Paintings From The Tug Hill area of NY

The Tug Hill area of New York State rises only 2000 feet at it highest point, but offers views of the western edge of the Adirondack Mountains and the Black River Valley with its rolling hills and farmland. Because of it's location just east of  Lake Ontario it get a large lake effect snowfall averaging 200 inches yearly. This is the highest lake effect snow fall anywhere in the northeast United States so it attracts snowmobiles and cross country skiers. The Tug Hill area covers portions of  four upstate New York  counties: Jefferson (my home but out of the boundaries), Lewis, Oneida and Oswego, defined in New York State law as encompassing 41 towns, with a total area of about 2,100 square miles (5,400 square kilometers). Other definitions range from 235 square miles to 800 square miles. Three towns included in my painting are so far are Watertown (Jefferson County), Lowville and Martinsburg (Lewis County). The paintings in this blog were inspired by the latter two areas.

Field of Golden Rod 14 x 24 inches oil studio

This studio painting was inspired by photos  I took on Corrigan Hill road. The road skirts the northern boundary of Whetstone Gulf State Park. From this point on the road a great view east of the Black River Valley is  also visible.  The road leads to the north ridge and south ridge trails along the gorge in  Whetstone Gulf Park, which I was on my way to for scouting out  views of the gorge in the park.

Whetstone Gulf State Park  Stream  9 x 12 oil plein air

Painted in mid September 2015  as one of our scheduled  Plein Air painters Thousand Islands Region (PAPTIR) paint outs.
Five participants of the group were in attendance. The bridge in the center left of the painting leads to a picnic area with a number of  curving and rocky stream scenes for future painting.

Whetstone Gulf State Park Gorge 24 inches by 36 inches oil studio

On a subsequent visit to Whetstone Gulf Park in October  2014, I hiked in with a painting buddy for about twenty five minutes over a rooted and rocky undulating trail  to this viewpoint of  the three mile long  gorge. Park literature describes it as one of  the most scenic vistas east of the Rock Mountains.  I did a plein air painting 11 x 14 inches of the view but it  was  only good enough for  a color reference along with photos to do this studio painting. Staring at the gorge for 3 hours while painting en plein air  embedded images in my memory which were not  really visible in the photos and were incorporated in the studio painting.

Amish Farm with  Plow and buggy horses 14 x 24 inches oil studio

Amish Farm Draft Horses 8 x 10 inch oil studio

This is a expanded version of the horse detail in the painting above.  The farm is on West Road, near Martinsburg. West Road is one way to approach  (or leave) Whetstone Gulf State Park when utilizing Route 12 to travel from or to the Watertown area and points north.  I stopped to take the photos to this and the farm painting below on my first visit to Whetstone Gulf State Park. More information and sale prices on these and other paintings can be found on my website at:
robert-p-hedden.artistwebsites.com

Paintings From The Adirondack Preserve NY

Painted en plein air on the way back from Old Forge NY where I picked up a painting I had in a show at THE VIEW. This section of the Moose River is about half way between McKeever NY and Port Leyden NY on Moose River Road, at the southern end of the Adirondack Preserve. The water level was high from recent rains and a deep green color in the shadowed area.. To get this view I had to sit on the bank of the river on a 45 degree slope on exposed tree roots. I used a piece of cardboard and a rain poncho to make a cushion. The dense thee foliage to my back shaded the canvas and made it hard to judge the values on the canvas. At one point I was greeted from behind by a father (Rochester NY) with his teenage daughter and her girl friend from Charlotte NC. They were on an excursion from their cabin a few miles away. He commented on the depth and speed of the water versus last year when they swam out to the rocks.

Moose River Rapids, Adirondacks 11 x 14 inch oil on panel

Painting The Amalfi Coast, Maiori Italy

Collegiate di Santa Maria a Mare

Maiori, was our home base for touring the Amalfi Coast of Italy form April 10 to 22, 2015. The above painting of the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Sea  is the back view as it sits on the edge of a cliff. I did a complete en plein air  pretty much as shown, but repainted on top of it back home in the studio to correct architectural features. I was standing on the edge of a bank's  hot asphalt parking lot off a side street on a warm day. The clock shows 1:20 pm (1320 European time). I also had a 

