The Cape and Islands are home to countless boathouses. Many were built along the shores, but others built further inland, and often appear completely detached from any property owner. This one sits at the most inland end of a salt marsh that opens up to a small cove, and was likely built years ago by a local fisherman. “Marsh Cove” 20 x 20
The pastel palette of Spring is here, though not for long. Love the variety of colors that comes with the landscape as it wakes up from hibernation, and just before it turns to the more monotone greens of summer. “April Morning” 12 x 12 o/c.
This old farmhouse will be gone soon. Abandoned, and sitting on a tract of land soon to be developed. I’ve painted it many times. I drove past it recently and the huge lilac bush had not yet begun to leaf out, but when it does in a few weeks, it will compete for attention with the old property it has grown alongside for decades. “Lilac Cottage” 48 x 36
The recent Nor’easter did a job on local beaches (and all up and down New England), washing away sand and dunes, bringing the high-tide line closer to seaside homes. Towns are dumping tons of sand and rebuilding dunes in time for the summer beachgoer onslaught. This place overlooks one of our local beaches, and was in the front lines of the storm, but made it through, as did the dune it sits on.”Duneside” 14 x 14
Summer is slowly approaching, and life (both human and plant) is beginning to return to the Cape. One of our local beaches is accessible by two small paths that winds through scrub oak, seagrass and bayberry bushes, connecting the beach to the main road leading to it. Visited that beach the other day, and on the return, headed down this path, as many more will do once summer arrives. “Sand Path” 20 x 16 o/c.
Whenever anyone asks where the subject of a piece is, I have to often dig deep to remember where. And even if I know, for instance in this piece, the actual location was somewhere up by Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. But I don’t think that’s what they’re looking for, but rather they want to know if the composition is based on a real place. Answer is yes, and no. Compositions start with real places, but are then morphed by memory, addition and subtraction, and on-the-fly changes from the time a sketch is begun, to when the canvas is signed. In that sense, my compositions are fiction. “Calm Sea” 36 x 36 o/c.
The barn across the street from the studio has been the subject of many paintings…from different angles, different light, and different perspectives. It sits at the top of a slope, and from that lower part of the meadow, the perspective looking up gives it this massive presence, and the sky becomes as much a subject as the barn itself. “Skyward” 36 x 36
Up here in New Hampshire, the low valleys and hollows of our local meadows collect rain in the fall, and when winter comes, freeze to form small frozen pools, which kids often use for ice skating. As Spring approaches, these begin to melt, and come summer, completely dry up…until next year. “Spring Ice” 40 x 30.
With it being March 1, hope is around the corner for warmer, sunnier days ahead… “Early Sun” 12 x 12
Juniper trees are abundant on the Cape, particularly along the shoreline, where the seem to thrive in sand and salt air. There are prevailing winds that come in from the Atlantic on the North side, and the Bay on the South. Unlike Junipers further inland, the ocean winds shape the trees as they grow, giving them a great sense of movement. “Westerly Breeze” 48 x 36 o/c.
