The nearby Bass River, which separates Yarmouth and Dennis (on Cape Cod) flows inland from Nantucket Sound heading North and narrowing along the way, ending as a saltwater pond close to Cape Cod Bay. At the mouth of the river, a sandspit lines the river’s entry and contains a small grove of weathered, wind-dwarfed white pines and scrub oaks. It’s a small but desolate place, and I’ve hiked through it for years, particularly in the morning. The river passes this spit, extends northward, but also branches to the east to form an inland waterway lined with summer homes, boat docks, and ends at a yacht club. It’s a spot of barren land that illustrates what the Cape looked like hundreds of years before summer people and settlers came and built. “Lagoon” 20 x 16
We’re at that time of the year where Summer fades into Fall. Days begin with an Autumn coolness and clarity, and often end with the heat and haze of July. The color of the landscape begins to warm, with greens beginning to take on a warmer shade, and golds and yellows begin to emerge. For many (including me), it’s the best season of the year, as hints of summer remain, but the beauty of a New England Fall begin to appear. “End of Summer” 40 x 30 o/c
A friend recently asked why I like sunrises. I said I just do. He replied, “Sleep in. Wait 12 hours and you’ll see pretty much the same thing.” Fair enough, and sort of true, but there’s something different about the first light of day, then the last. While I like both, early morning light is different, and unlike sunsets, more unpredictable. “Early Morning” 40 x 30.
The sense of peace, and calmness, found in rural settings makes them obvious retreats from more urban areas, as the unpeopled quiet of the countryside helps pacify the chaos and stress we all feel at one time or another. “Pacific” 24 x 24 o/c.
Rural landscapes are generally simple things. When you look at them often, and really study them, there is more complexity to them then you might think. This meadow is just down the road. I pass it multiple times a day, and have painted it before. Each time I look at it, and paint it, there is something different…color, light, and different parts of the landscape stand out as a likely subject. “Northern Meadow” 24 x 24 o/c.
There’s an equestrian center about a mile from the studio, on the opposite side of a small pond and hill behind our house. A trail that ends pretty much in my back yard connects to a series of trails that lead back to the stables, after winding their way through woods, along an old railroad bed, and past several old farms. The worn dirt paths are reminders of what the roads through town looked like, many decades ago, before development and paving made them what they are today. “Bridleway” 36 x 24 o/c.
The Cape has an abundance of cedar trees, and they tend to grow in clusters, with separate trunks, but often forming a single canopy. This grouping was surrounded by many others that are outside the picture, with totality casting shade on the entire scene. That thin slice of light cutting through an opening in the trees, and touching the facade of the barn, caught my eye. “Cedar Stand” 36 x 24
Came across this scene recently and liked the contrast between the unmown meadow grass on one side of the old fence, and the more maintained land on the other. It’s mowing season here in New Hampshire, and next door in Vermont, so scenes like this are common, as the grasses are mowed and meadows are dotted with hundreds of circular or blocky bales. “Hayfield” 16 x 20 o/c
Another piece based on an old farm down the road, but with more of the meadow that, as mentioned in regards to the piece titled “Farm Meadow”, will soon likely be developed into a new neighborhood. I try to be fair with my complaints about development, as my own home was built on what was once an old farm, and I was happy to discover the parcel on which the house was built had become available. The balance, I’ve found, is when the town purchases land for conservation. Progress is inevitable, and made more acceptable when accompanied by preservation. “Heath” 40 x 30 o/c.
This farm is a mile down the road, in a section of our town known as Cricket Corner. The old farmhouse that sits next to the barn is run down and abandoned, as the owners have sold the property, along with about a hundred acres destined to be new neighborhoods…or possibly bought by the town as a preserve. Hopefully the latter (obviously), but likely the former. The meadow in this scene continues to the left, stretching North to a forest, where the first house lot might soon be. “Farm Meadow” 16 x 20 o/c
