"Under the Dome"

"The Tippecanoe Courthouse at Dusk",  Oil on canvas, 20" x 16", sold

For the last two months, a major focus of my oil painting has been the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, IN.   This is because the Indiana Bar Association in Indianapolis is building a collection of paintings representing all the 92 county courthouses in Indiana.  At the beginning of this year, the Tippecanoe Bar Assoc. sponsored a competition titled "under the Dome" to choose a painting that will represent the Tippecanoe Co. Courthouse.  The judging occurred at the beginning of April.  The painting above was my first attempt to represent this complicated architectural style.  It represents the corner of the building and the second floor because I wanted to feature the dome in this view.  Although only one painting would be chosen as the winner of the contest, all the paintings were for sale and are on display for the month of May in the courthouse.  A third of the selling price was a fund raiser for CASA for Kids and the Tippecanoe Co. Legal Aid Corp.

"The Marquis de Lafayette", Oil on canvas, 20" x 16", sold

On March 6th, nature dumped on us with a big, beautiful, wet snow.  I'd already finished two paintings of the courthouse, but this statue of Lafayette on the corner of the building's grounds was stunning!  Normally in the winter with no water in the fountain, it is drab and nothing to look at, but not on this day!  What fun I had painting it!!  

"Tippecanoe Courthouse from Columbia Street", Oil on Canvas, 24"x 18", Winner, Sold

After I successfully completed the first painting of the courthouse, I felt I could tackle the entire building from Columbia Street with a larger canvas.   Just the second floor and dome would not do for the official representation for the Indiana Bar Association's collection.  This was the third courthouse for Tippecanoe county, built in 1880, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  I was thrilled to be the winner, receive  the $1000 purchase prize, and have the honor of having my painting be permanently installed at the Indiana Bar Association's Headquarters in the Capitol Building in Indianapolis. 

Patti Truitt, the President of the Tippecanoe Bar Association congratulates me with the winning painting.  

This event was very challenging for me as it was the first time I had painted an architectural portrait.  Competitions like this push an artist way out of her comfort zone and offer a major learning experience.  I enjoyed it very much.  If you'd like to see these and other paintings on my web site, here is the link:   www.kathrynclarkfineart.com, and please forward this to others who may be interested.   Thank you for viewing this blog. 

The First Blush of Spring

"The Falls of New Harmony Pond",  9"x 12" on canvas panel  $550

Field study for "New Harmony Pond"

As the weather finally gets a little warmer, and the snowdrops start blooming, painters begin to get an itch to leave their studios and paint in the fresh air of nature.  The first outdoor painting event for the Indiana Plein Air Painters is always a great one down in the tip of the boot of Indiana at New Harmony.  It takes place from April 18--20th and includes prizes for the painters and a large SALE of paintings for collectors and the general public.  Over a hundred painters from all over the Midwest participate.  Please join us!

One of the events is the "Field to Finish" in which artists paint a small field study during the three day event, not bigger than 12" in the longest direction.  Then, during the year, we paint a larger "finished" studio painting.  Both the field study and the finished painting are exhibited at the next April paint-out, called The First Blush of Spring.  That exhibit at the New Harmony Hoosier Salon is juried for prizes.  Last year my paintings were the judges favorites, so we'll see how these two do this year.  Here is my finished studio painting of the pond.

"New Harmony Pond", 18" x 24", oil on linen canvas, $1900

Let me encourage you to join us this year.  People are welcome to wander and look over the shoulders of dozens of painters, ask us questions, and snap up a painting off someone's easel or attend the painting sale in which we bring both studio and plein air framed paintings.   There's delicious meals at the Red Geranium and other local restaurants.  If you'd like more information on the event and accommodations, call Maggie Rapp at the Hoosier Salon  New Harmony Gallery,  812-682-3970,  hoosiersalon@sbcglobal.net,  507 Church Street, New Harmony, IN 47631.

If you'd like to see more of my paintings and drawings, just go to www.kathrynclarkfineart.com  As you know, I always like to hear from you.  Please pass this blog on to friends, and thank you again for your interest.  

The Holiday's Here and Time for Reflection

Now that the Holidays are almost here, it seems like a good time to reflect on this past year and to show you the paintings I've completed since October.  After a wonderful year full of travel and plein air painting in New Harmony, IN, Winter Park, CO, at the Dunes of Lake Michigan, by Lake Wawasee in mid-north IN, and at the Brookville home of T.C.Steele.  Now I find the cozy fire in my studio wood stove a delight and am enjoying settling down to dig into some larger paintings.  This is the first one larger than 11"x 14" which was completed this week. 

"River Bend"  16"x 20", Oil on linen canvas, $950

As a warm up for studio work, I painted another interpretation of my neighbor's apple tree for which I used a photo reference from last summer.  

