Time Was Passing

This site on the Hoosic River in Williamstown, MA I've painted before.  As often happens the second time, yesterday morning, all falls into place quickly.  While painting, I forgot that time was passing.   I was startled when I saw that I had nothing else to add.  12x16 oil on panel.

Third Tropea

Tropea, Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.  11x14 oil on canvas.

Suggestive Tropea

Another view of Tropea, a town in Calabria, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.  This painting is a 12x12 oil on canvas.  I love to do paintings that suggest more than they define.

Tropea Sky and Sea

The town of Tropea on the west coast of Southern Italy is located on cliffs facing the Tyrrhenian Sea.  You can look down a street and just see the sky and sea vanishing into each other.  12x12 oil on canvas.

Scrape Off Any Knobs

In his book, A Light Touch, David Curtis writes that "[a]n 'unsuccessful' painting can be the basis of a new painting.  Simply scrape off any 'knobs' of colour, turn the old painting upside down ... and carry on."  So yesterday I scraped off the knobs on this 9x12 oil on panel, turned it upside down, and carried on.  The result is the mountain pond that I painted several times last year.  It's a beautiful, quiet spot, with some interruptions by passing hikers, since it's on the AT trail.  One early 'thru-hiker' apparently hadn't talked to anyone all day, so we chatted for about a half hour.

Constantly Looking in Napoli

You might be walking on a main boulevard in Naples, and constantly looking into every little side alleyway that you pass because that's where all the people are coming from or going, and there's so much noise and activity there in those narrow lanes.  Banners are hanging.  Signboards are all over the place.  All kinds of stuff is for sale.  This drawing is an 8x10 pen and ink, with ink wash, and pastel.

Napoli Painting

A Napoli painting showing a narrow street shared by vehicles and people: a 12x12 oil on panel.

"Creative Flow"

This photo by Gillian Jones appeared on the front page of the Berkshire Eagle this morning. It shows me painting at the Hoosic River in North Adams last week.

Variations

Two views of the same spot on the Hoosic River, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, both 9x12 oil on panel.  These two are kind of abstract since they are all edges and reflections, edges of a stream and reflections of a water surface.

Have A Good Day

A quick painting from this afternoon by the side of the Hoosic River at a spot across from the entrance to the dump.  The dump is behind me, not across the river.  Surprisingly three fishermen in a small pontoon boat went by, the lines from their poles dangling in the river.  There was hardly enough room for two, never mind three.  We all wished each other well and a good day.   9x12 oil on panel.

Exhibition Announcement

This painting, A Brooklyn Skyline, will be in the juried theme exhibition "The Sky's The Limit" at the Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, VT.  The exhibition dates are June 28 - September 3.

From The Other Side

The Hoosic River again, this time from the opposite bank, and in Williamstown, MA, near the dump.  I had not been to this spot before, which has expansive views of the river.  Fortunately, the river is shallow at the moment, since I was standing on a sandy spot that would usually be covered in water.  This a 12x16 oil on panel.

Afternoon Light

A second painting from Field Farm in Williamstown, MA from two days ago, a 12x9 oil on panel.  This one was done quickly to capture the spring afternoon light.  My palette was already set up from the previous painting, so I just had to paint and not think too much.

It Says Spring

This painting says "spring".  I went to Field Farm in Williamstown, MA where there's a long view of the Hopper and Mount Greylock across fields of grass and dandelions.  The only things I could hear were birds and the occasional very distant droning of mowers.  The sun was only hinting at its presence.  I used a 12x16 inch colourfix panel made primarily for pastel, though the panel literature claims it accepts oil.   It does, but not as efficiently.

Completed River Painting

Yesterday morning  my work on this painting was cut short because it started to rain.  Fortunately light conditions were the same this morning (without the rain), so I went back to complete the painting by the side of the Hoosic River in North Adams, MA.  It's a 9x12 oil on panel.

Constantly Changing

Here's the Hoosic River coming around the bend, a 9x12 oil on panel.  It's amazing to me how the water surface is constantly changing everywhere, and doesn't keep still for a few minutes.

The Water Was Shallow and Moving Quickly

Yesterday afternoon, after completing one painting, I moved up the river to the edge of a grassy spot that would in the center of the river when the water is higher.  I painted this 9x12 oil on panel.  The water was shallow and moving quickly.

Back to The Hoosic

This afternoon I went back to the water of the Hoosic River in North Adams, MA to paint this 12x16 oil on panel.

By The Side of The Hoosic River

An afternoon spent painting by the side of the Hoosic River in North Adams, MA.: a 9x12 oil on panel.

A Footbridge Crosses the Stream

A 9x12 plein air painting of the stream at the farm in Williamstown, MA, done quickly on a slightly overcast day last week.  A footbridge crosses the stream.  Oil on panel.

Napoli 10

The tenth drawing in the Napoli series: a 9x12 pen and ink, ink wash, with pastel on bristol paper.

Where I Began Is Not Where I Finished

Napoli is still on my mind, but I've also been painting outdoors.  This is a 12x12 oil on panel that I worked on for three days.  In that brief time, the trees sprouted leaves, so even though I stood in the same place, where I began is not where I finished.   This location shows a stream that runs through a farm in Williamstown, MA.  It's actually where the farmer crosses with his tractor to bring hay rolls to the cows, which he did several times while I was painting at this spot.  The cows cross the stream whenever they feel like it.

Catania

When I arrived in Catania, I went out to look at the mountain, Mount Etna.  It was smoking lightly.  Looming.  I wonder if the residents no longer see the mountain.  It's there like something in life that no one can escape, but after a while you live your life.  But for the first time viewer like me, it's so overwhelming.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.

Colorful Side Street

Colorful Napoli side street.  8x10 pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Napoli Beckons

Napoli beckons: an 8x10 view down an alley with car windshields reflecting the sky that is several stories above and not visible.  Pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Napoli Jumble

A Napoli drawing depicting the jumble in an alleyway: 8x10 pen and ink, ink wash, with pastel on bristol paper.