Gapstow Bridge & How I Made Central Park Much Better

Janae and I met up to paint in Central Park today.

We ended up at the iconic Gapstow Bridge.

I have painted here many times but not for a while.

Despite my hesitation to be in such a crowded area of the park on a Saturday, it was good vibes all around.

Gapstow Bridge is one of those places I revisit from time to time as my painting evolves.

I have painted there in all seasons, in hot summer and snowy winter.

It was good to be back.

This is plein air number 50 for 2026, my personal yearly goal is met.

I am very happy with this painting.

5x10 oil, 2 1/2 hours

Janae took this pic of me painting.

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There are these weird cut-off metal post things near Gapstow bridge.

They are extremely dangerous.

I tripped twice!

Children run around there!

I really should call 311 about it, and I almost certainly will, on Monday.

In the meantime, I made it better and I hope no one gets oil paint on them.

It's Williamsburg Cadmiums, and they take a while to dry.... the turquoise was a nice added touch for additional visibility.

This is the weirdest use of leftover paint....

The For-Reals Really Last After-Work Painting for 2026

I know it's the third time I'm saying this, but this is for reals the last after-work painting for 2026.

The other day I made a super-janky-boathouse-worthy panel carrier for some 5x10 cradled wood panels I got. (I thought it would be a fun size. It is.)  And honestly, I wanted to test it out.

I made it out of a Dr Bronners refill box, tape, and velcro. 
Because I am very lazy I didn't measure anything.

It's pretty awesome, but I wanted to see if it was ok enough to transport panels without smudging them.

Success, my painting got home and out of my wonky panel carrier just fine!

So I went to the office then after, I went over to Elevated Acre at 55 Water to paint Brooklyn.

This is a 1 hour painting.  I finished around 5:30, and sunset was 6:02.

So, it really had to be fast because of the light. 5x10 is smaller than 8x10 and the size does make a difference.

Super-quick sketch to start, just to establish placements.

I was going to put the ferry in from Pier 11, and would have if I had more time but it's ok.

The light goes so fast right before sunset.

I'm counting this one as 49 for the year, one more to goal which I will meet tomorrow.

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View from the office... it's a 360 view but I always sit on the north side of the tower.

Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

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I walked over to 55 Water on no particular route, just general direction.

Since I'm so familiar with the Financial District, this is always fine.

Anyhow, without deliberate intention, I ended up going east on Maiden Lane, which is nearby but not a usual path for me anymore.

And there was 125 Maiden Lane, where I worked when I was pregnant with Daya.

I think??? I was on the 9th floor.

(I also worked in 55 Water occasionally, same company, but at that time I was mainly at 125 Maiden.

There was a time where I had building access to 125 Maiden, 55 Water, and 100 Wall.)

I'm really glad to be back in the Financial District instead of Times Square.

There's a thing I do when I find myself in places like this that I was in during significant and difficult times in my past- my current self tells my past self that everything is going to be ok.

I have several spots like this around the city.

But it's been years since I was in front of 125 Maiden, despite being in the vicinity all the time.

There is something nice about revisiting from a different and much better place in life.

Getting Dusty Again

I was back on Governor's Island today for our annual Downtown Boathouse picnic.

Yesterday was SO COLD, I wore my merino wool unders today and- depite the weather being similar...?? I was too hot!

Oh well.

Since it appears I am incapable of going anywhere without paint, but today was not a day for oils, I brought my new Luchetti sketchbook and some pastels.

Last Sunday on my overnight shift on the hotline I brought my Luchetti Via (the little Luchetti) and some pastels and I did a mini made-up landscape which I haven't posted anywhere yet. I have missed working in pastel but haven't wanted the commitment of a full painting.

The sketchbook is perfect. It's filling a gap I have been looking to fill for a while now.

Both my Luchettis are hot press and this paper seriously will take anything.

This is a one-hour painting, 8x16.

I used those Sennelier pencils I got last year and my travel set of Nupastel.

Next time I'm bringing Unisons, oh yes I am.

I primed the paper with clear gesso which is very nice for pastel- it's a rough surface, different than regular white gesso.

The surface texture was good but I struggled with the white of the paper... I never work on white with pastel.

