Dinghies at Town Pier

Dinghies at Town Pier - Phase One

It was a picture-perfect, glorious, early June day at the Town Pier, Brant Rock, Marshfield, MA.  Plein air painting was the goal, which is always plenty of enjoyment, but it was not my only entertainment at the busy dock.   As I was setting up, to my left there was a lobster fisherman loading traps onto his boat.   He was sliding the traps off of his truck trailer, to the retaining wall and onto the boat, which was nearly the same height because of the high tide.     He certainly demonstrated a great way to take advantage of the tide. 

Dinghies at Town Pier - Phase Two

To my right was a Mom who pulled in with her two girls.   The girls wore wet suits and life jackets and without hesitation, jumped into the water which was probably fifty degrees, and swam with glee for an hour.   (They paid me a visit after their swim.)  Right in front of me were two men fishing.   No bites - I don't think, but a fitting addition to the scene.

As for the painting, I framed out the composition with the pier itself, the Green Harbor houses across the water and in the foreground, the dock where several dinghies were tied up.   The blue dinghie sitting on the dock was to be the center of intere

Dinghies at Town Pier - Final

st of the painting, but it got demoted to second place once the white haired guy in the vintage wooden dinghie rowed right toward me.  

River Channel from Bay Ave

River Channel from Bay Ave

This painting depicts a favorite scene not far from our house, with the marina situated on one side and the beach and dunes on the other.   It is the outlet of the Green Harbor River into the Atlantic Ocean.    The grasses were brown, the sand was beige, the water was grey and the rocks were dark shades of all those colors - a February color scheme!  The only non-drab area in the scene was a stack of newer looking lobster traps that were bright yellow and orange, sitting amid hundreds of older seaweed enveloped traps.

Cold Front that Ended Paint-Out

The challenge given this day's mostly gray skies was to capture the winter grayness but also depict "the moment" when rays of sun illuminated that the area around the new yellow lobster traps.

A downpour ended this paint out abruptly.   The clouds were quite ominous and the wind gusts may have been in the gale range as it actually blew the back doors of my van shut.   Amazingly, I had just stowed my palette and the painting fell to the ground right sideup.  It's the little things!  :))