Middleboro Paint Outs

 These three paintings capture scenes in Middleboro, MA, a mostly low lying area with ponds, lakes, streams and cranberry bogs.   True Grit Art Gallery holds an annual painting event where painters capture scenes from within the town boundaries for a month long exhibition of the masterpieces that result.

The first scene is from Lolans Farm in mid-October.   The displays are bursting with harvest bounty with every kind and color of pumpkin you can imagine.   It was a brisk and mostly cloudy day when this woman walks through scanning for the perfect pumpkin.

Scanning for the Perfect Pumpkin

 

 

 

 

 

The next painting was done along the Nemasket River next to the Oliver Mill.  This spectacular old stone bridge was first built in 1859 and was referred to as the Muttock.   It was repaired/rebuilt a number of times since but the structures' sturdy, rustic design remains true to the original.   The bridge was a visual  magnet for a painter like me - love of water and Irish roots.   The gorgeous reflections of the stonework and autumn color doubled the magnificence of scene.

The Muttock

The third and final plein air exhibition painting was done at an area called Betty's Neck.  It was a perfect day for enjoying the fall color.   I met a couple who were scoping out the spot from where they were going to watch the Northern Lights that evening.   They agreed my very spot was going the get the nod once it got dark.   For me, it was very much the bright sunshine, water and peak foliage getting the nod.

 

Causeway View - Betty's Neck

 

Cranberry Bogs Along Fuller St in Middleboro

Early Autumn Bog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gorgeous autumn tree colors, and the calendar say October, but the daytime temperatures would have you thinking May or September - warm and dry.   This is perfect weather for plein air painting.   The cranberry bogs are particularly pretty just before the flooding and harvest.  They get a distinctly crimson chroma, contrasting beautifully with the green bog fringe.   Of course the surrounding trees are often wildly colored and even clashy with the cranberry red color scheme.   But that's where a painter can even out the disharmony with a touch of cranberry color throughout.  See if you can spot where crimson brushwork softens the greens!

Golden Light at the Bog

Soule Farm Community Gardens

The True Grit Art Gallery Annual Plein Air Event is officially in progress!   For the event painters capture Middleboro scenes during the month of October for their November show. 

Meadow at Soule Farm

A painting friend suggested Soule Farm in Middleboro, MA.  This town treasure was the perfect setting for autumn plein air and there were several scenes that attracted us here.  From the grassy meadows, the antique farmhouse, various barns and farm storage, to sheep fields, community gardens, and of course their two very friendly resident goats, each vantage had a beauty all its own.

For my first painting, this Irish girl couldn't resist the sheep in the meadow.   They were quite a distance away, but that probably helped my composition by widening my view (and options).  At one point the "shepherd" with his border collie moved the herd to an adjacent field which was a bit closer.  It was fascinating to watch!  In this fast paced world; stopping and witnessing that simple farm scene felt like a modern day pause, a transport back in time.  It was a gift really.

My second painting depicts a portion of the community garden amid a wide patchwork of individual garden squares.  A rustic corral was build around the space, an obviously a labor of love.  It was labelled "Green Acres."  Although most of the flowers were a bit spent, I took liberty with my colors and pumped up the blossoms.  This painting was loose and so much wilder than the pasture.  In fact there is so much paint on there that it will probably be wet for the show!

And speaking of the show, these paintings and many more will be on display in November 2024. Thanks to theTrue Grit Art Gallery for coordinating such a fun event!

Oliver Mill

Oliver Mill

Along Route 44 in Middleboro, MA there is fascinating place where the Nemasket River passes under an old stone bridge and divides into several prongs that comprise the outskirts of the old Oliver Mill.   Today, the various levels in the streams create an elaborate and effective herring run from Narragansett Bay through the Taunton River and back to the Nemasket River.   The spot where I painted on this day was from within the mill structure - surrounded by three of the walls of the mill but open to the sky above.

 

 

The stone wall remnants of the old structure offered a gorgeous contrast with the end-of-summer greens and yellows. In fact, things were already shifting toward yellow and red.

The thing about plein air is that during the course of standing in a spot for two to three hours,  you are bound to see something unusual.  In this case it was a blue heron that decided to sit up on a railing overlooking the streams squirting out below.   A dog walker came along and of course there was intense curiosity by this young dog.  A better and more memorable title may be "Black Dog Spies Heron."

Nemasket Herring Run

Nemasket Herring Run

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here at the Oliver Mill in Middleboro, MA,  the old stone walls brought back memories of painting in Ireland.   Of course there were plenty of differences not the least of which was the stunning New England foliage.   

These stone walls comprise the original footprint of the old Oliver Mill adjacent to the Nemasket River.   The painting vantage point is west facing and I'm actually standing within the mill walls - no roof though.  The focal point of the painting is beyond the mill where the river widens out.  Presumably the calmer, downstream waters offer better fishing opportunities for this snowy egret.

Bog Pumphouses

Bog Pumphouses

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend and I painted at this huge cranberry bog in Middleboro, MA.   The winding road with three visible pump houses attracted my attention right away.   I hoped to capture the perspective of just how big these bogs were by virtue of the diminishing size of the three structures.

The day started out a little cloudy and dismal, but gradually, it brightened.   Light changes can dramatically affect your painting.   "Chasing the light," is a common mistake, meaning, you paint your initial scheme of light as it appears (in this case cloudy - very pretty).   Then things may change.   The lighting scheme brightens and we observe the new light and paint that (in this case it became full sun).

The funny thing is, if you are really engrossed in the process, light changes may not be immediately apparent.   It's sometimes only when you start sweating that you realize it got warm and sunny :).  I did chase the light a bit, but since I worked the far horizon first, which is cooler and bluer - even on a sunny day, painting a sunny foreground an hour later worked fine.  I did have to go back and add the shadowy section on the road to be consistent.

I thought about adding the first visitor to our area of the bog - a coyote!   It was walking through the bog straight toward us but then, about 40 feet away, took a right turn away!  Yikes!   Plein air can be very exciting!