Wee ‘Whiskey Paintings’ by Delhi’s Karen Graves

Featured in November Show at Delaware Pantry

A solo show of new wee-sized paintings by renown Delaware County watercolorist Karen Graves opens Nov. 2 at the Delaware Pantry in Delhi.

The show features a new collection of 16 framed small paintings created by Graves since her induction last year into the Whiskey Painters of America, described as “a unique fellowship of watercolor, wit, whiskey and camaraderie.”

Her show runs each Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 2nd to 23rd at Delaware Pantry, a refurbished barn at 21780 State Highway 28, 4 miles east of Delhi. An opening reception, with refreshments and snacks, will be from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. The show’s inventory also includes a wide variety of various-sized prints and notecards drawn from the watercolors Graves has painted over her 30-year career.
The Whiskey Painters group was founded in Ohio in 1962 by Joe Ferriot, a traveling salesman and painting enthusiast who carried a tiny pallet in an aspirin tin. After business hours on the road, he would settle onto a barstool at a local saloon and create mini watercolors, wetting his brush with whiskey. He gifted the paintings to bartenders and fellow patrons—and rarely had to buy a drink.

Today, there are some 350 members of the by-invitation-only group, which sticks to Ferriot’s idea that the paintings should be no larger than 3.5 by 5.5 inches so they fit in your pocket or pocketbook.

“The smaller format gives me the freedom to explore a subject while spending as little as five hours on a painting, rather than my normal 40 to 50 hours for a large piece,” Graves says.

During the Nov. 2 reception, Graves will cue a toast by dipping her brush into a dram of Rock Valley Spirits whiskey of Long Eddy, N.Y., whose owner, Terry Milk, is a watercolorist and Whiskey Painters member. It was Milk, the current president of the group, who nominated Graves to join the organization.
Although Graves normally paints larger pieces, the subjects of her Whiskey Paintings will be familiar to those who follow her work. She is known for her realistic images of landscapes, bridges, barns and flowers from her native Catskill Mountains, scenes ingrained during a childhood in DeLancey. She credits her late mother, Mabel Worden Gutliph, a painter and sculptor herself, for inspiring her love of landscapes during nature walks in the hills near their home.

Her body of work is a testament to her deep connection with the Catskills, art critic Robert Brune recently wrote. “Her work not only captures the beauty of the Catskill Mountains but also invites viewers to share in her profound reverence for the natural world,” Brune wrote. “In a world that often moves at a frantic pace, Graves’ paintings offer a moment of quiet reflection, inviting us to pause, breathe, and immerse ourselves in the timeless beauty of the landscapes she so lovingly portrays.”

Graves, who studied art and ceramics at Buffalo State University, has earned accolades at local, regional and national shows. Her art has been exhibited at more than 20 venues, including both individual and group shows. Her wee paintings have been displayed and sold at two Whiskey Painters shows this year, in New Hampshire in May and in the group’s 43rd annual exhibition, which runs through Oct. 24 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

For more information, contact the Delaware Pantry at [email protected].

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Karen’s First Virtual Art Show!

Hi, everyone.

I was scheduled to show a collection of my landscape paintings during the month of June 2020 at the Mount Utsayantha Regional Arts League’s lovely little gallery on Main Street in Hobart, New York. The world had other plans!

As a result of the pandemic, we’ve pivoted to a Virtual Art Show, which I will host on Facebook Live at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, May 30. We’ll be webcasting the show on MURAL’s Facebook page (see the link below). I will post the link on my Facebook pages as the date approaches.

I’ll be showing and talking about my watercolors, including some of my old favorites and a collection of new paintings inspired by winter trips to the Gulf Coast that I’ve enjoyed the past few years.

And there’s more!

We’re going to have some family fun with this unusual show. For years, I’ve been thinking about doing a joint show to include my paintings with the artwork of my late mother and creative inspiration, Mabel Worden Gutliph, who was a talented painter and sculptor (in addition to mothering six children); my twin brother, Kevin Gutliph, who creates wonderfully whimsical sculptures out of scrap metal; and my sister, Dr. Joanne Gutliph, who might have been destined for a career in art had she not been drawn to the field of medicine.

So I’ll be gathering up pieces from each of them for the MURAL show and will share a bit of my mother’s and siblings’ art and their stories with all of you who are able to join us on Facebook Live on May 30. Here’s the link to the MURAL Facebook page, where you’ll be able to join me.

https://www.facebook.com/MURALonMainGallery/

After the live event, we’ll post a recording in several places: here on my website, on my YouTube channel, and on my Facebook pages, including this one: https://www.facebook.com/karen.gutliphgraves

I’m very excited. Hope to see you!

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Tree Climber

Porcupine climbing a tree
He tried to hide from me than gave up and climbed this tree.
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Painting in Progress – Birdsong Farm

 

 

This magical image is found at the lower level of the Birdsong farm, viewed from the dam.

Birdsong 1

Birdsong 3

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Little Delaware Birdhouse

I have had this image waiting to be painted for a long time. I was attracted to it because of the colors ranging from turquoise to yellow. Really felt like I could improve on it so am working on another version. Will post when done.

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Fall in the Catskills – a little info on how the colors work

Fall LeavesCan you tell a tree from its colors?

You can use fall leaf color to help identify different tree species. Look for these leaf colors on the trees in your neighborhood:
Oaks: red, brown or russet
Hickories: golden bronze
Dogwood: purple-red
Birch: bright yellow
paper birch
yellow birch
Poplar: golden yellow
Maple trees show a whole range of colors:
Sugar Maple: orange-red
Black Maple: glowing yellow
Red Maple: bright scarlet

Where do leaf colors come from?

