Snowy Stone Wall

Snowy Stone Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before leaving for a warmer place, I painted this scene from a photo I took.    To me, the prettiest winter scenes happen right when the snow stops and the sun is starting to emerge.  That was the case here.  It was clean and bright with maximum snow and shadow contrast.   

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.

Birthplace John Adams

John Adams Birthplace

I've painted the John Adams grand manor of "Peacefield" many times, so I thought it was time to check out our second president's earlier roots.  This small, antique, saltbox-colonial, Adams's birthplace, is also located in Quincy, MA on Franklin Street.   It was built in 1681 and purchased by Deacon John Adams, President John Adams’ father, in 1720.  We learned on a guided tour that it still stands in its original location, at that time, a 188 acre farm.

The 21st century noise and traffic on this street was a stark contrast to the bucolic setting I imagined when hearing the Guide's story of the property back in the colonial era. Well, the painting looks as rural as the original description of the Homestead, surrounded by trees, fieldstone walls and wild flowers.  This 11x14 inch painting will be on display at the Annual Quincy Art Festival Exhibit called "Best of Quincy."

Garden Bunny

Garden Bunny

I found this garden ornament when I was cutting back the grossly overgrown landscaping at our new house.   Apparently it doesn't take very long for things in the garden to become buried and forgotten, but this guy now has a new life.   I sat him next to a pot of flowers near a nice stone wall in the back.   Not only does it now see the light of day, but it gets to have his portrait done. :)

Pembroke Herring Run

Pembroke Herring Run - Stage One

I often drive by the Herring Run Historical Park along Route 14 in Pembroke, MA.   "I really have to paint here someday" I say to myself.  Well finally today was the day - early June, very sunny and very green.   What could be more relaxing than painting next to a bubbling, stone-lined brook under a breezy canopy of tall trees?   For me, maybe being ocean side, but this little paradise was a close second.

Pembroke Herring Run - Stage Two

The water level seemed especially high, probably because of the large amount of recent spring rain.  The foam and splashes were to be the painting highlights, showing the stream's fast movement - hopefully. Here is an action clip from where I was standing (of the water, not my paint brush - haha).

Pembroke Herring Run

   I liked the bright sunny greenery on the far side of the archway opening.   It gave me a chance to show the sense of distance.  In fact, as I look at it now, that small opening commands more attention than the rushing water, and I'm okay with that.  Here is an

Croagh Patrick from Murrisk Island - Westport Ireland

Westport River Channel

Our next stop in Western Ireland was Westport.   Similar to previous days, it started out sunny, but the clouds eventually took over, producing rain, then the sun came out again.   The town itself was beautiful with the river channel passing through the middle. There were arched stone bridges that crossed the river in several places, and these were adorned with lush flower boxes and blooms hanging down nearly to the water.  I didn't actually paint in town, but these scenes were gorgeous and I hope to paint a scene or two from the photos as I build up the Ireland painting collection. 

Croagh Patrick from Murrisk Island

Climbing Croagh Patrick, about 5 miles from us was on the agenda, and I will state right up front, it didn't happen (for various reasons, one of which was the rainy forecast).   The peak is one of the larger mountains in Ireland and is most well known because pilgrims (some barefoot) climb to the summit Chapel as an act of penance.  Historical accounts describe this sacred place as the mountain where Saint Patrick fasted and prayed for forty days in the year 441 A.D..  The peak is clearly visible from most of the Westport area and since we didn't actually climb it, I figures it would be wholly appropriate to pay homage via this painting.

We set up to paint about a mile from the trailhead on a small connected island, home of the fishing village called Murrisk.   Careful observation of the mountain revealed figures of climbers - small specs - silhouetted on left side of the slope.   It was very windy on this day.   My husband wisely chose a spot behind a wall and benefited from his wind blocker.  I chose a higher vantage point and paid a price, my biggest obstacle being my inability to keep my brush steady.     What colors!  Every shade of green, but also, reds, purples, golds, yellows...and even better when the sun peaked out!

Click here to see my view while I painted.

Weir Farm Slopeside Pair

Slopeside Pair

At the Weir Farm in Hingham, MA annual Farm Day was coming up, and in the days prior to the event, painters were invited to set up on the premises and capture a scene.    The parking lot at the top of the hill has a beautiful view of the Boston skyline to the north and I did contemplate tackling that.  But I thought, why paint a city skyline when a bucolic hillside with Belted Galloways is just a 90 degree glance in the other direction?

