Last One This Year

This must be the last painting of the year, since I don't plan on starting another until tomorrow at least.  It's a winter view of Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA, the thirteenth in the current series.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Different Slope

Mount Greylock and The Hopper from a slightly different slope at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Happy Holidays From Mount Greylock

Happy Holidays from Mount Greylock, as seen from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  This is the latest painting in the series.  18x24 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Winter Face

Another of the many winter faces presented by Mount Greylock, the mountain at the right, as seen from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  The mountain at center left is Prospect with Stony Ledge coming in at the right edge.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Mountain Mood

Another in the growing series of paintings of Mount Greylock and The Hopper.  There are so many variations in the moods of this mountain.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

A Demo In The Mud

This is the painting I did while standing in the mud, with my boots on, with a tarp to hold my gear dry, and with the cows at my back (on the other side of the fence) between me and the sun.  I could see their moving shadows from the corners of my eyes.  When they walked around, they made plopping, sucking sounds in the mud.  I found myself talking to them as I painted.  You could call it a demo.  8x10 inches, oil on panel. 

Well Hidden

Here I followed the muddy lane to where it forks and assembled together some flat rocks to create a dry spot to hold my backpack.  I felt like I was trying to make a landscape painting in a place where it was well hidden in plain sight.  6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.

Greylock

 A dramatic wintry view of Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

From A Dry Spot

Yesterday morning my biggest issue was finding a dry spot to stand on. This muddy lane leads to a cow pasture, a horse paddock, and a corn field.  6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.

From The Rocking Chair

If we placed the last three studio drawings side-by-side, we'd have a panoramic view of the studio from the rocking chair.  For this third drawing, I looked more to the left.  12x9 inches, pencil on paper.

In The Cold Warmth

In the cold warmth of the waning sunshine, I sat on the old platform near the top of Sheep Hill, and I drew the interleaving hills, trees, and mountains, thinking of another painting.  9x12 inches, pencil on paper.

Finding One's Self

A view of Mount Greylock and The Hopper from part way down the path at Sheep Hill late in the day, when I usually seem to find myself there.  In the morning the sun is on the other side of the mountain.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Sitting In The Same Chair

Sitting in the same rocking chair in the studio, I looked more to the right, and started to draw.  9x12 inches, pencil on paper.  

Wintry Mount Greylock

My recent postings show two series, the happenstantial drawings, and paintings of mountains.  Here is a new painting of wintry Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

In The Studio

In the studio with my pencil and pad, I sat down in the rocking chair, and drew what was in front of me starting with the starving artist.  12x9 inches, pencil on paper.

Happenstantially

This month I'm doing happenstantial drawings. I pick up the pencil and pad, and start drawing, whatever the happenstances.  This fellow posed for me yesterday. He couldn't get out of it.  12x9 inches, pencil on paper.  

Cloudy Origin

The book on Mount Greylock, which I purchased in 1994 at Bascom Lodge at the summit after hiking up, states that "the origin of the name Greylock is cloudy.  Most likely it refers to the mists that frequently wrap the mountain's shoulders, obscuring the summit..."  There are no obscuring clouds in this very late-day view from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas. 

Looking Out The Window

 An interior drawing with Luke looking out the window.  9x12 inches, charcoal on paper.

Night Studio

 A drawing of the studio from last night.  9x12 inches, graphite and charcoal pencils on paper.

While At The Top

Late this afternoon, the sun started to appear for short instances, so I went to Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I climbed the steep hill for a strenuous workout, made this drawing while at the top, and took a few photos of a few evanescent moments.  A threefer.  9x12, pencil on paper.

Wintry Greylock

The other day I read that George Inness was good at smearing paint on canvas and making it look like a lot of different things.   In the place where I live I can easily go and look at some Inness paintings.  I can confirm that he was good at it.  Here I smeared some paint to look like a wintry Mount Greylock, as it can be seen from Field Farm in Williamstown, MA. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

So I Paint It

This is Mount Greylock from the Adams, MA side.  There's something about a mountain that I can't explain, so I paint it.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

A Modest Painting

A modest painting of the other side of Mount Greylock, which I painted at Greylock Glen in Adams, MA a couple days ago.  6x8 inches, oil on line panel.

