Just completed commission of local New Hampshire scene, for Boston area buyer…”Timberline” 34 x 34 oil on canvas.
There’s a brief period during the spring, when the pinkish maple buds and other sprouting things appear–under a late afternoon sun–almost fall-ish. When we think of Spring, we think green…which it mostly is. But even in the newest leaves of many trees and grasses start their lives as a soft blend of oranges, yellows and (yes), green. This recently completed piece, “May Fire” 48 x 48, attempts to capture the colors beyond the greens that truly make up the Spring palette.
A recent early morning walk along the shore in West Dennis, on Cape Cod, inspired this piece, “Morning Sun,” as I ascended the beach up a small dune path. These coastal properties have withstood decades of hurricanes, nor’easters, and high storm tides, each time reshaping the landscape between them and the sea, but always returning it to this same state of simple beauty.
The Cape Cod landscape is, at first glance, a mix of soft and hard lines, created by the omnipresent horizontal where sea meets sky. It’s palette of the soft green of sea grass, light ochre of sand, and the dark bluish green of cedars and scrub oak. But when the sun is low–just after sunrise or just before sunset–the landscape shows its wilder side, where clouds stand out more in the darkening sky, and the unseen colors of weeds, seagrass and trees can be seen, if you look closely enough. “Wild Cape” 48 x 48, oil on canvas.
There’s nothing more beautiful than sunrise on the ocean, with the dramatic low-angle light and shadows of the rising sun. This scene, based on a strip of beach in Dennisport, MA, is greatly simplified from the actual landscape, but the dune fence extending from the cottage down towards the high tide line, captured the morning light in a way that is deceptively simple to portray.
The process of going from inspiration, to reference, to composition and completed painting is always about simplifying details and exaggerating simplicity. In this work in progress, currently untitled, composition and light are modified during the sketching and painting process to create a hopefully single focal point, but often more than one aspect of the scene needs to stand out. The unique angle and color of early morning light became the subject of this (despite the apparent focus of the dunes and fence).
Came across this scene, years ago, in Brewster, MA, along Route 6a, and only recently did a quick sketch in preparation for a canvas. At first, the shed tucked up against the trees was what stood out, as the sun hit it’s white-painted doors. But as the charcoal sketch came together, the emphasis became the cedars…both the two in the composition, and the two outside it. Just over the treeline is Cape Cod Bay, with an expanse of marsh in between it and this setting.
Recently completed commission for buyer who sought companion piece for another work previously purchased. This piece, “High Meadow Dusk” 48 x 48, is of the same scene in previously purchased painting, but from opposite side, and with a different palette.
Shadows can be taken for granted, as they’re the dark against the more dramatic light. But when considered for what they are, and looked at closely, these unlit areas of everything in light can easily become the subject of a composition. In this piece, “Oak Grove” the trees outside the composition created this multi-angle abstract shape, which became the focus of the piece.
The cottages in Dennisport, along Old Wharf Road, are remnants of an older Cape Cod, where small “summer places” were the norm and massive, rambling summer houses were the exception. Slowly, these small humble places are being razed and replaced, as is the simplicity of the landscape.