steady pain in my head and right side of my face (3 on a scale of 10) all day, perhaps related to my intermittent occurrences of trigeminal neuralgia.  It took a while to find this view. My first attempt a few days earlier I approached the church from a side street that led me up 200 steps to the right of the clock tower. Then when I  got to the front of the church I walked down the road used by the public to access it. I turned  around every now and then to check the view without luck.  Finally the road curved and  I came upon a soccer stadium for kids (maybe age 8 to 10). I could see that there would be a good view from the bleachers but the gate was locked.  After all that hiking pulling my painting equipment cart I was not giving up. I found an entrance door to the office section where there was a woman and man attendant (maybe in their 50's). They did not speak any English so I took out a canvas and paint brush and said I wanted to paint the Collegiate. The man made a phone call to someone in authority who spoke English and handed the phone to me. After explaining my objective  I gave the phone back to the attendant and he got the OK to let me in. Let me say that through the entire trip I found the locals to be very helpful  and interested. My wife and daughter have  a few favorably stories  about friendliness also. About  an hour into the painting  the kids showed up for practice (that's another story) along with parents and relatives who sat in the bleachers.  While I was a curiosity only a couple kids came over to peek. That painting was not a success. Even the best plein air artists who write the books state that only four out of five make it to the frame, the rest are used for reference for studio paintings. I saw the above view in a 1 inch  square photo in a brochure and was able to deduce  the location which turned out to be right in front of the little hardware store some locals walked me to when I was asking where I could purchase odorless mineral spirits. The very first day in Maiori, without having mineral spirits (airline restrictions) to clean the fast drying alkyd oils from my brush, I painted with watercolors. Below is my first painting of a small church  in Maiori and a pen and ink wash of a large home on top of a cliff above the main road SS163.

Church in Maiori
This church had no name on Google maps but it appears on the map to be attached to a rectangular structure ( on the left) with a central court yard area, perhaps a convent or school.

The structure (mansion) on the cliff is at the east end of Maiori  and  is also not identified on Google Maps, but Google has some great photos. Normally all churches and hotels are identified on Google maps. I sat on a bench at the end of the beach promenade in a nice shady spot and did the pen and ink drawing followed by a watercolor wash.  The main road along the Amalfi Coast (SS163), the road with a 1000 curves, can be seen rising at about a 15 degree angle. There is a traffic light at the bottom of this section and one at the top as traffic on this section is one way because  it is so narrow. This is the only traffic light  from the beginning of the coastal road near Salerno , all the way to Positrano, and perhaps further but we did not travel past Positranio by bus. While painting an Italian couple (upscale) from Rome stopped to see my painting. He spoke English but she did not appear to. He  took out his smart phone and proceeded to show me all his abstract watercolor paintings which were pretty good. It was only a hobby he said. I guess he was still employed. My trigeminal neuralgia was knocking the right side of my face at about a level 7 out of 10 and I was doing this because  I  was unfamiliar with the door lock on the apartment and could not let myself in. My wife and daughter had hopped the bus to Amalfi on this first day in Maiori.

Painting on Capri Italy, Amalfi Coast

Marina Grande Capri (16x20 inches oil)

Not much time left for painting on Capri when you consider the bus ride from Maiori to Amalfi where  you take the ferry to the island of Capri. The jet ferry takes and hour (20 euro each way), the bus trip to Amalfi 20 minutes, and add waiting time for the bus and ferry. Then on arrival at Marina Grande you walk a few hundred meters to purchase tickets for the funicular to get up the cliff, and also wait your turn to get on it. Ferries arrive from Sorrento, Naples and Amalfi, which increases the queues. You then have to know where the painting sights that  interest you are and walk or take a bus. First you are a little hungry and dry, so you need to find some pastry and coffee or  maybe a gelato. In our case we wandered down one road that led to the service industries for the Island. The good part of that was finding a hardware store and  purchasing a hex head wrench to tighten up the steering mechanism on my daughters 4 wheel scooter (for someone with a broken ankle and a cast on their leg). Having been there in 2005, I knew I wanted to head toward the Gardens of Augustus, a 15 minute walk from where you get off the funicular. Another good painting spot is in the islands second village, Anacapri (by bus) and pay a modest entry fee into Villa San Michele. This was the onetime home of Axel Muthe (1857-1949), a Swedish physician and author of the best selling "Story of San Michele (1929). I read the book for my 2005 trip. I recall it was translated into 38 different languages. Capri has long been a retreat for emperors, artists, writers, and the international jet set and today gets hordes of day-trippers.
The above painting ( circa 2010) was based on my 2005 trip to Capri, as  one stop on a tour of Italy.
At that time I also did a watercolor study of the cliff view from Gardens of Augustus and a remembrance sketch while waiting for lunch to be served. Both appear below.

