Green Harbor Seawall View

Setting Up at the Beach Opening at Horseshoe

There is a horseshoe shaped road at the end of Bay Avenue in Green Harbor.  At the curved end of the horseshoe there is a wooden archway leading through the dunes to a beach opening.  On this cold but sunny November day, I walked to the opening dragging my gear through the path to an area where there is a gap in the seawall.

Sunny Day Breakers - Green Harbor

I set up facing north with the start of the Green Harbor section of seawall on my left.   The row of beach houses were stacked one after another along the seawall and in shadow along the left.  The beach eventually curved out to the east about a half mile down at Burke's Beach. The Brant Rock beach houses that were along the channel had direct sunlight, and even in the distance, were bright.   The brightest and whitest elements of all however, were the large foamy breakers.  The surf was up, probably about four feet high and as the tide got higher, they started hitting the seawall and shooting up.  In contrast with the deep North Atlantic blue, the waves were vivid white before pummeling the sand.   What an exhilarating paint-out!   I swear it has to do with the negative ions propelled all around by the crashing waves.

As for the rest, I did my best to match the various colors in the pile of rocks in the immediate foreground.  I did not work on painting individual rocks.   I saw gold, blue, buff, green and peach.  If you paint, you probably know that recording every minute detail of things like rocks gives the painting a tight, tedious feeling.   Better to slap on strokes of just the right colors and let the tedious area somewhat disappear when compared to the crashing surf.   I did paint a select a handful of the larger smooth stones in the foreground and gave them some extra form and shadow.

Do you like the videos?   I don't want to be repetitious, but I have been taking more videos lately -
since my trip to Ireland actually.   This one is less than 10 seconds; hopefully load time is not too much.

Pumpkin Hugs, Mill Spool Kisses

Pumpkin Hugs, Mill Spool Kisses - Study

The Winsmith Mill in Norwood, MA is a fairly new location for the Norwood Art Association.   The grand old mill buildings house many antique shops on the first and second floors.   On the third floor is a spacious gallery area fully populated with the artwork of the anchor artists and guest artists.  The Norwood Fine Arts Gallery team has done a fantastic job transforming the space and generously provide space at the venue in advancement of the fine arts.   If you are in the Norwood area, plug 61 Endicott Street, Norwood, MA into your GPS and follow the directions to this expansive space with lots to explore.

Pumpkin Hugs, Mill Spool Kisses Final

As a guest artist for the month of November, I spent the day at the gallery last weekend and worked on the still life in this post.  It occurred to me that the shapes were X's and O's, thus the title (too corny?).   A medium sized pumpkin with a nice, long curled stem was the starring element, and a chunky, blue-gray vase that I purchased at the mill was the co-star.   I had brought several mill spools too, some of my favorite rustic props, and certainly suitable for a mill painting.   The backdrop for the set up was a corner with aged brick and original foggy, opaque windows.

I ran out of time before I could put on the finishing touches, but I did get a a reference photo to use for the last five percent.

View of Green Harbor from Brant Rock

Green Harbor from Brant Rock Stage One

It was early November and although many trees had lost their leaves, here along the water, the leaf drop was a bit behind the areas just a little more inland.    I was set up at the marina boat ramp on the Brant Rock side of the Green Harbor River.   Across the river were the houses along Marginal Street where the Green Harbor General Store is located.    It feels wonderful to have the ocean air all around and the water rising as high tide approached.   The seagulls sitting on the dock in front of me were generally hilarious getting vocal when another seagull swooped down making it clear that the gull limit on this dock was three.

Green Harbor from Brant Rock Stage Two

As for the colors, the salt marsh grasses looked to me like yellow ochre out of the tube.    The trees were gold, burnt sienna, sap green, and raw sienna with dark blue/violet shadows.  Most of the fishing boats were at sea judging by the number of dinghies tied to their moorings.   Three boats were visible between me and the far shore. Beyond them, on the far side were houses with traditional gray weathered cedar shingles.  I made the house gray by scraping up the tree, sky and water colors making a harmonious grey color.

At this point the question was, which element(s) should take center stage?   In the Stage Two Photo of the painting, there was general equality of importance.   Which element should be the true center of interest?  I decided that the two closest boats and their moorings would get the brightest, thickest paint.   In fact I brushed a pale blue atmospheric glaze over everything on the far shore to make it sit back more.

