The Lady in the Park

Path to The Lady, 6½ x 9" watercolor

Here’s the second watercolor I squeezed in last week while painting across the street in Herman Park.

Paris has its Eiffel Tower, Washington D.C. has the Washington Monument and Goldsboro, North Carolina has The Lady in the Park. The sculpture, originally made of zinc in 1916 by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldson was named Hebe, Goddess of Youth. Heavily damaged over the years, the original “Lady” was replaced in 2004 by a bronze replica. Locals refer to her simply as “The Lady.” She remains Goldsboro’s most highly revered icon. Dear friend Donna Jansen who visited me from Minnesota became enthralled with the statue. She thought it to be “so southern”, and compared its charm to Savannah’s Bird Girl statue that graces the cover of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

I do not reproduce many of my paintings. The exception may be when I do one that is in high demand and that features subject matter for which I don’t want to make a painting career. Below is giclée reproduction from a tighter, more realistic watercolor of the Lady. For more information on the reproduction just click “The Lady”.

The Lady in Springtime, 18x14" watercolor

Breathing a joyous sign of Christmas relief

The Park House in winter, 6 ½ x 9" watercolor

99.5 percent of what I need to do for Christmas is behind me.

And finally, I have a new painting to post. I’ve been buried with Christmas painting commissions and with creating my holiday card image, and so haven’t had much time to get out and paint. And today, I’m torn, do I paint the rapidly opening Amaryllis that stands tall in my window, or do I sneak in a plein air painting while North Carolina’s still in the 60’s? Seems the sense of urgency is not behind me.

The Park House in Winter is the first of two watercolors I did yesterday. The painting features the landmark Victorian house that graces the city park that is just across the street from where I live. I omitted the Christmas décor. Our warm temperatures have taken a toll on the garland and wreaths with which the park house is now decorated.

Just a suggestion, consider purchasing some small gift cards today at a place from which you’d enjoy receiving a gift card; then hand them out at random to the people who serve you well, give you a warm smile or who have helped you throughout the year. I gave one yesterday to the man who manages our local UPS office. He responded, “You didn’t need to to that.”

I replied, “That was the idea.”

EnJoy!

En route to an Albert Handell mentorship

Inside the sunroom, outside the guesthouse, 7 x 9 ½" watercolor

I had no idea when Jerry Stocks first invited me to stay with her and Ray what a treat I was in for. Last year, and more recently I was en route to workshops that took place south of Beaufort, SC. I have since fallen in love with this delightful little community where they reside. Southern Charm plays second fiddle only to Southern Hospitality at the Stocks’ house. If Jerry ever decides not to be an artist she might consider being a chef. She’s a superb cook. I had my first Low Country Boil at her table, as well as my first shrimp pie and tomato pudding. My last trip through, we netted the crabs we ate later for dinner. Beaufort, SC is quintessential Southern. How fortunate for those lucky enough to live there. What a wonderful backdrop author Pat Conroy had for so many of his novels.

Both of today’s paintings feature the Stocks’ guesthouse (where I stayed) and both paintings will be gifted to the Stocks (if they want them). I couldn’t have the life I do if it weren’t for the generous hospitality of the wonderful people with whom I have the good fortune to stay during my plein air travels.

Inside the guesthouse, 7 x 9 ½" watercolor

Meet Lee

Lee 1, 15-minute Creatacolor® sketch

Lee 2, 15-minute Creatacolor® sketch

Lee 3, 20-minute Creatacolor® sketch

Lee relaxed, Sharpie® sketch

The consensus is that I do put some of my previously posted yoga pose sketches up for auction. But later. I’ll let all know when this happens.

I’m pooped. It was a quick trip up to the Triangle today. Stops included another two productive hours at Chambers Arts! We had a different model today. Lee had never modeled before, and I feel he did a great job. First we had our typical ten 1-minute poses. The rest of the time was divided into three 15-minute poses and one 20-min. pose. When Lee saw Lee, released (above) he gave me the biggest compliment anyone can pay me as an artist, and that was that I had caught the essence of the pose. In fact I’d rather hear the word essence than to hear likeness, which is what was said for the longer-pose sketches. This was all great portrait practice for me, and I’m grateful to Lee for his ability to strike a twenty-minute pose without flinching. Good job there, Lee!

