Brushes with the Landscape

This large watercolor is based on a nearby mill brook in Lisbon Falls, Maine.  The wollen mill was torn down within the past decade.  I'd always said I'd paint it, but I waited too long. The rock wall in the foreground is part of the old canal system and actually is not visible from this view.  The two rock walls in the mid ground are part of the canal/power system for the old mill.  On this day the water was low but running rapidly over a breach in the dam. This is one of the few spring paintings I've done.  There are so many colors in the spring as the trees begin to flower.  Not quite fall like, but colorful none the less.  I've simplified the overall composition while trying to stay true to the acutal location. This location is actually quite a gem.  There is a walking path on the left with a view of the brook which continues along the Androscoggin River.

Have you ever wondered what happens in your studio when you turn in for the night?  I went downstairs and Echo (one of our cats) came sprinting out of my studio looking very guilty... I went to my drawing table and there it was - an abstract sketch that I didn't paint:  It isn't signed, but there is some incriminating cat hair on it. What had spooked the cat?     Was it the horses?   The B 29's? Or the moose? Echo came back to the studio and curled up in my lap - keeping one eye on the moose. Will the Man and Moose ever meet? I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!