HOME ON FRONT STREET, WEST FAIRVIEW By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

Rainy days present opportunities to paint indoors.I spotted this "collection" of houses and telephone poles on Front St. in West Fairview. Crazy how I hate poles and wires despoiling and clogging up beautiful landscapes and towns, but I love them in paintings. The poles help to define size and distance through linear and atmospheric perspective. The telephone lines lead your eye around the painting and unify the objects in the composition. Mostly I love the familiarity they bring to paintings. With me, familiarity means comfort.

ROAD TO THE RIVER By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvasboard

12x16

www.cecelialyden.com

Julie and I traveled north to Liverpool to paint, on one of those perfect days last week. We thought we would paint the Susquehanna, but decided the quaint Americana town was much more interesting. After cruising the streets, Julie chose a picturesque pink house and I was attracted to reddish-brown boxlike structure and bright yellow flowers growing on the side of the road.

BOILING SPRINGS ALLEY By Cecelia Lyden

oil/panel

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

A perfect day for plein air painting--cooler temperatures and lower humidity--bright sunshine and deep shadows. Boiling Springs is a great place to paint with its water sites and its both, simple and interesting houses, sitting on sunny and shaded streets.

I worked on a smooth panel. I had never painted in oil on such a smooth surface and found it difficult at first, but the purplish undrpainting on the panel worked well when developing shadows.