Stretching reality

Picasso Yoga, Sharpie® rendering on paper

 Last Thursday, I was privileged to attend another Life Model Open Studio session at Chambers Arts!

And fortunately, we again had artist Kathyrn Cook as our model. And finally, I asked her, “Do you teach it [yoga]?” She confirmed, also telling me she’s been doing yoga for some ten years. Yow! And I have trouble making it to my first session!

Again, we did ten one-minute poses. Tell me if you think I should put these drawings up for auction? I’m thinking in this economy, they would give me some pieces with a significantly lower (teeny-weeny) price point that might actually move.

After getting into the rhythm of these poses, I focused on conveying more info with fewer lines, and voila! I ended up with Picasso Yoga (above). Picasso’s drawings and paintings of many of his models look about as close to reality as some of Kate’s stretches are relative to human form as we know it. —This is why Kate’s poses make for such good drawing practice.

Zombie Pin-Up Session

Zombie Pin-Up model, 7½ x 4½" watercolor sketch

Artists squeamish about the risqué need not attend a Dr. Sketchy session. Many who have been to art school are comfortable with nude figure studies. Dr. Sketchy models are not nude, but do often wear exotic garb. I find this more interesting than plain ole nude anyway, certainly more provocative.

On their web site, Dr. Sketchy includes the following:

Since 2005, Dr. Sketchy's has been the name in alternative drawing. From illegal flashmobs to the Museum of Modern Art, Dr. Sketchy's has brought artists a rule-breaking cocktail of dames, drinking and drawing. Dr. Sketchy's branches draw in over a hundred cities around the globe, from Akron to Zagreb. Whether you're an artstar or a scribbling newbie, Dr. Sketchy's is the perfect place to get your fill of life-drawing

Dr. Sketchy's is the brainchild of artist Molly Crabapple

Artist at Dr. Sketchy

At the October 13 ZOMBIE PIN-UPS Dr. Sketchy session in Raleigh stage names of the models were Sinister Red and Lady I'llphelia. I did many small watercolors of these macabre vixens. I’ve found that changing colors takes time away from sketching. As I recall, the one I’m showing above was a five-minute pose. Using multiple colors takes time away from painting. Although the color is fun, next time I think I’ll resort to only black paint with maybe a spot of color.

Exercises

Thursdays are often a double-dose of figure drawing for me. I go to these sessions to hone my skills. The last thing I need is a finished oil painting that has skeletal issues with its drawing. At Chambers Arts! in Cary, NC. Lynda Chambers offers live model sessions to those interested. I’ve signed up for a package of six. On Thursday evenings, once a month, I often continue figure studies at a Dr. Sketchy session in Raleigh. More on the last Dr. Sketchy session will follow.

At Chambers last Thursday we had a fantastic model, Kathryn Cook. She is not only beautiful and limber, she’s a talented artist represented by the gallery. Because she’s an artist, she has a good handle on the types of poses that benefit us. She first gave us some one-minute poses, then five; then 15-20 minute poses for which she did some play-acting. I’m including here my first three of the one-minute poses. I moved to a larger sketchpad after these.

One thing became perfectly clear. I need to go to the gym more than I need to go to drawing sessions. Can you imagine holding any of these poses for a full minute? She also does yoga.

Good news; bad news

Dr. Josephus Hall House, 9x12" oil on panel

First the good news: The painting, A road less traveled shown in my last post took second place in the Cary Gallery of Artists Third Annual Paint-Out. Thanks to some of the Cary civic supporters of the gallery, four of us actually received a cash prize.

The bad news: Dr. Josephus Hall House did not sell in Salisbury. Neither did A road less traveled for that matter, but the latter will be much easier to sell down the road, as many landscapes have appeal anywhere. One thing about painting landmarks, they’re generally fairly easy to sell near their geographic location where people are familiar with them, but not so as one attempts to market them further away.

It was a great paint out on a fabulous autumn day. Nineteen plein air painters showed up for this Oil Painters of America paint-out at Salisbury’s 36th Annual October Tour. Artists were there from cities that included Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro. In that Goldsboro is even a further distance may be why a photo of my easel and me wound up on the front page of last Sunday’s local paper. A view of the photo may be found by clicking Hall House. (You’ll want to scroll down.)