Green Harbor from Brant Rock

River Channel at the Jetty

Green Harbor Channel - Stage One

Green Harbor Channel - Stage Two

I returned to Burke's Beach and stood close to where I was a few days ago.   In that jetty painting I stood facing southeast looking into the sun.    For this painting, I turned 180 degrees, again including some of the jetty which buffers the river channel into Green Harbor.   There was a deck of alto-stratospheric clouds, meaning no brilliant blue sky on this day.  Wooden pilings ran parallel to the rocks which acted as a retaining wall for the (titanium) buff colored sand.   I much prefer the sun behind me illuminating my canvas and palette - much better for my retinas too!  The many boats which sit on land i winter at the marina are visible in the distant left. The larger fishing and lobster boats have continued to work, and account for most of the boats still in the water.  

 I almost added the Hamilton lobster boat which entered the river toward the end of the paint-out.   The boat sat very low in the water weighted down by a capacity load of lobster traps.   I may add it yet, but here is a photo of it and the painting fresh off the plein air field easel.

Hamilton Lobster Boat

Freezing Ocean Overlook

Brant Rock Overlook - Stage One

What was that I was saying in a recent post about not feeling cold and dressing properly for the weather?    I was dressed in my long down coat and had thermals on, but the wind was the problem in making this paint-out a frigid experience.   I positioned my easel so that the car blocked the wind, but either the wind shifted or the temperatures dropped, because I slowly got colder and colder, especially my painting hand

Brant Rock Overlook - Stage Two

I like this one because of the color of the ocean....cold winter blue...again the graying down of the blue with transparent brown oxide and titanium buff.   The sun was to the right of the painting and the water was lighter toward that direction.  You may notice the gradation from dark ocean blue on the left, to lighter ocean blue on the right.

Brant Rock Overlook - Stage Three

The larger waves were fairly uniform as they approached the rocky shoals at Brant Rock near the Fairview Inn.   I was standing about fifty feet above the water looking down past the boulder retaining wall down to the natural rocks and sand.   The tide was receding so at the start only the tops of the largest rocks were visible in the water.   By the time I packed up, the entire area below was a rocky field of brown and black.  I did stick with the rock formations visible at the outset.

I used my palette knife to apply thick swirls of foam at the shore and on the breakers further out.   I will think "cold" whenever I see this one.

Below is a short clip of where I was.

Jetty from Beach

Late Autumn at the Beach

I did break out my long down coat for today's paint-out.     If I had been walking, I wouldn't have needed it because the temperatures were in the low forties, but I've learned that being stationary while painting can feel chilly, especially with a brisk wind off the water.    I hardly ever stay inside because it's cold, I just dress for it, and these pictures are proof it was worth it!

Only a handful of people were present on Burke's Beach enjoying the dazzling November sunshine.

Matching Winter Ocean Blue

I looked at the water and I saw brilliant blue.   I mixed up a beautiful brilliant blue that I thought would be close in color.   Wrong!   I have used the wrong color so many times in the past that I know that the best way to check it is to scrape up the mixture and hold it up in full light to the subject being matched.   It is amazing how gray the water was, far from the intensity of blue out of the tube.   I used some transparent oxide brown and titanium buff to bring the intense blue down and the value up.

Jetty from Beach Stage Two

Speaking of Titanium Buff, have I mentioned that I love this color for the beach?   It looks beautiful when wisps of other colors are swirled into it.   I used it for the sunlit planes of the rocks as well.

The low angle of the winter sun caused a white-out on the ocean horizon.   I mixed titanium white with a tinge of cad red light.


As I started to wrap up, I inserted the Emily Rose Lobster boat as it entered the mouth of the river.

Finally, check out this 360 degree view of the gorgeous spot where I was standing, none other than stunning Green Harbor, Massachusetts.

Farmer with his Cows, Allihies, Co Cork, Ireland

Roads were few and far between all the way to the southwestern tip of Ireland.    On either side of the road there was farmland - more cows than sheep in this area.   We walked around Allihies, the home of my husband's ancestors.   The weather continued to be dry and sunny making the stunning mountains to the north, farmland all around and sweeping ocean views to the south even more spectacular.

