Some of my smaller pieces originate as color studies for larger pieces. Though complete paintings on their own, the smaller size allows for quicker execution, where the goal is to work out composition and palette, in preparation for working up a larger canvas. This piece is an example…a finished painting, but also an initial step ahead of a larger piece. “Dune Hollow (study)” 14 x 12 o/c
Appropriate that this piece should be completed following a fresh snowfall of about 8 inches up here in NH. Not too far away are the longer, warmer days of Spring, a few weeks of warm-up for the season that follows. “Summer” 72 x 35 o/c
There’s an old farm about a mile from the house that sits on about 100 acres of pristine meadow, and abuts many more acres of forest. Old stone walls crisscross the land, and in the middle, where the land is lowest, there’s a pond that the owners use as a swimming hole. When the light is right, the pond reflects the sky creating a bright blue slice through the grass. “Meadow Pond” 36 x 36.
This barn is part of a large farm on the shores of Cape Cod Bay, that a decade ago sold off many of it’s acreage for new home development. It’s a huge white structure, and depending on the weather and light, it adopts different tints as the sun, sea, and land reflect light at different times of day. “Shoreline” 36 x 36
On the shores of Cape Cod Bay, in Yarmouthport, there’s a small cottage compound that looks like it had a century ago. Twenty or so small buildings clustered across a couple acres of pristine shoreland. I came across this place earlier this month, at a time when the Cape is quiet and unpeopled. But in summer, this little cottage community will be alive with the activity of the families and children luck enough to spend their summers here. “Cove” 36 x 36 oil on canvas.
The Cape and surrounding regions of the south coast of Massachusetts are home to hundreds of cranberry bogs. In the fall, when the berries are a deep red, the bogs are flooded to float the berries for harvest. Channels cut around and through the bog–which sits a foot or so below the surrounding land– transports the water until it fully submerges the plants. This particular bog is in East Dennis, a few steps from Cape Cod Bay, surrounded by the large and elegant estates that have been built there over the years. “Cranberry” 36 x 36 oil on canvas.
I’ve never been one to plan a palette. Knowing (or thinking you know) what colors everything should be, ahead of starting a piece, seems (to me, anyway), very restrictive. I do have a sense of color, but for the most part, I just start…establishing the initial color somewhere in the composition. Once that initial color is in place, I let future color choices happen on the fly. This piece started with a greenish blue sky, and as I worked around the composition I liked how sky and ground seemed to almost mirror each other. Then I didn’t like it, fearing there wouldn’t be enough contrast…but then, as often happens, I liked it again. The crimson treeline broke the two apart, and that seemed enough. “Greenland” 24 x 24 oil on canvas.
On a recent trip to the southern part of the White Mountains, I came across a heavily overgrown and abandoned farm, with several aging structures somewhat hidden behind the many saplings growing in the old meadow. The barn and shed were barely visible through the trees, but their aged wood had a bluish tint to it, as the hazy sun illuminated their facades. Having taking some liberties with the trees (leaving some, removing others), these buildings regained some of the presence they once had. “Northern Slope” 84 x 52 o/c
This piece, done as a commission, exemplifies the freedom taken with the composition, where the real and the imagined come together. The buyer, who was raised on Nantucket, loved some of the coastal work she’d seen, but also loved the more inland barns, and hoped we could combine subject with setting. The end result (from my perspective) does that well…”Seaside Dusk” 52 x 36 oil on canvas (commission).
When we lived on Martha’s Vineyard, our place was not far down the road from this lighthouse. It overlooks Vineyard Haven Harbor, and at night, we could see the slow-approaching light as its arcing beam shone towards the Steamship dock and the center of town where we lived. On a recent visit to the Island, I visited this coast guard sanctioned light, and nothing about it had changed. Known as the West Chop Lighthouse, it’s a favorite stop for day trippers, as it’s walking distance from the boat launch. The bright white of the keeper’s house and the light itself, as well as it’s prominent perch on the shoreline, make it a place filled with light. Natural and man-made. “Beacon Light” 48 x 48 oil on canvas.