Thanks and appreciation goes to artist Phyllis Steimel, a founding member of Plein Air Carolina, for her success recruiting so many artists eager to participate.

Oct 14 plein air show announcement

A road less traveled, 12x9" oil on panel

It’s been too difficult to restrict these postings to my plein air watercolors, which was my original intention for this blog. I so enjoy capturing the light of the great outdoors, and this I find easiest to do in oils.

All are invited to the Third Cary Gallery of Artists Plein Air Paint Out exhibition that opens this Friday night, Oct. 14 in Cary, NC. All artists who participated in the paint out will be exhibiting their work. Wine and cheese reception plus award presentation 6-8pm. Work will remain hanging in the gallery through October 25. The gallery is located in historic Cary at 200 S. Academy Street, Suite 120. 

Hope to see you there!

Focal points

The Steimel Forest, 6.75x9.25" watercolor

Through Facebook I was invited to the Oil Painters of America paint out in the historic town of Salisbury, NC that took place this past weekend during the town’s annual October Tour. I was graciously given a place to stay with Herb and Phyllis Steimel. Phyllis Steimel is an accomplished artist and founding member of Plein Air Carolina.

In the 90’s I taught graphic design at the University of Minnesota. Directing the viewer’s eye is as important in graphics as it is in painting. There are several ways to add emphasis to whatever it is you want to be your focal point — size, isolation, color, contrast, and/or inherent interest. As wonderful as Phyllis’ paintings are, the deer trophies in the Steimels’ den were for me the focal point of the lower level of the house.

Bed hopping

Ann’s kitchen, 6¾ x 9¼" watercolor

Friday night I drove up to north Raleigh where I stayed with plein air watercolor artist friend Ann. The wooden pig in her kitchen caught my eye. Looks like an artist’s kitchen, just my opinion.
I’ve begun posting some of the plein air oils I did in Susan Sarback’s workshop last week. All were painted with a knife, something I haven’t done since high school. I invite you to visit some of my new impressionist oils by clicking Early autumn day on the lake — quite a switch from these calligraphic watercolors.

Home alone

Debbie’s birthday roses, 9 ¾ x 6 ¼˝

Here we have a glimpse of Kent and Debbie’s informal dining room. Informal is a subjective adjective. In my house, this would be the formal dining room. Rather, this room would not even exist in my house-turned-studio. I feel fortunate, however, for rooms like this. They give people places to hang my art. And wouldn’t you know — that’s a Brenda Behr watercolor on the wall. Note the BB initials in the bottom right corner of the painting. Sorry, maybe too small here to see.

And the roses are birthday roses I assume. The card marked “Mom” on its cover was from Meredith, Debbie’s youngest daughter. I did this painting at night. The dark patchwork pattern of the windows was created by the darkness outside. Debbie and Kent were off to New York and left their houseguest mouse home to play.

These calligraphic paintings are about the stroke, not about the light. In order for the strokes to show, I have to keep the colors in the mid-tones, lest they disappear. This painting has deep mid-tones, about as deep as they should go with this style of painting.

Brenda Behr slept here

The room with the red quilt, 6¾ x 9¼" watercolor

I got in from six days in the Raleigh area last night and made the mistake of pushing myself to stop by the local Food Lion to pick up a few staples. And I’ll be dang if on my way out of the store, I didn’t lose my purse with my iPhone in it. I’ve stopped service on it so if you’re one of those connected to me by cell, please know that my old number will no longer work.

Wanted to post last night, but the bed in this painting was way too inviting, reminding me at midnight that I wasn’t too far from my own sack.

I don’t know how many rooms I’ve painted in my travels, but these little boudoir watercolors have become a journal of where on the road I’ve laid my head over the last couple of years. The first five nights last week I was a guest of Kent and Debbie Lockey, childhood sweethearts with whom I graduated from high school. Kent’s great grandmother from near Newport, NC was the person who sewed the lovely heirloom quilt in this painting.

One more thing, the book on the bed is Capturing Radiant Light & Color by Susan Sarback. More to come on her impressionist approach to painting.

