Open Studio

Another plug for the open studio...Sunday, November 17th, 2-4pm at the studio behind the house in Rhinebeck.
Please leave a message in the comments if you need directions, etc. Hope you can make it.

My Sinterklaas painting

This is a bit of a departure for me — I just did this smallish painting for the annual Rhinebeck Sinterklaas (old Dutch version of Santa Claus) Festival. They invited me to donate something for the art auction, so here is my version. I think it came out pretty well. I think it's finished, but I might do some more work on it.


Sinterklaas, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 16" x 12".

Exhibit opens today

Here is the flyer for the show that opens today in Rhinebeck:


Please click on the graphic for a more legible version.

Jim's landscapes are in the front section, I'm in the back. For me, it was kind of a last-minute thing, as Jim offered me the space that he didn't really have enough pieces to fill. I have 18 artworks in the show, dating from 2006-2009. I have 4 large paintings (from 2006, the oldest works in the show), plus a few new smallish paintings, some ink drawings & silverpoints.

RICS - Rhinebeck Institute for Creative Studies

This is to mention that I'm working with a couple of artist friends, James E. Ransome & James L. Stevenson (I only work with people called James) on the Rhinebeck Institute for Creative Studies (RICS). This is a loose grouping of the 3 of us, who are offering classes & workshops in our own studios to interested parties. We are all professional artists with considerable experience, so I think we have something potentially very useful to offer to other artists & students who may be just starting out or needing help in some way.

For more information, please check out the RICS blog.

Other links:
www.ayton.net (my main web site)
www.jamesransome.com (James Ransome's site)
www.jlsfineart.com (Jim Stevenson's site)

More Fall Foliage from Upstate New York

Here's another shot of fall foliage for you.

Head in a Landscape

Just a small brush & ink drawing, 10" x 8", one of the new items I'll have up for my open studio, part of the Rhinebeck/Red Hook Artists' Studio Views this weekend. For all the details, see the posts below.

Art Studio Views 2008 — Rhinebeck & Red Hook, New York

My studio with fall foliage.


Interior shot.


Another interior.

Here are some views of my studio, in preparation for the 2008 Art Studio Views tour of Rhinebeck & Red Hook, in upstate New York (Northern Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley). See posting immediately below this one for links & details.

Rhinebeck/Red Hook Art Studio Views

This weekend sees the inaugural Art Studio Views tour of the Rhinebeck & Red Hook areas, where I live. It takes place on Saturday October 18th & Sunday October 19th, from 11am to 5pm each day. I'll be opening up my studio to the public & we shall see what happens. There is a web site with the details here.

Here is the page with the list of artists. There are 24 local artists in all, several of them personal friends of mine.

Here is the Google map of all the studios.

You can even download & print out a PDF of the map/brochure here (1.52MB), though you can no doubt pick one up at many locations in the area (stores, restaurants, B&Bs). It was designed by Nadine Robbins at Namaro Design.

As my studio is quite large, I'm sharing some of it with my good friend Jim (James L.) Stevenson. Here is his art web site.

The painting above is "Portrait of the Tyrant as a Young Man" (acrylic on plywood, 30" x 18", 2007), which is the image featured in the map/brochure & will be on display in my studio.