Watercolor study, Cliffs from Garden of Augustus

Remembrance Sketch

Below is  my 2010 watercolor study from the Gardens of Augustus. The sail boat happened by at just the right moment for me to size it. Also shown is  a photo, courtesy of my daughter, of a jet setter (?), documenting in a movie me as part of her vacation  visit to Capri. I was engrossed and while aware of the presence of onlookers  in my peripheral vision I rarely look up unless they speak to me. I have lots of inspirational photos for some studio paintings.

From the Gardens of Augustus

Becoming a movie  for someones vacation

A long movie.

Painting Italy's Amalfi Coast, Villa Rufolo in Ravello

 At Villa Rofolo, Ravello Italy

I en plein air painted at the Villa Rufolo in the town of Ravello on Italy's Amalfi Coast. It was a misty day when I started the painting but cleared by the time  I finished. At that point I recognized the Town of Maiori below, where we had rented an apartment for our 12 day stay. The  Umbrella Pine tree and  twin towers were my main interest and a variety of views of this scene can be found on postcards and in travel media. A large group of teen students entered the Villa at the same time as I did (as well as many other tourists).  A group of six or so boys, ages 13 to 14 decided to sit on a shaded concrete bench six feet from my easel and were very talkative. They left after 20 minutes but came back a half hour later, still talkative. One who spoke English was very inquisitive and like the kids surrounding me when I painted the Salerno Duomo, wanted to know where I was from, how much the painting would cost, and so on.  Below is the finished painting. The  13th century Villa and  it's 11th century cathedral  is one of two villas that the town is famous for. It hosted  guests that included popes and emperors.

My finished painting 11x14 inches oil on canvas

The umbrella pine tree also known as a stone pine, is native to the Mediterranean region. It produces an edible pine nut and evidence indicates they have been cultivated for their nuts for  6000 years. The trees are typically 12-20 meters (39-66 feet)  but can reach 25 meters or 82 feet. This was an older tree as the reddish bark had turned dark.
The bus ride from Maiori to Amalfi takes about twenty minutes and just before Amalfi we got off to wait for a bus to take up the hill to Ravello. My wife and daughter  are pictured at the stop. I was checking the posted bus schedule and said  out loud " I wonder when the next bus will come"? A gentleman nearby said about an hour. He was fibbing,  as I later noticed him standing next to his taxi.
For years I have been a subscriber to International Artist Magazine and receive a brochure on their artist/instructor  led travel/paint  trips. I always wanted to take one, so I modeled our trip after one they offered, including the time of year. However we spent all 12 days on the Amalfi Coast, rather than going to Sicily for the last 6 days. The magazine sponsored trip included some tours that would reduce my painting time and I did not want to paint totally in watercolor. The point in mentioning this is  that after I was painting the above scene for an hour or so, I looked down at the observation level below me and  the organized group had appeared. See picture below. When I  had packed up they were finishing what was quite a short visit. One of the participating gentlemen saw me and introduced himself a one of as group of Australians taking a painting trip. At that point the instructor passed by and I got an introduction as someone who had read about him. I added up the total cost for the three of us for our trip and it was about $500 more than I alone would have spent for the guided trip.

Wife and daughter waiting for the bus.

A formal instructor led painting group.

Painting the Norman Tower (Torre Normanna), Amalfi Coast, Italy

Norman Tower, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Painted en plein air on my April 2015 trip to Italy's Amalfi Coast. The Norman Tower is the biggest and oldest of the rectangular style towers  built as a defense for 800 years of struggle with Saracen bloody raids from the sea. Built around 1250 to 1300, it is one of thirty along the coast. Currently houses a restaurant and meeting facilities.

