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."

Full Moon Dog Walk

Full Moon Dog Walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living at the shore, anytime, day or night, people would stroll to the seawall and enjoy all the beach has to offer.   The full moon always seemed to draw people outside even more and I have no shortage of spectacular pictures of the moon rising out of the water.   This full moon scene isn't quite as dramatic as those over-the-horizon full moons, but it was bright enough to cast fascinating blue shadows.   The dog walker took advantage of the moonlight for his pooch's last trip out of the day - and no flashlight needed.

 

Relaxing Riverside

Relaxing Riverside

We carved out time during a trip to Western MA for plein air painting.  Lots of streams and rivers crisscross the Connecticut River Valley.   We stumbled upon this beautiful spot along Millers River in Erving, MA.   I shouldn't say that its discovery was completely by chance, because my husband speculated that there would be access spots below the several bridges that traverse the waterways.   Similar to how people hang out and relax at the ocean shoreline, a few people sat in the shade of the bridge buttress enjoying the water.   This sweet pooch was full of energy and would greet all who came down the path.   He also put on a show for us.  He would float with the river current, then scramble to the edge and bound back to his owner, who barely moved a muscle.

My Favorite Loop

My Favorite Loop in Progress

The Norris Reservation in Norwell, MA is a gorgeous open space that is now designated as a land preserve by the The Trustee's of the South Shore.   I set up for this painting along a beautiful trail that abutted a pristine pond.  There were so many choices for the scene, but what grabbed me about the spot I chose were the spots of sunlight cast on the trail itself.   Every so often someone would emerge from the sunny distance and walk toward me.   This woman stood out as she walked her beautiful black and white dog along their favorite loop.

My Favorite Loop

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.
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Opie

Opie

The subject of this painting is my son's beloved dog, Opie.   Opie spends his every waking moment in one of two states, either looking/waiting for my son's return, or following him around.  It seems that he never takes his eyes off of his master.   Even when he starts to doze off, any perceived movement causes him to wake and double check that his man is still there.  

Opie's devotion has certainly earned him portrait status.  This painting will be a Christmas gift for my son.   I used a photo of Opie to render the likeness and
I'm reminded by his pose that there is probably only one thing on his mind.   Where is my guy?

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 .

 

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.

Dream Spot for a Retriever

Maisy's Beach Walk

It's no coincidence that a large percentage of the dogs that live in my neighborhood are Golden Retrievers.    And if I was a retriever, where would I want to live?  Green Harbor of course, a dream spot for a retriever.  The wide, sandy, world class beach is perfect for us humans as we run, walk, fish, sunbathe or stare dreamily at the horizon.   It's perfect for our neighborhood retrievers, who also run (chasing tennis balls), walk (occasionally sniffing a nice, ripe, old dead fish), and stare (panting) while owner talks to other beachgoers.  

One regular walker had a retriever that would pick up a five inch rock and walk all the way to Duxbury beach with it in his mouth.  Another would enter the water and swim along (much slower of course) while his owner, a runner, would run way ahead.   On the way back, when she reached him, he would reverse direction and continue his swim to their finishing point.

The retriever in this painting is a lucky dog with an owner (my neighbor) who takes full advantage of our beach.   She brings multiple tennis balls and one of those expands-the-distance-of-your-throw-without-touching-saliva-and-gooey-sand devices.    I often paint the beach scenes, and when I saw Maisy's extraordinary coat (plenty of cadmium red light with shiny pale yellow highlights), the pair became my center of interest.

Sunrise

Green Harbor Sunrise

The sunrises are getting later each morning as we head into Fall making it easier to be up and out on the beach painting by dawn.    No two sunrises are alike so I present to you this morning's sunrise.  I recorded the pale blue water, matching the overhead brightness of the sky, a foggy bank of lavender atmosphere sitting on the horizon and dark silouettes of the jetties.  The sun broke over the horizon and quickly flared into a bright orange crescent.   The canvas for this painting was not in the sun, nor was the palette.   One thing I've noticed about that lack of direct palette/canvas light, is that the colors on my painting come out bright and vivid once it is viewed inside. So, it is a tradeoff - not an exact replication of the scene, but colors are more pumped up to compensate.   I like the messy palette knife color and I'm telling myself it's done.   Will I listen though?



Quinn's Walk

Painting two is more subdued since the sun had come up providing nice morning light.  I was just about done with it and decided that the next person, or people who walked by would be my subject.   Approaching from Burke's Beach was a tall slim woman with dark curly hair walking a large black furry dog.     Their characteristics provided a good contrast against the pale water and bright sand.  The elderly dog was moving pretty slowly and eventually when they got close enough,  they came over to visit.   Gentle giant "Quinn" was as mellow as you'll ever see in a dog, and turns out, his owner will be taking ownership of this painting as soon as I put the finishing touches on it.




Painting at the Beach

How can I best capture a favorite landscape scene, and paint in the comfort and convenience of my studio?    Answer:  I can't. 

On the March day I started this painting, it was warm enough to walk over to the beach with all my painting gear.   I set up facing east looking out at the two jetties that form the mouth of the Green Harbor River.   The sky was a milky white with lots of high wispy clouds.   The water was very calm and actually was reflecting the jetty, which is unusual.  More commonly, the surf is too choppy to be reflective. 

In the foreground, A recent storm with extra high surf had uprooted copious amounts of red seaweed and deposited it in the form of a two foot deep strip for a good long stretch of the beach.  I included that too.

Here was the initial painting, still a few problems, although it has a plein air simplicity to it.   When I took the painting to the studio, the problem I addressed first was the color of the rocks on the jetty.   Ordinarily, there are three horizonal stripes of color on the jetty boulders.   The bottom of the rocks that spend the most time under water assume a destinctively green hue from a moss-like seaweed that clings to them.  The stripe above that, the middle level, is a combination of grays and golds with a tinge of rust.   The top stripe of the jetties tends to be a very light yellowish gray.  See the problem?  My painting did not match this color description.  I had been stroking in the boulders individually, not according to the water level color stripes.

Once the painting was dry again,  I used transparent color to make the three stripes of jetty color.  For the bottom, I used viridian warmed slightly with some cad yellow;  one big long glaze stroke along the bottom of the boulders.   For the middle stripe I do the same thing with raw sienna with some linseed oil.  After those were dry, I cap off the top rocks with an oily mixture of white/lemon yellow/cobalt blue.

OhPea Digging for his Stick

A strip of red seaweed has a fresh seaside aroma on day one.  This was day five, less fresh, but nonetheless very appealing to pets with their extra keen sense of smell.   I included my Grandpuppy OP digging at a stick in the seaweed.  To the left is the detail.

Far side jetty

Here is the detail of the far side jetty.

Here is a close up of a couple of the seagulls.  I 'm getting a better handle on making the stroke and leaving it alone.   I thought this was a good example of a few simple strokes that give the impression of seagulls soaring on misty ocean breezes.

See the "final" painting below.   I'm seldom completely happy with my execution of a painting and this one is no exception.   The placement of my puppy is too close to the bottom.   No doubt this was a result of not working out the complete composition at the beginning.   I really like that my "O" "P" is in it!