Industrial Orange, Johnstown, 9 x 12, oil on panel

Next April I'm having an exhibition in Johnstown, PA. I'm going to call it Portrait of Johnstown because of the 12 months I'll have spent looking at the flood-famous town. The 60 paintings will NOT be postcard images. Johnstown isn't pretty, but it is interesting with one helluva lot of character. I get to know a place by walking the streets, eating at a local diner, listening to the people and then setting up my easel.

Also, a friend/collector just posted a Wikipedia entry for me. This was such a nice thing for her to do. Thank you Catherine!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Donoughe

River Kiss, 20x24, Ron Donoughe

Earlier this week I spent some time painting the Muskingham River in Ohio. It was interesting because an artist friend has a cottage that is right on the river's edge. That allowed for constant observation of how the sky changes affect the river color. This painting was about how the last golden rays kissed the water goodnight.

Blue Morning, 30 x 40, oil on linen

Sometimes one painting leads to another. This is what happened with the most recent painting, Last Light. After I did it, the idea of deeply shadowed alleyways prompted me to look at photos I took last winter. This new one depicts early morning light on Polish Hill. The tricky aspect of this painting was to keep the hillside in the distance, even though it is warm. Conversely, the foreground is in deep, bluish shadow and normally these cool colors tend to recede. I think of these scenes as urban canyons where light darts through openings, creating tension because of the imposing masses.

Last Light, 30 x 40, oil on linen

Painting the area close to my studio has become much more important to me over the last few years. I especially like the narrow alley ways. They allow me to describe how colors change over distance while also showing a sense of place. In this painting the late day light is just touching some row houses before they drop into shadow.