Middleboro Paint Outs

 These three paintings capture scenes in Middleboro, MA, a mostly low lying area with ponds, lakes, streams and cranberry bogs.   True Grit Art Gallery holds an annual painting event where painters capture scenes from within the town boundaries for a month long exhibition of the masterpieces that result.

The first scene is from Lolans Farm in mid-October.   The displays are bursting with harvest bounty with every kind and color of pumpkin you can imagine.   It was a brisk and mostly cloudy day when this woman walks through scanning for the perfect pumpkin.

Scanning for the Perfect Pumpkin

 

 

 

 

 

The next painting was done along the Nemasket River next to the Oliver Mill.  This spectacular old stone bridge was first built in 1859 and was referred to as the Muttock.   It was repaired/rebuilt a number of times since but the structures' sturdy, rustic design remains true to the original.   The bridge was a visual  magnet for a painter like me - love of water and Irish roots.   The gorgeous reflections of the stonework and autumn color doubled the magnificence of scene.

The Muttock

The third and final plein air exhibition painting was done at an area called Betty's Neck.  It was a perfect day for enjoying the fall color.   I met a couple who were scoping out the spot from where they were going to watch the Northern Lights that evening.   They agreed my very spot was going the get the nod once it got dark.   For me, it was very much the bright sunshine, water and peak foliage getting the nod.

 

Causeway View - Betty's Neck

 

Quincy 400 Marina Bay Festival Plein Air

On July Fourth weekend, I was invited along with other painters to create some live works of art of along the boardwalk at beautiful Marina Bay in Quincy, MA.   Quincy was founded in 1625, a mere five years after Plymouth, so its 400th anniversary is here and it was celebrated in grand style.   There was a full three days of programming including great music, patriotic parades, children's events and even John Adams made an appearance in vintage garb.  

The heat was a factor and remembering to drink while immersed in a plein air painting is always a challenge.   The event company who invited us took very good care of us though, and we were even treated to a gourmet lunch (albeit in a box).  I created two paintings that day which were part of a mini competition on Sunday.   Amazing artist Morgan Davis took the top prize with her painting of the clock tower.   (far left in the picture)  That's me with my eyes closed :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The complex dock scenes below would have terrified me not too long ago.  I have since learned to let the details go and concentrate on the big shapes and concentrate on painting a few key elements well.   The viewers' eyes and brain do the rest as they digest the painting!   All the American flags were done with my palette knife with one very loose, long stroke.  

 

Marina Bay Boardwalk - West Q400

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marina Bay Boardwalk - North Q400

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

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!

Rows of Harbor Slips

Rows of Harbor Slips - In Progress

There is a perfectly located municipal building along the water in Scituate, MA.  Apparently the building is not in use, so I was happy to enjoy the spot for painting,  along with others who had also discovered a view that could only enhance their morning coffee.

 

The wide aspect of this canvas (8x16 inches) was nicely suited for depicting a sweeping vista that included rows of boat slips, the distant Second Cliff, a long dock with boathouse and even the privacy fence of the next property to the south.

Rows of Harbor Slips

 

Jamaican Fisherman

Jamaican Fisherman

Where there is water, there is fishing.  On vacation in Jamaica we noticed that just like in New England, the fishermen are out early and most of the fishing we saw looked something like this scene.  There would be a small, crusty boat with one or two fishermen in the shallows working with nets.  

As for the painting, the vivid turquoise of the water was dazzling bright and it seemed to illuminate - even exaggerate the figure.  This painting was done over a bright orange undertone which was meant to compliment the flesh tones. 

Two Megs - 2

I like all things "fish."  I'm a Pisces; I truly am "that" in a lot of ways. Ha ha. I eat fish often - usually 3-4 times a week.  I love to swim.   I crave being at the ocean, yet I am enthralled with all water related scenes.   

A favorite painting subject is fishing and fishing boats.  Does it stem from my being a Pisces or is it my ancestral Newfoundland fishing family roots?  Maybe both together?

Anyhow, I painted this exact scene a couple of years ago en plein air, and it sold right away so I decided to enjoy it again, this time from the photo.  The historic and enormous Boston Fish pier is the backdrop and the fishing boat called "Two Megs" in the foreground is picking up the sunshine.

Two Megs II

Grassy Side of the Harbor

Grassy Side of the Harbor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One side of this Scituate waterfront scene was an industrial plateau of trucks, granite, hot top and metal railings, while the opposite side was a lush, verdant and overgrown jungle.  For this plein air painting, no-brainer; I let the marshy green side dominate!    I did not paint fast enough to capture the high tide at the start in which the tallest boats and dock cranes were breaking the horizon line.   By the time their turn came, the water level had dropped them into a less dramatic position.  That's the challenge of painting live-and-in-person - change can be hard!  haha.

