Stormy Day in the Basin

Stormy Day at the Basin

Watercolor on Paper 

18" x 22"

I do find that there is a beauty in every mood of nature.  The movement of mists and fog rolling in, rising from lakes and ponds, and  spilling down mountains is fascinating to me.  Objects partially revealed, never fully, and then they are gone.  This subject was based on an on location painting I completed in Grafton Notch more than 20 years ago.  Still a little more work to do on this but I enjoyed tackling a larger watercolor - it had been awhile.

Below is the painting this subject was based on.  During the course of painting this I had to retreat to my father in law's truck.  I can still hear the rain on the roof when I look at this painting.     

This painting was one of the first times I was able to capture the mood of a place at a specific time.  It's a little rough and unfinished, but still remains one of my favorites.  I emphasized the sky more in the recent watercolor, lowering the mountain height and adding a small tree covered island to help with scale.

I also added the trees to the right as there was a peninsula there that I did not include in the study above.  You can see indications of trees that I'd begun on the right but then I switched my focus to the atmospheric effects and left the peninsula out.

Approaching Storm

Approaching Storm

Acrylic on Canvas Board

18" x 24"

When painting a subject that is imaginary, or half memory and half imagination versus an on location painting, different challenges arise.  However, I find that each choice in painting informs the other.  Thinking quickly about the genesis of this painting - four things come to mind.  

A sketching trip to Cushing Maine, Painting trips to Evans Notch, Dunes on Cape Cod and the fields and forest that I used to play in growing up in Westbrook.  This composition is an amalgam of those experiences and more.

I've submitted this painting for consideration in an upcoming juried exhibition. This painting is one of the first that I've specifically designed for a show.  Generally I've simply matched paintings completed with the themes of juried shows.  I can't really say that I have a preference beyond painting effects and subjects that are of interest to me.

Another different thing that I've done with these past few paintings is prepping the canvas with yellow ochre and raw sienna.  that's part of the effect that you see of the reflections in the water - it is the under-painting being revealed by thinning the surface of paint.

New England Fall

New England Fall

Acrylic 24" x 36"

I did some touch up work on this painting yesterday.  The bulk of this painting was done long ago, but I had never been happy with the sky.  So I took the painting as far as I could and left it for later consideration.  Sometimes days, months, and in this case years pass before the solution comes to mind.

I've been working on a series of paintings and paying more and more attention to the role of skies in a composition.  I am becoming much more confident and therefore looser with my skies.  The effects of skies are so fleeting and complex that it allows one to paint almost to the point of abstraction in an otherwise realistic style.

One of my artistic inspirations, John Stobart, as well as other experienced Plein Air painters will often wait until the sky strikes them of interest and then they paint it in and adjust the more permanent areas of the painting (shadows etc).  This scene is an imaginary setting based on my own exploration of the Maine landscape.

This painting is one of five that I've entered for consideration at an upcoming juried show.

Riverbed Reflection

Riverbed Reflection
Acrylic 12" x 16"

This painting is a challenge that had been bouncing around in my head for more than 25 years.  Water is always a challenge to capture, even when it is still.  The slightest wind, the time of year, the color of the material of the river bed.  Nearly endless combinations are possible.

Julie and I were exploring the area around tumbledown mountain and there was a beautiful scene of a riverbed surrounded by fall foliage.  The riverbed was all but empty this late into the fall.  I came across these scene with a reflection of the sky and trees on three sides.   

I've a number of  ideas and sketches for a series of reflection paintings.  This subject was about as abstract as I tend to get with my paintings - I did really enjoy the challenge of working with only three colors plus white.  

Alternate versions of this painting could include different patters of reflections, additional puddles  as well as including fallen leaves for more color.

I actually started this painting in part because I am a yankee and hate to waste any paint.  I was taking a break from two other paintings and I had a mishmash of paint left on my palette.  I decided to use the paints to prime a new canvas board and as this idea had been bouncing around for while  so I just decided to  keep going.

Swift River #2

Swift River #2
Acrylic on Canvas Board
12"X 16"

This painting was done from an on location sketch done in acrylics more than twenty years ago.  It was a grey spring day and quite cold.  I set up in the middle of a small bridge built for lumber access.  By the time I was done with the painting I was freezing and my hand was so stiff I needed to use my left hand to take the brush out of my right hand.

One of the things that I enjoy the most about painting on location is how lost I become in a place and time.  The paintings bring me back to that moment in time.  And even when the moment is well beyond my skills and experience, I find that so much more is taken in than I realize, and it often comes out later as my skills and experience catch up with my chosen subject.

