Judith Freeman Clark, paintings

I've had two paintings accepted by the jurors for this year's Small Stones Festival of the Arts, in Grafton, Massachusetts. " Freeman Farm in the Afternoon" and "Daffodil Waltz" were selected to be shown in the exhibition, and also will be included in the  hardcover exhibition  catalog.  Jurors of selection and awards for the 2022 festival's fine art painting category are JoEllen Reinhardt, Susan Termyn, and William Pope.  Both paintings will be on exhibit in the Great Hall at One Grafton Common, beginning with the Opening ceremony on October 14, and continuing through October 23, 2022.  Daffodil Waltz transparent watercolor    17.25" x 17.5" SOLD This stylized watercolor rendering of springtime daffodils was informed by my appreciation of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Modernist motifs influenced by Japanese art in a style that became popular during the early twentieth century. Having studied illustration in Boston during the late 1960s, I fi...

Set-up The weather being what it is here in the Northeast, I've been doing more plein air work. All week I've spent a few hours in the morning, out and about, trying to capture the feel of this unaccustomed heat wave. On Tuesday, I set up in a local park near my home. My goal: capture the contrast between hot sunshine (relentless, even at 10:00 a.m. it was super-bright, and almost 90F), and the distinctive cooling effect of mature trees that are heavy with foliage.  #1 Composition sketch After noting the general composition, I covered the canvas panel, blocking in large areas of color using Ultramarine Dark, and gradually tempering these segments with splotches of lighter green (blending Cobalt, Viridian, Cadmium Lemon Light, and a bit of Cadmium Scarlet) (#2). I ignored the house (it can be seen in the set-up photo), as it seemed unimportant, as did the small stone retaining wall. I'd originally noted a line for the wall in the composition but felt it added nothing to th...

I spent this morning working on a new panel (not yet ready for viewing) and this afternoon, I devoted time to putting a few finishing touches on "Study #4, Andover, Maine." This painting was posted yesterday in "Branching out..." It seemed to me that certain areas of the sky needed a bit more cloud cover, and some of the foliage and grassy areas benefitted from heightened contrast. And then there was the challenge of a signature. Most recently, I have been signing my watercolor paintings with an old-fashioned "dip pen" loaded with watered-down pigment. Because I don't have that option for signing an oil painting, my full signature poses a challenge on smaller panels like the ones I'm starting out on. I haven't yet developed the knack for doing extremely small detail work in oils. I'll get there, I hope. Here's the finished, signed version of the painting I did in Andover, Maine.  "Study #4, Andover, Maine"

After having spent many decades painting in transparent watercolor, this summer I was intrigued with the idea of working once again in oils. I had originally learned the rudiments of oil painting from my grandmother who, herself a painter, generously supplied me with materials, opportunity, and encouragement. Off and on I dabbled for several years, until other interests diverted my attention once I hit adolescence. Art school would have given me an even more solid grounding in this medium, and others, if I had remained for the entire three-year program, but I left after one year. Fast-forward to June 2022, when I responded to a Facebook notice about a plein air workshop in Maine. As I added a collection of oil paints, bristle brushes, and gum spirits of turpentine to my studio supplies,  and purchased a French easel, I looked ahead with enthusiasm (and trepidation) to the challenge of jump-starting my lagging creative impulses.  It was great to meet other artists in such a r...