I have just completed my “Paint with Me Workshop” with Rose Nigro in the Hamptons this past week. I enjoy visiting with students from my past workshops and having a one on one workshop. There is so much I can teach this way. Utilizing my Plein Air Pizzaz perspective we tackled typical plein air situations in a conceptual and uniquely visual approach with very different results. What fun.

Big Pumpkin, 9 x 12, oil on panel

We painted at some fabulous locations in the Hamptons. There is so much to choose from, there is truly a painting almost every direction you turn. More of a relished time period experience. Lobster boats, lighthouses, older restored homes and new mansions, plenty of a garden and old Farmers Markets, with fresh cider everything perfectly displayed in the New York fashion.  I have a workshop on my calendar for early next October 2015. Returning to focusing on Old Farmers Markets. I hope many of you will join me. Please sign up online now to reserve a limited spot. Click here

I had some opportunity to explore the south fork of the island with her. Visited the studio of a one of my favorite painter, Jackson Pollock a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was well known for his unique style of drip painting.

Visited the city of New York and saw another of my painting heroes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), Thomas Hart Benton. He was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, sculpted figures in his paintings showed people in everyday United States scenes. He made me feel proud to be able to work as an American.

I am standing in front of John Brown’ (1939) by American regionalist artist John Steuart Curry (1897-1946). Oil on canvas, possibly a study for his series of Kansas murals. Set apart for his paintings depicting life Kansas, alongside of Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood,

This painting that Rose is in front of at the MET is her great, great, great, etc., etc., grandfather, Don Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares (1587 – 1645). It is a powerful painting of him riding on horseback, painted by Diego Velázquez in1635. He was the principal minister and favorite of Philip IV of Spain.

Wikipedia says he: “was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family…

From the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez’s artwork was a model for the realist and impressionist painters, in particular Édouard Manet. Since that time, famous modern artists, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, have paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works.”

We visited a unique local landmark, The Big Duck in Flanders New York. I wont go into the whole interesting story of this two floor tall duck. You can read and learn about it yourself in Rose’s new children’s book, The Big Duck, that will come out Christmas 2014. Illustrated by Tom H.John. I had the pleasure of consulting with her and designing the book.

Roadhouse Pizza has the best Pizza Bianca (white pizza, no sauce). You may want them to go very light on cheese. It was heaven eating a slice of this pizza. One said it was like a pizza cheesecake. A blend of real cheeses: Mozzarella, Ricotta and Romano cheese. Visit here: http://www.roadhousepizza.com/home.html

Hope you can share with me the unique experience of the Hampton’s and Painting Old Farmers Markets, October 5 – 8, 2015. Click here