Wilmington Waterfront Day 2

Facing north on Market Street, 9x12" oil on panel

Someday, I’m going to cross the bridge in Wilmington and paint the USS North Carolina, a WW2 battleship that’s docked there for the benefit of tourists. I’m sure the ship would provide me with all kinds of interesting shapes and shadows. But on Sunday, this scene drew me. I stood not far from where I’d stood to paint the Saturday market scene, but this time looked east up Market Street rather than west. Cars had already grabbed their free-on-Sunday parking places and the guide for the trolley car was there an hour early to prepare his horses and trolley for the day’s tours. Morning light like this is wonderful. But like youth, it’s oh so fleeting.

Wilmington [NC] Waterfront Day 1

Market Day on Water Street, 8x10" oil on panel

Last weekend was International Plein Air Painters WORLDWIDE Paint Out, and for plein air artists in Eastern North Carolina, the waterfront in Wilmington was the designated place to be. Other than a battleship and a few alligators, there’s nothing scary about the Cape Fear River along which the city of Wilmington is situated. Instead, the eastern shore of the Cape Fear River in Wilmington is a place to find tourists as well as locals strolling, shopping, and grazing along its mile-long Riverwalk. The whites of the tents set up for the Saturday Farmers Market in Riverfront Park caught my eye, and because the entire market would be folding up at 1:00 pm, it made it easy that morning for me to decide  my priority subject matter.

Click WILL PAINT FOR SHELTER to see Saturday’s second painting.

Plein air buddy Bernie

Here too is talented artist and Chief Gatherer of Plein Air Painters Bernie Rosage of the OOPS* tribe. Bernie’s the one whose invitation I accepted to participate in last weekend’s WORLDWIDE Paint Out.

*Onslow [County] Outdoor Painters Society

Rabbithood

Home on 13th Avenue, 6 ¾ x 9" watercolor

Here is the home that it took me courage to revisit. How I loved this house. I purchased it a year after my divorce. It was located not far from Minnehaha Parkway in a neighborhood nicknamed Rabbithood. Click rabbit to read how the area got its name. I don’t like to think I gave up a house in an area known as Rabbithood. Those who know me well, know what a bunny-lover I am.

See the airplane in the sky? The house was under the path of planes coming into the airport. I soon regretted having a deck built onto the back of the house. It was great for viewing, but the noise from airplanes passing overhead made conversation there impossible. The Metropolitan Airports Commission put $80K worth of new windows, doors and insulation onto this house (and others in the path) to insulate it against noise, another reason I can feel remiss that I no longer own this home.

Photo taken by friend Leslie Carlson Ritchie

Enough about regrets, I was happy to see that the lilacs, Flowering Plum and Star Magnolia trees I planted have so beautifully reached maturity. After visiting the house, I met with a friend for lunch. I told him how much I regret losing this house. He said, “You didn’t lose it, you traded it to care for your mom [in North Carolina] and for your art career.”

Mixed memories, 1989-1996

duplex on Thomas Ave., 5 ½ x 8 ¾ watercolor

I’m picking up a commission today that will include a rendition of twigs of a plant called bittersweet.

Bittersweet pretty much sums up my feelings when I look at this side-by-side duplex where I once lived. I went in a happy, hopeful half of a newlywed couple. I went out alone looking for the nearest apartment. It is difficult to write about this dwelling without dwelling on the marriage that took me there in the first place.

Skipping the bad stuff.
Realtors tell us to look for the shabbiest house on the block. This house fits the bill. It is situated on a street divided by a beautiful median where I sat to do this watercolor. At the end of the street is a tennis court and just one street east is Lake Harriet, formerly known as “the yuppie lake.” This and the home’s quaint Linden Hills neighborhood make the area one of the most desirable places to live in Minneapolis.

I think you’ll agree the painting looks a little cattywampus. I’m including a photo below that also looks cattywampus. Maybe it’s my view of this place that’s cattywampus, making it impossible for me to take or paint a straight rendition of it.

Home, 1980-1989

The next several Plein Air posts will feature the places in which I lived at one time in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I just returned from a trip there and while visiting, decided it a good thing to paint part of my history. I lived in the Twin City metro area from 1970 until 2003, until I returned to Goldsboro, NC, home of my parents and the later years of my youth.

