AT AN OUTDOOR ART FAIR

Art Fair, 7 x 8 inch ink drawing by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

 I drew this little sketch some years ago at an outdoor art fair at Beverly Art Center on Chicago's far south side. This was at their old location, a few blocks east of where they are now.

CHICAGO: INsideOUT EXHIBITION SEPT. 21 TO OCTOBER 19, 2018

South Side Halloween, 36 x 80 inch acrylic on panel by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

This large Chicago landscape is one of three paintings I have in the CHICAGO: INsideOUT exhibition at the Bridgeport Art Center at 1200 W. 35th Street in Chicago.  There is a large free parking lot on the north side of the building.  Enter the building on the side facing Racine Avenue and take the elevator to the third floor gallery.   The exhibition will be up from September 21 through October 19, 2018.  Work by 75 artists will be shown.

Collectors' Preview: Friday, September 21 from 5:00 to 7:00pm
Opening Reception: Friday, September 21 from 7:00 to 10:00pm
Closing Reception: Friday, October 19 from 7:00 to 10:00pm

THE LAST TOMATO IN PAT'S GARDEN

The Last Tomato in Pat's Garden, 12 x 16 inch watercolor by George C. Clark    SOLD

Whenever I do a a "Traveler's Sketchbook" exhibition like the recent one at Beverly Arts Center I describe the subjects as "ranging from the artist's own Chicago backyard to the back roads of Europe."  Here is a painting from my back yard.  I painted it late in the season when the climbing beans had gone crazy and there was a single tomato still ripening.  I asked my wife to leave some of her tools out so that they could be in the picture.

BELLY DANCE PERFORMANCE IN CHICAGO PARK

Belly Dance Performance, Independence Park, Chicago, 10 x 13 inch ink and colored pencil drawing
 by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

Sometimes I don't have to travel very far to find my subjects.  These ladies are part of a troupe from the Arabesque Dance Studios who did a belly dance performance the Sunday before last at this year's first Farmers Market in Independence Park, a short walk from where I live on the Northwest Side of Chicago.  They looked great, but constant motion made them as hard to draw from life as the alligators I tried to sketch in the Everglades last year.  So I did the same thing I did in Florida-- I photographed them and then sketched from my photos.

Another Round of STRAIGHT UP CHICAGO: ART WITH A TWIST

Backyards, Chicago, watercolor by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

I have posted this painting here before, but it is back because it is in another show.  It is one of two paintings I have in the exhibition STRAIGHT UP CHICAGO: ART WITH A TWIST at the Southport and Irving Cafe and SIP Lounge at 4002 Southport in Chicago.  The show has been extended and will be up through the end of December.

CHICAGO COMES TO BELMONT, NEW YORK

Backyards, Chicago, 15 x 20 inch watercolor by George C. Clark   AVAILABLE

I have posted this painting here before but it's back because it is currently featured in the exhibition CHICAGO COMES TO BELMONT at the Fountain Arts Center in Belmont, New York.  More information about this group show is HERE.  The show's curator was looking for art that says "Chicago" and I can't think of anything more "Chicago" than this view across my fence of my neighbors' backyards.

NEW TRAVELER'S SKETCHBOOK EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO

Backyards, Chicago, 15 x 20 inch watercolor by George C. Clark    Available

Eight of the paintings from my "Traveler's Sketchbook" series along with two large studio landscapes are currently on exhibit at Alderman John Arena's 45th Ward Office Gallery at 4754 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.  The Ward Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 6:00pm, and the exhibition will run through April, 2013.

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR

House in Ravenswood, 16 x 12 inch watercolor by George C. Clark    SOLD

This was the view from my studio window when I lived in an apartment building in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago.

ENOUGH HISTORY

I have used the previous posts to tell how I came to on-site landscape painting and the steps that led me to the small-acale watercolor format I have been using for the last 30 years.  That done, I am now going to abandon any further attempts at chronology and just present my artwork, some old, some new, some sold, some available for purchase or exhibitions.  They will mostly be landscapes, but you may see the odd flower or animal or artifact from a museum, and I will include some paintings from my AGE OF IRON: Railroad Art by George C. Clark series, most of which are painted on-site at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.  I usually work on 10 x14 or 12 x 16 inch blocks of Arches hot press watercolor paper, but I occasionally use other papers and work larger or smaller.  Most of this work will have been painted on-site, but there are occasions when that is impossible and I have to work from my on-site photographs.  This can happen when the sun is going down, or when I have to be someplace and don't have time to paint, or when stopping to paint would inconvenience my traveling companions.  There are also times when I will do an ink drawing on-site and add color later from memory or photographs.

Backyards, Chicago, 15 x 20 inch watercolor by George C. Clark    AVAILABLE

I painted Backyards, Chicago on a rainy October Sunday from the external stairway that used to lead to the second floor of my house on the Northwest Side of Chicago.  I had to stop painting several times to avoid being rained on.  My neighbors' backyards look a little different now than they did then, but Rick and Rachel's big elm tree is still going strong.