Spent this past weekend (the third in May) on the Cape, and though the forecast had been blah, the weather actually couldn’t have been more perfect. While we’re still 2 or 3 weeks away from the official start of summer, this particular Saturday beach day felt every bit like summer had arrived. “Early Summer” 16 x 12
This place is about a mile away from home, and difficult to spot through the trees. It’s attached to an old house outside the historic Colonial village of our town. Most people probably miss it as they drive by, but I saw it once, and loved how this little building stood strong at the top of the hill…probably there for close to a century. It’s steady stance on that hill reminds me of times when I, or people I know, have had to be strong and endure tough times. “The Stoic” 24 x 24
I’ve painted this scene quite a few times. It’s in Grantham, NH, just off Route 89. Heading south, if you look to your right around exit 14, you can see these barns off in a large field. It’s a unique positioning…two similar (but slight different) structures, locked in place for decades. When I first saw them, and painted them, they seemed to have a human quality of sticking together…similar to how brothers, sisters, husbands and wives do. A recent family situation has driven home the importance of sticking together with family, and in interpreting a new view of this scene, that same quality carries through. “Togetherness” 48 x 30
Came across this scene years ago. This meadow, divided by two dirt roads, made up a beautiful, large tract of land owned by the Sears family, one of the old Cape Cod families, in East Dennis. The land has since been subdivided, and I don’t know if this meadow still exists like this, or is now part of someone’s summer home. I’ve been here often over the years, both in early morning and late afternoon…and with the exception of the direction of shadows, the light is similar at both times.
As seems to be happening often, lately, songs are helping with titles. In this case, my studio staple, @stickfiguremusic, inspired the title, with a song of the same name, “Break of Dawn” 36 x 32.
The section of my New Hampshire town, where my house sits, is surrounded by hundreds of miles of stone walls. Many of these walls line the roads we drive along…relics of the old farm roads of a century ago. But most of the stone walls that exist here extend beyond these roads, and disappear into the thousands of acres of woods that make up the majority of our town.
If you trek into those woods, following one of these walls, it seems that if you just keep following, you’re bound to end somewhere, or maybe back where you started. But they seem to never end…always connected to another wall, and that wall to another, and on and on. But occasionally you do find the end, and it’s those ends that get you thinking…why did the farmers who built these walls suddenly stop here? End of the property? Ran out of stones? There are so many walls, their presence almost gets taken for granted. It’s when a wall ends, that the mystery of that wall begins. “Wall’s End” 48 x 48
I discovered this abandoned home decades ago. It sits on Route 28 in Harwich, MA. Painted it many times…from different angles, in different light. I was recently out scouting for Cape scenes, and drove past this place. The blast of warm white of the early morning sun on the run-down clapboards gave the house a seemingly new life. The first piece I did of this was a straight on view one would if on the side lawn. This was from the left side…overgrown with an old cedar, vines and weeds…but resurrected by painting out most of that unneeded vegetation. This is a composition and color study for a planned larger canvas.
Life can get messy. Conflict boils the waters, and we can all feel it will never end. A close relative has endured such times, and continues to. As I’ve been alongside for the ride, for support, I can only reassure that there will come a time when things will settle down, when the boiling will stop, and some level of peace will return. “Calm Seas” 36 x 24
My house abuts hundreds of acres of woods, oak swamp and open fields. Years of walking through these woods, along the rural road that divides the neighbor’s farm from my land, my boots created a trail that, once discovered by the local conservation commission, has become a public trail. I don’t mind, as those who do hike along this route, will also see the old barn that sits across the street, up a slight rise…a beautiful perspective. On one recent hike, as the sun broke through a bank of clouds, the ridgeline glowed a golden chartreuse, and those areas still in shade seemed to glow a fiery magenta. “Lowland Sun” 40 x 30.
I came across this scene years ago…can’t remember where it is, maybe on the Cape, but I loved the looming spruce and the distant sea. Did a smaller piece based on the composition…which shared the deep purple/blue shaded wall and late-day amber sky. Decided to do it again, larger, but with more emphasis on color than on composition. “Fire and Light” 40 x 36
Several years ago, while driving around the beach roads in Brewster, MA, I came across this old Cape cottage…overgrown with several years of neglect…as if the inhabitants no longer inhabited the place. It wasn’t much of a sight, but through the tall grasses, vines, and small trees, Cape Cod Bay could be seen beyond the house. Whoever had lived here had had an amazing view that deserved to be resurrected. “Ocean Edge” 32 x 30
