Fourth Cliff View

Ocean Outlet at Northern tip of Humarock

The northernmost tip of Humarock, Massachusetts is US Government property and is actually inhabited by US Air Force personnel. It is known as "Fourth Cliff."  As you can imagine by looking at the map the view is amazing.   The east wind off the open ocean on this day was strong, so I set up facing northwest.  

The shorelines in the background of my scene were Third Cliff and Second Cliff and the (much maligned), towering wind turbine.  I wanted to include the wind turbine because it offered a nice vertical element to break up all the horizontals.   The many horizontal planes from farthest to closest included the treeline, the oceanfront homes, and the sandy shoreline.  This inlet forms the mouth of where rivers meet the ocean, and there was an impressive amount of churn out in the middle. A calmer strip of water was next closest, and finally was the area of breakers onto the shore right in front of me.   A vocal flock of brants bobbed around at the immediate shoreline (audible ambiance adding to the waves and wind).  

Makeshift Palette Knife

I forgot my palette knife, and given the cold, it was a problem because I really like to use it to mix and spread stiff cold paint. I unsuccessfully fished through everything when I got the idea to use a credit card.   ( Btw - If you have ever travelled and found yourself needing a windshield scraper for your frosty rental car, a license or credit card works.)   I found an old Rewards card that isn't even honored anymore.  I liked the width and the bendability of the plastic card and used it to do wide horizontal strokes of the sky and ocean.   As you know a single wide stroke left untouched or reworked can be very nice!

From Fourth Cliff - Stage One

As I reached the end when it was time to put in the wind turbine, I couldn't get the turbine paint to stick to the sky paint that was already there.   I needed my palette knife rather that the credit card.   I marked where it should go and packed up.   The stronger March sun had warmed the car and it felt great, kind of like a reward to top off an exhilarating paint out.





Fourth Cliff Early Spring Final

Winter Sunset over Carson Beach

What a brutal winter we have had in 2014!   Usually by this time of year, there is less additional snow piling up and most of the snow pack has melted.   This winter, not only has it continued to snow regularly, but the temperatures have provided a steady state of refrigeration preventing Spring from breaking out.  I know that I stated that there would be no more snow paintings this year, but I forgot about this one which I did a month ago.

Billowy snow clouds were competing with a bright firey sunset over Carson Beach in South Boston. There were snowflakes in the air while a nice blue/orange harmony illuminated the entire scene (from From H Street at Day Boulevard in South Boston.)  The rooftops of the Carson Beach Bathhouse were visible because of their full snow cover, but were a dark blue against the treeline at dusk
.

Icy Pond at the Inn




Icy Pond Canvas Underpainted Black

In the afternoon of our New Hampshire painting weekend, it warmed up to almost forty.   The front of the inn where we were staying was very picturesque.   I set up in front of the inn looking down the hill at a ranch style fence which surrounded a frozen duck pond.    A pretty white birch on the far side of the pond reached up to the pink winter sky and of course, the mountains in the distance. 




Icy Pond at the Inn - Stage Two

I began once again with a black gesso underpainting.   The snow paint had to be thick to cover the black and  I used an unprecedented amount of thick paint - for me anyway.   This was the best view of mountains so far so I mixed three separate values of dull blue for the mountain colors.  The pretty red grasses behind and in front of the pond were thick and even pumped up the color with more thick paint.    I was satisfied that this may have been the best of the three paintings from the weekend.   So is was a darn shame that as I packed up, a gust of wind grabbed the easel; it flew over into the mud.   Dirt and grit was smeared into the thick impasto paint on the left.  


Icy Pond at the Inn - Stage Three

Grrrrrr.   The loose juicy grasses were spoiled.  I wish I had taken a photo before I scraped off the dirt and sand and packed up.    I fretted for a bit, but I used a photo reference to repair it in the studio.   It isn't exactly how I wanted it, but close.   The freshness of a painting done in a cold plein air setting is undoubtedly superior to a studio work.   I think the lack of perfection and overwork is a lot nicer!
 
