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.

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.

Floral Still life Fragment by Elmer Ham

Elmer L Ham Watercolor  5" x 7" framed.

This is a fragment of an unfinished floral watercolor by Elmer L Ham.    In addition to many finished paintings, the portfolios of paintings I purchased had many paintings in various stages of completion.  There were many finished still lives, others that were clearly studies of floral still life in watercolor and pastels and still others that were started but not finished beyond the pencil sketch (outline really) and some areas of finish.  

You can see the faint pencil indications in this sketch - which would be erased partially or completely in finished painting depending on the artists decision on whether the pencil added to or distracted from the desired effect.

I gave much consideration to the uncompleted still lives.  Many studies were on full sheets of watercolor paper - too large to be displayed with so much unfinished and all unsigned.  After studying the paintings intently, I decided to experiment and crop, mat, and frame some of the more finished pieces.  The above painting is one example of those efforts.

I have to admit, still lives had not held much appeal to me - being far more interested in landscapes.  But I'd never taken the opportunity to study so many up close.  I've also been considering doing still lives of items of loved ones no longer with us.  My parents, and my sister Cathy to name a few.  I also found the process of considering different compositions from different paintings to be a very engaging activity.

   

Ham's teacher, Laura Coombs Hills, was and still is very well known for her still life floral paintings in both pastel and oils.  She would summer in the town of her birth, Newburyport Mass, often picking flowers from her own garden and painting them.  She would then move to her winter studio in Boston, Ma. When speaking with the curator of a recent retrospective of Hills, she stated that Hills did teach occasionally and only select students as she was actively painting, exhibiting, and selling through galleries.  There are many other areas where Hills was a recognized expert but that is a subject for another time.

  

     by   Laura Coombs Hills

                                                               Laura Coombs Hills

How and when she met and decided to teach Ham I haven't been able to determine at this time.  She definitely had an influence on him, as evidenced by his exhibition of a floral still life in the Annual Exhibition of New England painters at Jordan Marsh Galleries in Boston in 1946 and the many still life paintings in his portfolios.  

Interestingly, I did find an old newspaper clipping, describing how a young teenage Elmer L Ham left his home in Portsmouth NH to "see the world" (without his parents knowledge).  Ham slept overnight in a barn and was discovered the following night wandering around the Market Square in Newburyport.  Maybe that spirit of adventure was remembered and noted by Hills - as the journey did make the papers.  Ham's father collected him safely the following day, thanking the police for their kindness.

Throughout his life, Ham explored and painted along the Maine, NH, and Massachusetts coast as well as the California coast.  Ham definitely captured the movement of water and the action of waves and mist - which only comes from long study and observation.  His California seascapes capture a different atmosphere that I've never had the pleasure of visiting, but compared with other known California Artists, he's captured the West Coast as surely as he did the East Coast.