For the past week or so, I have been patching up old pieces.  One, the portrait of a retired steam locomotive that I called “Sidelined”, has a new background.  I first started this painting behind the North Conway train station when it began to rain.  I finished it using a reference  photograph, which turned out to be useful for getting the details of the engine right.  Then it hung for many months in the Bartlett Inn or the Red Jacket Inn, looking for a lover who never materialized.  What could be wrong with such an appealing subject?  Green, I decided, that boring light green in the background.

Sidelined, v. 2

What had been Spring-fresh trees are now autumnally rusty.  There is a richness conveyed by the warmer color backing up the purply black of the engine.  Perhaps the new look will attract a collector.  I would dearly love to sell it now, so if anyone is interested in paintings of trains, I’d love to hear from  you.

In a more recent painting, also from the North Country, I added life.  The scene is the driveway to the Bartlett Inn, viewed from the Inn itself, which I painted en plein air just last January.  I asked the Inn for help in deciding what critter would be an appropriate addition, and they furnished me a photo of a pine marten that they had seen prowling around in the snow.  Perfect!

Pine Marten in Driveway

I admit to being a little unsure about the size of the prowler.  But if I had made him any smaller to account for  his distance from me, I could not have captured his features well enough to identify him as a pine marten.  Here is a link to a WMUR news story with video about the reporter’s encounter with the “rare American Marten” in a snowy, northern NH landscape.  Here is another YouTube video of this adorable creature.  I never knew what a pine marten was before, but now am so pleased to be able to feature one in a painting.

I also have six new works finished or underway.  I’ll share with you the two of the finished ones:  one is a portrait from life; one is a plein air sketch.  The Portrait is a painting of Dee, who modeled for us while back in NH for a visit to family.  Dee was once a regular artist attendee at the Saturday Life Group, and then became a model for our weekday group until his job took him to the midwest.  He also allowed me to draw his portrait in pencil a few years ago.  I should be better now at portraits, but paint is harder than pencil.

Dee in color

Portrait of D N

I think I like the pencil version better.

The last piece I want to share with you today is from one plein air outing with Nancy Crowley in the alleys of Manchester.  Nancy confessed to being obsessed with alleys, and I joyfully agreed, alleys are the best!  She said this was the best plein air painting she has seen me do, so it must be so.  Nancy is my go-to person for picking apart a painting honestly–and accurately.

Alley View

And now for an important and sad announcement:  this May is the last month that the members of East Colony Fine Art will be exhibiting at the gallery in Langer Place.  We are throwing a party, a celebration of our wonderful history at that location, on May 14, from 5 to 8.  You are all welcome.  I will be there only for the first hour as I have to be on my way to Bartlett that night for the semi-annual Artists Getaway Weekend.

I don’t know what will become of the gallery space at Langer Place–that space was meant to be a gallery and a wonderful gallery it was.  The artists of East Colony are exhausted by the efforts from everyone, especially our directors, needed to sustain the Gallery, at a time when the support of the enterprise (sales of artworks) fell short of what the artists needed to feel that their efforts were justified.  Cost vs benefit.  That kind of hard figuring does not come easily to artists, but we had to do it.

Aline Lotter is currently exhibiting:

at the East Colony Fine Art Gallery in Manchester (Langer Place, 55 S. Commercial St., Manchester, NH); at the Bartlett Inn in Bartlett;  at the Bernerhof Inn in Glen; at the Red Jacket Inn in North Conway; at the Library Arts Center in Newport, NH; at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, NH; and at the law offices of Mesmer and Deleault at 41 Brook St in Manchester.

As usual, you may view paintings with prices and order prints, iPhone cases and the like at my Fine Art America page. If the painting you are interested in is not there, or if you prefer to bypass that experience, you may contact me by email to alotter@mac.com.

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