Corner of Ferry and Ireland

Corner of Ferry and Ireland - Stage One

Just behind the Bridgewaye Restaurant near Humarock, the South River runs alongside Ferry Street.   The banks of the river are lined with rocks and sand with just enough space to pull the car over.   I was going to paint the river and the Sea Street Bridge when I noticed a different scene.   The house at the corner of Ferry and Ireland was positively beautiful - a mini-Holland with hundreds of Spring bulbs.   The tulips were set off by the fresh and newly green shrubs and grass.  Additionally there were pretty stone walls lining the property and winding up Ireland Street, an appropriate name.   



Corner of Ferry and Ireland - Stage Two

The gardener extraordinaire who created this natural layout used a keen design eye, and I was told by neighbors walking by that for every season, the property provides them with a beautiful scene.   I must to remember this spot for painting.    Although in the Stage One picture looks like I may be painting the house on the left, I actually painted the barn to the rear.  After laying in the armature, I continued to smear on the color thickly with my palette knife.   The bright red tulips were the most prominent.  The pavement was where I cleaned my palette knife so that a colorful gray started to develop and I wasn't wasting any paint.

 The tops of the posts of the decorative ranch fence in the middle happen to be right at the same level as the row of tulips behind.   I felt this was bad for the design, so I made them taller - mistake.   They looked awkward and if a sharp eye studied this, they would see that the hedges on the left were shorter which wasn't likely.  I cut the posts down.   I stopped the paint out there.   Once I start correcting, I feel like the freshness is lost.



Corner of Ferry and Ireland Stage Three

A couple of days after painting this and I tried to take an objective look.   If I analyze each section or element of the painting, I really like it, but as a whole, I don't.  For example, I like the rustic barn, the receding distant trees up the hill, the stone walls, the red tulip border that transitions from shade to sun.  Then why isn't this painting working for me?

Take a stab at identifying the problem.   It may not be salvageable, but I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks.     Here is the current version (Stage Three).

I will post the results in a second blog soon.