Those Senn pencils are hard-pastel and are kind of only good for blocking in those under-layers...well, my experience with them, so far. Nupastel is softer and has to go on top of these senns.

I do not consider this part of my personal 50 plein air a year goal... that's for standalone oils only.

When I got home I had this BRILLIANT! IDEA! to mix raw pigment right into the clear gesso for a nice toned-but-still-transparent-ish surface for pastels.

This is freaking brilliant.

I have so much raw pigment because of egg tempera.

It's nice when mediums cross over and help each other.

I think of soft pastel, oil paint, and egg tempera as first cousins.

I have used grated pastel dust in several egg tempera paintings, now egg tempera helps my pastelling!

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The picnic was fun and it was nice to see my friends.

Martin drove the golf cart loaded up with everything back to the ferry when it was time to leave.

Kedrin sat in front with him, we piled so much stuff onto that golf cart.

Aimee and I sat on the back- on our knees on precariously secured bungee-bins and held onto the cart for dear life.  Martin avoided most of the potholes. Sharp turns were another story....

It was more fun than a roller coaster could ever be- and possibly more dangerous- who needs Six Flags when you have the boathouse?

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My friend M still wants to be friends.

I had to... once again.... try to explain with a psychology article why offering unsolicited advice is not a good thing and is NOT helpful...I'm honestly still not sure he really gets it.

He also said no one ever told him this before- so it really might be a new concept to him which explains why he's so fucking dense about it.  So, I have to give him grace and move on.

But I won't tolerate it anymore in our friendship.

In other relationships I just tell people outright I'm not looking for advice or analysis, and it's always fine. No conflict.

I also have to remember I have the benefit of the hotline training and experience (which seriously is HUGE)- being around more people than he is, and the caliber of people I am around is generally very high-quality, intelligent, very educated, and especially on the hotline- very emotionally intelligent. 

While I have stated my requirement, I also will give him grace and the chance to... not do it anymore.

He says he understands I don't like it. (Finally, how many times can you tell a person...)

Fuckin A, it's a good thing this is a text-only relationship.

I couldn't do it in-person.

Fort Jay, Governor's Island

I could paint on Governor's Island every single day for a year and still not run out of cool things to paint.

David and I met on the 7am ferry over to paint.

We both thought Fort Jay was a fantastic spot.

There were two- actually three- paintings where I was standing.

I intended to do two but it was SO COLD.

I was dressed warmer than I have been yet this season but it wasn't enough.

Actually on the way over I was hot... but for standing still I needed my wool unders.

Temp was 50 but with the wind felt like 38.

I really did think it would warm up a bit but nope.

Davisd was also freezing.

Here is a strange painting of Fort Jay. I want to go back to that spot and paint the amazing tree.

8x10 oil

My panel was Pebbleized....

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Pebbles is fine, for the most part, except for being really B12 deficient.

I'm supplementing and tracking her weight at home.

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I have still been feeling this intense anger.

It's complex and multi-faceted and isn't just about me.

The vet bill just really zapped it, like I got electrocuted or something.

It's been waking me up at night.

I haven't been sleeping well, unusual for me, except for Weds night when I knocked out for 10 hours, I have been up at 4am all week.

A plus to that was waking up at 4am to make the 7am ferry was easy today.....

So anyhow before I left this morning I paid off the bill because I have to clear the energy.

While painting the anger towards my friend M finally coalesced and I got the words I needed to say.

In fact, it became so pressing I had to write and send it even before getting home.

So, after I got off the GI ferry, I stopped in the waiting room at the Staten Island ferry to compose my words and send them.  There is a problem in the friendship, something he does, that I have explained and asked several times that he doesn't do, but it makes no difference.

He either needs to respect my request in this matter or I will let the friendship go.

Either way is fine with me, and I needed to finally do this to start releasing this anger.

I am hoping the combination of these things will start to break it up.

It's a lot of energy so I don't expect anything immediately, but over the next day or so I hope to feel better.

Meatpacking District

There's a lady I recently found out about who is a very good plein air painter- and also at my intensity- who invites people to paint with her.

I was going to paint today anyhow but didn't pick out a location, so I just joined her group and went to her location in the Meatpacking District.

This painting took 2 1/2 hours and kind of melted my head, it was a bit intense.

There is a LOT going on.

A good mental workout!

