Catskill Mountains Paint Outs

I've always been fascinated with the Hudson River School Painters and although their painting style was only "in vogue" for a generation and a half, the epic works of Fredrick Church and Thomas Cole still hang in the country's finest museums, many of which are works of epic proportions.   These two painters along with a group of painters known as "The Ten," made pivotal contributions to the American painting movement. 

This fall, we drove to the Hudson Valley, traveling through the picturesque hills, ravines and riversides that inspired Thomas Cole and Fredrick Church.  The Cole Homestead was modest but beautifully situated on a hillside where his veranda had sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains - inspiring scenes he had painted.  

We toured the home, the grounds and his studio.  Here we got to see the four 1840 studies he executed in preparation for the renown paintings at the National Gallery in Washington, DC that comprise the "Voyage of Life" series.

Thomas Cole Voyage of Life Studies in Cole Studio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

There is something special about standing in the same physical spot as a historical figure who lived, worked and touched the very work you are looking at!  

Thomas Cole's protege, Fredrick Church built his homestead nearby.   Not modest!  It was a hilltop mansion across the Hudson from Cole that was enormous by comparison. Church was a wealthy world traveler and collector.   The emphasis of his estate tour was more his status and lifestyle, but there were many beautiful paintings to see as well.   We painted from the location of Church's studio, a west facing vantage with views of his property leading down to the Hudson River.   

These two painters made their mark on the entire area.  When we hiked at the Kaaterskill Falls some of the trail markers had images of their paintings.   One Cole painting spot in particular was at the very lofty (scary!) overlook where we stood.  Great trip and of course, when we get to paint - even better!

  

Catskills View

Fredrick Church Studio View

Tybee Island Getaway

Last winter we visited Tybee Island, a barrier island between the Atlantic and Savannah, GA.    We drove from New England to this winter adventure. Traveling by car means we bring the "stuff" that would not make the cut if flying was involved.   For us, that meant our full complement of painting gear came along too.

I've procrastinated in posting these five paintings so I've decided to just share all the images in this one post, sparing you the details.     Potentially I would be making things up about the paint outs - since I can't remember a lot of details now that it is months later.

The exception is the painting with the angry looking clouds which was done from a photo I took.  We had taken a beach walk and we received alerts on our phones that there was a tornado watch (warning? see, I forget...the worser of the two).   It was so dark and stormy looking, and being from New England, we didn't know if it was something to be alarmed about.  I took a photo of the swirling clouds and dark water as we raced back to our VRBO - quite a vivid memory!   I felt it was worthy of a painting as the photo shot captured the beach, the sky and the water in various "unnatural" shades of green and gray.

 

Tybee Dawn from Deck

Tybee Pavilion Pier

Tybee Tornado Watch

Tybee Boathouse Tidal River

 

Tybee Lighthouse

 

 

 

Garden Tour - North River

Each year I am invited to paint at a property on the Garden Tour organized by the Cliff Rogers Library.   It is their biggest fundraiser and it draws an impressive number of people.   Who wouldn't want to stroll through the very prettiest gardens in the local area and support this lovely small independent library as well.    I look forward to tour day each year and getting to capture the beauty of these gardens. 

I was assigned an expansive garden in North Marshfield that abuts the North River.   The mature plantings were perfectly balanced with many of the specimens in full bloom.   I chose a border planting that had a black wrought iron fence and gate as a backdrop.   I included this lovely woman as she admired a very unusual clementis that had purple bell shaped flowers.  As for the painting, the thick paint application that I like works particularly well for lush and vibrant garden scenes like this one.

Garden Border Bells

Wollaston Yacht Club Plein Air

The Quincy Art Association organized and hosted this paint out and yours truly was the instructor/demo painter.   We arrived plenty early to get set up and it was a good thing.   We quickly realized (like boaters before a storm) that we needed more ropes (aka bungies).    The wind was gusting to 25-30 mph and it was the first lesson that was discussed regarding successful plein air painting.  The large tent next to me where the painting participants were working actually flipped over.  Equipment must be weighted down to the point were it will not budge!   In every photo, I'm gripping my easel out of habit, even though I was securely tied down.  The bright sun and warm temperatures (low 90s) were also challenging but the participants stuck with it and all came away with a work of art they should be proud of!

