Sunday, November 30, 2008

Rocks and Trees

Oil on panel 11" x 14"

We went for a walk around Ell Pond in western RI a few weeks ago, at the height of color in RI. This walk covers a terrain of large glacial rocks, interspersed trees, and lots of elegant landscape. I took the equivalent of a couple of rolls of film, because it kept reminding me of walking in an enlarged bonsai garden. I have been working on making the photos into landscapes, loving the forms of the rocks and the flickering sideways fall light.
This painting was worked over a few times, because there was a lot going on in the photo, and it needed to be simplified to make any sense. Everyone would interpret it differently, but this one is mine.
Hope that anyone reading had a good Thanksgiving, luxuriating in the people in our lives. I am hoping to have a posted comment in this blog, so please feel free to leave one!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Watch Hill

oil on panel 9" x 12"

I saved this image for last because it has been on the blog before. However, it finishes the 6 pictures that have gone to the show, all themed around the idea of buildings in the landscape. The building here is back-lit, with the glowing ocean mist behind it. It is early in the morning in the summer time, and you can smell the waves in the ocean beyond....

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Revisting Beavertail

oil on panel 9" x 12"
This painting has already appeared in the blog, when I discussed the process of painting it and looking at it in class, and retouching some passages. Some paintings have actually undergone a lot more in the way of change during the process. The only reason it is back is that it will be in the show opening this weekend. Have you spotted the thematic trend of the paintings?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Villa Marina

oil on panel 9" x 12"
This latest entry to the Little Pictures show is a sketch of a Victorian bed and breakfast in Newport.

This year I was in town for the Newport Museum wet paint event, and I was scared but determined to take part. The actual painting that I did for it was sold at auction of course, but I went down the weekend before and did this sketch as a dry run. I could have changed my mind and painted something else on the actual day, but I enjoyed all the shades of blue, the distant bridge, and the great steep roof and architectural shapes of this house, and painted it twice.

I hoped that the Owner of the house might buy it at the auction, but I felt to shy to introduce myself when I was done painting. Later, we went down to see all the paintings hung on the wall before the auction.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Monhegan Chapel

9" x 12" oil on panel
This painting was painted from a photograph taken steps away from the Monhegan House just about sunset. I wanted to show the colors of light in the tree shadow, and how the building caught the low sun and deep shadows. Painting on Monhegan in the early fall is fun because of the clear low light, and the change in the palette of colors. The painting was from this year, but the photo from last year. This year the chapel had a new finial on the steeple.
I love the atmosphere in the chapel for its intimacy. I have met great people and heard wonderful music inside its walls.

Monday, November 17, 2008

The next Little Picture



Red Barn 8" x 10" oil on panel
Tonight's picture is taken from a scene near Manchester, Vermont. The lowering sky and the bright snow with the red barn in the distance was a challenge in detemining values and catching the color in the snow.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Little Pictures Show

This week I am going to post the paintings that I am entering in the Little Pictures Show at the Providence Art Club. There are 6, and by the opening on the 22nd, you can have your favorite chosen and rush in to buy it! There is a theme for the pictures I have chosen to put in the show, and by the middle of the week I am sure that you will figure it out.
Before I started exhibiting my paintings I really had no idea of how much is involved in getting everything ready. Do I have frames? Are they wired the right way? Are the pictures documented? Are they signed? What about labels? Last minutes touchups? And a finish coating to even out the quality of the surface finish? I get a little assembly line going and process the pictures in batches of 6-8 paintings at a time.
Here is the first painting:
Harmony Home Farm 9" x 12" oil on canvas

This is a painting from this summer from an actual farm with this name. It was lovely to paint, and it is great to remember.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Intermission

I spent the weekend in a combination of busy and sick that has brought me to a halt, but I decided that I would post anyways. It seems best to give myself a few days of permission to lighten up, to get used to the clock change, to let the paint dry. But there are a lot of paintings that I could be posting, even if they are not fresh off the easel.
So maybe this will be a cartoon or a newsreel between full features.
Let's spin the wheel and see what I find.....
Temple Gate 8" x 10" oil on linen panel
This is a painting that I did from a series on Japanese landscapes last fall. I love the mystery beyond the gate, like an Eden of wonderful specimens. The clouds hover above the gates, free, and the tree has grown beyond them. The gate is detailed, heavy, and reflects light into the shadows. It makes me happy to look at again, and that is a good feeling tonight.
I hope that anyone finding this has their own temple gate to look through.