It's been a busy year for an outdoor painter! Our local blizzards provided too much snow for comfort, so I escaped to Del Ray Beach, Florida, for a week of sunshine and waterways painting. In the spring I visited one of the few remaining locations where old skipjacks can be found and enjoyed painting on the Eastern Shore in addition to favorite Annapolis sites. Then I capped the summer with a wonderful trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with its different colors, architecture, and landscapes. I'll be adding more scenes from these three trips soon as my website is updated.

Blue Bridge, Del Ray, Florida

Skipjack Kathryn, Chance, Md.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe

Upcoming and Current Shows.
- Best of the Chesapeake - September 12 to October 3. Group show of paintings by selected artists. McBride Gallery, 215 Main Street, Annapolis. Opening reception Sunday, September 12, from 1 to 3 p.m.
- The Chesapeake and Beyond - through October 3. An invitational exhibition by the Washington Society of Landscape Painters in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Arts Program at the University of Maryland University College. Arts Program Gallery, UMUC Inn and Conference Center, College Park.
- A Washington, D.C. Vacation - through September 11. Group show by the Washington Society of Landscape Painters at American Painting Fine Art, 5118 MacArthur Boulevard NW (few blocks south of Arizona Avenue), Washingon, DC.
- Blue Water, Still Water - through September 12. Two of my paintings were selected for this traveling juried American Society of Marine Artists show currently at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland, then at the Naval and Military Park Museum in Buffalo, New York, from September 26 to October 31, 2010.
- Between the Shining Seas - September 7 to November 14. Another juried, traveling show of the American Society of Marine Artists includes one of my skipjack paintings. The exhibit opens in September at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, Minnesota, following a summer exhibit in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
- Land and Light - through September 12. For the third consecutive year a painting was selected for this show at Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, Vermont.
Note: In addition, paintings are always on exhibit at the galleries listed in About the Artist. Giclees of seven of my paintings were purchased for the Ginger Cove Retirement Community in Annapolis for display in their Wellness Center, and visitors to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Facility in Ashburn, Virginia, will find giclees of ten Schmidt paintings gracing the walls throughout the public areas.

Painting in Maine. A highlight of summer last year was spending a week painting on Bailey Island, Maine. The island is less than an hour and a half northeast of Portland but offers a wide variety of scenes: numerous lobster houses, bayside views, crashing waves on the rocky coast, brilliant sunlight with clouds, and challenging foggy scenes. Some examples are shown below and in the Marine section.

Glens Lobsters, Mackerel Cove

Foggy morning

Waves at Giant Steps

“From First Look to Finished Painting” Lecture/Demonstration Available. Ever wonder what an artist does to create a landscape painting? I have developed an illustrated talk that shows the various steps I go through from when I first decide I want to paint a scene to the final touches on the painting. This is a no-mess/no odor demonstration using prepared panel boards and canvasses and therefore is very suitable for meetings at art societies, clubs, or residential communities. Groups interested in scheduling this talk can obtain more information by clicking on contact.

What makes it "a Bill Schmidt painting"? People have asked me how I developed my style and create paintings that are so easily recognizable as "a Bill Schmidt." My distinctive paintings are the result of inspiration, planning, and a colorful palette. I'm inspired to paint a scene by the colors, contrasts, light effects, and design elements I see before me. I then make numerous pencil sketches to develop the composition I want and proceed to paint the image en plein air in most cases. The colors on my palette enable me to paint bright, lively scenes as well as react to overcast skies, fog, and even rain. Later I review the painting in my studio, make any corrections, and add the little touches that finish the painting while still keeping my style of loose realism.