Garden Bunny

Garden Bunny

I found this garden ornament when I was cutting back the grossly overgrown landscaping at our new house.   Apparently it doesn't take very long for things in the garden to become buried and forgotten, but this guy now has a new life.   I sat him next to a pot of flowers near a nice stone wall in the back.   Not only does it now see the light of day, but it gets to have his portrait done. :)

Farmhouse Ruins - Donegal

Farmhouse Ruins - Donegal

These farmhouse ruins are adjacent to a new farmhouse on Fegart Road, Isle of Doagh, Donegal.   The September light illuminates the green grasses, and the colorful lichen on the crumbling stone walls.    The nothern-most tip of Ireland, Malin Head, is the mountain ridge in the distance.

Weir Farm Slopeside Pair

Slopeside Pair

At the Weir Farm in Hingham, MA annual Farm Day was coming up, and in the days prior to the event, painters were invited to set up on the premises and capture a scene.    The parking lot at the top of the hill has a beautiful view of the Boston skyline to the north and I did contemplate tackling that.  But I thought, why paint a city skyline when a bucolic hillside with Belted Galloways is just a 90 degree glance in the other direction?

BUY NOW

Curious Sheep - Ireland

Sheep at the Stone Wall

While exploring the countryside in Ireland we did a lot of walking.    Green pastures were dotted with sheep and often they were standing alongside the stone walls that separated one field from the next.   Unlike the cows, which would walk toward us and even "say hello," the sheep would just stare quietly.   It was as if our very presence caused them to become frozen in place, and they wouldn't make a sound.

Allihies Dairy Farmer II

Dairy Farmer - County Clare

This painting depicts a dairy farmer in the southwestern Ireland, specifically the Beara Penninsula, which is the furthest western landmass, a part of County Clare.  The distant hills were covered in a patchwork of shades of green and pink.   In this field, a large steel milk drum on wheels sat near an old gate.    As the farmer walked to it, the cows followed him, as if they expected a treat.   More likely, they knew it was milking time.

Opie and Studley on the Beach

Opie and Studley

Here are the six year old brothers after a good run on the beach.   They are predominantly white, and after any vigorous exercise, their skin turns all pink, which is most visible where fur is sparse on the underside and ears.    They are very muscular dogs, although Opie on the left has a bit more weight than svelte, eye patched brother, Studley.
.

Equestrian School

Equestrian School - Stage One

Late afternoon light poured across the sloping hillside just off of Livingston Street in Tewksbury, MA.   Good fortune that I had pulled into the driveway simply looking for a pretty autumn scene.   Getting to see the riders, instructors and beautiful horses put through their paces was thoroughly enjoyable.     Some riders had multiple instructors assisting.   The young lady depicted here led her auburn colored horse down the path to the riding ring off to the right undoubtedly an experienced rider.

Equestrian School

The pair were captured in paint as they passed in front of the brilliantly lit horse barn.   The barn door opening offering the strongest value contrast, perfect for balancing the center of interest.   This was a paint out to remember and if I am up in the area again, it's a location to be added to the painting locations list!

Chicken House

Hen House

A little crooked, but the chickens don't mind.  A wind swept farm scene done as a quick study.

Weir Farm Paint Out

Bug Stuck in Thick Paint

Weir Farm Paint Out - Stage One

Weir Farm in Hingham, MA boasts a countryside feel, ocean vistas and a breathtaking view of the Boston Skyline.   I loved this spot and took a nice walk to explore my options before getting into painting.  I saw a pair of hawks swooping around and being engaged by yet another smaller hawk.   Two baby calves were trotting around in the grass and playing together.    It was just gorgeous out there and it got brighter and sunnier as time went by.


I painted the cows right away, both because they were to be the center of interest, and because they happened to have arranged themselves in an nice abstraction of black and white spots.  They got up and moved several times during the course of my time there so I'm glad I captured them when I did. After painting the cows I started at the top of the canvas and worked from the sky on down, mostly using a palette knife.   The tops of the trees in the valley below the meadow had new spring growth with pale green and pink hues.  The colors got warmer and greener as they got closer to the foreground.

