Winter's Treasures

I haven't been blogging lately, not because I've been in hibernation. Not at all. Winter in Maine has many gifts for painters and I've been honored to receive many of them. Here are a couple, inspired by my daily walks on our nearby beach. It's called Willard Beach and because it's southeast-facing, the stroller is protected from the northwest winds that blow incessantly at this time of year. Most mornings it's pleasant even in the winter, but if the wind changes direction, watch out!


Winter Morning Silhouettes Oil on Canvas 18"X24"
This was a cloudy morning with the sun peaking out from cracks in the cloud cover. There was a strong reflection on the water the intensity of which is very hard to capture. I try to do it by contrast, but if there is a better idea out there, please let me know!


Snow Fences Oil on Canvas 16"X20"
These are installed to not only prevent drifting but also to protect the dune grass. If you look at them just right, you can find interesting compositional patterns. I added footprints for balance and added tiny figures on the beach to show distance. The first picture faces into the morning sun. The posi tion for this one is further to the north with the afternoon sun to the rightrear.

Saying Goodbye to summer

Strawberry Pickers
16 X 20 Oil on Canvas

After a glorious summer here in New England, the signs that it will end soon are showing. But I am reluctant to let go, so I will preserve a some memories with a couple of pieces I did. Above is that all too brief Maine tradition: strawberry picking. The season lasted just two weeks this year (it's usually three), but I did get out to catch the bent bodies of those who choose to "pick your own." This is a field in Cape Elizabeth which seems "forever." It's ironic that such verdant foliage virtually hides the berries which makes all that stooping and crawling around necessary.
Below is the product of a visit to nearby Pine Point where at low tide many boats are beached, providing the owners a chance for some maintenance. The boat reminds me of a beached whale.

Bottoms Up!
16 X 20 Oil on Canvas

Return to the blogosphere

I've been gone for 5 months, the result of a nerve problem in my right arm excerbated by working at computers. Things have improved enough for me to get back to blogging (and some other things), so I hope to recover the good friends I made before. I was able to continue to paint and that's a very good thing even though it was at a slower pace which gave me time for more thought and study. Here are some recent pieces.



Fern Glade in Sprague Woods
Oil on Canvas 18" X 25"
I've painted this before--the location is on the Sprague Estate land in Cape Elizabeth Maine, a few miles from where I live. The very wealthy Sprague family has set aside a large parcel of land for preservation. Much of it is mature woodland, and a portion is also used for farming. There are many treasures here. This is one of my favorite spots especially in low light. My first painting was in landscape format, but a slightly different location inspired me to make a vertical piece in which I could show some sky.



Low Tide at Ferry Beach
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"
This is a small beach in Scarborough, Maine a few miles from my house. It's on the road to Prout's Neck, a section of town in which winslow Homer lived for many years. The beach is quite flat and at low tide is very wide (not so at high tide however). So the little dinghy in the foreground just sits flat in the exposed sand. But right at the waterline a good-sized lobster boat lies on its side. I asked an old guy there how come the boat was left like this. He said, "Time to scrape the hull." I guess at the next low tide the boat will be lying on its other side for the same reason. The afternoon light produced a pink glow on the sand and in the shallow water. That's Pine Point across the way and the ocean beyond.


Street on Higgins Beach
Oil on Canvas 11" 14"

Higgins Beach is a small beach enclave in Scarborough. It's another shallow water beach that's more than a hundred yards wide at low tide and non-existent at high tide. But it has warmish water for Maine and the surfing is great all year. The community was a bit funky but now is becoming gentrified with real estate prices through the roof. Nonetheless, good light yields some nice inspiration which I hope has produced an attractive painting here.
More soon, I promise!

Hopper Was Here

I have always been moved by the paintings of Edward Hopper, the great American artist of the first half of the 20th century. People have told me that my work is sometimes "Hopperesque," a reference I think to my own attraction to alone, solitary things. Hopper's work could be summarily characterized this way. But beware. His work goes deeper than merely memorializing a single subject. There are strong pyschological elements to his work that inspire a certain brooding emptiness that can have great effect on the viewer. I found a photo of the house that Hopper and his wife lived in on Cape Cod and make a painting of it:



Hopper's House, Truro, Cape Cod
Oil on Masonite 14 X 11

It wasn't hard to capture that lonely feeling. It was all there intrinsic in the scene. I used a somewhat muted palette for emphasis, but the bleakness of the place argues that Hopper was attracted to isolation, too, though in person he was recalled as a likeable, gregarious guy.
There was an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Art early last summer (shared with the National Gallery and Art Institute of Chicago). I didn't get to go, but some friends did and they, knowing my affection for Hopper, gave me a book published by the Boston Museum called simply "Edward Hopper." It is a wonderful compendium of his work and life. I found the photo of his home (painting above)in this book.
Hopper's life as an artist can be focused pretty much on four areas: Gloucester, Mass., the city--primarily N.Y., Cape Cod and the coast of Maine. His Maine work included settings in Cape Elizabeth, the next town down the coast from where I live in South Portland. His paintings of the Two Lights area in Cape E. are especially haunting. It got personal at a show last summer, when a woman stopped by my booth and bought three of my pieces. She asked that they be framed in a certain way, so I had to deliver them a few days later. It turns out that her house is next to one of the lighthouses that Hopper had painted! She also invited me to paint there. I was at once delighted and fearful--like I was trespassing on sacred ground. But I took her up on it and painted this:



Hopper's Lighthouse
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16

This was painted on site. I had to go back several times to finish it. I was shown the location that Hopper used, but I didn't think I'd go that far! Besides, this area in the 20s when he did these pieces was practically bare and I'm guessing that that was what made this an attractive subject to him. Today, the hill is covered with foliage and there are large houses here which have a fabulous view of the bay and beyond. In fact, my patron let me paint this view from her deck:



Casco Bay From Two Lights
Oil on Canvas 20 X 16

The place where Hopper painted the lighthouse is in the middle left of this scene on this side of the big house. Again, this was painted plein air, but because of changing atmospheric conditions, light, etc. I locked in on a point in time and finished the piece in the studio.

So, that is a short recap on my experience with Hopper during that brief period. I got back to thinking about him now that the weather is moderating. Perhaps I'll go back to Two Lights with my gear to paint in a few weeks. Maybe I'll try a city scene. Such is the allure of this great artist. It lasts a lifetime. I hope it visits you.