LAVENDER BLUE REVISITED By Cecelia Lyden

oil/masonite

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

I hadn't planned on painting today, but the weather was sunny and less humid-perfect for plein air. I walked through my neighbors beautiful yard, and decided to paint the lavender again. It and the yellow daylilies had filled out and blossomed more than when I first painted this scene and the direct sunshine enhanced the color more than before. Again, I love strong contrasts-complementary colors, purple and yellow and the shadowed areas and green tree against the sunlit areas. 

SHE'S A GRAND OLD FLAG By Cecelia Lyden

acrylic/canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

I've been feeling very patriotic this 4th of July weekend. Watching the HBO John Adams series and listening to stirring patriotic music, prompted me to post this painting I did from a photo, taken at a retro general store in Boone, NC. The Stars and Stripes waving against a blue sky was beautiful to see and needed to be painted.

SPRING ARRIVES ON THE SUSQUEHANNA By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

12x24

www.cecelialyden.com

This is an unobstructed view of the West Shore from North Front St. in Harrisburg. It was a sunny morning, The clouds were casting deep shadows on the hill. The trees on the islands were a bright spring green, contrasting with the trees in shadow. I had planned on painting this site en plein air, but it was too cold and too, too windy, so I took some photos and painted this scene indoors.

OLD WEATHERED SHED By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

9x12

www.cecelialyden.com

Thank you, Mary Beth for arranging the paintout at the lovely Walsh Farm in Mechanicsburg. All I could think of, as I looked around was, how lucky it would be to wake up every morning to this beautiful scenery. The farm and the surrounding landscape offered many subjects for painting. This old shed and the drying hydrangea caught my attention right away. 

Now I've known for decades that good composition is a necessity for a successful painting. I hesitated before I began, because I could see the problem with working out the composition. The shed and the hydrangea were too close in size and importance and split the canvas almost in half. However, I let my desire to paint both of them take over and proceeded. I spent the next few hours,  trying to connect both halves of canvas with overlapping branches. I added hydrangeas on both sides of the shed and another blossom reaching toward the shed. I probably should have moved the shrub over-but didn't think to do that: so engrossed I was, in painting the moss on the roof and the blossoms on the shrub. Not the first time I did not see the "forest through the trees". Will I ever learn?

CODORUS STATE PARK By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

A few of us painted at Codorus State Park on this beautiful, comfortable, early fall day. A big thank you to Sharon Benner for planning this plein air paintout. 

FORT HUNTER SUNSET By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

12x24

www.cecelialyden.com

Julie Riker and I went to Fort Hunter, on Friday, a beautiful, mild fall evening to paint a sunset. I have painted sunrises and sunsets before , but always from my photographs. This was my first attempt to paint the sun setting en pleine aire. Boy, what pressure! "Now you see it. Now you Don't"

Dramatic sunrises and sunsets depend on cloud formations. This sky had only one cloud. The sky and the water were serenely smooth and placid. I decided to create my own drama and added some livlier brushstrokes and tints.  

THE STONE STABLE AND OLD SYCAMORE AT FT. HUNTER By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

I arrived a little late on Sunday for the Gallery Walk at Fort Hunter. I walked around for a while, looking for something inspiring to paint. I finally settled for this building, a stable. It had an OK shadow, a semi cheery color, an interesting roofline and a nice little tree in the crux of the two sections of the building. Not that enthused with my choice of subject matter, I "putzed" around, setting up, when suddenly I noticed this huge sycamore[, behind the building, almost completely hidden by dense foliage. I was suddenly motivated and began to work out the composition. I have since learned that book, Penn's Woods" estimates its age as 300 years old, one of the oldest in PA. The old sycamore "saved the day" for me.

FORSYTHIA By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

This past spring, I was driving around , looking for some picturesque scene to paint  when I spotted this large estate with scores of yellow forsythia bushes in full bloom. What a glorious site! I took several photos and I finally got a chance to paint one.

FLORIDA RANCH By Cecelia Lyden

oil stretched and canvasboard

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

These two paintings were both done using photographs I took while my husband and I were driving on the Florida Turnpike in late February. I noticed that spring green was appearing on the roadside bushes and trees-so pretty contrasted with the fields, which appeared orange in the sunlight. The top painting was done two years ago. The second one I did two weeks ago. 