Leaf color comes from pigments. Pigments are natural substances produced by leaf cells. The three pigments that color leaves are:

chlorophyll (green)
carotenoid (yellow, orange, and brown)
anthocyanin (red)
Chlorophyll is the most important of the three. Without the chlorophyll in leaves, trees wouldn’t be able to use sunlight to produce food.

Carotenoids create bright yellows and oranges in familiar fruits and vegetables. Corn, carrots, and bananas are just a few of the many plants colored by carotenoid.

Anthocyanins add the color red to plants, including cranberries, red apples, cherries, strawberries and others.

Chlorophyll and carotenoid are in leaf cells all the time during the growing season. But the chlorophyll covers the carotenoid — that’s why summer leaves are green, not yellow or orange. Most anthocyanins are produced only in autumn, and only under certain conditions. Not all trees can make anthocyanin.

How do leaves change color?

Leaf Graphic As the Earth makes its 365-day journey around the sun, some parts of the planet will get fewer hours of sunlight at certain times of the year. In those regions, the days become shorter and the nights get longer. The temperature slowly drops. Autumn comes, and then winter.

Trees respond to the decreasing amount of sunlight by producing less and less chlorophyll. Eventually, a tree stops producing chlorophyll. When that happens, the carotenoid already in the leaves can finally show through. The leaves become a bright rainbow of glowing yellows, sparkling oranges and warm browns. What about red leaves? Read on.

Do leaves change because of weather?

Perhaps you’ve noticed that in some years, the red fall colors seem brighter and more spectacular than in other years. The temperature and cloud cover can make a big difference in a tree’s red colors from year to year.

When a number of warm, sunny autumn days and cool but not freezing nights come one after the other, it’s going to be a good year for reds. In the daytime, the leaves can produce lots of sugar, but the cool night temperatures prevent the sugar sap from flowing through the leaf veins and down into the branches and trunk. Anthocyanins to the rescue! Researchers have found out that anthocyanins are produced as a form of protection. They allow the plant to recover nutrients in the leaves before they fall off. This helps make sure that the tree will be ready for the next growing season. Anthocyanins give leaves their bright, brilliant shades of red, purple and crimson.

The yellow, gold and orange colors created by carotenoid remain fairly constant from year to year. That’s because carotenoids are always present in leaves and the amount does not change in response to weather.
The amount of rain in a year also affects autumn leaf color. A severe drought can delay the arrival of fall colors by a few weeks. A warm, wet period during fall will lower the intensity, or brightness, of autumn colors. A severe frost will kill the leaves, turning them brown and causing them to drop early. The best autumn colors come when there’s been:

a warm, wet spring
a summer that’s not too hot or dry, and
a fall with plenty of warm sunny days and cool nights.

The above info came from: http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/veg/trees/treestruecolor.htm

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My Pet Deer


October 1st and the spots are done from the fawn. I only saw one fawn, hoping the other one is nearby. As you can see the doe is totally unafraid of me. I walked out on the cold, wet grass in my bear feet at 7:30am. The doe was in the woods and walked done to greet me. She ended up less than 10 feet away. Made me want to reach out and pet her. Pretty amazing.

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Cairns

Step 1  – remove a zillion samplings that amazingly can get to over 30 feet high. Step 2 – clean off the large rocks you find. Step 3 – build some cairns. These are a continuing work in process. It’s kinda ancient graffiti. It shows man has been there without permanently destroying anything. Step 4 – enjoy the view.

Cairn – A cairn is a human-made pile of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn. Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present.

2-cairns-lr cainrs-r-lr rock-reveled-lr triangle-cairns veiw-to-the-topp-lr

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Cherry Tomatoes

How to paint cherry tomatoes. I am a pretty amateur videographer so bare with me. Please leave comments if you have questions or suggestions.

c tomatoe final

 

 

 

 

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Breakfast club in the Catskills

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Those Dam Boys – painting in progress

I started this painting by doing a few quick studies of the boys and the Joe Pye Weed. Then I worked around the painting, stepping back to check values to insure the range from the lightest to darkest values was maintained. The easiest part was the water. I was amazed at how a few lines in the water was all that was needed to indicate the rocks.

dammit study dammit study2
dammit in progress 3

dammit in progress 6
Those Dam Boys weblr

 

 

 

 

 

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Catskill Bedroom Community – A short commute from my back yard

bedroom community

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Snow Chair

Early morning walk. This is why I live in the Catskills.

Early morning walk. This is why I live in the Catskills.

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Almost Home – Winter Version to come

almost home winterLr2

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Headwaters of the Mighty Delaware River

LD ice 4LRR

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Ice on the Little Delaware – Catskills Mountains

Catskill IceLittle Del Ice 22lr

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Red Fox in my backyard.

In backyard 1/3/15

In backyard 1/3/15

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December in the Catskills

Christmas in the Catskills was without snow this year but very Merry anyway. Hiking and jogging are much easier without the snow and ice. This photo is on my hike. I often get to see deer. In the spring a family of  partridge and a porcupine about 50 feet up a tree and just 2 days ago and Eagle only 75 yards away flew out of the woods and circled around me.  Needless to say, I love it  here! There is a painting in the making everywhere I look.t Hoad rdLR

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How to Make 14 Wooden Crates Furniture Design Ideas – Craftspiration – Handimania

How to Make 14 Wooden Crates Furniture Design Ideas – Craftspiration – Handimania.

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Possible Painting

Mik

Possibly my next painting. Will have to wait to see if the deer make it.

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