 
 

 

Icy Pond at the Inn Final



C-C-Cold,Cloudy, Frozen Riverbanks

Hawk at Nest



Riverside Stage One

Our second paint-out in Chesterfield, NH was a bit colder than the first one.   It was early morning, mostly cloudy and eighteen degrees.   We drove along the eastern (New Hampshire) side of the Connecticut River on a road called River Road.    There were some antique houses and farms along the way, mostly away from the riverbanks.   People were more sensible back when they were built.   Right along the shore there were more modern houses and along one stretch we found a boat launch.   I don't know if anyone launches anything onto a frozen river, but it was plowed right to the edge providing a place to pull in and set up!   At first we thought it might be a little boring, but the best part was that there was no traffic whizzing by so it was tranquil and natural.   In fact, there was a large hawk perched above its nest; it towered over all the other trees along the riverbanks.  (See photo at left).

Frozen Riverbanks

I was determined to get mountains in my paintings this weekend so I set up facing north and I could just see hints of them over the river at the furthest visible point.   There were many more trees hanging out over the river than I included.    I used a canvas with a black underpainting which gave a stark contrast to the ice and snow all around.   Rusty colored leaves composting at the base of the edge just in front of me.    There was a feeder stream just in front of it, the only area with water.   The available water was a popular spot for a constant flurry of birds.   I added some robins sitting above the watering hole and one at the edge of the water.

 

Lucky Penny

This penny painting is on display at the beautiful South Street Gallery in Hingham, along with another 25 cents for your viewing pleasure.   What superstitious Irish person wouldn't like a clover leaf painting on a penny.  An extra lucky penny...

Ice Fishing Shanties in Brattleboro, VT

Ice Fishing Shanties - Stage One

On the first paint out day away, we spent entirely too much time trying to find a great spot to paint.  The issue we had in beautiful Chesterfield, New Hampshire wasn't that there weren't enough scenic spots (blanketed with a gorgeous snowpack), but rather there was so much snow, that the embankments prevented convenient access, both for parking the car and walking to a spot.    Instead of the coveted covered bridge scene, we found a location behind the Brattleboro, VT Retreat that overlooked a frozen tributary to the West River, a feeder to the nearby Connecticut River.   



Ice Fishing Shanties - Stage Two

Ice Fishing Shanties

It seemed scary that there would be fishing huts on river ice, but obviously the local experts knew that the state of this frozen inlet was safe.    The colorful fishing shanties dotted the ice and the deep blue snowmobile tracks crisscrossed between them.   On the far side, Route 30 paralleled the river and there was a farm complex of red structures.    I framed the scene for my painting so that the central snowmobile tracks would enter in the bottom left and travel diagonally up to the far river bank, stopping in front of the cluster of red buildings where there was a river access.

The paint was so stiff in the cold that after applying it, I had to dip my palette knife into turpenoid and smooth out the bristle marks, especially for the smooth ice surfaces.   I'm still waffling on adding more shanties.  It's the part of the scene that I liked most, but would adding more of them improve the painting's design?  You be the judge, and I'll comply with the majority. :)

 BUY NOW

Inspired by H.M. Trevor's The Fisherman's Mother

Inspired by The Fisherman's Wife Stage One

During the course of the last two years while researching my ancestors, I discovered that farming was the predominant occupation of my paternal ancestors - that is - until they emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts.   There, far from their farming roots, they took on a variety of occupations becoming pipefitters, longshoremen and nurses.     Some of my mother's paternal ancestors were from Canada and made their living in occupations related to the sea, mostly fishermen.  


Inspired by The Fisherman's Wife

I was immediately drawn to a painting at the National Gallery in Dublin and I took a photograph of it, which inspired this painting.    The original painting was done by Irish artist Helen Mabel Trevor in 1892.   She was fascinated by the fishing culture of Brittany and particularly the strength of the women whose husbands and sons faced the dangers of sea.   The rosary beads and cane complete the image of an elderly woman who has experienced a lifetime worry, though tempered with piety, and the years are plainly displayed on her face.