The transition from summer to fall seems to happen overnight. One day you’re on the beach, smell of suntan lotion in the air, next day, in a sweater, smell of smoke from a neighbor’s first fire of the season. I love watching the bright colors of spring and summer move from cool to warm. Meadowgrass slowly changes from bluish green to gold. Shadows shift from dark and cool to warmer and lighter. We’re sort of at that beginning phase up here in New Hampshire today. Yesterday morning had us turning on the heat for the first time…today, it’s beach weather. But days like today will become fewer and fewer pretty quick, as November…the mid-point of Autumn…is just around the corner. “November” 48 x 36 o/c.
Living in coastal New England, particularly on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard, you become well acquainted with yearly changes to the shoreline, and the distance land is from sea. Storms, waves, rain and time all descend on the fragile edges of land, where they turn to beach. The result is, more often than not…erosion and/or shifting dunes. You don’t notice it as much in areas where there is nothing built…but in those areas where seaside homes have resided for years, the structure shows just how much, or little, land has been lost since the previous year. This location is on Cape Cod Bay, and while on the “protected” side of the Cape (the side not facing the Atlantic), some of the most significant sand drifts and dune erosion occurs. “Bluff” 36 x 36
The National Seashore, a long stretch of beach along the Atlantic shores of Cape Cod, is famous for it’s beauty, sandy beaches, and unpredictable surf. From the southern end, in Eastham, upwards to Provincetown, the coast is lined with a remarkable expanse of sand dunes, dotted with weather-beaten trees, shrubs and other vegetation that defy the land’s apparent inability to sustain life. I love the wildness of this place, and the toughness of the things that manage to overcome the obstacles of living there. “Provincelands” 14 x 14 o/c
There’s nothing like the clear, unobstructed light you see in the countryside. No buildings, smog, or other obstacles for it to navigagte around as it illuminates things…especially at higher altitudes, where the atmosphere is a thinner, and even more so in early morning, or late afternoon. “Country Light” 20 x 12 o/c
Came across this scene years ago. Loved the old barn, weathered in a way that gave the thing a bluish green tint. I took a picture of the location and have looked at it many times over the years, but never worked up a composition in preparation for painting. Looking at this reference again the other day, I realized what I like most about the scene were the shadows of trees outside the composition. The dramatic shadows crawling up the barn were the subject, not the barn itself. “Trees” 24 x 20
Our town works hard to maintain it’s rural quality. Nearly every road is lined by stone walls, and paved to accommodate modern life. Wherever possible, preservation efforts have kept several roads unpaved. The selection of certain roads to remain unpaved seems random. The town maintains a “Gravel Road Map”, and every few years it’s updated, as this road or that succumbs to the inevitable asphalting, as new homes are built, and quaint loses out to practicality and convenience. There are two such unpaved roads not far from our house, and when you drive down them, you instantly feel a sense of being back in time, and then just as abruptly, the dirt road ends, and you’re back in the present. “Rural Road” 16 x 16 o/c.
The small fishing village of Menemsha, on Martha’s Vineyard, is one of the most well preserved, quaint villages you’ll find in New England. Sitting tucked in a small harbor, accessed via a dredged channel that enters from Vineyard Sound, and overlooking the Elizabeth Islands (Gosnold), the small weathered cottages and boat houses look much the same as they have for decades. This view is facing north, coming from the Coast Guard Station Menemsha. “Island Harbor” 24 x 30 o/c
The beaches on the Bay side of Dennis (Cape Cod, MA) are known for their sandbars and low tides, which can be in place close to a quarter mile from dry sand to the low tide water line. As the tide recedes, shallow areas in the sandbar are the last to drain, and as the surrounding exposed sand dries, small streams drain away from the beach, and catch the skylight, creating beautiful abstract shapes. This location, at Corporation Beach in East Dennis, not only creates low tide streams, but has in places fresh water springs below the sand, which are marked by small circles of bubbling sand, creating a continues stream, long after the sea has fully receded. “Tide Stream” 20 x 16
As you sail from Woods Hole (Cape Cod) across the sound to Martha’s Vineyard, the first land mass you approach is West Chop…an old, majestic section of Vineyard Haven. Many of the homes along this point of the Island are from a different era. Large, landscaped “cottages” with priceless water views and prestigious family names associated with many of them. They are impressive dwellings…not because of their views or ownership pedigree, but because they occupy their landscape with privileged dominance that at the same time feels rather humble, at least compared to some of the newer, massive homes built nearby. These two homes are the last homes you see as you round the bend, through West Chop, as you head back to town. They’re also the first homes you see as the ferry approaches the Island. “Island Summers” 52 x 24 o/c
I’m excited to announce new gallery representation with the Jack Meier Gallery in Houston! Work safely delivered, unpacked and awaiting hanging in the gallery’s space on Bissonnet St, near Rice University. If in the Houston area, stop by! https://www.jackmeiergallery.com/peter-batchelder