One of the challenges of this type of day and subject is that without much sunlight, shadows are minimized and the key is similar throughout the painting, making the effect of distance harder to achieve.  I'm likely to do a couple different versions of this composition based on my observations of other similar locations. 

One will be a scene with mottled sunlight filtering through the trees.  Another a winter scene. 

Good Neighbors

"Good Neighbors" (Andy's view)

Acrylic 18" x 24"

This painting was inspired by my recent trip to Cushing and the Olsen family cemetery.   The rock to the left was actually off to the right and would have been out of the picture but I wanted to include it.  In my mind, I've seen a painting by Andrew Wyeth of an erratic boulder.  I've no idea if this was the one or if my memory is faulty, but in my mind, it added to the composition and is also a testament to how hard farmers worked to clear their land along the rocky coast

.

The barbed wire fence was an addition, not there in reality.  A memory from exploring the fields where I grew up. Perhaps a reminder that this is Wyeth country and no one will ever approach his talent, sensitivity, love and familiarity of the subject and his friends.

I freely admit, that for years I paid little, if any attention, to the art of Andrew Wyeth.  Reproductions of work abound.  Personally, I prefer more color - from his earlier works.  However, when I began my own artistic journey - a day at a time for more than twenty years now - and as I continued to experience loss - as do we wall - and expressing myself through my art I developed an entirely new understanding of and an appreciation for Andrew Wyeth.

The Wyeth center in Rockland, at the Farnsworth Museum, is a treasure and it's well worth the trip to see the art of the Wyeth family. One of my favorite paintings is the Witching Hour - seen below.

                  

 I also recently picked up a used copy of Wyeth at Kuerners - it provides a glimpse behind the curtain, of the artists working methods and process.  I've always been attracted to the "unfinished" - the work of an artist caught up in an inspirational moment where perhaps the composition isn't really considered, but what caught the artists eye is captured in a way seldom captured again in the finished painting.   It's also equally telling to see what the artist has decided to leave out, to simplify, or to relocate in order to strengthen the pictorial interest.

It's been a particularly productive few weeks, with half a dozen paintings completed or nearly so.

 

Sunset, St. George River

Sunset, St. George River

Watercolor on Paper

9" x 12"

This was the scene (varied slightly) at the rear (or front depending on your perspectice) of the Olsen cemetery looking out at the St. George river.  Sometimes I need to be clubbed over the head before I decide on a final composition.

This pen and ink composition sketch (4" x 5") had the island as was, smack in the middle of the view - preventing the eye from going into the picture.    Then I did a quick watercolor sketch (not pictured) from memory and this small sketch - moving the island to the viewers right.  Two things stood out to me - one the move to the right helped but not how I'd intended.  I really wanted to emphasize the light in the whole in the tree and this composition failed to do that.   I then noticed that I'd put the island smack dab in the middle of the watercolor (if not the view between the trees).  

Still that "failed" watercolor brought me back to the moment that had impressed me weeks before.  I altered the orientation of the paper and produced this watercolor this morning.

Sunset St. George River  WC  9" x 12"

Wyeth Country - Cushing Maine

I dropped off three paintings to be evaluated for an upcoming juried show in Damriscotta.  I used this opportunity to take a trip to Wyeth country - specifically Cushing and the Olsen house (closed for the season).

It was late in the afternoon, but an unseasonable warm and sunny day for mid winter.  I had no real desire to paint the Olsen house, that was one of Andrew Wyeth's realms.  I was more interested in paying my respects to the artist and its now long famous inhabitants.  We drove down the dirt road to the small cemetery perched on the oceans edge.  I was reminded of NC Wyeth's painting "Here, there be Giants." as the afternoon shadows lengthened and the brilliant orange sunset settled in.  After paying my respects, I explored before the light disappeared.

Below are quick, and small, pen and ink sketches of Andrew's view of the Olsen house and a view of the ocean at the far end of the cemetery.  (notes in the margins).

                                         

I tried to augment my notes of color with an oil pastel sketch - that did not end well.   I also executed a quick water color study - intentionally keeping this loose to try to catch the atmosphere.  The reflections and shadows on the ice were more than I felt I could capture in watercolor so I decided to use this study as the basis for an oil painting.

I plan to do both of the Pen and Ink sketches above as finished paintings once I work out the compositions more.

Below is the oil I began today - Sunset on Ice (11" x 14")

I had originally planned to do more, but I quite like the simplicity of this composition so I'm just going to let it sit for a bit before adding more or simply signing it as is.