Day 13 at Peters Valley

Castrocielo Roofs, Oil on Canvas, 12" x 6" © Jennie Traill Schaeffer

I'm just about halfway through my residency. Last week I was worried about the short amount of time remaining, but now for some strange reason I'm feeling like I have a lot more time. Who knows what living out here is doing to my mind!

The painting above is the final work I will do involving Italy while I'm at Peters Valley. It brings together elements from most of the other paintings in this one view of roof tops and antennas. It also is somewhat similar in view to a painting I completed of Tuscany two years ago, Town and Country. It also utilizes the palette knife technique I started a few paintings ago.

And, onto bigger things . . .

As promised, I started my first big painting on Friday.

I waited for the canvas primer to cure and then started with a sketchbook sketch of the composition to determine scale, elements, and placement. Then, once happy with it, I scaled it up onto the canvas with a colored pencil drawing. After that was done I started applying early, thin layers of color using my medium. I spent about 9 hours Saturday and Sunday with that first layer. Today, I began applying paint with a palette knife, continuing the technique from the painting above.

The photo below shows the painting in its preliminary state. I assure you it will change dramatically from now to its completion.

Mixer Maesta in Progress, 3' x 5', Oil on Stretched Linen, © Jennie Traill Schaeffer

More about the subject matter in my next blog . . .