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Stone Wall Amid the Meadow - World's End

Stone Wall Amid the Meadows

My second map assignment at the South Street Gallery paint out for Worlds End faced Hingham Harbor.  Of the two assignments, I expected this to be the nicer view scene, but unfortunately it was dead low tide.    There was virtually no water when it was time to set up, which helped with the decision to turn in the opposite direction.   I captured a gorgeous uphill view which included a nice old stone wall, large old maple trees and a puffy-cloud, fair-weather  sky.

Light and Shadow Winter Scene

Light and Shadow Winter Scene - Stage One

It was nice to be out in the fresh air, which, by the way was fairly mild for early January. Shadows in winter are long and can offer dramatic contrast in landscapes.   The sun was so low in this scene, despite it being midday, that the trees to the left (south) of me had shadows twice their height.  The bright strip behind the trees is Coast Guard Hill in Marshfield, MA, a popular sledding area.    The only hint of sledding on this school day however, was a couple of broken plastic saucers and hay bails at the base of the some cedars at the bottom.

Makeshift Palette Knife

Before the last cold snap, I cleared out my painting supplies from my painting vehicle.   I didn't want my gear to be exposed to sub-zero temperatures, but alas, I forgot I had done that.  I arrived at this location and discovered I didn't have mineral spirits or a palette knife.   Luckily my Gamblin's gel medium could substitute for the spirits.  In the past, I have used a credit card as a palette knife - not smart though, as the paint tends to clog the numbers.   A business card made a better palette knife substitute.  See photo.



There was a surprising amount of warm orange in the woods on the far side of the sledding hill. The warm color made the gray-blue snow look very pretty.  Nature was showing off and my job was to match the colors.   White snow is anything but white when painting it.  Shadows were blue, lavender and gray; sunlit snow was the palest notes of yellow, pink and green.

Light and Shadow Winter Scene

Additional saplings, branches and vines were carved into the snow, then the darkest darks were restated.   The shadows of the stone wall really set off the snowy blues.

Front Fence and Lilacs

Large lilac shrubs mark the property line between two old antique homes in Duxbury.  I was set up across the road in a little park.  The ornate white fence on the left led to the old granite retaining wall of the property on the right.    It was an ordinary scene but once something becomes the subject of an oil painting, it doesn't seem as ordinary.

Front Fence and Lilacs

Stone Church Ruins - County Clare, Ireland

Stone Church Ruins - County Clare, Ireland

Iconic images of Ireland's countryside invariably include stone walls bordering the green patchworked hills.    Many old churches and castles were also built from stone, now in various stages of disrepair and/or preservation.   Thick textured paint lends itself perfectly to depicting these rough surfaces. The lichen covered stones had a distinctly green tinge and I don't think it was just the reflection of the emerald green pastures.  The stonework in the shadows was a crimson shade of grey on the side of the road in County Clare, Ireland, northwest of Ennis.   Here is the close-to-done painting.  

Engagement with Nature

Engagement with Nature - Stage One

Plymouth’s Town Brook is an amazing green oasis this time of year.  Every April tens of thousands of herring enter through Plymouth Harbor heading upstream to lay their eggs in freshwater. Most of the herring that migrate through Town Brook are a variety known as alewives, which Native Wampanoag have been using as food and fertilizer for centuries. Back in 1621 the Wampanoag people shared this knowledge with the Pilgrims.   The Town of Plymouth has done a great job weaving in this natural wonder for the enjoyment of all.  

Engagement with Nature - Stage Two

There are walking paths that run parallel with the brook that flow to Plymouth Harbor.   The roadways that surround the brook are up above the slopes on either side and as this scene shows, a main thoroughfare sits upon a beautiful old stone bridge.   It was perfect for painting with a potential scene in every direction.  I talked with at least a dozen people, walkers, tourists and workers also enjoying this gem.   As always time melted away and given that I talked to as many people as I did, it was no wonder that three and a half hours had transpired once I finished up.

I set up facing downstream looking at the large stone overpass with the winding paths and a small foot bridge in the foreground.      The transparent darks typically are applied thinly, but I thought the darks should be very dark so they are thickly painted.   Of course the greens and yellows are thick - like soft spread butter.  Oh so much green, but that coupled with the sound of running water made for heavenly experience.

Just Engaged

The most memorable encounter of the day was meeting a young woman who was there to take pictures of her friends getting engaged, a surprise to the bride.   She asked if she could hang out next to me as if taking landscape pictures so as to be unnoticed.  Of course! :)  The groom had arranged the whole thing (obviously a special guy).  At 10:30 the couple would be at the top of the brook at the Grist Mill, an exquisite spot for the special moment.  The woman taking photos was ready and to be honest I kept painting and didn't realize they had come.   A few minutes later they all came down to say hi,

very happy and emotional, and proudly showing me the ring.   How very special to have been - slightly - involved with this life changing moment.   Pictures of the couple and their lovely picture-taking friend to the right.

