International artist opens his local studio to the public

To see a work of professional art in person, most art lovers visit a museum or a gallery. But landscape artist John Modesitt is offering another option through July 20: He's inviting the public to come to his Solana Beach studio and home to view his latest impressionistic paintings.

What makes this a rare opportunity is the caliber of the artist. Modesitt is an international painter whose works are in the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut and the Butler Museum of Art in Ohio, as well as private collections around the world. His work has also been auctioned at Christie's in L.A., London and Paris.

Last year, he invited friends and neighbors to his home to view a series of oil paintings depicting scenes of California (this time the work is of his months in Amboise, France, on the Loire River). He was surprised by the enthusiastic response.

"These were people we just invited, but the house filled up," he recalled. "It felt like the whole neighborhood was there. It was a good experience."

Modesitt feels firmly rooted in Solana Beach. It's been his home base for several decades and where he and his wife raised their daughter. So while he travels extensively for his painting, he always returns to Solana Beach. He likes to enjoy his works before shipping them off to be sold. An event like this allows him that time before they are dispersed.

It also allows people the opportunity to ask him questions about the work and it's the only time he can show his collection together as a group before its broken up and sold by the piece at auction (his Loire series will be sent to Paris and London next month for Christie's Impressionist auction).

"I open my studio and I find that people are always curious about my process," he said. "I have a large variety of paintings in the studio plus works hung in two or three of the rooms inside the house. I set up the interior like a museum. Having the works in a house is nice because it gives people a place to sit, not just a hard bench."

The event is quite informal. People can come and go at most daytime hours. They can call ahead to let him know they're coming as well.

"We had one person who stayed for three hours," he remembered. "My wife and I talked to him and he wanted to know what I do. This kind of thing is the public side of what I do. I can't talk to people when I'm painting. Both sides ---- the public side and the painting side ---- are ingredients in my career."

Visitors tend to ask about his inspiration, the area that he was painting, why he paints in oil and how he decided on the palette. They often end up telling him stories about their lives. Modesitt loves the reaction.

"They often say they want to be in my paintings, and I agree with them," he said. "That's how I feel as well. Sometimes people are shy to come over, but that's the point of doing this ---- to invite people in. That's why we make it so welcoming."

Learning How To Paint Clouds With Oil Paints

Having a hard time painting realistic-looking clouds with oil paints? Howard Rose, a plein air artist from Woodbury, showed the artists present at the Art League of Nassau County's Friday evening demonstration at Clinton G. Martin's recreation center how to do so.

“Clouds are amorphic and landscapes are freer than portraits [to paint]," Rose said. “With a person’s portrait you have to get a likeness, but with landscapes you have more flexibility.”

Rose suggested that one way to combat the elusiveness of clouds is to take photographs of them.  He uses Canon G-10 and Lumix Panasonic cameras.  He showed how he collected photos and magazine pictures and put them into special binders. He takes many photos himself, but he also collects copies of his favorite artists’ works, such as those of Calvin Liang.

Using a photo he took of dunes and clouds down at Tobay Beach as a reference, Rose painted a small oil on a board toned with a blue ground.  He showed how to achieve luminosity in the clouds.  Some tips Rose suggested were to use a limited palette of ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow and alizarin crimson.  Also, keep individual colors on the canvas or board clean until you decide to blend at the end so you don’t have “mud."

Rose’s materials include a portable “Open Box M” wood pochade box to hold his supplies.  Inside he has his Princeton bright (short and flat) brushes in numbers two, four and six with filberts (rounded and flat) in two, four and six.  They are small because his work is not large.  With oil paints, any type is fine for Rose, whether it is Winsor-Newton, Old Holland and Grumbacher.  He also travels with turpentine that hangs in a metal container with a hook underneath the box, paper towels with plastic bag to hold the used ones and an umbrella to protect him from the elements.  The inside of the box is shellacked to use as a palette, but to prevent the oil paint colors from seeping into the wood.

After Rose finished his demonstration painting, the raffle for it was won by Dorothy O’Brien, historian for the ALNC.

“I love it," O'Brien exclaimed. "It’s just so fresh. It speaks to me. I love the shore and the shadows are so beautiful."

Marianne Reamer, refreshments chairperson remarked, “The painting is harmonious and establishes a mood.”