This is my painting from the demo, a depiction of the Wollaston Yacht Club and dock with Quincy Bay and some Boston Harbor Islands in the distance. 

Wollaston Yacht Club and Dock

 

 

Evening Paint Out After Rain

Evening Paint Out After Rain

 I recently painted en plein air along Littles Creek which is behind the JPH Organization in Marshfield.   It had been a very rainy day and it really did look doubtful that this paint out would happen at all.   As I set up it started getting brighter and brighter.   Clouds did dominant as you can see in the whitish sky.   The sun broke thru a bit however!   

It is interesting to note that when everything outside is wet, the dark values like shadows and underbrush are
very dark so that the value range just about covers the whole spectrum.   The wild June roses were spectacular so I pumped up the color in the painting.   Enjoy!

Beach Painter

Maureen Painting at Wollaston Beach

It's June and that means people want to be outside.   People were out in droves along the boardwalk at Wollaston Beach and were able to observe the first in a plein air series put on by The Quincy Art Association in collaboration with "Better Beaches", "Save the Harbor, Save the Bay", and Massachusetts DCR.   

This was my painting done while also watching a demo by Vincent Crotty.   The conditions were a little tough because of the gusty winds.   My gear was sufficiently weighted down to combat the wind which helped enormously.

Here is my painting of Vincent in action as he appears to pause, and contemplate his next stroke.  

Beach Painter

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

Garden Tour Paint Out

Side Garden Dogwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was that time of year again.   June means garden tours in some places.  Painters are often invited to set up in the gardens for an added cultural dimension.   I love participating in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, this is a redwood tree.  I was lucky enough to score a painting location on a spectacular pond with shade from a WWII era redwood tree.   The gardens at this home on the Cliff Rodgers Library Garden Tour were just beautiful, and truly, the star of the show was this unique tree.  They are rare in Southeastern Massachusetts.  In fact, the property owner shared that she believed there were only two others in the area, one in Braintree, MA and one at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, MA.    

Funny thing is, I did not paint it.  How could a 11x14 canvas convey its size and majesty.   I am including a picture with human figures so you get an idea of the mass.  As for what I did paint, it was a peaceful garden vignette from the side of the home.   The Koosa Dogwood was in bloom and had the maximum contrast against the shadow side of trees along the road beyond.

As always, the experience was so pleasant with dozens of garden tour participants, and unsurprisingly, a fair number who painted as well. 

Winter in St Augustine

Windy Day in the Dunes

It's mid-August, and I find myself just posting paintings from February!   We spent some time in beautiful St. Augustine, FL and did several plein air paintings.    The ocean is a must for us and this destination had the ocean and much more... history, architecture, gorgeous beaches and of course a seemingly unlimited number of food options. It beat shoveling!   

To the east was the ocean; to the west, the Matanzas River.  We pretty much canvassed the whole area.  And always we returned to the beach for extensive walks and of course some paint outs.

The paths to the shore consisted of a very wide swathe of dunes.   So pretty!

St Augustine Beach Dunes

Pink Dunes

Matanzas Inlet

At the southernmost tip of St Augustine Island was the Matanzas Inlet.   This uprooted tree replanted itself on the river bank creating lots of shadows set off by the blinding light. 

 

 

 

Bridge of Lions

We frequented the historic downtown area often, touring, shopping and eating.  Of course, as the nation's oldest city, founded in 1565, there were forts, piers, shrines, quaint alleys and bridges all worth visiting.

St Augustine - plein air painter approved! 😊

Corner of Bridge and Avenida Menendez

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!

Frontage

 I recently painted the frontage view of my house.   It served as a warm up for the Garden Tour paint out that was taking place the following week.   I was most interested with mixing up the best greens for late June and I figured the nearby garden where I would paint was be similar.    The color of the greens was where the similarity stopped!   It was a glorious expansive garden.

