Summers Light

Well the days are getting shorter and even though it’s a beautiful summer here in Idaho the season change is on the horizon. From the garden ideas spin as life flows from my watering wand and the plants respond with amazing work. An impression is born recalling planting those tiny seeds.

This painting began several weeks ago just debating on what medium to use. Oil dominates my pallet and found it interesting that I was leaning toward acrylic. Admittedly conventional acrylics were not at work but rather a combination of products I have become familiar with over the years. The subject is so three dimensional it seamed fun to build shapes from the surface to achieve a more 3-D effect. The relief flora shapes would also help to place interesting light and shadow.

This work was just completed and represents the forth of its kind. Certainly a departure from my plein air or studio work but then some times it’s just fun to depart into Summers Light.

Happy summer painting,

Len Sodenkamp
www.sodenkampart.com artist Len Sodenkamp 24.5 x 31.5 mixed media

From the Garden

Tending the garden during the hot days of July and August can get a bit overwhelming at times. The commitment to take care of what you have sown is not unlike caring of a dog or cat. We plant vegetables inter mixed with flowers and feast on fresh picked goodies wile also enjoying the lush greenery they provide.

This small 12 x 16 inch oil on panel was painted plein air taking ideas from my surroundings and building a composition. Wile it is of no particular place it must represent many places throughout my life I have seen. Perhaps even the Yellow Brick Road or in this case the sand stone path.

The making of this art took about one hour working wet into wet oil on a 12 x 16 panel. I used one 3/4 inch flat brush and a medium sized pallet knife. Using just the three primaries and white I squeeze out lots of paint on a large glass pallet and begin by mixing piles of warm and cool colors. When painting plein air the light is always changing so you need to put the paint on and leave it alone. I can’t tell you how many paintings I have destroyed in the last five minutes only to realize what I had done to an otherwise nice work. Plein air is not like studio work; it takes determination to set up out side in the elements and attempt to paint the natural world. As frustrating as it can be at first I highly recommend getting out of the studio and painting in the outdoors. It will challenge you.

Happy summer painting

The Colors of a Summer Garden

The colors of a summer garden takes me back to my childhood growing up with parents who loved their yard and gardens. My mother always planted colorful boarder flowers along the walkway edges and in beds circling the giant box elder trees. Caught up in this addictive activity at a very young age I could be seen pushing the old one kid powered lawn mower. The expectation of 25 cents was my motive but the real reward was how beautiful the summer yard always looked.

My painting is called: That Summer Day. The effort was to depict the creative work that goes into such a planed spring planting. Attempting to duplicate such a botanical feast with oil paint in this artist’s opinion could only come close by pushing the color envelope. It is oil on panel 36 inch x 24 inch painted on location plein air. By working fast, wet into wet; with lots of paint mixed on a large glass palette, a one inch wide flat brush and palette knife; I believe I may have caught a glimpse of That Summer Day.

Owyhee Picture Jasper

Last week I took a few days off from work and home chores. Not having seized the opportunity to paint plein air for way to long I loaded the truck with provisions and took off. I met up with my friends Jed and Von. Their home is located 50 feet from the Snake River just across the Idaho border in Oregon. The next day Jed and I took off on an old dirt road heading toward the Owyhee River. I took over 150 images that day. We ended up in the most amazing spot on the shore of the Owyhee Reservoir. The waters are situated deep in the canyons volcanic formations and are a sight to behold. That evening we ate a great meal cooked on my dad’s old camp stove and waited for the evening colors to fall upon us. We turned in just as the almost full moon came over the ridge. The next morning as the sun crested the ridge tops I began to paint. The colors seamed to flow effortlessly from my pallet to my panel. Then I saw it! There is a gem stone found in the region know as Owyhee Picture Jasper and my pallet was looking curiously like this beautiful gem stone. Just like that precious gem this memory has become a precious gem. This painting will always fill my heart with memories of this beautiful place shared with a good friend.

Thanks Jed,

Light, Silhouette and Sight

Silhouette would not be known without light. Because of light everything seen is in silhouette. Of course nether would exist in our human consciousness without out sight. The universe is abundant with light and it is also vastly very full of dark. Specks of light will always penetrate unobstructed darkness; however all the darkness of space could not penetrate those same specks of light. Interesting that every thing we see is some form of matter silhouetted in light.  Trees, mountains, lakes, clouds, or a distant star are all visible because light puts them in silhouette. At night those specks of light we call stars become visible in the absence of our suns light then silhouetted by the surrounding darkness of space. 

Creation displays amazing beauty with light, the painter is limited to brush and pigment. It is at best a feeble attempt; never the less the obsession continues.

Be in the Light,

Len Sodenkamp

Original paintings, prints and cards of my Earth Light Series are available at:
http://www.len-sodenkamp.artistwebsites.com/

 Oil on panel called (Be in the Light) 24 inches x 48 inches by Len Sodenkamp

The panorama composition

The panorama composition has long been a favorite. Both horizontal and vertical panels are common in my studio. It lends itself to the vast expanses of sky and mountain shapes that dominate the Pacific North West I call home. The long and narrow is often considered a contemporary look in the art and design world. I just find it the only way to capture what I am trying to say.

The painting below is oil on panel 13 inches x 42 inches depicting  a day break on top of the Trinity Mountains. I snuggled down in my sleeping bag on that cool summer morning and watched in aw as nature provided the light show of a life time. The water droplets were of uniform size with just the right clouds in just the right relationship to the sun producing colors by way of an incandescent reaction.

Needless to say once in a life time if you’re lucky, don’t forget to take your camera to bed with you.

Len Sodenkamp
Original art, prints and cards available at www.len-sodenkamp.artistwebsites.com

Miniatures

These miniatures are oil on panel, each 4 inches x 6 inches. A variation on a theme using a limited palette of Indian red, yellow ocher, cobalt blue and white to tell the story. Each 4 inch x 6 inch study was completed in 30 to 45 minutes. The original grouping contained six miniatures on a special panel of my own design.
(See below) 

I was taught this practice by several great mentors over the years and had forgotten how fun it is.

Happy painting,

Len Sodenkamp
http://www.len-sodenkamp.artistwebsites.com/