The Cape and Islands are home to countless boathouses. Many were built along the shores, but others built further inland, and often appear completely detached from any property owner. This one sits at the most inland end of a salt marsh that opens up to a small cove, and was likely built years ago by a local fisherman. “Marsh Cove” 20 x 20
My childhood home was situated at the top of a hill, part of the property of a private school in a Boston suburb. The spot was the highest elevation in town, and the road we lived on was aptly named Highland Street. Halfway down the hill to the west of our house was a huge barn, used at the time as a gymnasium for the school’s students, but originally built as a horse barn, when the property was a private estate. I came across this spot somewhere in Vermont, and it reminded me of the view of the old horse barn from the bottom of the hill. “Highlands” 40 x 30 o/c
The pastel palette of Spring is here, though not for long. Love the variety of colors that comes with the landscape as it wakes up from hibernation, and just before it turns to the more monotone greens of summer. “April Morning” 12 x 12 o/c.
This old farmhouse will be gone soon. Abandoned, and sitting on a tract of land soon to be developed. I’ve painted it many times. I drove past it recently and the huge lilac bush had not yet begun to leaf out, but when it does in a few weeks, it will compete for attention with the old property it has grown alongside for decades. “Lilac Cottage” 48 x 36
There’s an old house on Route 28 in Harwich that has long been abandoned. Many pass it every day without notice. It probably should be razed for safety reasons. I’ve painted it several times. Beneath the vines, overgrowth, and it’s overall decayed condition, the architecture is classic. The landscape around it is decades of growth, obscuring what was likely once a flat, wide open vista, which could potentially have could included a view of the ocean. “Distant Sea” 48 x 24 o/c.
The recent Nor’easter did a job on local beaches (and all up and down New England), washing away sand and dunes, bringing the high-tide line closer to seaside homes. Towns are dumping tons of sand and rebuilding dunes in time for the summer beachgoer onslaught. This place overlooks one of our local beaches, and was in the front lines of the storm, but made it through, as did the dune it sits on.”Duneside” 14 x 14
Today’s 70-degree NH weather (especially following last week’s nasty Nor’easter) makes summer feel that much closer… “Dune Walk” 36 x 24 o/c
We weathered the Nor’easter that hit New England this week. Lost power for a day and a half, and watched lawns and meadows return to winter white. But the weather’s feeling a bit like Spring again today, and the last of the snow and ice is disappearing, hopefully for good. “Spring Thaw” 40 x 30 o/c .
Summer is slowly approaching, and life (both human and plant) is beginning to return to the Cape. One of our local beaches is accessible by two small paths that winds through scrub oak, seagrass and bayberry bushes, connecting the beach to the main road leading to it. Visited that beach the other day, and on the return, headed down this path, as many more will do once summer arrives. “Sand Path” 20 x 16 o/c.
Whenever anyone asks where the subject of a piece is, I have to often dig deep to remember where. And even if I know, for instance in this piece, the actual location was somewhere up by Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. But I don’t think that’s what they’re looking for, but rather they want to know if the composition is based on a real place. Answer is yes, and no. Compositions start with real places, but are then morphed by memory, addition and subtraction, and on-the-fly changes from the time a sketch is begun, to when the canvas is signed. In that sense, my compositions are fiction. “Calm Sea” 36 x 36 o/c.
