Ames Pond

Easel set up at Ames Pond

After spending the morning in Boston, I drove north to Tewksbury to attend a retirement party.    My early arrival meant I had some time to set up and do a plein air painting.   Ames Pond off of Route 133 in Tewksbury is
bordered by some nicely designed office buildings with parking and picnic tables.




One White Birch at Ames Pond

 The photo to the right shows the angle of my easel as it faced Ames Pond and the hillside to the southern edge of the pond.  A path wound around the building to my left following the edge of the pond.   Occasionally an employee on a break would stroll along this path and disappear around the other side.   A couple of different people who stopped to take a look asked me if I had seen the swans.  They said that a swan pair and their chicks regularly visited the edge of the pond where I was standing.  I mentally prepared for the appearance of the swans.   I would try to quickly sketch them in, if and when they showed up.   They never did, but given the current state of the painting - nice but somewhat dull - I may still retrofit them in from reference photos.  The swans would take the place of the single white birch as the center of interest.





One White Birch