Fishing Friends at Dusk

 

Fishing Friends at Dusk

Have you noticed how often I paint the water?   I can't resist the colorful movement of the waves, the moist air.  I like watching and painting other people enjoy the water too.   This is the view from Buoys Restaurant, where we we enjoyed a Valentines Day dinner at sunset.   We had a great table right at the water's edge.  These fishermen were set up across the inlet at the southernmost tip of Treasure Island, a part of St Petersburg, FL.   I snapped this photo because I loved the poses of the men and most of all, the egret that stood watch behind them.  I had plenty of this year's gulf sunset paintings to use for color references too.

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Seawolf Park in Galveston, TX, there is an enormous boardwalk with WWII vessels, and several fishing piers that overlook the busy channel complete with oil tankers, auto ferries and cruise ships.    We chose this spot for the views and all the channel action.    I had plenty of visitors while I painted, military personnel, tourists, and fishermen.  The friendliest observer of all though was this (not shy) brown pelican.  He literally landed on this railing from a glide roughly two feet above my head.   If he wasn't in this painting, I'd be leaving out the most memorable part of the experience.

Harbor Park - Willow and Ospreys

Willows and Ospreys - Harbor Park in Progress

More and more people are starting to use Harbor Park on Dribeck Road near Marshfield's Marina.   When the park was first completed, I could paint there and in two hours, never see anyone stop or stroll through.  Today, people steadily passed by, some taking a break under the gazebo and some asking about my painting.

Willows and Ospreys - Harbor Park

The scene is somewhat typical of a tidal river, cedar trees, willows, marshgrass, stone retaining walls and of course, seagrass.   I was most interested in the osprey nest built on a wooden platform on a tall pole in the middle of the inlet.  If I were to paint it to scale, the nest would be but a speck in the grand scheme of the painting, so I made it much larger.   The nest that sits out over the marsh grass was very active with two adult ospreys bringing fish for the two (large) chicks.   You can view my scene and a bit of drama when another osprey harassed the nest in the video.

Marshside Birdbath

Marshside Birdbath - Stage One

Last fall I found this old birdbath at an estate sale.   It was in fairly good condition and just needed a coat of black spray paint to spruce it up.   Well it is a big hit with my feathered friends - not only for frequent sips of water but for the activity its name suggests.   The two house finches featured in this painting have a nest in a shrub on my back deck, and are currently working on hatching five dime sized eggs.  They seem to swoop to the birdbath all day, although they always defer to larger starlings.

Marshside Birdbath - Stage Two

It was the end of May and the late afternoon sun had a hazy brightness when I started this painting.  Although it has been raw and damp, this was my kind of day, 65 degrees, not too sunny, and breezy.    The sweet old-fashioned shape of the birdbath caught my eye so rather than packing up for an elaborate paint out, I just set up in the backyard and enjoyed the view.

Marshside Birdbath

Tidal River Morning

Igo Dock - Stage One

The Green Harbor River feeds into the Atlantic Ocean just on the other side of the dyke depicted in this painting.   When the tide is rising, the salt water pours into this basin and at ebb tide the fresh water pours out of the basin into the river channel and onto open ocean.

Igo Dock - Stage Two

I was standing on the brand new dock at the Peter Igo Recreational Park in Marshfield, MA.   The dock's low water level afforded a unique angle of the shoreline all around.    I used bungy cords to tie down the easel to the bolts that connected the dock sections, and other than some gentle rocking caused by the waves, the gear felt secure.

Igo Dock - Stage Three

Tidal River Morning

The term bird watching paradise came to mind with egrets, swans, ducks, geese, red winged black birds, and of course seagulls.   The color scheme had an overall grayness because of the milky skies and the silt under the salty riverbed.   The starring role had to go to the snowy egret that spent so much time with me.  The egret actively fished standing at the edge of the water.   It recoiled its necks into the letter S and in a flash, stabbed its beak into the water, most times coming up with a small silver sliver.   When the breeze came up, its long white feathers floated up catching the light - a gift to see.

Pond Coming to Life

Pond Inhabitants

Today's painting location was a pond which was quite typical of the landscape of Southeastern Massachusetts.  This body of water was immediately surrounded by thick underbrush and beyond that, tall pine and deciduous trees.   It's spring and much of the greenery is just past the flowering stage and now sprouting emerald green leaf sets.

Pond Coming to Life

The pond was really coming to life.  Over the course of two hours, I saw a pair of bright orange orioles, cardinals, chickadees, a red tailed hawk and the young family of geese shown in the photo - multiple facets of enjoyment via plein air!

Pond Coming to Life

Rocky Shores

Rocky Shores

A rocky shoreline on a perfect summer day - it is never the same and never boring.   When we set up (about 3 hours before low tide), the rocks were barely visible at.  Gradually, the water pulled away revealing the rocky shoreline.   Seagulls and cormorants selected their favorite rocks, and some foraged through the seaweed. 

I mostly used my palette knife to capture the full sun and full pink glare off the water.   The extra brights formed a stark contrast with the dark rocks. 


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.