If you are interested, enlarge the dock scene.  The rope barrels, traps and fishing gear in the mid-distance which looked - in person - like a congested collection of chaos, would have to be tamed into a coherent and recognizable element of the painting.   It was an exercise in discipline.  How to make this complex part of the scene look realistic without too much tedium?  It took three steps.  1) Several colorful dots were applied in a straight horizontal line, 2) their colors were then pulled down into the (already painted) water below for reflection, and 3) a long narrow dark stroke cut through that for the underside of the dock.   A typical New England dock in an abstract sort of way.

Besides painting, the most pleasant part was observing the ducks wade around.   Their preference was also the green side - that is until the people with stale bread appeared at the parking rail.

Morning at Sea Street Bridge

Morning at Sea Street Bridge

Our closest beach is now Humarock, presenting variety of nice views for plein air painting.   The vantage point of this painting is from the ocean side of the Sea Street Bridge looking back across the South River.     The small buildings on my left provided deep foreground shadows on me and the beach roses at the base of the bridge.   I made sure these rosebushes were dark enough to contrast with the dazzling sunlit boats and buildings across the water.   Does it look hazy, hot and humid?  Because it was!

Summer Sunset at the Marina

Summer Sunset at the Marina

This painting depicts a favorite spot where we typically eat our Sunday night ice cream cones.    With one hand on the camera and the other on my cone, I would often capture the same scene which you could characterize as everything from peaceful to pretty to downright breathtaking.    This little 4x4 attempts to capture a particularly spectacular sunset.

Pond in August

Pond in August

On this August day at the pond, wild things that grow seemed to be peaking.    There was honeysuckle that smelled heavenly, purple spikes that grew from a pond plant that I didn't know, and of course loads of water lilies.   A double trunked tree that leaned over the pond reflected its V-shape in the water.

I was standing on the little dock, and not only did the scene look nice, but the sounds were mesmerizing.  I heard peepers, frogs, birds and the lapping of the waves under the dock.   Could all this sensory stimulation be the reason I used so much paint?   I have actually been using up all the paint on my palette lately.   If you zoom in on this one, you'll see what I mean.   

This painting was very busy - just like the actual view.   I think once back in the studio, I'll established a stronger center of interest and downplay some of the chatter.

Watercolors in Barbados

People on the Beach - Watercolor

I am an oil painter, and oil paint is a very forgiving medium. If I make a mistake or don't like my result, I can easily paint over the mess and mostly salvage the painting.  

Waterlilies in Watercolor

Watercolor on the other hand is, to me, the most difficult medium.   I have the utmost respect for water-colorists that can produce clean, lovely gems that look effortless.   I say all this because I brought my watercolors on vacation and  I don't have much to show for it.   

I tried hibiscus, beach people and a couple of subjects from photos I brought with me.  Shown are the "best" ones.  It was a great trip and although it was hard to face winter again, at least my oil paints are waiting for me!

Sweetness of Summer

Sweetness of  Summer

What a fun and enjoyable project.   Painting children as I've said many times before can be challenging.  It's a fine line between the soft and sweet expression and achieving an adequate likeness.  Tots have neither wrinkles or angular features, like adults and painters use these as convenient facial landmarks.   Tots have faces with airbrushed angelic-like perfection.    So the painting process of them may involve painting, wiping out, and repeating - until the soft likeness is achieved.

A good reference photo can make a positive difference when creating a painted portrait, and this was a good one.   The challenges in this project, besides the likeness, were 1) transforming the greenish-yellow tones in the photo into a more summery color scheme, (making it lighter and brighter), and secondly, realigning the rectangular photo onto a square format while maintaining the balance of the landscape, parasol and figure.

Warm summer sunlight on young, healthy figures in back-lighting often have a bright red glow, especially in the ears, hands and feet.   I intentionally pumped up the warm flesh color to contrast with the nice summery blue - its complement. The toddler's shadow is stretched to the right bottom corner, balanced by the shoreline entering from the left, leading to the figure. The loop of the parasol handle is a good compositional element for leading the viewer's eye back up to the sweet smiling face.

This painting will hopefully turn a simple summer-day photo into a permanent family heirloom.

Fishing Off the Beach at Sunrise

Fishing from the Beach at Sunrise

Walking at the shore, it's common to see the little fish jumping out of the water in groups; bigger fish just behind them I assume - bluefish or stripers maybe.    This fisherman must have spotted the same dark swirl in the water.   He demonstrated just how beach fishing is done...wading into the surf, casting as far as possible with his long ocean rod, then walking up to the tideline to place it in the rod holder.   Yes, a beautiful scene for a painting!