Allihies Dairy Farmer

I was tempted to pick a photograph of that sweeping scene to paint and I still may - but it was the cows in the pastures that I wanted to paint first.  Some cows were curious, and some just ignored us as we passed.   I talked to all of them.     One person who got all their attention once he made his appearance was their farmer.   As he walked into the field to tend the feeding station, they gathered with interest.  The farmer wished us a good day as we passed.   I can't remember all of what he was telling us but I do remember him saying that this very field had been a football field "back in the day."      It was hard to imagine this pastoral spot as the scene of a fierce local rivalry with a large crowd in attendance.   I imagined all across the Irish countryside that what we were seeing looked the same as it was a hundred or even three hundred years earlier.    Who am I to doubt a local residence's account of local history?

Check out this short video of two cows talking back and maybe trying to get attention.

Corner of the Dock

Picture Perfect Spot for a Paint Out

Corner of the Dock

I returned to the site of Engine One, at Bluefish River in Duxbury,MA.   I've painted here a few times and although it was absolutely gorgeous, I was looking to paint something different than a shimmery sailboat with gentle waves making stunning reflections! If you paint a lot, you probably understand.   The photo shows the scene; so pretty, and it was great just to be there!

One Gold Leaf

I chose the dock - just the corner of the dock. The surface was in warm light, but it also was being influenced by the deep blue sky.   The resulting color was a lavender shade.   The side planes of the dock looked the brightest.   There was some yellow and a warm weathered wood color.  Its reflection was a warm green with some gold.      The underside of the dock could not be seen, but its reflection was visible - a deep blue-green.   The rope shadows were a deep blue, and the rope was bright and warm.   I worked on all the geometric elements.   It looked very abstract and almost not recognizable well into the painting process.  I didn't work on the prime center of interest until I was back in the studio.  The center of interest was a bright yellow maple leaf.   So amid the glory of this picturesque spot, what got top billing was a single gold leaf.    This post was started when the topic was the corner of the dock and that was interesting but felt dull.  The painting may not capture the motion, but this leaf was perched high on the water, probably still a little dry and practically dancing and twirling along with the ebb tide.

Basket of Apples

Basket of Apples

I dropped into a painting group a couple of days ago and there were multiple still lifes set up.   I should have worked on the still life that would have been more difficult for me.    It was a high key collection of objects in blues and oranges.  I elected to have more fun and do the big basked of apples; they were mac's afterall :).     I used a smooth clayboard substrate and a relatively small brush to rough in the drawing.   I used a paper towel to wipe out and fine tune the placement and size of the apples.   Although the spotlight on the setup was warm in tone, I like my cool lights these days, so I used my naples yellow for the lit portions of the basket and I used warm burnt sienna for the basket shadows.   I recently added some of Gamblin's Radiant Magenta to my palette (until I can get some more Permanent Rose).   The Radiant Magenta is nothing like Permanent Rose since it is lighter in value and opaque.   I mixed it with my Cad Red to apply the lit tops of the red apples.

As I look at the photo now, I realize that the red apple in shadow is too red.   I will pull some of the shadow color behind it to subdue it somewhat.   Let me know your comments!

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Boston Public Garden

Footbridge at Boston Public Garden

Two Swans Avisiting

Footbridge Boston Public Garden Stage One

Ten quarters in a meter on Charles Street got me two hours to enjoy a paint-out at the Boston Public Garden.  I walked with my painter's bin on wheels into this mini mecca in the middle of the city.   The huge old trees were beginning to change color, a spectacular scene for tree novices, let alone true horticulturalists, who are treated to a label with full botanical name.  The roses were still going strong and I thought about working on one.   I did not want to paint a postcard, but once I got close to the duck pond and footbridge, that iconic scene was irresistible.  I found myself setting up underneath the bridge to capture the "postcard" that typifies the Boston Public Garden.   I even had a visit from a pair of swans who took particular interest in me.   Maybe they presumed my art bin was large enough to contain lunch?

The wet paint in the photo is causing a bit of glare.  Check this one out on my website in a couple of weeks.

Boston Public Garden in Autumn