"Morning Light, Maple Hill Farm", 10x20, oil, Plein Air Brandywine Valley, Maple Hill Farm, horses, plein air, Winterthur, Children's Beach House, Maryanne Jacobsen art, Wyeth country

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"Morning Light, Maple Hill Farm", 10x20, oil

I recently returned from a trip to Pennsylvania to paint in the annual Plein Air Brandywine Valley plein air event. For one beautiful autumn week, dozens of excellent painters gather together and have the opportunity to paint at beautiful locations throughout the Brandywine Valley, which is home to the Wyeths and other notables of the Brandywine School of art.

For me, it is a homecoming, because that area was where I lived for the majority of my life.

On one of the days of the event we had multiple choices of wonderful places to paint. I chose Maple Hill Farm , on the outskirts of West Chester, and got there early enough  to find a great location.

There was mist in the fields and everything had a dreamlike quality about it as I set up under a huge tree and surveyed my surroundings.

I had a wonderful audience  as I began my painting, and decided to incorporate a few of the spectators into my painting.

Boy, oh boy! I am not a typical painter of horses and their anatomy, which  is basically  foreign to me. But I endeavored to capture two of them into my painting anyway, as I painted as quickly as I possibly could while they munched contentedly on  the grass.

The reward for getting up at the crack of dawn, heading to an unknown location , and setting up and painting subjects you are not familiar with as quickly as you can is.... a Sale!

I am happy to say that this painting sold during the reception at Winterthur. I never had a chance to get a good photo of it. But I am so grateful for the experience of having painted in that gorgeous meadow, on that brisk October morning, and for the beautiful horses who kept me company as I painted!

"Prime Time", 9x12, oil on board, plein air Brandywine Valley, Chadds Ford, Pa., Winterthur, Andrew Wyeth country, fall foliage, Pennsylvania landscapes, twisted trees, autumn

"Prime Time", 9x12, oil on board

I just returned from Pennsylvania where I participated in  the Plein Air Brandywine Valley art competition and sale to benefit Children's Beach House in Wilmington , Delaware. It was my second year of doing this competition and every year is wonderful because of the exceptional places that the artists are allowed to paint. People generously offer to open up their private estates to the artists, where we can paint vistas of horses, donkeys, old barns, classic Pennsylvania fieldstone farmhouses, hay stacks and much more.

It's a beautiful time of year, with the fall foliage at full peak. Hence the name of the painting above which was painted at the Nielsen estate in Chadds Ford, Pa., home to generations of Wyeth families. I was drawn to the interesting shape of the twisted tree as well as the companion tree on the other side of the winding path, which was in full fall gala garb!

The week of painting culminates in a gala, held at the Winterthur Museum, where people who purchase tickets can choose from literally dozens or gorgeous plein air paintings available for purchase.

Unfortunately, I only painted 4 paintings this year, since two of the days were cold and rainy and I have Raynaud's disease, which is a circulatory problem that prevents me from going outdoors in cold and damp weather. But I was happy with the paintings that I did on Monday and Tuesday, and one of them was purchased by a collector.

Here I am posing in front of my paintings at the gala.

I'll be posting more of the work that I did last week over the next few days. Happy Halloween!

"Nature's Fading Glory", 12x12, oil

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"Nature's fading Glory", 12x12, oil

Back in the fall I painted at Winterthur for the Brandywine Valley Plein Air to benefit the Children's Beach House in Delaware. You can read my blog post about the event here

Last week, I decided to do a different version of the scene in a square format and the painting above was the result. I enjoyed painting the scene again, even though I was indoors and not privy, as I was the first time, to the glorious colors of nature all around me, and the bite of winter in the frosty air that morning.

Available through Gallery 444.