Warming up to Winter

Winter usually sets in here in Maine around mid-December. It usually takes me time to shift from the brilliance of Fall to the grays of November to the contrasts of winter before I get my artist's eyes back. Then I start to see all the colors in the white of the snow and all of the other possibilities that the low, bright light of winter reveals. Herewith some recent examples.

Snow FencesOil on Canvas 16" X20"
This was a "pretty" snowstorm that came as a surprise one day. After it was over. I saw that the snow was sticking to branches, high wires, etc., the signal that there would be some interesting images to be had. I went to Willard Beach and found that my old favorites, the snowfences, were performing for me with their sinuous lines accented by the snow. This is the result. But there was more that day:

Snow Trees
Oil on Canvas 14"X 18"
This pair of Mountain Ash trees sits just behind the bath house on Willard Beach. This time of year they are laden with bright orange berries that clump together to make perfect receptacles for new fallen snow. I thought they were worth capturing, again with all of the interesting colors in the snow's reflected light. A couple of the berries sneaked through too. Next day, of course, the snow was gone.

Winter on the Beach
Oil on Canvas 11" X 14"
A day or two later, I was taking my usual morning walk on the beach. The tide was ebbing leaving interesting patterns in the wet sand. This view is looking north with the Spring Point Lighthouse just in view.
I did each of these three pictures with just one color and its complement, and all of the neutrals in between using white and black for light/dark. This was inspired by a book I read by Stephen Quiller called "Color Choices" which presents some interesting ideas on how to create paintings with color harmony. I recommend it for my artist readers.

AWOL--let's try again

Another long absence. Life is complicated! But I will try to stay with it this time. If you're interested in my new work, I post it on my Facebook page. But I haven't learned what to do with it after that. I'll see if I can get my grandson to give me a tutorial. In the meantime, I have been painting a lot and will post various things more often than in the recent past. Here goes...


Field of Lupine
Oil on Canvas 16 X 20

This goes back to June when the lupine seems to cover the land here in Maine. Sometimes it comes in multiple colors, but this patch was a rich purple/blue/red. It's not here for long to I had to hustle to get image. Right now, there is no sign that it was ever there, such is the transient nature of life.



Country Churchyard: II
Oil on Canvas 20 X 20

I've done this before from a somewhat different angle. This was in the spring so not all the leaves were out and I could make more of this very dominant tree. I'll bet it (the tree) has been here longer than any grave. I thought the crooked headstones added to some of the irony here. The church is often photographed from the front. These mysteries are hidden except to those who look behind.



Red Maples in Sprague Woods
Oil on Canvas 16 x 20
I've done a number of paintings in the large tract of land which is now a nature preserve owned by the very wealthy Sprague family. It's in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. This is again in the spring before the leaves are completely out so the skeleton on trees is much more visible. I liked the way the sun was shining through the leaves creating a challenging variety of red/browns.

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!

The Sky Above, the Sea Below

Top: "Sticking It Out"
Bottom: "Bare Bones"

We actually did have a spell of good weather a couple of weeks ago, so on my daily walk, I decided to try to find some subjects to paint. On one particularly clear cold morning, I happened to start thinking about trees in my neighborhood. In the summer they are loaded with foliage and in the winter they are stripped bare. Nothing new, right? There is one aprticularly huge old oak a couple of blocks down the street that I've had my eye on before. This time I looked straight up and saw this very dramatic pattern of limbs illuminated by a hazy sun. Bingo! There was "Bare Bones." I wanted to be sure that my viewer saw the setting as if looking straight up, so I emphasized the highlights to show that the light came from different sides depending where the branch was located--to the left, right, above or below the light source. In a fit of Michaelangelo channeling, I even gave some thought to tacking the piece on the ceiling! Anyway it's a 20 X 16, oil on canvas.
Another morning saw one of those golden rosy mornings we have here in winter. Part of my walk include a walkway above this huge marina which sees 100s of vessels of all types in the summer. Just about all of them are hauled in the winter--put up on land--and covered in heavy white plastic "skin wrap." All except this guy, sitting all alone, all opened up, as if it were ready to go at a moment's notice. Note in the background the white shapes. Those are some of the boats hauled for the winter. People tell me I am attracted to lonely and isolated things. Could be. But there is a certain kind of poetry in that that I hope you feel in this scene. This is also a 20 X 16, oil on canvas.
So when you're out there, look up, look down!