Painted Recently

This one I painted recently on Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA, looking towards The Hopper and Mount Greylock.  Happy Thanksgiving!  6x8 inches, oil on panel.  

The Last Warm Day

A photo of a recent painting done on probably the last warm day of 2021, off of Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA, looking directly east at Mount Greylock and The Hopper.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

Mountain View

Mount Greylock and The Hopper from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Never The Same

A painting from almost a year ago, which I've reworked.  It shows the view north from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA in winter very late in the afternoon.  From day to day, the landscape is never the same; sometimes it is very unusual.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  

At The Moment

This is where I am at the moment with the mountain painting.  I may start another one before I finish this one.  18x24 inches, oil on canvas.  

A Study A Lot

This is a plein air study for a larger painting that I'm working on at the moment: a depiction of Mount Greylock and The Hopper from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  If you follow my work, you'll note that I paint this mountain view a lot.   6x8 inches, oil on panel.  

Turned, Looked, and Painted

A second small painting from when I did the last little one at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA: I turned and looked in a slightly different direction, and painted. 6x8 inches, oil on panel.

Straight Into The Hopper

A few years I saw that the late day sun in November would light up the leafless trees in front of The Hopper, while casting it into deep shadows.  I made a few pastel paintings then.  This time I wanted to make an oil painting, and the conditions were right last week.  The view is from the hayfield at the end of Hopper Road, looking straight into The Hopper in Williamstown, MA.  18x24 inches, oil on canvas.

A Large Mission

 A little painting with a large mission: show a view of the sloping hills and the mountains beyond from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  6x8 inches, oil on panel.  

Fish House

Fish House at the end of Fish Beach Lane on Monhegan Island, Maine.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Quick Resolution

The second little pond painting from the other day: when you have an opportunity to do a second one right after the first one, it's usually fun because it resolves quickly.  6x8 inches, oil on panel.

Nature Reflects

The appeal of painting outside is looking intently at something that is looking back.  6x8 inches, oil on panel.

Emblematic of Painting

Standing next the pond edge I watched and painted the late afternoon sun lighting everything up. When I stopped painting all had faded into shadows.  A reflecting pond is emblematic of painting itself.  Painting a reflective pond is...what?   9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Pattern-Mode

A painting I did Saturday morning at the edge of the pond in Grafton, MA.  Reflections put me in a pattern-mode.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

 

FWIW

For what it's worth, I do an occasional figure study, which is usually a humbling experience. This is after two 20 minute sessions with the Zorn palette. 12x16 inches, oil on linen.

The Laundry Basket

Backyards and the spaces between houses have always caught my eye.  Here's a view of a space on Monhegan Island.  I could call this one 'the laundry basket'.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel. 

It Didn't Hurt

When I arrived the sun was already disappearing except on the distant mountains, so I decided to paint the sky first, since the rest was already or would be soon in shadow.  By the time I had finished and reached home, the sun was fully out again.  One has to adapt.  It didn't hurt that the clouds resembled the bend in the road.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

If The Sun Is Shining

One has to paint outside if the sun is shining, and so it was at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA this afternoon: a view looking west of the barn and the Taconic Mountains in the distance. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  

Clothesline

 A clothesline on Monhegan Island, Maine.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

A House By The Sea

 A house by the sea on Monhegan.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Way Back In June

A painting that I did way back on June 26 but didn't post a full image until now.  It was painted at Haley Farm at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Northwest

A view painted this afternoon at the top of Luce Road in Williamstown, MA, looking northwest towards New York and Vermont, the location of the enormous landscape from the other day.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.  

For A While

The painting currently on my "easel".  I'm just going to look at it for a while. It depicts Fish Beach on Monhegan Island.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel. 

The Enormous Landscape

Despite the weather, I did a second painting yesterday.  We could see the rain coming from a long way off.  The photo shows me, the tiny painter, in the enormous landscape, with painter Thor Wickstrom's easel.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  

 

Unstable and Perfect

This afternoon the weather was unstable, sunny one moment, and raining the next, so perfect for painting with painter Thor Wickstrom (who took my photo) on Luce Road in Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.