About Time

These two paintings are about the theme of time, and I think they may never be finished.  I posted an earlier version of the top painting before I started the second painting.  I've always liked paintings heavily built up, like Monet's later landscapes.  I just don't have the patience to paint that way.  With these two, I might take some time. Both 12x24 inches, oil on panel.

Top To Bottom

From the path at the top of Sheep Hill the buildings below are visible through the screen of trees, and the falling snow.   9x12 inches, oil on linen.

From Atop

 Bee Hill Road from atop Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Sunny Cold Hillside

 A sunny cold hillside with gully, trees and shadows at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.  

Wintry Weather

Wintry weather on Bee Hill Road doesn't offer much color, so I used a limited palette.  The dirt road is like another tree branch.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Figural Trees

In the days of the plague the only figures I can draw are trees.  At least they don't move much.  Over the last five days I visited this one tree at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA to draw it.  While working on the last two drawings it sleeted or snowed, so I had to draw on wet paper held vertically.  9x12 inches, charcoal pencil on paper.

Sloping Sheep Hill

Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA has many views with steep angles.  Here's Bee Hill Road on the left and a sloping Sheep Hill on the right facing north into Vermont. 9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Landscape Drama

 

A view of Bee Hill Road on the right and Sheep Hill on the left in Williamstown, MA.  I've had a flair for dramatic paintings lately.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Due North, More Abstract

Here's looking in the same direction as my previous post, due north into Vermont, from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA in winter.  This painting is more abstract, no snow. 9x12 inches, oil on panel.
 

Sheep Hill

 Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

By Light And Geometry

This spot, the corner of a pasture on Luce Road in Williamstown, MA, I pass by frequently, and sometimes something will be different enough to startle my awareness.  It's often caused by light and geometry.  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

Wild-Looking

When I saw this wild-looking landscape the other day, it reminded me of a Jacob van Ruisdael painting.  I had to paint it. 8x10 inches, oil on panel.

More Like Me Than I Am

 The great Irish poet Seamus Heaney said, upon seeing a portrait of himself, "It's more like me than I am."  This might be the case of most of my self-portraits, which nevertheless continue as a useful exercise in the time of the plague.  Painting the same landscape under different circumstances, like Monet's grain stacks, can a be beneficial for the artist.  The same goes for a head or a face.  For this portrait, I took my inspiration from Bonnard's self-portraits where he seems to be looking into a bathroom mirror, though whether he actually painted them in the bathroom, is unknown.  He tended to paint from imagination most of the time.  This one I painted in front of the bathroom mirror.  12x9 inches, oil on linen.

Time For Drawing

 

Time for three drawings done at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, charcoal pencil on paper.

Incidental Landscape

If you walk the western path going North at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA. you will encounter this double tree.  It wasn't a sunshiny day when I last visited it recently.  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

The Better To See You With

One can use eyeglasses, not only to see with, but as a grid to assist in painting a face.  This painting is based upon the Rembrandt self-portrait in the National Gallery in London.  I've read that Rembrandt wasn't really so introspective as we might think despite all his self-portraits.  That's our modern sensibility being read back into the paintings.  Most of the self-portraits were more like a calling card, saying: "See this. I can paint portraits too.  Hire me."  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

Chameleon-Like

Not able to leave this one alone, I kept adding paint. But I'm done with it.  I based it upon the Sargent self-portrait, which only makes me appreciate Sargent even more.  Our faces are chameleon-like.  One can identify a Rembrandt self-portrait, but they are all different.

Woody Stream

A stream enlivens a winter forest without snow: a view from a footbridge in the woods at Field Farm, Williamstown, MA.  Happy New Year!  8x10 inches, oil on panel.