Home of Behr Lemons, 6 1/4 x 9 1/4" watercolor

When I was in my twenties, I became almost obsessed with owning my own home. Somehow, thirty seemed like the age at which one was supposed to have their name on a property. I rented an upper duplex in Kenwood, an upscale neighborhood in Minneapolis. The duplex was a grand Victorian two-story house with gingerbread woodwork and at least one stained glass window. The duplex I liked second to mine was this prairie-style home in south Minneapolis. Rick Lemons, a friend and fellow art director in the ad business rented the second floor. His living room featured a large skylight that provided light and cheerfulness even in the dead of winter. Sure enough, Rick’s landlords, a married couple who lived downstairs, needed more space when two children from a previous marriage came to live with them. In January of 1980 Rick and I purchased the duplex from them, and became legal tenants-in-common, each with our own unit. Later that year we also became business partners, thus the name Behr Lemons.

I moved out when I married in 1989, but continued to run my freelance graphics business there. When Rick and I were threatened with eviction for operating a business in a non-commercially zoned space, we decided to sell the property. Closing day was on a Monday in early November 1993. Two days later, Rick collapsed from a brain aneurism while working out at a local gym. Sadly, he died just days before his 49th birthday.

I love painting that which is beautiful to behold, but I also enjoy painting places that are meaningful to me in other ways. This gives me time for contemplation and reflection, allowing me to pay tribute to those places or people who have shared a piece of their history with me.

Lookout! Another lighthouse!

Lookout Light, 9 x 6 ¼" watercolor

Pathway to Lookout Light, 8½ x 5½ watercolor

I’m skipping the oil I did of Ocracoke Lighthouse as I’ll be featuring it in one of my future Behr Path e-letters. Dick and I explored the island, met some interesting islanders then proceeded to the mainland on a 2½-hour ferry ride to Cedar Island, NC. Twenty or so miles south, we rented the house of a friend in Marshallberg, thus giving us a base from which to explore the area known as Down East. On Harper’s Island we caught a 16-passenger ferry over to Cape Lookout. I managed to do several watercolors of this lighthouse that so well marks its shoals, another strip of our National Seashore. History and lighthouse mavens will find interesting material about the lighthouse and this section of the Outer Banks by clicking Cape Lookout, NC.

Turning in at Blackbeard’s

Room at Blackbeard’s Lodge, 7x9.5" watercolor

Hotel rooms can be lonely places. When you’re alone and you don’t feel like watching TV or reading, what do you do? Well, I wasn’t quite ready for bed, and there was something about this room I wanted to capture. Maybe it was all the blues reminding me I was on the coast, on an island in fact, or maybe it was some of the dark wood that spoke to me of being old. Here I was in a not-so-good-value of a room at Blackbeard’s Lodge on Ocracoke Island. Maybe I just wanted to do a painting that included a roll of toilet paper—my second painting with toilet paper, in fact. Click Quail Ridge Reprieve to see the first.

More pier

Activity at Avon Pier, 6.75 x 9" watercolor

Photographer friend Dick needed another day at Avon Pier, and so we traveled back again the next day, allowing me to capture a different view of the old structure erected in 1962, just one year after the military delivered my family to North Carolina from the Philippines.

Alas! — a place in the shade of the pier that gave me a view worth capturing! I particularly like the spot of intense color offered by people gathered under their colorful umbrellas. Painting some quick watercolor sketches of beach people allowed ample drying time for the base coat of the pier painting to dry.

Beach people near Avon Pier, 5 x 8.5" watercolor

A little family history

Parked at Avon Pier, 6 3/4 x 9" watercolor

Bodie Lighthouse (for reference)

After visiting Currituck Beach Lighthouse, friend Dick and I traveled south to visit Bodie Island Lighthouse. I am no wimp when it comes to plein air painting weather, but a heat index of 114º became an issue. If I had found a good view of the lighthouse in the shade, I would have a painting of the lighthouse to share with you today. I did take some photos of the view that I will paint some time in the future.