The undertone for this painting was a pretty mid-value blue, sure to be a good complement for the reddish/orange sunrise.   At one point, this blue undertone had me thinking that I might not even have to paint the beach houses that receded into the distance.   Once the primary wave was painted though, its darkness created a problem with the darkness of the houses by contrast, ie that original blue undertone was too light.  So I added hints of shadow and rooflines.   The obvious center of interest rightfully gets its attention, but the beautiful beach at dawn is a perfectly colorful backdrop, even with a crashing, three foot surf.

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.

Summer Pond Impression

Summer Pond Impression

My son lives on a gorgeous little pond in southeastern MA, made all the more pristine because motorized watercraft aren't allowed.   On this very hot day, I worked on this summer color study - just for the fun of it.   The vast patches of lilypads were covered with pretty white flowers.  I was tempted to paint them as any Monet lover would, but decided to paint a long view instead.  Just like all the color studies I've produced over the years, it turned out better than a "planned and finished" painting.  I like the choppiness of the color, giving it a painterly quality.

Much of the paint was applied with a palette knife with the color barely blended.   A closer view shows the ribbons of color in a single stroke.   The only hint of sky is in the reflections in the water just beyond the rocks.   Looking downward at the sky reflections made them appear darker and almost murky blue. 

Duck House with Pigeons

This painting was started on a perfect 75 degree August day last year in Boston.  I just came across it during my studio clean up.   It was so close to being done that I set about adding the final touches.

Beautiful Boston Public Garden (BPG) is a popular spot for locals and tourists.  People stroll about, some enjoying the swan boats that slowly paddle around the pond.  One look at the green scene and I reached for a linen panel undertoned with burnt sienna.   I knew this reddish base coat would help relieve the myriad of greens.  It also allowed me to skip painting the brick buildings in the background altogether - at least for the paint-out portion.

Duck House with Pigeon - BPG

Duck House with Pigeons

The pond was essentially green, not because of dirty water, but because it was reflecting the green willows and beeches on the far side.   Out in the middle of the pond was a duck house, my center of interest.   Apparently nobody had told the pigeons that this was a duck house because there were dozens of pigeons sunning themselves on its pale gray roof.   This is a city after all!

So please excuse the insertion of a painting from August while in the middle of February!

Frozen Boston Skyline

Frozen Charles River at Dusk

New Year's Eve 2018 we celebrated along the banks of the Charles River just behind Boston's Science Museum.  What a view of the city from inside our room at the Sonesta Hotel!  The John Hancock building and the Prudential Tower were the tallest and most recognizable buildings from here.  The historic Longfellow bridge with its "salt and pepper" shaker shaped central towers was visible as well.    The whole scene was breathtaking and especially spectacular at dusk.

In the painting, the Charles River reflections may look watery, but it was ice that was picking up the reflections. People in the Boston area may remember that this was an absolutely frigid weekend, with temperatures well below zero.     The only water was a very small patch at Charles River boat club moorings. Around some shrink-wrapped boats, water pumps were running, presumably designed to keep the icy from forming around these fancy boats.  This dark watery area had attracted several geese that were huddled together at the edge, literally not moving for hours.

Boston Hatch Shell Reflections

Boston Hatch Shell Reflections - Stage One

I found a parking spot on Beacon Street in late morning as I was heading to the Copley Society to drop off some paintings.   This spot was just a few yards from Arlington Street and the intersection that leads to the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge over Storrow Drive.  I've wanted to paint along the Charles River for some time now, but I had myself convinced it was not really accessible, and would involve too much walking.   This was my chance though, and it did require some hiking. 

Boston Hatch Shell Reflections - Stage Two

I placed my gear on wheels and headed for the famous Hatch Shell, a half-moon shaped outdoor stage located on the Boston side of the Charles River.   The green space here is also known as the "Esplanade."  There were several little footbridges over the parallel waterways and I painted one that was bathed in sunlight.   I painted from the next footbridge over. 

Mounted State Police Unit Passing By

Although leafy trees largely obscured my direct view of the Hatch Shell stage, its golden sunlit reflection was visible in the water.  As is often the case with plein air, the scene was loaded with elements to the point of being chaotic.  As the painting progressed though, the wildness was tamed down by the rhythm of color mixing and palette knife strokes.  With reflections, they are best developed right in synch with their subjects and not as an after-thought.

Boston Hatch Shell Reflections

Neon Water Lilies

Neon Water Lilies

The Heritage Museum and Gardens on Cape Cod was the inspiration for this water lily painting.   Our day trip was planned after seeing hearing about an ongoing scientific study of 200 varieties of hydrangeas.   The hydrandeas were very nice but it was the lily pond that grabbed my attention.  When I saw the watery blossoms and reflections, I thought it is no wonder that Monet was so fascinated with pond lilies that he painted dozens of versions of them over his lifetime.  The neon colors reflected by water ripples were simply mesmerizing!