"Grand Red Roof" by Beth Bathe

"Grand Red Roof", 9 x 12, oil on panel, en plein air

Sunday I went in search of some of the last snow in the fields. This grand barn with it's red roof is a wonderful example of the beautiful Amish farms here in Lancaster County. It was a cold brisk day, but very peaceful. While painting the only sound I cold hear was the sound of the whistling wind and the clip clop of the hooves from Amish buggies, so peaceful.

"Late Winter View of Rockville Bridge" by Beth Bathe

"Late Winter View of Rockville Bridge", 8 x 10 oil on panel, en plein air

Saturday I ventured out into the slightly above freezing temps to paint outdoors. The Rockville Bridge, north of Harrisburg PA, at the time of its completion in 1902, was, and remains, the longest stone masonry arch rail viaduct in the world. This view of the bridge shows the mighty Susquehanna River still covered in ice. This will probably be the last weekend of so much ice and snow with temps climbing above the 50s by mid week.

"Lotus Rest" by Beth Bathe

"Lotus Rest", 8" x 10", oil on panel

I think we are all getting cabin fever and dreaming of warmer weather. This lovely flower and his restful friend, was captured in a photo that I took at "Hillwood", Marjorie Merriwether Post's estate in Washington DC. I just happened to get a great shot of this dragonfly as he basked in the warm August sun.

"Morning Ride" by Beth Bathe

"Morning Ride", 8" x 10", oil on panel

Enough of the snow already! How about a beach scene? This is a shot I took at dawn at Huntington State Park in South Carolina in August. I love the refections of the sky in the water left on the beach after high tide. I can almost hear the waves...

"Barn at Brandywine" by Beth Bathe

"Barn at Brandywine" 8" x 10", oil on panel

Tired of the snow...wanted to practice something green and inviting!!! This little barn at Brandywine Battlefield.

"Brandywine Brook" by Beth Bathe

"Brandywine Brook", 9" x 12", oil on panel

In preparation of the Chaddsford Historical Society Plein Air Paint Out this coming weekend, I decided I need to get out and paint snow, bare trees and water. Here is all three, on yes and some geese too!

So what did I learn...
Baby it's cold outside. Snow is harder than you think. Have to consider warm and cool shadows. Bare trees are HARD...get enough detail without going crazy. And of course water, I think I am getting the hang of that one!

"Blue Doors" by Beth Bathe

"Blue Doors", 9" x 12", oil on panel

I have a lot of interest in old abandoned buildings. Here is a set a doors from an old factory. The patina on the blue doors with a touch of warm orange showing was a photographer and painters dream! Also had fun with the palette knife on the concrete walls

"Still Snow" by Beth Bathe

"Still Snow" #28/30, 6" x 8", oil on panel

Today's painting was started yesterday (I thought I would get ahead. It started as a still life of three flowers in a delft pitcher. I got it blocked in, it had a very dark background and low lighting. I then worked on it all this morning. It just wasn't working. I ran some errands and got back to the studio at 4 pm...I then wiped the whole canvas down (first painting of the thirty that I scraped). So at 4:15 pm, this landscape was born. I wanted to continue to work with snow, and I like how the winter grass peaks through this wonderful snowy drive to an old barn.

"Rosy Reflections" by Beth Bathe

"Rosy Reflections", 24/30, 9 x 12, oil on canvas

Baby it's cold outside. The high in Lancaster PA, was 17 degrees. We have plenty of beautiful white snow on the ground. I would love to go outside and do some plein air painting! I did go out yesterday afternoon and this morning to get some photo references of the countryside, and brrrr, it was COLD. I love the reflections of the sky in this creek, it was clouding up and the sky was had a warm rosy glow.

"Misty Reflections" by Beth Bathe

"Misty Reflections", #20/30, 12 x 12 in, oil on canvas

So here is yesterdays painting...#20 of 30 daily paintings for January. It was too dark to photograph it last night, so here it is in the light of day. This was painted on a black canvas, it was an easy start, very impressionistic, I was really liking the outcome, then as it got later in the day I started to get into the details, first I got too detailed, which was ruining the feel, so then I reworked parts. All in all it was a frustrating, great day of painting, I really learned a lot. I had to deal with the black canvas, a very detailed photo, the atmospheric mist and the reflections in the water...hard, hard, hard....

