed walking with his camera while I painted. For a self-professed travel hater, he sure seemed to be having a very good time in Portland. We stayed at the Best Western Pony Soldier...spotless, friendly, top notch, sparkling pool, great beds... and ate at Pono Farm's Soul Kitchen on Sandy Blvd. NE... which was outstanding!

Five days in Portland is never enough... but it did give me time to drive across the border and capture my Washington State Painting... coming soon.

photo Michael Poster

photo Michael Poster

Utah

My rock-climbing son-in-law tipped me off to Kolob Canyon, a group of finger canyons in the less frequented NW corner of Zion NP. A crisp Sunday morning with fresh snow coating on the peaks found me up early trying to make a special painting out of breathtaking scenery. I spent about 6 hours on three paintings there. This is my last and favorite. When my shoulder started hurting I was finally able to stop painting. This one was done about 6000 ft above sea level.

The wildlife I saw on this great spring trip to Mojave (the smallest and driest of US deserts) was numerous: birds which I could mostly not identify except for jays, wild turkeys, blue herons, roadrunners and black chinned hummingbirds. Mule deer, desert cottontail, black tailed jackrabbit, amargossa pupfish, the aforementioned kit fox in Death Valley and red racer in Las Vegas. I saw some other unidentified wild life in Vegas, too.

Nevada

Nevada had been a challenge; wind, wind and more wind, which, of course brings dust in the eyes as well as a vigorously shaking easel. Stubbornness and sheer resolve urged me to set up my easel early one morning on a mesa

above the Virgin River Valley.  Hanging on to my painting and easel with one hand and trying to hit a moving object with the right color in the right place led to a rather abstract little landscape.

I love the complimentary colors of the bright green irrigated hay fields against the red dirt and rocks.

Cattle are scarce this trip to the southwest. Drought has sent them to market, I guess. The next ones won't be so affordable?

Back in Las Vegas with a few hours to kill I found Springs Preserve Botanical Garden . The garden is free. The museum and native animal exhibits have a fee. IMHO, it is the best thing in Las Vegas, since the art museum closed, although there is still Cirque du Soleil. So I was quietly sitting on a bench sketching the cacti when I saw a slithering 40" pink snake moving slowly and directly from one cactus raised bed to the next one. Sorry, I don't have a photo. It obviously did not see me. We were close! It was identified for me by the education center as a Western Coach Whip (commonly known as Red Racer). Pretty.

California

The April day that I arrived in Death Valley National Park the temperature at the Visitors Center was 93(F).  The dry hot wind was a balm to my thoroughly disgusted self after the winter that would not quit here in Vermont. In this vast other-worldly place I took my cue from the map and headed out to Artists' Drive and the many-colored rock walls. I looked and looked and chose my location to face into the setting sun as opposed to the lit up walls...beautiful, but not as interesting to me as this backlit view of mountains, rock and dry little bushes. 

 

I dawdled over packing up. The road was empty now and the silence of Death Valley mesmerizing. A true desert lover I wanted to be alone as night fell over my little moonscape. Finally, I slowly started my car on the return to the lodge. Almost immediately I startled a kit fox. She/he dove back into the den. What a lucky glimpse of a shy little animal. 

That is not the only time silent stillness paid off on my Eight Days in the Mojave Desert tour.

This is a 9x12 pastel painting and is for sale...like all the others not marked otherwise.

Louisiana

I found these three colourful "fish camps" in Grand Isle, Louisiana...about as far  as you can go south of New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico coast; indigenous architecture. A quiet, peaceful respite from the Big Easy.

100% plein air...might tidy it up a bit, now that I'm away from biting flying beach bugs.

 We had hardly been there 5 minutes before I met the local cops...yes, I know I was speeding...38 in a 25 mph zone...hard to keep track of the sudden and unpredictable sign changes...but it is a good way for me to meet some locals and (them to ascertain that my daughter and I were not new criminals in town)....no ticket...just a friendly welcome to Grand Isle, after running some checks on us and our gray rental car whose registration said it was red. They got us turned around in the correct direction to our hotel, which the GPS was heading us away from when they pulled us over.

We decided this outpost (and site of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion and gigantic spill) was full of friendly folks. We did some nature trails, birdwatching and ran on back to New Orleans where we saw many wonderful things one could paint if one were not enjoying the gumbo, music, cocktails, singing, art, trombone playing, seafood, walking and handsome guitar players so very much. That easy southern life-style is catching. It sure was great to warm up for a week!