Oh and my painting is here too :)

Border Street Bridge Cohasset, MA

I headed north up Route 3A to drop off paintings for an art festival in Cohasset.   I have painted at Cohasset Harbor before and I quickly remembered how wonderfully scenic this area is.   Instead of parking near the Atlantica Restaurant as I have before, I went a little further and crossed a small bridge, then took my first left into the Harbormaster's station.    There were parking spots along a grassy area below the bridge on the banks of the ocean outlet for this small waterway.




Border Street Bridge Stage One

Here is a photograph of the plaque which is on one of the bridge buttresses.  The bridge was built in 1924 and lists the Board of Selectmen, the Engineers and Architects.   I searched for information about the bridge, but most of the links pertained to its popularity as a place local youths liked to jump into the water, and the authorities' desire to deter it.



Border Street Bridge Stage Two

I liked the long graceful arch of the bridge and the fact that I was low enough to be able to look under it and see the shoreline further inland.   There were even some whitewater rapids next to me and I was thinking - yes - this would make a very nice postcard!     I began roughing in the sky and Spring green of the trees.  



The right embankment was illuminated by the sun and seemed to have every warm shade of yellow and red.   Although there was a lot of water movement, the right side embankment was calmer and had nice reflections.

Border Street Bridge Stage Three

This one is close to being complete.  There are three issues I want to address before finalizing.

1) The waterfalls at the bottom are painted to the real scale, but I'm thinking the they start too low in the painting.   I do like how they echo the patterns in the clouds.

2)  Verifying the darks; they seem too dark.    Logically, the watery reflections would be throwing more light up under the bridge than I have depicted.

3)  Adding one or more bicyclists crossing the bridge, since there was a steady stream while I was painting.

 I welcome any other feedback.   My plan is to return to this location with the painting and finish it off " en plein air.

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Corner of Ferry and Ireland

Corner of Ferry and Ireland - Stage One

Just behind the Bridgewaye Restaurant near Humarock, the South River runs alongside Ferry Street.   The banks of the river are lined with rocks and sand with just enough space to pull the car over.   I was going to paint the river and the Sea Street Bridge when I noticed a different scene.   The house at the corner of Ferry and Ireland was positively beautiful - a mini-Holland with hundreds of Spring bulbs.   The tulips were set off by the fresh and newly green shrubs and grass.  Additionally there were pretty stone walls lining the property and winding up Ireland Street, an appropriate name.   



Corner of Ferry and Ireland - Stage Two

The gardener extraordinaire who created this natural layout used a keen design eye, and I was told by neighbors walking by that for every season, the property provides them with a beautiful scene.   I must to remember this spot for painting.    Although in the Stage One picture looks like I may be painting the house on the left, I actually painted the barn to the rear.  After laying in the armature, I continued to smear on the color thickly with my palette knife.   The bright red tulips were the most prominent.  The pavement was where I cleaned my palette knife so that a colorful gray started to develop and I wasn't wasting any paint.

 The tops of the posts of the decorative ranch fence in the middle happen to be right at the same level as the row of tulips behind.   I felt this was bad for the design, so I made them taller - mistake.   They looked awkward and if a sharp eye studied this, they would see that the hedges on the left were shorter which wasn't likely.  I cut the posts down.   I stopped the paint out there.   Once I start correcting, I feel like the freshness is lost.



Corner of Ferry and Ireland Stage Three

A couple of days after painting this and I tried to take an objective look.   If I analyze each section or element of the painting, I really like it, but as a whole, I don't.  For example, I like the rustic barn, the receding distant trees up the hill, the stone walls, the red tulip border that transitions from shade to sun.  Then why isn't this painting working for me?

Take a stab at identifying the problem.   It may not be salvageable, but I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks.     Here is the current version (Stage Three).

I will post the results in a second blog soon.

Magnolia at Veteran's Park

Veterans' Park Magnolia Stage One

We returned to the Veteran's Park in Marshfield today.   The water mill was spinning vigorously and we even spotted herring struggling to make their way upstream.    There were lots of flowering trees to chose from, and I've been scoping out magnolias this week so I immediately gravitated to a small pink flowering specimen.   I lined up my scene so that the magnolia's branches framed the right and top sides of the painting.   I taped my viewfinder to the edge of my canvas so that I had a hands free view of my scene for placement.   See Stage One photo.