Weir Farm

I loved being at this beautiful spot and it probably is the primary reason the result was decent, especially the color match.  Early on, there was another good omen.   A bug landed in the freshly painted sky, a badge of honor to a plein air painter.

Translation, we were out there in the elements, and we - well, at least one of us - survived!

BUY NOW

Rooster Comb Red

Rooster Comb Red

The Historic O'Neil Farm is the last remaining working dairy farm in Duxbury, Massachusetts.  The 145 acre property has been in continuous agricultural use since the early 1700s and is permanently protected as one of the oldest and last working farms on the South Shore of Massachusetts.

The trail alongside the farm was an easy one mile hike and at times it felt more like a rural trail in Pennsylvania than a seaside town in Massachusetts.

There were several scenes that I thought would make interesting paintings, cows in the fields, cows at the water trough, and cows in the woods.   Barn cats were lolling about in the sun and a group of turkeys pecked away at the front lawn of the old farmhouse.  I hope to return to the farm for an on site paint-out but meanwhile, this painting was created from a photo I took on this first visit.  The rooster in the photo paused at the entrance of the chicken house just prior to stepping out into the sunlight.  The rooster's red crest caught my eye because it looked nearly fluorescent against the darkness of the hen house.

I have more work to do on this one.  The wood looks too white, the rooster breast is too dark and I'd like to brighten up the red comb even more.   I'll post it to my website when it is done.

Spooner Swans

Gulls, Ducks and Swans

Spooner Pond often catches my eye when travelling along Route 3A toward Plymouth, MA.   A stoplight across from the water sometimes allows time to see the swans that live there.  It was late in the afternoon on this cloudy November day when I decided to pull into a parking area along side the pond and get a better look.





Spooner Swans - In Progress

There were water fowl everywhere so there must have been plenty of fish.  There were probably 100 seagulls sitting on the roof of a small office structure next to me, and a few dozen ducks were quacking in circles below where I stood. 
Swans were also swimming around - more swans than I have ever seen at one time (ten).   They say swans mate for life and before this, I had only seen one adult pair per pond.   So it seemed amazing to see such a large group in one place.  This had to become a painting.   I set up and worked on the "post-peak" foliage and reflections all the while enjoying the interactions of seagulls, ducks and swans.   The swans were the last element to be added, seven in all.  You know, so that I have the option to give the painting a very obvious title!

Revisiting PA - Cows at the Creek

Cows at the Creek

I really enjoyed my trip to Pennsylvania and remember thinking that I would try to do some paintings from my photos once I got back home.   When I reviewed the countryside photos I remembered just how radiant and unspoiled it was.    It was a novelty for me to see a stunning hillside farm beside a crystal clear stream;  the vibrancy of buttery oil color would be the way to best capture the memory of it.

I am no cow expert but did observe that once a cow decided it would make a move, others would follow and in this case the move I saw was a slow trek to the edge of the stream.   This was the same stream as was in my painting "Creek Zen" - only further on down the road.   Colorful kayaks were also passing through, somewhat contradicting the iconic farm scene but enjoyable to watch the cows and kayakers observing each other.

As for the painting, I began with an underpainting of a pasture, in other words, a previous painting done "en plein air."  This practice of using an old painting is not only economical and environmentally friendly, but often results in textural complexity and color that is interesting and unplanned.   The small patch of black and white cows were depicted with what amounted to warm white dots, shadowy white dots, and dark patches for their coats, and no one cow painted in its totality.  I would love to walk that area again!

Chicken University

Chicken House Stage One

Little did I know when I set up to paint toward the back of a property near Bluefish Cove that the "shed" I was painting was actually an elaborate chicken house, or as the owner called it, "Chicken University."

Chicken House Stage Two

As I painted I could hear chickens and still didn't know they were in and just beyond the white garden structure I was putting into my scene.   It wasn't until I saw the owner walk to the double doors and say "hello girls" that I made the connection.   I was looking uphill so the sky was nice and blue and the light on the grass was just catching the tips of the blades from where I was standing.  From my angle there were no visible chickens.  The white chicken house had no light on the walls (so they were painted a dark bluish gray), but the roof had some dappled light.  A border of tulips stood out brightly against the dark shaded backdrop.