On south even more to a pier I’d heard was torn down, Avon Pier in Avon, North Carolina. When I inquired, a lady in Rodanthe [NC] told me the pier was still standing. I’d never been to this pier that holds significant importance to my family’s history. In 1981 my dad cancelled an angiogram so he would be able to take a trip with his aunt, my mom and brother to fish on the Outer Banks. That October he and my brother were fishing on Avon Pier when dad was struck down with a massive heart attack. I’d always dreaded the day that I’d receive a phone call notifying me of the death of one of my parents. I was in Minnesota when I received the call from my grieving mother. When my mother died August 19 four years ago, I take comfort in knowing I was by her side.

Again, much of what I paint is tied to a memory.

A trip to the Outer Banks

Currituck Light 1, 6.5x9" watercolor

Currituck Light 2, 6.5 x 9" watercolor

 A Minnesota friend and I just got back from a week long trip along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. One of my painting goals was to paint (in my calligraphic watercolor style) the lighthouses along our path. So, on day one, we headed up to Corolla where we visited Currituck Beach Lighthouse. I’ve painted the lighthouse before, but from photos. Nothing quite compares to being on location for reference when painting. Painting two views of the lighthouse better justified the travel time and expense to go there. As always with my calligraphic style, painting two views in the same vicinity also provided ample time for the wet base coat on each painting to dry.

Hotter‘n Hot

Hotter‘n the 4th of July, 6.5x9.5" watercolor

If I had kids and it was my desire to hand down to them a business that could ride the worst of economic times, I’d open a hot dog joint. I currently paint two popular hot dog stops in Raleigh, The Roast Grill and Snoopy’s Hot Dogs. The Roast Grill opened in 1940 and Snoopy’s, in 1978.

Notice the crowd waiting to get into the Roast Grill. When I stopped there last Friday to grab a hot dog, the temperature was 101º. Well, no need for me to stand in line. Nooooooooo, I can always do a painting! Watercolor dries a little too fast and artists melt in this kind of heat. Not only this, the jerk parked in the foreground of my painting had the audacity to pull away! Notice I left the J out of JERK in his license plate.

I cannot say when the prices on the image above were changed, but we can believe the Roast Grill wasn't selling hot dogs for $1.75 in 1940. Image came from a Roast Grill web site.

Theatre of the Absurd

Red balloons, 4.25x10.5" watercolor

It was in February when I last attended a Dr. Sketchy session, way too long ago. Those not familiar with Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School should check it out on the web.

Raleigh is one of over a hundred cities on five continents represented by a branch. Click here to go to Raleigh’s web page. I actually ran into someone there Thursday almost my age. She’s a professional illustrator, who like me, was there honing her skills.

The theme of Thursday night’s session was a French surrealist play titled “Les Mamelles de Tiresias”. One of you is French Canadian, and familiar with Dr. Sketchy in Montreal, so can you please translate for the rest of us?

The show was what they say, risqué? Loads of fun to try and capture such theatre. Not familiar with the play, I’m assigning titles to only three of the sketches.

Playing with lipstick, 8x10" watercolor

Virginia, 6x6" watercolor

Mad dogs and a Lexus

My neighbor's Lexus, 7x10" watercolor

I suppose you’d rather read here about the color, the composition, the medium, etc. Although I do respect and try to pay attention to the “rules of aesthetics”, seems my inspiration to paint what I do is often tied to a story or a memory. Today’s plein air watercolor is no exception.

I live in the house on the left in this painting. That’s my neighbor’s car in the garage.

I love most of what I can recall about my more-years-than-I-want-to-admit advertising career as an art director. Sure there’s a lot of schlock out there, but much advertising is downright entertaining. An ad group in NYC created one of the funniest, most clever ads I ever had the privilege to view. The name of the small, very-hot-at-the-time, agency in New York was Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Yes, I’m serious. (I Googled them and found the agency closed its doors in 2005.) The ad was for the National Wildlife Federation and the visual had a couple of small sparrows perched on a tree limb. The headline was, “Give to the Wildlife Federation. After all, who else is going to _____ on your neighbor’s Lexus?” something like that. You fill in the blank.

Yep, that’s a Lexus parked safely (from any wildlife) in my neighbor’s garage. Did this painting yesterday in spite of the heat. Click Morning pathway to see the plein air oil I painted this morning before the mercury soared.