"Apple Tree IV"  14" x 11", Oil in linen canvas panel,  $650

Thinking backwards, before I got back into my studio for the winter, my husband, Howie, and I had a great time at the IPAPA Brookville, IN Paint-Out in southwestern Indiana.  Of course Howie had his guitar and banjo with him.  Two of the famous artists in the Indiana Hoosier Group, T.C.Steele and Otis Adams shared a large home in Brookville with their families, dividing the house in half with a large studio for each painter at the far ends. It's now a bed and breakfast with many of the original artifacts and furniture so we love to stay there.  This year the weather was cold and rainy which could have been a bummer, but after painting outside the first chilly day, all the artists staying in the house painted in Otis Adams big studio the second day for a very fun time.  It felt like we were back in 1910.

(You can't find me because I'm taking the photo)

 The third day, I painted with some friends in Metamora, a beautiful, historic village with a canal going straight through the middle of it, an important transportation route with locks and all.  This is a Quaker Church in a line with many other buildings that front on the canal. 

"Along the Canal in Metamora"  11" x 14", Oil on canvas panel, $550

After returning from Brookville, I did get into my studio to paint two works from photo references taken this past summer.  One is of lilies in my garden with the intense shadow from Arborvitaes behind them.

 "Garden Lilies"  11" x 14", Oil on canvas panel,  $650

The other painting is from an encounter with a fisherman when I was out taking photos of landscapes.  He walked by with his days catch in a bucket.  I asked if he would hold the fish up for me.

"Catch on a Muddy Creek"  14" x 11", Oil on canvas panel, $650

I hope this isn't stimulus overload.  I haven't been keeping the blogs up with my rate of painting.  Correcting that sounds like a good New Year's Resolution.  Thank you for all your comments sent this past year, and if you have anything to say about all this, please do.  I appreciate it all and trust that you'll have a happy holiday. If you'd like to see more paintings, my we site is www.kathrynclarkfineart.com Until next year, thank you for viewing my art.  

Windy Dunes on the Inland Ocean

"Windy Dunes" 9" x 12", oil on canvas board, $350

In Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, we say we have an inland ocean because the expanse of the waters of the Great Lakes is so vast.  Having lived on the coast of California, I can attest to the similarity of the two.  Indiana just gets the tip of Lake Michigan, but we love and appreciate every bit of it. One of the most beautiful and compelling aspects of the lake is the mountains of dunes.  In early September, I spent three days painting plein air there with two friends and staying at another friends beach house in Beverly Shores, IN.  The first painting above was painted the first afternoon as the sun was beginning to set.  I just fell in love with the color of the sand as the setting sun was reflected on it.

"West Beach Dunes", 9" x 12", oil on canvas board, $350

The next day, the wind picked up even more and a small storm was beginning to blow in from the lake/ocean.  We found protection behind these dunes with the water some ways off on the other side. 

"Dunes in the Shade", 9"x 12", oil on canvas board,$350

The storm blew through that night, and the next day it was hot and beautiful.  Standing in the shade of the trees along the shore, the breeze was so delightful I wanted to stay another day or two, but we had to get home.  It's been fun to schlep my painting gear to Colorado and the National Lake Shore of Indiana.  The fall is always beautiful in Indiana so I'm looking forward to painting nature's colorful pallet in the hills of southern Indiana in Brookville next.  

Thank you so much for your e-mails.  It's great to hear from you.  If you'd like to see all my paintings, just go to my web site www.kathrynclarkfineart.com.  and feel free to forward this to anyone you think might like to see it.  Thank you for viewing my art.

Painting near the Continental Divide in Colorado

"Headwaters of the Colorado",  plein air 9" x 12", oil on canvas panel, $350

September 5th, a friend and I flew to Winter Park, Colorado to paint the inspiring mountain landscapes there and in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  I hadn't seen the Rocky Mountains in many, many years.  We had planned  four days of painting, hopefully two plein air paintings per day.  We might have met that challenge except for the great time spent with two painter friends on two of those marvelous days.  Even with spending many hours driving through such beautiful country, I did manage to paint six plein air studies.   Being an Indiana sea-level, prairie, farm, and woodland person, I was constantly saying "Wow!! look at that!!", the color of the mountains, cliffs, sky, sunset, aspens, pine forests, and streams.  It was so exciting!

It's a very fun challenge to paint an unfamiliar landscape.  Every time a new white canvas panel was placed on my little plein air easel, I was curious to see what might appear on it.   Here are the results:

"Colorado Lake View", plein air 6"x 8", oil on canvas panel, $100

"Aspen Hills", plein air 9" x 12", oil on canvas panel, $350

"Byers Canyon", plein air 12" x 9", oil on canvas panel, $350

"Willow Creek Valley", plein air 9" x 12", oil on canvas panel,  $350

You may have noticed that I said I painted six panels, but I only have five here.  Actually, I must confess that the one of the rocky stream you see me standing beside was a "scaper", as painters say, just not worth finishing.  So there you have it....what a grand time one can have out in the landscape, in the fresh air and warm sun!   Now I'm eager to go off again to a new place and find out what will appear on my canvas. 