This scene  was a 10 minute walk from our apartment in Maiori.  I set my easel up on the side walk under tree but was still in the sun. Ten feet to my right was a restaurant/caterer  so this idealistic scene  was accompanied by the odor of cooking food from the kitchen fan. Soon there was a delivery truck with a  load of fresh fish. Next the orange suited street sweeper came along with his long handled dust pan and a twig broom to remove all of yesterdays cigarette butts. There are lots of Italian smokers and they use the sidewalk as ash trays. Over our stay I noticed this  and other cleanup provided a lot of employment and kept the beauty of the region. After that a noisy garbage truck backed in to the curb with it's bumper one foot from my left leg. The odor of  garbage in the truck and the containers being emptied from the restaurant filled my nostrils. Still the scene was  engaging. The slanted wall to the left  supports  the highway of a 1000 curves, SS163, and one can walk along the side of it to reach the Tower. I could have painted the scene from a lower perspective on the beach in a more environmentally friendly spot but the small wheels on my equipment cart were tiny and would hang up in the fine grey sand and pebbles that compose the beach. (Guess I could have carried it). I looked up to see the smiling face of our landlord. He was wearing a heavy black overcoat ( I thought dressed for Sunday) and it was in the 60's Fahrenheit. When I asked about it he said he was riding his motor cycle and needed it. He knew I was an artist so I was easy to spot when he passed by and he wanted to see if things were fine with our rental facilities.
By now it was near 1 PM and  people who looked like they were part of a wedding party were standing in the vicinity. Ten minutes later a limo parked some 50 feet up to the left and soon there was a bride and groom in the scene. I may not be the best age guesser but she looked about 20 and  he looked about 40. She wore a beautiful white maternity wedding gown and he a tux. So i guess they have weddings on Sunday in Italy.
Here is a pic of the paved walk/park area along the entire Maiori  beach front. Maiori has the longest beach on the Amalfi Coast. Way in the distance is my wife and daughter, identifiable by the raised four wheel scooter my daughter used to be rapidly mobile with in spite of  her broken ankle (3 weeks before the trip), Separate close of her on the scooter. More about the advantages of traveling with someone handicapped in later posts.

Has brakes  good for the sttep down slopes of the Amalfi Coast

Maiori Beach Promenade 

 

Painting The Amalfi Coast of Italy-Fishing Boats at Cetara

      In April of 2015 I spent eleven days painting on the  Amalfi Coast of Italy, based in the town of Maiori.  It is centrally located as far as traveling east on the peninsula as far as Positano or west to Salerno by bus. The bus company "Sita"  stop was a couple hundred meters from our apartment, including the 100 meters our apartment was  set back from the main road, enough to subdue the sounds of traffic, yet provide a peekaboo view of the waterfront from the terrace. The road along the cost is SS163 and is known as the road of 1000 curves as it hugs the steep coastline. The bus blows its horn around every curve and traffic from the opposite direction often has to back up so the bus can squeeze by. While this common event was taking place the motorcycle traffic would  zoom around the bus and squeeze through the  small opening between the bus front and the cars in reverse. Bus fare was 1.2 euro each way for any distance, and the town of Amalfi (20 minute ride east from Maiori) was a transfer point to get a bus to Positano (the last town directly on the coast) or to the much farther package tour city of Sorrento. Amalfi also was the  boarding point for the jet ferry boat trips to the Isle of Capri or Isle  d'Ischia (20 euro each way and an hour each way-last ferry back 5 pm).
      On the second Sunday of our stay we went to the fishing village of Cetara, which is west, about half the way to Salerno, the latter being the  capital of the the province of Campania. We were in the hallway to the elevator on our 3rd floor  and out came our rental landlord with a box of pastries  with the sign, "Have a happy Sunday".  He is a Computer Science Professor at the University in Salerno and was on his way there so he offered a ride to Cetara when he heard that was our destination for the day. That saved us the wait for the bus and  the conversation  on way provided more local knowledge,

Modeling at Cetara

      My painting for the day was some of the fishing boats. A funny thing happened while painting. At one point I looked up and saw a photo shoot  a few yards down the dock. Earlier I had the noise of a photographer who apparently solicited visiting couples to purchase a photo shoot. He had three different couples while I was there, and was a very noisy when shouting acrobatic poses for the couples to assume. But this shoot looked like an aspiring model (or perhaps an established one), with  a full camera crew. After the two photos shown I got back to being absorbed with my painting and lost track of the model shoot. Then I felt a presence near the easel and looked up to see the couple standing by my easel. So I was now part of the backdrop. If you happen to see me in an Italian copy of Vogue, you will know the story.

Modeling at Cetara 2

Cetara Fishing Boats, 11 x 14 inches oil on canvas