OVERLOOKING THE SUSQUEHANNA By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

This is another vista at the Samuel Lewis State Park, a great place for vistas.

SAMUEL LEWIS STATE PARK VISTA By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

It was another amazingly beautiful day this past Friday. I painted at the Samuel Lewis State Park with Paul Gallo's class. We did a couple of paintings atop this hill, overlooking the Wrightsville Bridge across the Susquehanna River.

LETORT FALLS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

I painted for four hours today, but remained cool and comfortable in the shade by the falls. This is my third painting of the falls. It is always a fun experience painting that water splashing down and over the rocks. Eight of us were there and everyone created an exciting, animated painting.

BREEZY DAY ON THE BAY By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

It was a breezy, comfortable day on the Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday. The sky was very evenly light, no bright sunshine and no moving clouds, changing the light-a pleasant, peaceful plein air experience.  

BEGONIAS BY THE POND By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

The Conestoga House Gardens was our SVPAP group's second stop on Wednesday. Again, the weather was hot and humid, but I found a shady spot near this pond. In the time we were there, I was able to get the whole composition down-most of the back and middleground and some of the foreground. I neeeded to do more detail work on the statuary and the flowers. My camera did not pick up the details or the different shades and tints in the begonias and leaves in my painting.This garden in Lancaster is a beautiful place to paint.

THE PRIVY By Cecelia Lyden

oil/board

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

It was a very warm and humid day Wednesday, but the many large trees on President Buchanan's estate, Wheatland, provided us with enough shade and breezes to make it comfortable. The grounds were lovely and the peroid architecture made the buildings so interesting. This charming outbuilding, surrounded by daylilies and bathed in dappled sunlight, caught my eye immediately. I was surprised to learrn that it was a privy. I have never painted an outdoor bathroom before-probably never will again, either.  

RED COLEUS By Cecelia Lyden

oil/canvas

11x14

www.cecelialyden.com

Wednesday was another beautiful day for painting outdoors. This time we were at Liz Gallucci's home on the Conodoguinet. The Creek was sparkling in the morning sun, but it was the bright red coleus in Liz's rock garden that caught my eye. Set between two of the many huge trees in her yard and in front of the creek, the garden was my inspiration for the day.

COOK HEADSTONE By Cecelia Lyden

acrylic/ stretched canvas

24x30

wwwcecelialyden.com

This painting was commissioned by a descendant of the Cook family, many of whom have been buried in this very old cemetery in Wellsville, PA. Her ancestors, interred here, date back to the 17th century. This headstone is for the latest relative who died. She asked for the meeting house[Quaker, I think] and the flag to be included. I felt I needed the other flags for balance. Commission work can be difficult.

EARLY JULY DAYLILIES By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

8x10

www.cecelialyden.com

Great day and special location for plein air painting-breeze blowing, birds tweeting, lilies sweet scent and sunshine with low humidity. There is still many varieties of lilies, ready to bloom. You have an open invitation to paint in the garden at 1807 High St. Camp Hill.

19th CENTURY SPRING HOUSE By Cecelia Lyden

oil/stretched canvas

16x20

www.cecelialyden.com

Several fellow artists and I met on a near perfect day for plein air painting. With tolerable temperature, mixed sunshine and clouds, as well as historical structures, nestled in a picturesque landscape, we all had different things to paint or different views of the same subject, as with the spring house renderings on this blog. 

Entries for the Daily Painters of Pennsylvania Exhibit at the PA State Capitol By Cecelia Lyden

BREEZY MORN ON THE BAY

oil/linen

16x20

                                      

DAYS END ON THE BAY

oil/linen

16x20

END OF THE DAY

acrylic/stretched canvas

16x20

www.cecelialyden.com

These three paintings were done on site and from photos at two of my most inspiring locations-my daughter, Cheri and Tim's, home on the water, where the South River enters the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, MD. and the seventh floor balcony, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Fort Pierce, FLA.

The cloud formations and the setting sun's reflections on  the Bay are always breathtaking. And, in FLA, the shadow of a condo on the beach, caused by a setting sun, contrasted with the still sun- drenched beach, was eye catching, as were the two beach chairs and towels, seemingly abandoned and facing the setting sun. I'm looking forward to painting at both these locations this summer and next winter.