Duck House with Pigeons

This painting was started on a perfect 75 degree August day last year in Boston.  I just came across it during my studio clean up.   It was so close to being done that I set about adding the final touches.

Beautiful Boston Public Garden (BPG) is a popular spot for locals and tourists.  People stroll about, some enjoying the swan boats that slowly paddle around the pond.  One look at the green scene and I reached for a linen panel undertoned with burnt sienna.   I knew this reddish base coat would help relieve the myriad of greens.  It also allowed me to skip painting the brick buildings in the background altogether - at least for the paint-out portion.

Duck House with Pigeon - BPG

Duck House with Pigeons

The pond was essentially green, not because of dirty water, but because it was reflecting the green willows and beeches on the far side.   Out in the middle of the pond was a duck house, my center of interest.   Apparently nobody had told the pigeons that this was a duck house because there were dozens of pigeons sunning themselves on its pale gray roof.   This is a city after all!

So please excuse the insertion of a painting from August while in the middle of February!

Blinding Bridge Light

Blinding Bridge Light - Strolling at Sunset

In the quaint village area of Mystic, CT, a 1920 vintage bascule bridge spans the Mystic River, and carries vehicle and pedestrians within the tourist district of town.   This amazing bridge is opened for five minutes at forty minutes past the hour for six months of the year.   The concrete filled counterweights hoist the 85 foot movable span into the air allowing boat traffic to pass beneath.   Rather than feeling inconvenienced for having to wait, most people, including us, seemed truly fascinated with this engineering marvel, a wholly mechanical spectacle in an (overly) digital world.

Toward dusk we began to walk over the bridge to find the spice shop we had spotted on our map.   The sun was directly ahead, a golden, blinding type of glare, and it was casting long figure shadows toward us.   The light and shadows on the bridge made fascinating shadow effects, and the sun obliterated the bridge crossbeams, creating a blindspot effect that I have tried to mimic in the painting.

Cranberry Bog Snow Melt

Cranberry Bog Snow Melt

One of my favorite cranberry bog scenes is located in Duxbury, MA and is called Plucky Bog.   This bog is situated right alongside Route 3 in South Duxbury.   I've painted here on other occasions, and on this mild, mid-February the last of the shaded snow was still visible.   The shaded snow was blue, much bluer than you would think.   The cobalt sky had wispy clouds and jet contrails that happened to be angling opposite of the bog channels.   The linear elements seemed to point to the irrigation pump house on the far embankment, a good compositional feature.

At this spot in the past, a fox ran across the bog, some deer emerged from the far trees and red tailed hawks put on a swooping show.   Today, there were no sightings, other than the observation of a perfect winter day out of the studio!

 

Full Moon Over Zakim Bridge

Full Moon Over Zakim Bridge

It was zero degrees and we were walking (half running actually) to the TD Garden for a New Year's Eve Basketball game.   Despite the biting cold and winds, the spectacular scene of the moon splitting the space between the Zakim Bridge and the TD Garden called for a picture.   I was so glad we stopped to snap it, as it turned out to be a great photo reference for this painting.  There were no people because we were the only crazy ones walking in the brutal temperatures.  The long horizontal aspect was perfect for the 12x24 inch canvas.  The city lights and neon signs were bright and colorful.   Even the North Station trains and the turquoise supports were visible beyond the city snowbanks.  This is going to be a good over the sofa addition for a Boston sports fan I think!

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Frozen Boston Skyline

Frozen Charles River at Dusk

New Year's Eve 2018 we celebrated along the banks of the Charles River just behind Boston's Science Museum.  What a view of the city from inside our room at the Sonesta Hotel!  The John Hancock building and the Prudential Tower were the tallest and most recognizable buildings from here.  The historic Longfellow bridge with its "salt and pepper" shaker shaped central towers was visible as well.    The whole scene was breathtaking and especially spectacular at dusk.

In the painting, the Charles River reflections may look watery, but it was ice that was picking up the reflections. People in the Boston area may remember that this was an absolutely frigid weekend, with temperatures well below zero.     The only water was a very small patch at Charles River boat club moorings. Around some shrink-wrapped boats, water pumps were running, presumably designed to keep the icy from forming around these fancy boats.  This dark watery area had attracted several geese that were huddled together at the edge, literally not moving for hours.

Powder Point Bridge Winter Winds

Powder Point Winter Winds

Although for winter, it was a relatively mild forty degrees, the raw winter wind made it feel much colder at the Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury, MA. Bracing against the chill, I didn't spend time on long admiring gazes at the always beautiful Duxbury Bay.   Instead I got right down to the business of mixing the cold,  molasses texture paint.    The color scheme this time of year is greatly influenced by the low angle of the sun, and that translates to gray-blue water, gray-brown bridge, gray-gold grasses, gray-pink sky.   In spite of the lack of chroma, the resulting painting and gray palette seemed especially nice, almost serene.  Morning walkers were not deterred by the cold, moist winds so I had plenty of choices as to who would be painted.   I decided on this couple, a tall man and short woman, kinda' like my husband and me.

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