Sleeping Maple

Plein air and a la prima ... that sums up this painting. When you're standing in the cold snow of winter after trudging off the beaten path with your easel strapped to you back, and you're my age, you hope that the painting muses support a relatively quick, one-sitting effort. That was the case with this painting.

This maple tree and the light on the snow around it seemed to call to me from the main road at Platt Hill state park in Winchester, Connecticut. The light on the snow So I listened. It was a beautiful late afternoon setting ... and the light was changing quickly - another incentive to paint quickly. I was pleased with the outcome.

Prints of this original oil painting are available for sale at my Zibbet Shop.

Make Model Airplanes

I do crazy things like build rubber-band-powered airplanes.

I don't just build them though ... no ... this particular plane here is made of salvaged pine that I cut and carved into tiny strips that made the body of the plane. Old school.

This plane is a little heavier than its balsa wood kin, so it needs a bigger engine, which means more rubber-bands.

This plane has a purchased propeller, though I have carved those by hand as well! Crazy, eh?

Anyway ... it's calm today, sunny too, so despite the cold I'm on my way out now for the test flight. Later!

Pathless Woods Treasury

It's always an honor to be featured in a treasury ... this one, Pathless Woods, is especially lovely!

Check it out and leave us some love.

Fire Bush Print

My wife loves this painting. And why not? It depicts a little scene from our own little piece of paradise. I think she even has a photo of me painting this scene ... in spring though, not in autumn. I recall this particular day though. It was warm and pleasant, with a touch of mist in the air.

I gaze at this image and find myself taken back to that moment in time and this, dear reader, is a gift that only true open air painting can offer.

Try New Things

Today is a day to try something new ... so I'm offering prints of this painting that so many have admired.

Pond Laurel ...

The original painting, an oil on masonite, was painted on a lovely June day along Bantam Lake in Litchfield County, Connecticut. It's a vibrant time of year, when the wild Laurel blooms in pale pinks everywhere in the Connecticut landscape. It always reminds me that summer will soon be at hand.

Receive a Free Painting!

That's right ... this weekend you will receive a free original ACEO painting with any purchase from my Gallery of Creative Play!

The ACEO, a mini-painitng measuring 2.5" x 3.5", will be one of my choice from one of the series that I painted similar to the one pictured above. This is an original painting, not a print ... and that's a $15 free gift for you!

This weekend's offer starts today, Friday, 12/5 and ends very late on Sunday, 12/7.

Plus ... FREE US SHIPPING on everything!

So I invite you to stop by, browse around and see what's in store for you at Rick's Gallery of Creative Play!

This is an old painting, long ago sold, that I've printed for note cards. Using a few myself in this season of harvest and thanksgiving.

Also, I'd like to invite you to check out these wonderful artists in my very first treasury! Leave some love!

I work with wood too. I made this simple box using only hands and hand-tools.

You can see how it is used by clicking here!

Herb

This is one of many drawings I have of our old cat, Herb. She has since passed from this life, but her memories purr away in the many drawings I have of her. She was always a lazy cat, but as she aged she would be still - in either feline meditation or in sleep - for time on end. This made her a great subject for sketches and quick paintings like the one you'll find listed in my Etsy shop.

And there's a cat of a different kind on my eBay auctions!

Along the Farmington River

My father was a fisherman. He fished for food as well as for enjoyment of the sport. I've never really understood the practice of catch and release ... but it makes for pleasant sketching and paintings that sell well.

I Have Fun

I create little works of Folk Art too, like this piece of whimsy. Unlike my landscapes and still life paintings, this type of work is created from imagination. I smile every time I look at this piece, as I recall the many cats that have graced me with their purring presence.

Cats seem to be in a place of one extreme or another ... either in a playful frenzy or in a too-cool-to-care posture. Either way, it seem that the only way to learn more about these feline extremes is to Follow the Cat!

Follow the Cat is up for grabs at eBay!

This is another old study I did for a painting that was sold many years back. An old abandoned red barn, covered with winter snow. It was the horseshoe that drew me to this image.

Another farm in Norfork, Connecticut. This one, a rare working dairy farm, near the Blackberry River. This sketch never became a painting, but I was happy with it and kept it in my file for my own pleasure.

