I just collected the paintings from the Redding library show and discovered that I sold one! This unframed painting was in my "bin." It's a small work on Yupo of light streaking across Oblong Valley in Millerton, N.Y. We were on our way to the movies in Millerton in late October when we rounded a corner to see the valley in this extraordinary evening light, I made my husband stop so I could take pictures. A big motivation for me to paint is capturing—or trying to capture—such moments.
Oblong Valley at Dusk
Most of my painting is done from photographs, which is a lot easier in many ways than painting plain air, from live. I've done it long enough that I can usually escape the imperative of the "right" way things look as defined by the camera. Instead, I've learned to treat the photo as direction and inspiration, not instructions, and because of that, I print out the photos on plain old printer paper, not photo paper. But escaping the imperative of the photograph is hard, as I and many painting friends have discovered. Taking the time and effort now and then to paint from the scene itself is a good corrective. I don't do it enough!
Selling something I've made to a total stranger is exhilarating and humbling. A person liked "Oblong Valley at Dusk" enough to pay real money for it, a compliment of the highest order and a validation of the worth of my creative effort. But I'll never see this painting in person again, probably. So: a bittersweet moment.