My 44th state...in the bag!

Michigan

Lake Huron tried to thwart my progress, but I did not end up at the bottom of it like so many before me (mostly boatmen...no plein air painters, that I know of). I kept my feet firmly planted on the shoreline and my eyes on the soggy wet skies in hopes of seeing a patch of blue. I saw all manner of threatening grey/black clouds. I saw rain driven sideways. I saw lawn furniture becoming airborne...and finally I saw a peep of blue. After a long morning of looking, driving, drinking coffee and trying to be patient, I knew just where there was a large beach pavilion with stone piers perfect for lashing my easel to. Yes, bungi cords of several lengths are a crucial part of my plein air gear. I chose the smallest board I had (8x10) because in those winds I did not want to be hoisting large sail.

Much to my surprise, as well as that of the three other people crazy enough to be on the beach that afternoon I was able to make an energetic little pastel painting. This is what I love about plein air painting; challenges met and spontaneous paintings-of-the-moment! Did I say it was barely 50 degrees and that it continued to rain sporadically, but thoroughly, all day? Oh yes, there was the 1200 miles driven, too. It was a great trip...this kind of exciting stuff rarely happens to me at home.

Flexibility is an important tool to pack in the plein air kit. Patience would come in handy, too, but I'm always losing the darn thing...it's so small.

Kansas

 

Jefferson County is where I finally found the cattle I'd been looking for. Really hot, they'd been fed and now they were headed for the watering hole. I'd never seen cows wading up to their eyes before, but, as I've said the temps were broiling hot and I was wishing for water up to my eyes, too. I had a great hour and a half working on this painting - I was in the shade. Different beefers would come up to the fence to investigate me. Satisfied that I was not bringing food or harm they would watch with those great brown eyes and then, bored, go off for more swimming, eating and mooing. I was thoroughly entertained by them. So, don't tell me there is nothing in Kansas. I am easily entertained by stock, clouds and huge open expanses.

This is the last of the Seven HOT Mid West States Trip. Not everyone thinks driving around the mid west is fun, but I do. Only eight states to go. I think I'll get on I 90  west soon for a couple days and paint something in Michigan, but I'm saving Louisiana for cooler weather. After those it's all West Coast, Nevada, Utah and Alaska. With any luck that will be in 2014.

All paintings unless marked sold are available for purchase by contacting me. 
rtilley(at)rodricatilley(dot)com

Oklahoma

Vinita, Oklahoma gave me the biggest challenge yet. The main street is a wide boulevard typical of Western cities. Early Saturday morning it was just me setting up my easel by the curb and the guy hosing down my main subject...this sparkling brick 5 story monolith. It wasn't long until trucks were rumbling past regularly. Their trailers carried hay, grain, poultry, cattle, hogs, goats, horses and equipment.   I was aware of the smells and sounds as they breezed by and now I know that goats do not go quietly like the other cargo. Two hours of that and It was becoming hard to concentrate so I pulled up stakes and hit the road myself, less than delighted with my choice of subject and it's execution. I knew I had most of a painting and it could be tinkered with back in the quiet of studio. The paper held the essence of morning light, at least. That is why we love plein air painting...it's authenticity and freshness.

Vinita is a rodeo town on the professional circuit; once a year there is a four day event at the rodeo grounds right across the street from my hotel, but not the weekend I was there. Too bad. I'd like to paint a cowboy portrait. I suppose some of the ropers and riders leave Vinita feeling a little defeated, too. At least I wasn't sore and broken.

Illinois

Searching for far too long for a compelling scene I finally settled on this one somewhere south of Nauvoo along the Mississippi River. Man, was it getting hot! This place had shade, not like the drifts of wildflowers right along the broiling river bank that are still calling to me. Next time. 

Three cedars 9 x 12 pastel on paper

Iowa

Windmills! I did not realize how loud these big ones can be...but who's to hear? While I was painting this picture a handsome farmer with two little boys stopped his truck so as "not to spray me with dust" (as the previous 20 vehicles had all ready done).  I guess those white gravel roads are limestone? All vehicles, even the ones going less than 50mph leave huge white plumes blowing behind them which you can see for miles. He also invited me to drive up a dirt track on his land, to get closer to the windmills, which I did, later after packing up my painting. They are truly huge. I fear I did not successfully convey their size in my small painting. The small water pumping windmill offers some scale...but all in all proportion and scale were a problem in this painting. Challenges are what this project is all about. I like that the windmills are grey and do blend in with the sky at times in a surprising way.