After completing the painting, I made a visit to the property to buy eggs and the owner was nice enough to let me see the 32 chicken operation.   Fascinating to me - having never lived on or near a farm.  The photo shows the inside of the chicken house with its roosting compartments - like a chest of draws.   These are some pampered chickens, each one with a name by the way.   Oh, and the eggs were outstanding!

Chicken House Stage Three

Inside Chicken University

Cardinal in Gold

Cardinal in Gold

My birdfeeder was quite popular this winter.  Although I had been keeping it full through November and December, the traffic didn't pick up until the first 30 inches of snow fell.    I have seen finches, chickadees, warblers and sparrows.   I've supplemented the seed with bread thrown on the snow under the feeder.  The bread seems to attract seagulls more than the "desired" birds.  Although cardinals usually show up at dusk and feed on the ground, this female cardinal actually perched on the feeder and munched for quite a while.

As for the painting, I thought the light/dark pattern against the fence made an interesting abstract.  As I view the painting now, I'm thinking I need to warm up the light values because they look too cool and white.

Mild Maritime School Paint Out

View from the Duxbury Maritime School

What is a bustling place three seasons of the year was nearly deserted on this mid-February day.    The temperatures hit fifty and considering the harsh winter we have had, it was a heat wave.  The rear of the Duxbury Maritime School, overlooks Duxbury Bay, a gorgeous view with the Duxbury Beach barrier peninsula on the horizon and the low-tide mud flats along the immediate shorelines.   The only boats at moorings were oyster boats with their mini cranes for pulling up their weighty catch.  

It's amazing to discover how many shades of blue there can be in the water.   The furthest waters had a pale violet hue; the still waters along the layers of peat outcroppings reflected more of  a sky color.   A true marine blue was in the mid-distance and closest to the dock was a greenish gold.    I thought it was quite a boring painting until I added two interesting elements, namely the wispy fair weather clouds and an oyster boat that motored by with a dog at the bow and owner at the wheel.

 The next time I have my oysters-on-the-half-shell appetizer, I'll be thinking of the fishermen who have this tough, cold (and year round) job .

 

Snake Handler

Snake Handler

I painted this from a photo taken last summer on the Boston Common.   This man was displaying a large mottled snake to a small gathering of people. I don't remember what he was saying about the snake, but I remember being amazed by his deft handling of the creature.   (It may be a Southern Copperhead, per a snake identifier site online, if it matters to any readers).  I also found it interesting how the man's dark complexion seem to have many reflective colors, especially blue.

Millie

She was quiet, neat, and no trouble. You wouldn't call her sleek or pretty, but like most bulldogs, it was the bit of homeliness that made her so cute.  She was a good dog and a good friend to my friend and it is sad that she is gone. This little 6x6" oil shows Millie in a favorite spot, lounging against the house on the back deck in the sun.

Farmer with his Cows, Allihies, Co Cork, Ireland

Roads were few and far between all the way to the southwestern tip of Ireland.    On either side of the road there was farmland - more cows than sheep in this area.   We walked around Allihies, the home of my husband's ancestors.   The weather continued to be dry and sunny making the stunning mountains to the north, farmland all around and sweeping ocean views to the south even more spectacular.

Allihies Dairy Farmer

I was tempted to pick a photograph of that sweeping scene to paint and I still may - but it was the cows in the pastures that I wanted to paint first.  Some cows were curious, and some just ignored us as we passed.   I talked to all of them.     One person who got all their attention once he made his appearance was their farmer.   As he walked into the field to tend the feeding station, they gathered with interest.  The farmer wished us a good day as we passed.   I can't remember all of what he was telling us but I do remember him saying that this very field had been a football field "back in the day."      It was hard to imagine this pastoral spot as the scene of a fierce local rivalry with a large crowd in attendance.   I imagined all across the Irish countryside that what we were seeing looked the same as it was a hundred or even three hundred years earlier.    Who am I to doubt a local residence's account of local history?

Check out this short video of two cows talking back and maybe trying to get attention.