This is a kidney shaped bed that has an old (not visible) tree stump in the middle of it.   We created this planting bed after the tree fell in a storm.   We opted to be lazy and just build up the soil around it and plant some shrubs.   My lamppost and planter frame the entrance to the driveway and it will always be that way.  :)

Frontage

Garden Tour Splendor

 

 

 

 

 

Words cannot describe the beauty of the gorgeous garden where I painted recently.   It was part of a garden tour and deservedly so.   The garden lovers, myself included could not get over the many stunning scenes at this riverside oasis.   Peonies were the star as it was the third week of June and there were hundreds of blooms decorating every square foot of garden space.  I stood along a small pathway that led to the backdoor of this cedar shingle antique (circa 1740).  The underbrush mulch was dark and warm, yet the walkway was also bright and warm - sort of breaking the color temperature rules of painting.  I wanted the garden to dominate, but the house was so enticing that I gave it a bit of attention too.

Garden Tour Splendor

Brushy Texas Tidal Stream

At the East Beach salt march, things were surprisingly "non-green".  It had a tan/pink look to it.   I guess I was not expecting that a place like Galveston, known for its warm weather would have "winter" where growth turns brown and gusty winds blow.   

The days still were relatively mild for us New Englanders.   We set up for painting along the access road to East Beach where the shipping lanes for Houston parallel the shore.   I faced a tidal inlet with the large, public bathhouse in the far distance.  To the left,  there was a constant flow of large colorful oil tankers.   We also spotted plenty of natural elements like egrets and shore birds, presumably wintering from our areas in the north.

Brushy Texas Tidal Stream

Stormy Beach in Winter

 

Stormy Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several of the initial days we spent in Galveston this past winter were somewhat stormy.   Galveston's winter colors were not as gray as New England, but the water and greenery were certainly not tropical looking!   During the scene in this painting, the clouds were threatening rain and it did rain eventually, but there was time enough to capture what amounts to a color study.

Beach Grasses and Sloping Seawall

Beach Grasses and Sloping Seawall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galveston's seawall is an important part of the island.   After the hurricane of 1909 it was built in the hope of preventing the level of devastation that occurred.   They say that every structure in Galveston sustained damage and hundreds of people died.    The location of this painting was on the beach with the main seawall behind me.   The large stone structure on the right is part of a seawall ramp down to the sand.   It acted as a great wind blocker too!  The painting also depicts one of the many jetties that jut out into the Gulf.  It was a winter day to remember.

Two Boston Skylines from the South Shore

Along several locations on the South Shore, there are over-water vistas of the Boston skyline.  These two scenes were both done plein air - one from Quincy and one from Hingham.   

The Logan Airport approach corridor (presumably depending on the winds) crosses overland just to the west of the Atlantic shoreline, thus the jet and hints of colorful gas tank from Quincy.

Pink Boston Skyline

 

The second skyline is from a vantage a bit further south at Crow Point in Hingham.  This is a gorgeous spot in which many waterfront homes, are graced with their own docks.  

Boston Skyline from Crow Point

 

The paint mixing and application for the sky and water were done thickly via palette knife.   The buildings and hard-scape elements were done with brush - thick nonetheless.   These are the summer colors of New England; we seldom see turquoise!

Pleasure Pier Morning

Pleasure Pier Morning

 

 

 

 

 

The Galveston Island shoreline is an amazing twenty-five miles long, and no matter how far we ventured along the beaches we could always spot the amusement rides of the Pleasure Pier in the distance.  It became a landmark for us and so one morning we painted from a spot just south of the pier.   The roller coaster, Ferris wheel and carnival food buildings were backlit and looked almost monochrome with the morning mist.   This tonal scene changed dramatically in the afternoon when it had dazzling, bright sunshine and at night with all the flashing neon lights.   

 This was how I best remember it best - from our many morning walks.

Wild Primrose

Is this the yellow rose of Texas?   That was the question in my head as I set up to paint.   It was the sole blossom I saw at a marshy beach-bordering area on the easternmost point of Galveston Island.   I do know it was a primrose, because there was a nature trail display describing the natural elements here.   I loved that there was also winter clover everywhere I looked, lush and green.   New friends, Galveston neighbors, said that once the heat of spring, summer and fall arrives, things dry out and no there is no sign of such moist greenery.

Wild Primrose