Brushes with the Landscape

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 t

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 t

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 explo

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 leave

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. 

"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 co

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 mo

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).