"Still Standing" by Beth Bathe

"Still Standing", #19/30, 6 x 6 in, oil on panel

This small little outbuilding is located behind a highly photographed and well know grand red barn in the Brandywine Battlefield National Park. This little guy, behind the big barn kept saying to me "I'm here too!"

"Dark Shadows" by Beth Bathe

"Dark Shadows" #16/30, 6 x 6 in, oil on panel

So yesterdays #16 painting rolled over into day 17. for Such a small painting the devil was in the details...I painted the dark shadows first then painted in the light brick colors. Next time I think I might reverse the process!

The subject matter is another of my "Abandoned and Forgotten" series. This is an old snuff mill.

"Waiting For Spring" by Beth Bathe

"Waiting for Spring", 6 x 8 in, oil on linen panel

Ok, so another gray day here in Central PA! It is also day 15 of the 30 day challenge, "hump" day of the week and the challenge! I was wishing for Spring today, and what a better pick me up, a crocus in the snow, announcing that Spring is on its way.

"Seeing Red" by Beth Bathe

"Seeing Red", #11/20, 6 x 6 in, oil on panel

I loved this juxtaposition of rock wall and red window frame. I thought the simple compostion would be an easier painting to paint, I was wrong...

Tomorrow will be day 12 and I hope the sun comes out tomorrow, I need some natural light in my studio!

"Forgotten", 8 x 10, oil on panel

Painting #9/30. I have a great love of old abandoned buildings. Buildings that were once useful and powerful structures, are now forgotten, but have become just a visual part of our landscape, loosing their original purpose, but still grand in presence.

Day 1 - "Go Gamecocks!" by Beth Bathe

"Go Gamecocks #1", 6 x 8, oil on panel

Happy New Year! I have accepted a challenge, Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days, In honor of today's Capital One Bowl Game with my beloved South Carolina Gamecocks, here is painting number one. Currently it is the 4th quarter and the Gamecocks are up over the Wisconsin Badgers, 27 to 24....GO GAMECOCKS!

You made bid on this painting in the Daily Paintworks Auction!

"Shem Creek", 8 x 10, oil on panel

"Shem Creek", 8 x 10, oil on panel

Thank you to my cousin Mark for this wonderful reference photo of Shem Creek, Charleston SC. So calm and serene and the colors were beautiful.

Hope everyone has "calm waters" and "smooth sailing" as the head into the New Year...Happy Holidays!!!

"Red Lanterns of Zhouzhaung"

"Red Lanterns of Zhouzhaung", 6 x 8, oil on linen panel

The narrow streets of Zhouzhaung China are lined with shops and restaurants. One afternoon several of us gathered along the canal to paint. Here we are set up painting the scene. I am in the blue shirt. The second photo is my painting in the early stages.

Painting in China...finally

"Summer morning in Zhouzhuang", 6 x 8, oil on linen panel

Finally, here is the first of my paintings done in China. In September I traveled with Qiang Huang and 14 other artists to paint in China. You can visit our group online photo album of our trip here. This painting was painted on the third day after we arrived. After spending two nights in Shanghai we made our way to the ancient water town of Zhouzhuang. The whole town is a museum, and we had the rare opportunity of staying within the ancient town in a guest house that was over 800 years old. This is a place you see very few foreign visitors. We were given a map of the village, but it is all in Chinese so we all had to figure out where we were... On the second morning several of us ventured out along one of the canals to paint. Perhaps, we were the only plein air painting group ever to visit the village because we attracted quite a bit of attention. Many local villagers and Chinese tourists took pictures of and with us like they had never seen westerners before. We were a new attraction! Later in the morning we also ended up right in the middle of shooting a soap opera on one of the bridges...it was a very busy morning in Zhouzhang! Anyway, here is my first painting of one of the many bridges and canals.

"Three's a Crowd" by Beth Bathe

"Three's A Crowd", 10 x 10 oil on canvas

I am so lucky to live near the Strasburg Rail Road. 
Old restored trains run the tracks amongst the beautiful Lancaster County farm land.
I went to the train station a week ago and did some sketching and took some photos. 
This is a studio painting using my plein air sketches as reference. 

Contact me at bathepainting@aol.com if you are interested in this or any of my other work.