Another Barn

A barn with a red roof in July, along a hiking trail in Norfork, Connecticut is the subject. I remember the wild flowers blooming everywhere. That was the appeal. That, and the red roof against the backdrop of Music Mountain.

This sketch was a study for a painting that sold quickly to a gentleman who lived within view of this delightful scene.

Early Winter

I thought you might like to see some of my drawings, so this is the first in a series of several I have to share with you. Some are simply sketches of things around me that I love. Some are done as discipline and practice for the benefit of honing skill and ability. Some are studies for paintings like this one. All are drawn from life (not from photos).

This is a study I did several years ago for a painting that has long since been sold. It was early winter, and the old red Winchester dairy barn was framed nicely against the bare trees and clear sky, dried grasses and lingering wild flowers. The silo, then in a state of deterioration, no longer stands.

A study like this is done so that I may gauge the composition and block in the image in the studio, and then return to the location with my panel laid-out and all ready to start painting. This is especially nice during the chilly seasons.

Farmstead

This is Ruth’s farmhouse. Ruth is a very nice elderly woman who let me wader around her farm and paint at will. The farmstead is a former Dairy farm that she inherited from her family. It is a great place to paint, for there are friendly farm dogs to offer love and I was entertained as Ruth drove around the place on her tractor.

This is one of a half-dozen paintings that I've created there.

It's up for grabs at my Etsy shop.

Things I Don't Do Anymore

I painted this Litchfield Road in oil several years ago. The original painting has long since been sold and all that remains are a few offset lithograph cards that I had printed, and the memory of taking the photograph from which it was painted.

I don't paint from photos anymore. I haven't for many years now. I much prefer the joy and challenge of heading into nature to capture the image as I perceive it and not as the camera sees it.

Just my preference now. Nonetheless, this painting was quite nice. I was happy with it.

~~~

And thanks to everyone who left comments on the Wee Goddess post - I really appreciate it! Great food for consideration!

Wee Goddess Figures

The first goddess figure I made, the largest one pictured above, was for my wife. She wanted a pocket goddess to carry and have for one of her many tiny altars around the house. I enjoyed the process of creating that first one so much that I've made a few more.

These are made with layers of epoxy resin over a copper armature. Each layer is sanded and detailed until it is finished. Then I stain them with oil paint and finish with an oil-based varnish.

They are tiny, and I'm not sure what to do with them. I may gild a couple. I might put a them on little stands or apply pin findings to the back of them for jewelry. I dunno ...

What do you think?

Vernal Memory

This is me painting in Cornwall Hollow, CT at the vernal equinox with canine companion, Dakota. The painting I'm working on here is currently hanging at the Greene Gallery in Guilford, CT.

Cat in a Window

This is Herb sitting in my old studio window. She was good, extra-large cat. She had blue eyes and a black smudge on her forehead. She was a little on the serious side, but nevertheless good
company.

I painted this watercolor from life, in one sitting. Herb was a still cat, and for that reason I did many drawings of her.

Fire Bush

Some days I don't want to travel, and those days inspire me to appreciate the beauty that's right in my own backyard.

That is how this painting was created. With only a few steps out my own backdoor I was greeted with this lovely scene, layered with crabapple, forsythia and fire bush.

Pond Laurel

Anyone local might know this spot, if they've ever wandered the trails at Burr Pond state park.

The trail around the pond is very active, as it was the day that I painted this landscape. I wandered with them, easel on my back, until this spot called to me. An elderly gentleman asked if I was going camping. Mind you, an easel looks nothing like a backpack and there is no camping at this park. This is one of the things I love about open air painting: The people you meet and the lasting smiles they give you. That and the giant rocks you can set up on to capture such reflections of nature.

This painting is offered for sale at RickDerwitsch.etsy.com

Where to Begin

I paint. I draw. I carve. I sculpt. I create. I mow the lawn.

I play classical guitar. I write music. I drum. I even dance around fire on occasion.

I make airplane models. From plans. Sometimes my own. I fly them. I watch them soar. I watch them crash. 

I walk the dog. I chop wood. I make ale. I sweep the chimney. I enjoy a good meal. I kiss my wife. 

I am Rick.

This is my blog. Whatever that means . . .