Veterans' Park Magnolia Stage Two

The canvas had been underpainted with ultramarine blue.   I made a conscious decision to let the dark blue underpainting show through, forming the cool shadows.  I worked warm light on the white arbor covered footbridge and the stone wall edging in front of it.  Once I had all of the backdrop in, I used my palette knife to apply the magnolia blossoms.    These blossoms were freshly opened and they had a habit similar to a conical lotus flower whereby the petals are darker pink at the pointy base, whiter and wider at the top.



Magnolia at Veterans' Park

The warm light/cool shadow scheme was working until I got to these magnolia blossoms.    The dilemma was how to handle cool, bright white and cool, pink petals.   I tried to warm the white petals only slightly with yellow.   I also warmed the mulch at the base of the tree with some cadmium orange.   I painted in several tree branches on site, mostly the dark ones.   I finished off the lighter sunlit branches back in the studio on the semi-dry painting.

A couple of days later, I took a critical look at the stage two painting.  There were two main changes I decided to make.   First I downplayed the footbridge since the center of interest was the magnolia tree, even losing some of the footbridge supports completely.   Secondly, I warmed up the foreground grasses covering more of the blue underpainting with a warm green.    Done?





Boston Marathon

Race Staff Early Morning

I am sick to my stomach over the horrible events at the Boston Marathon.    I had found the perfect spot to view the event at Mile 16 in Wellesley at River Street which overlooks the Charles River.     I thoroughly enjoyed the day, alternating between painting and viewing the amazing competitors who participated.
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 Runners Crossing Over the Charles

The runners crossed over the beautiful old stone bridge depicted in my paintings.   Each aspect of the day, this scenic view, perfectly sunny but cool weather, friendly people of all ages, dedicated marathon volunteers, and two paintings that I was happy with - all these things made me feel practically euphoric.   I have always loved Patriot's Day.  It is so New England, so patriotic, and it celebrates America.

Maybe having personally enjoyed the day only ten miles from the finish and knowing that I had seen runners that were probably reaching Boston just about when the explosions happened was/is gut wrenching.     The idyllic start and horrific end is just unbelievable.   I couldn't even look at my paintings yesterday.  

Today, as I become less shocked and more outraged, I'm posting them as I usually would.    These represent America the Beautiful - strong, free and brave.
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Miramar Cart Path

Miramar Stone Wall

A return painting trip to the grounds of the Miramar Retreat was a great way to enjoy an early fall day.   I love the stone walls that border the trails and want to keep including them in my landscapes.   They lend themselves to the dark, rustic style that I like.   Also the texture that I usually have on the canvas helps give dimension to the stones without having to vary my colors or values very much.  The stone wall in this photo/painting wraps around a dirt path corner.   In addition to the stone wall, I liked the interesting branch pattern on this tree, and the brick 19th century building in the background.   Not so attractive was the big white dumpster and bright blue safety fence.   I eliminated the undesirables for this painting.   This is still a work in progress.

Miramar Grounds

The Miramar Retreat Center is across Route 3A from Bay Farm in Kingston, MA.   The retreat address is actually in Duxbury.    The campus is amazing with its trails, ponds and grottos.   There are some very old structures and a mixture of new and old stonework.   A pretty cartpath skirts the property to the south and was the perfect spot to set up on a quiet Sunday morning.   The temperature was a cool and dry 55 degrees at the start.  



Underpainting

For my painting surface, I brought with me a less than satisfactory painting that I had then pre-treated with a splash of autumn colors.   The previous painting had been a barn with a dark barndoor opening.   As I strolled around with my viewfinder, I was having trouble deciding how best to use the spirit of the previous painting.  I moved three times and was getting frustrated.   I was suffering for my soup.  (Seinfeld fans will understand :)).




Miramar Easel Set up

I finally decided on the spot in the picture to the right.   The thick texture of the underpainting was perfect for designing the greenery.   The barn from the underpainting was converted to the structure on the right, an old stone garage that had a patio on top of it.    The steps lead up to and are perpendicular to the cartpath.   

As I look as this photo, I can attest that the photo didn't record the reds, rusts, browns and golds that were present in person.   Thus, the photo could not serve as a color reference (they never do) for the final studio tweaks. 



Steps to Stonewall Path

 The photo did help to verify the structures.  Also although the sunlight pattern was not an accurate color in the photo,  I loved the lacy pattern of it and used the photo to add these lightest light highlights in the studio.   One other adjustment I made in the studio was to paint a warm oxide brown glaze over the entire shaded stone wall which had been looking too blue, given the cool light/warm shadow temperature scheme.  

This one is really thick and textured...everything about this one is me.