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.
This piece is a new painting, based on a composition I did for a commission 5 or 6 years ago. In the original piece, a looming mountain rose above the ridgeline. It was included in the composition as the buyers wanted to include one of the mountains in the Green Mountains of Vermont, near where their house was located. In this newer piece, I’ve not included that mountain, but lessened the drama a bit by leaving the lower, distant ridgeline. “Highland Ridge” 36 x 36 o/c.
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.
This meadow is just down the road. I pass it every day, and like many subjects, it can take hundreds of such passings before the setting becomes inspiration. I recently drove by on a grey day. There was no color in the dried meadow grass, and the distant treelines were a foggy gray. But the sloping farthest point of the meadow seemed to glow by some unseen light source, and I envisioned it on a brighter, sunnier day. “Meadowlands” 36 x 36 oil on canvas.
Winters in New Hampshire are beautiful. A bit too long, but beautiful. Spring in the Granite State is also beautiful. A bit too short, but beautiful. While it’s white and monochromatic outside the studio, with last night’s snowfall, inside…Spring is here. “Springtime” 36 x 24 oil on canvas.
Beyond the farm across the road from our house, there’s a small pond, the last remaining water of an Ice Age lake that once covered this entire area. This small kettle pond is surrounded by marsh and wetlands. An old railroad bed runs along and through the treeline in the background, part of the old Boston & Maine line, which now serves as a hiking and horse trail. It’s a beautiful spot…stark and monochromatic in winter, and alive with color in fall. “Wetland” 48 x 36