When I started the painting I reverted to a linear layout- which I realized quickly wasn't working at all for me. So I ditched that approach and did the mental shift to working only with shapes, mixing the paint as I went.

I think this is the way to go for me, especially for buildings- seeing everything in shapes of color, no lines. It's definitely more enjoyable.

As is normal for me, although this is an alla prima oil painting, it's worked in three layer-stages.

I knew at the start the mural was the focal point, and so is the only area of the painting at full chroma.  Everything else is colored grays.

A stupid bus came along and parked in the lower right so I had to improvise that area from memory.

Whatever.

8x10 oil

Beginning block-in:

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This morning when I was packing to paint, I realized I'm almost out of the Gamsol I bought last November. (which was maybe a half gallon)

And I'm still mad that I can't buy a gallon jug anymore.

So after painting I walked over to Blick and bought eight (8) of the largest size Gamsol bottles which comes out to 2.11 gallons.

It cost about $167.

In 2022, 2 gallons would have been around $110.

Prices are going up so fast, that's why I decided to buy a 3 to 4 years' supply of solvent.

I require clean solvent to paint, and if you know me for 5 seconds you'll know I paint A LOT.

While I almost never (these days) add thinner to my paint, I can't make cleaning brushes between colors without solvent work well for me. Plus I don't like pigment going down the drain, I'd rather it goes in the solvent which settles and self-cleans.

I need the quantity because I always have solvent in the process of settling. 

I have 2 dump jugs and 2 metal solvent cans which I let dry completely between uses.

One is always ready to go, which is what I require for my severe plein air addiction.

I lose solvent to some minor spillage, but mostly it is soaked up by my oily rags when I wipe the brush after rinsing between colors. Larger brushes go through more solvent too, and I have been using larger brushes lately.

Today's painting is number 47 for 2026, three more to meet my personal goal of 50, I can definitely do that, and of course I plan to do as many as possible.

The Crazy Plein Air Workout

David Nakabayashi texted me and said "Join me on the 7am ferry to Governor's Island and let's paint."

(He has an artist residency there right now.)

Oh, I won't turn down a chance to paint with David.

I steal his painting vibes.

His work has been enormously influential in my growth, the osmosis is very real.

That's why it's important to be around people who are more advanced.

(It's also why I like my egg tempera class so much- the balance of slowing down, and also I'm not the best in the room, so it is the right room.)

So, I woke up at 4am and was down at Pier 11 at 6:45.

David chose the spot- I know Governor's Island ok, but he knows it very well.

There's a very high hill overlook area on Governors Island I never knew about- wow, what a view!

We both knocked out two paintings each in less than 3 hours.

It was very windy in the morning but we persevered.

I painted the Statue of Liberty (again).

Start time 8:01am, end time 9:26am.

8x10 oil

The important thing about this painting I learned is dealing with the sky being very boring.

I did move some clouds over (David painted the good clouds to my left) but mostly 3/4 of this painting is empty sky space.

Not too long ago I would have really obsessed over the gradient- and instead I decided to make that boring blank space more interesting through brushwork.

I am realizing how much my painting approach has changed- especially when dealing with subject matter I've painted several times before.

Speed is not the goal- I track the time for personal data purposes, but it's something that comes through experience and repeated problem solving.

We both painted the skyline for painting number 2.

This second painting took.... 1 hour and 20 minutes!

Whoa!

This is a milestone painting for me.

I have painted the skyline a bunch of times before but never like this, and definitely not at this speed.

The World Trade Center is always tough to paint, it's just tricky.

Well, for me at least, and of everything in this painting, I spent the most time on that.

You have to get the shapes just right and of course the light is always changing which makes a big difference in particular on that tower.

And then I just knocked in shapes of color instead of drawing everything.

Indicating, values, and spots of color.

It's a loose painting but still has all the information it needs.

It stretched my head out.

I can see just how far I have come with my plein air work- particularly with the skyline and how to handle the complexity in a simplified way.

My thinking and ability to resolve complexity has improved significantly.

This isn't something I could do in the studio from photos- not at all.

It has to be done repeatedly from life.

I'm so proud of myself for keeping and growing my art through all these difficult years.

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After painting we went back to the house where David's exhibit is on display.

He's so weird!

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Other assorted pictures from today: