This place is about a mile from the studio, at the top of Walnut Hill, which I believe is the second highest of the town’s many hills. In early morning, just after the sun rises, the morning light hits the hilltop and throws a spotlight on the barn’s facade, giving it center stage to start the day.
June can be an iffy month, summerwise. Weather, school, and other life loose ends tend to not make it a great vacation week for some. But once July hits, summer’s here full force, especially on the Cape and other coastal towns of New England and up and down the East Coast. The sun is at perfect summer height for perfect beach days and dramatic sunsets/rises. These cottages, in Wellfleet, exemplify summer coastal destinations, with their stark, simple, uniform construction…designed simply to provide shelter against weather and dark for summer inhabitants who’s intent is to be in them as little as possible. “First of July” 14 x 14
I grew up in a house filled with antiques. These items had been handed down generations, and were precious reminders of those who used them before us. As years passed, and styles changed, some of these pieces were used less, as newer, more contemporary pieces were brought into the house. But the older pieces were not parted with…they stayed put, as a reminder of our family’s past, and in honor of those who first used them, and cared enough about them to leave to the next generation. Old things contain the mystery and history of those who possessed them before us, and with old structures, the mystery of who occupied them before us. “Antiquity” 36 x 24
Summer’s underway, and here in New Hampshire the mornings are still somewhat cool, then the day heats up. By late afternoon, the lowering sun warms the light of sky, and cools the shade, creating a nice contrast in both the temperature of color, and color itself. “Summer Dusk” 24 x 24
At the start of this piece, there was no tree…just the simple lines of the old farm, the shadows cast by trees outside the picture plane, and the thin shadows within the ells of the structure. I liked the simplicity, but it was too simple…something was missing. In the actual scene, there is an ancient tree in front of the house, but it’s so old the trunk is massive, and it obscured most of the home’s entrance. Decided the thing that was missing needed to be prominent, front-and-center, so I added in the tree, transplanted it to the left of it’s actual location, and made it about 75 years younger… “Red Beech” 36 x 24
During my several years living on Martha’s Vineyard, fishing for bluefish, or “blues” as they’re referred to, off the jetties at Menemsha was a favorite pastime…even if the fish weren’t biting. This iconic small fishing town, made more famous in the movie Jaws, is picture postcard quaint. The classic old Island architecture remains mostly unchanged…fishing shacks, storage barns, boathouses and old cottages. This one sits right at the entrance to Dutcher Dock. “Menemsha Blues” 16 x 20
Coastal light is unique. There’s something about it that distinguishes it from light in more inland areas. Probably due to the sea, which offers no obstructions to light cast across it, towards land. This is an old abandoned 19th Century house on Cape Cod. In reality, everything about it is worn down and tired. But when the light hits the weathered clapboards, its age and condition fade away, and are replaced by the beauty of the light itself. “Bayside” 34 x 30
Many of the rural towns in Vermont are built low in the valleys between hills and mountains, usually by streams or other bodies of water…a logical location for the many farms that still stand where they were buildt decades, or even centuries, ago. I’ve always loved the drama of structures sitting on these low, flat acres of meadow and field, contrasted with the mountains looming behind them. “Valleyland” 48 x 48
The South side of the mid Cape faces Nantucket Sound, and is lined with dozens (maybe hundreds) of beaches large and small, spanning from Hyannis to Chatham. Facing South, the sun rises over the long arm of land known as Monomoy, a huge spit of sand plain and dunes off Chatham, and is responsible for some of the most spectacular sunrises on Cape Cod. This little place is on Old Wharf Road, in Dennisport, and is a favorite subject…partly for it’s simplicity, but also for how it consistently catches the early morning sun. “Southside Dawn” 24 x 24
There’s a stretch of road the runs along the narrow Outer Cape region of Cape Cod… a sandy, windblown stretch of dunes and beach that connects the towns of Truro and Provincetown. It’s a pretty famous place for the row of small, identical beach cottages that sit just off Route 6A, steps from the ocean, and attract hundreds of photographers and artists, inspired by their uniformity and unchanged simplicity over the decades. But just across 6a, there’s another strip of land that runs alongside these cottages, but this does not contains the same allure, as the few buildings that are there are less idyllic, and more utilitarian…old garages, sheds, run-down shacks…all somewhat cluttered with cedars, seagrass and other creeping vegetation. I prefer this side of the road…and though you have to look a little harder to find inspiration, it’s there. “Outer Cape” 24 x 24
