Twin Chairs, 9 x 12, oil on panel

I'm an identical twin. Sometimes I forget how lucky I was to be born along with another human who would be there as my best friend, for life. It's not quite like having a regular sibling. The bond goes deeper, like similar DNA. As a result, I see pairs of things that appear to be the same, but upon closer examination are different. These chairs caught my eye last week while I did an artist-in-residence program. Sometimes you need to get to know twins before the differences are apparent. These chairs were like that. What fun it was to get to know them over two hours as they were bathed in a sweet evening light.

Governor's Residence Exhibition

This exhibition, Across the Alleghenies, was just installed at the Pennsylvania Governor's Residence in Harrisburg. Patrick Ruane and I are the featured painters until December. We are both showing work of our region, Western PA. This is because the newly elected governor is a native of Pittsburgh. The curator thought it would be fitting to pair us for this show. All of my 11 paintings depict the city and Pat has 10 rural landscapes. It is an honor for us to exhibit together, especially since we have been friends and colleagues for 25 years. To see an image of the PA Governor's residence click on their website.

This announcement above is worth clicking on to see the larger version of Pat's painting, Silver Morning. It is both subtle and poetic.

Logan Circle 2, oil on linen, 16 x 20

Last weekend I delivered three paintings to Gallery Plan B in Washington D.C. for the exhibition, Local Color. The show opens July 28. This is another architectural study from my series on Logan Circle. It is really fun to walk the streets and see how many great buildings have been preserved.

Chimney Pots, 24 x 30, oil on canvas

When you look at all the hillsides around here one thing jumps out – repeated patterns. Most of it is the geometric shapes of houses. The idea behind this painting was the red chimney pots and how they created small areas of interest as the light caught them. It was a rather complicated scene that I did before as an 11 x 14 study. This piece was a combination of the study and a photo.  www.donoughe.com

Logan Circle, 16 x 20, oil on linen

These are part of a small series I'm doing for an exhibition in Washington DC next month. The show is titled "Local Color" at Gallery Plan B.  Because the Gallery is close to Logan Circle, I've decided to feature this historic area. The sculpture is John Logan, Commander of the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. The area, which is also a traffic circle,  is surrounded by amazing Victorian homes. If you get to DC, it is well worth a visit.

Shadyside Light, oil on panel, 6 x 14,

I'm often asked if I'll do a painting of someone's house. The answer is yes – if I can do it from my own plein air study and photos. Usually these commissions start with a small sketch and study. The one above was done after visiting the location at different times of the day to get the best lighting situation. Optimum time was late day, around 6:30 - 7:45. That was perfect. The morning was all back-light and afternoon wasn't working either. The key was to have a nice distribution of light and shadow with the entry way becoming the focal point. After this small study was approved I started the larger size, which is 24 x 45. The final painting was started in my studio and finished on location. The process was about 2-3 weeks. A lot of that time was spent conceptualizing how it to create a painting that was worthy of that handsome house.

Circ Du Soleil, 9 x 12, oil on panel

These tents were an easy target for outdoor painting. Plus the music from the performance could be heard from where I stood. It only added to the experience!