Brooklyn Street

A large number of my paintings are Brooklyn, NY street scenes, so when I learned that there's a Brooklyn Street in North Adams, MA, I headed over there.  It's another street on a hill with a mountain view, paralleling Houghton Street.  Walking down Brooklyn Street, I heard a loud rush of water from a sewer grate.  At the bottom of the street, I saw a large culvert from which issued a steady stream.  Wheeler Brook as it turns out, runs under the street, and then eventually into the Hoosic River through an underground channel.  Streets are often named for natural phenomenon, so I wonder if Brooklyn Street, which dates back to the 19th century, was once known as Brook Lane.  This painting shows the street from near the middle towards the bottom.  18x24 oil on panel.

Exciting View In Winter

From this spot Houghton Street in North Adams, MA goes down the hill and the mountains go up across the not so distant background.  It's an exciting view in the winter.  The houses and their shadows propel one down the street.  I wonder how it will look in the summer.  18x24 oil on panel.

Pointy Rooftops and Smooth Mountains

The current state of a painting I've been working on in the studio: a view from Houghton Street in North Adams, MA, looking south.  The pointy rooftops contrast nicely with the glacier-smoothed mountains. 18x24 oil on panel.

I Could Not Resist

The other day seems so long ago.  Monday.  On Monday, when I stood on the wooden pallett to paint the yellow truck at Haley Farm in Williamstown, MA, at one point I turned to the right and saw that the diagonal of The Hopper and the shadows on the barn were in parallel.  Also, the ladder that is used to access the hayloft had been cast aside to a nice centripetal spot to assist the composition.  I couldn't resist making this painting.  12x16 oil on board.

A Long Ago Memory

Seventh Avenue at Eleventh Street in Brooklyn.  The ambulance was stopped at the light and in the storefront window.  The paint version of a long ago memory.  6x8 oil on panel.

Painting in February

Yesterday morning I painted on Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA.  The photo of my easel makes the mountains seem much farther away.  A gorgeous place at any time of the year with Mount Greylock in the distance.  8x10 oil on panel.

The Yellow Truck in a February Thaw

It's February but the weather was warm on Monday so I drove up a muddy Hopper Road to paint the yellow truck at Haley Farm in Williamstown, MA.  The truck sits in a cow pasture deep in muck.  I used a wooden pallett, conveniently nearby, to stand on while painting.   9x12 oil on panel.

Invisible Places

Sometimes I'm attracted to the banal, the mundane, the commonplace, places that are invisible only because we see them all the time, or there's nothing there to catch our attention.  For example: a street corner in Brooklyn.  Though the smart car might be unusual.   6x8 oil on panel.

A Simple View.

Washington Avenue near Sterling Place in Brooklyn.  A simple view.  6x8 oil on panel.