I hope you've enjoyed these images and my ramblings.  If you have friends who might like to see them, please forward them on.  If you would like to see more, just go to www.kathrynclarkfineart.com  And remember that I always like to receive your e-mails.

Fountain Park Chautauqua

The Hotel at Fountain Park Chautauqua

For the past two weeks I've been teaching painting at the Fountain Park Chautauqua in Remington, Indiana, and it truly was like stepping back in time.  It was founded in 1895 and has had families come for camaraderie and learning continuously since then, even during the depression and the wars.  There are only two others still in existence, the original in Chautauqua, NY being one of them, and Lakeside, OH the other.   Unlike the original one in New York which is very huge with internationally known speakers and a constantly changing audience, Fountain Park is almost exactly like it was 100 years ago but without the horses and buggies, and with indoor plumbing and electricity, but no air conditioning or TV. (The original Chautauqua in NY was founded by the Methodist Church to teach Sunday School teachers.)  Around the hotel, there is a huge circle of cabins which were built and owned by each family. 

So the people at Fountain Park were born into families who owned a cabin, grew up there during the summer, sometimes met their spouses there, and raised their children.  Today it's a "no growth" community.   Because there's no more land on which to build cabins, many people have built up, creating a second story for the grand children and others.  However, there is enough land for some campers and tents.   Here is a link to its history:  http://www.fountain-park.org/ABOUTAboutUs.htm   As with the first Chautauqua, music and lectures are very important along with games and art.  Here's the building for lectures and music with it's open sides and very old theater seats.

A woman named Mrs. Ethel Lough started to teach painting in 1938, and they painted under the trees until 1943 when a small building was offered to house an "art colony".   Now they have a much larger metal building with two wings, one for teaching painting to adults and the other for children to paint and for women to use for quilting.  Here's my class:

To raise money for equipment for the "art colony",  Mrs. Lough would offer a painting each year to be raffled at the end of the main two weeks of entertainment, classes, and lectures.  This tradition continues so I painted the hotel as I demonstrated the oil painting process to the art colony.

"Chautauqua Hotel"  11" x 14", oil on canvas board

The Fountain Park Chautauqua is truly a unique and almost a secret place as many people in Indiana don't know it exists.  However, the families are very welcoming to visitors who can come to see the entertainment and hear the lectures, paint in the art colony, and stay in the hotel, all meals included.  It's not surprising that it's on the National Historical Register and is truly a living history.   It was a privilege to teach there. 

The First Blush of Spring in New Harmony, IN

"Peony Garden", New Harmony, IN  9" x 12" plein air oil on canvas panel

I see that I've been very negligent about sending blogs this spring with new paintings, so I'll try to catch up with all the new paintings by sending several blogs in a row.  The first plein air painting event in Indiana each year is the April paint-out in New Harmony, the historic village at the tip of the boot of Indiana near the Wabash and the Ohio River.  As I've said in other years, it was where the Utopian, Rappite community founded the first kindergarten and public library.  It then was purchased by the Owen family who were intellectuals, explorers, and geologists who consequently founded the National Geological Survey there.  Carl Bodmer was the fabulous artist who documented the flora and fauna with Maximilian as they explored westward from New Harmony.  Quite an impressive legacy for a tiny village.  With the wonderful philanthropy of Jane Owen, who just died at about 97 years, the village has been restored.  If you should be traveling through Kentucky or Indiana, it's certainly worth a side trip. http://maxkade.iupui.edu/newharmony/home.html


"Peony Garden" was painted at the edge of town in a commercial peony garden.  The peonies are picked by hand just as they're about to bloom and then shipped by air, overnight Federal Express, to customers all over the United States and further.  Most of the painters didn't know there is a peony garden because normally they don't flower in April.  This has been such a warm year that all plantings were a month a head.

Each year at this Indiana Plein Air Painters event, there is a "Field to Finish" competition.  During the paint-out, artists paint a field study not larger than 9" x 12".  Then during the year, they paint a finished painting that can be up to 18" x 24".  This was the first year that I entered that competition, and I was happy to be one of the winners, with my paintings being the judges favorites.  Here they are:

"New Harmony Creek plein air field study", 9" x 12" April 2011, oil on canvas panel

"New Harmony Creek" 18" x 24", oil on linen canvas, July 2011

This creek feeds into a large pond with a small waterfall.  This is the field study that I painted this April for the competition next year.   Later this month, I hope to complete the finished painting which will be either 16" x 20" or 18" x 24", haven't decided yet.

"Falling Water in New Harmony Pond"   9" x 12" plein air field study, April 2012

Over one hundred painters painted together this year from all over the Midwest and beyond.  It's quite a fun event.  If anyone reading this would like information about the Indiana Plein Air Painters or would like to consider attending the "First Blush of Spring" next April, please contact me or IPAPA.  www.inpainters.org

Thank you for viewing this blog and for all your comments.  If you know others who would enjoy seeing this blog please forward this on to them.  They can join my blog as a "Follower" or sign up to receive new blogs by e-mail.  You can see all of my paintings with prices on my web site http//www.kathrynclarkfineart.com