Nebraska

I arrived in Falls City on a sleepy,  steamy Sunday afternoon.  I ate some ice cream and drove around the streets looking for something to make a picture of. A hundred or so years ago this little house was someone's prairie dream home. I loved the light and the two peaked gables...and even the satellite dish.

Between 1979 and 2000 I did 630 commissioned house portraits. Now I rarely choose to do a house (never on commission) but when I do, I still wonder and imagine the lives of the people who have lived in those houses, planted those lilacs and apple trees, raised their kids and come home after work.

I pack pre-cut sheets of sanded pastel papers when I travel by airplane. I am limited to a 9 x 12 format, which is really stretching my comfort zone. I usually work 11 x 14,  or larger,  in the field. My 9 x 12 Guerilla Box is self-contained and is carried on the plane as I do not like to have my finished pastels out of sight. I guess most of us travelers have arrived without our checked luggage. Clean clothes I can do without...not my art supplies. I put the tripod necessary to support the Guerilla Box in my checked bag, knowing that I can use the rental car trunk lid or picnic table if that goes missing. I pack a lightweight linen cover up smock and then by removing that, dusting off and scrubbing my hands I am ready for an art museum (not a white tablecloth restaurant).

Arkansas

A good night's sleep and a walk around the neighborhood of my motel in Rogers, Arkansas, I found my next subject....sometimes it pays to peer over hedges. I usually have to work a little harder than that to find a compelling scene, but I could not pass up this piece of shiny clean equipment...(is fire engine red emerging as a theme on this trip?) As far as equipment yard/garages go this one was well cared for. I am calling this machine a crane...more red sections were lying out of view...please inform me if that is not what it is. 

The temperature was pushing 90 at 9am so I drove to Bentonville...home of Walmart and Crystal Bridges; Museum of American Art. I spent the entire day inside soaking up the art. It was too hot to explore the lovely landscaped grounds and trails. The architecture alone is worth the trip...thanks to Moshe Safdie.  I loved the special exhibit Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in 19th Century American Art organized by the Newark Museum. And women painters and sculptors were generally well represented in this museum's collection of American art...it's not often you get to see 2! Grace Hartigans  (anywhere, let alone the Ozarks). This was a breath of fresh air to an old feminist who has been counting heads for decades (gender and race) on the walls and pedestals of public art collections.Alice Walton has brought a beautiful art museum to middle America...and it's free. (special exhibitions entry is $5)

Missouri

In celebration of my wonderful new knee* I spent nine days covering 1400 miles of the midwestern United States. When I left home in New England with an airline ticket and a rental car reservation I knew there was a possibility of painting in seven states. I also knew everything would have to fall in place perfectly for that to happen. It was raining when I picked up my snazzy little screaming red Fiesta so Avis gave me a big umbrella to use and return with the car. That must have been the lucky charm. I never saw another drop of rain for nine days. I spent the afternoon at the St. Louis Art Museum and checked out downtown a bit for prospective painting sites.

When in doubt, do the waterfront; early morning found me trying to be inconspicuous in a sparsely populated derelict neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi River.  But I loved the view of layers of urban architectural history including the famous Gateway Arch. It was good enough for Lewis & Clark to start their monumental voyage of discovery there, it was good enough for me to start my little sojourn as well. 

Reasonably happy with the morning's results I pulled my "stealth! brightest red on earth" Fiesta out of the bushes where I had attempted to hide her (and all my valuables) and I put in my longest day of driving to Rogers, Arkansas due south west.

 9 x 12  soft pastel on coated paper 

*I had a total right knee replacement on February 25th and wish I had done it way sooner. So if any of you are contemplating this surgery, I encourage you, "Do it". Once you've survived the first month of hell things start looking up and at my age the months do sort of fly by...before you know it you'll be doing stuff you haven't done lately. I must thank my All-Star Cast of supporters ( husband and family, surgeon, nurses, physical therapist, doctor of accupuncture and chinese medicine, massage therapist and my friends) for my complete and speedy recovery. YES! (oops, forgot all the rest of you taxpayers for medicare)....thank you...I mean to use it well.