Straighter

 A few things needed straightening out: Spring Street, Williamstown, MA.9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

From The Top

 Another painting from the top of Sheep Hill from four days ago.  8x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

After Forty Five Minutes

My forecaster said it wasn't going to rain.  After all, she said the Red Sox would win on Sunday.  But this is as far as I got this afternoon after 45 minutes of painting.  Behind my right shoulder the sky was darkening, and the thunder was getting closer and closer.   I packed up and fled.  And it poured within minutes, and it's still raining as I post.  8x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

Impromptu Streams

The spot where I planted my easel for this painting was in the shade, but was also the site of an impromptu stream, which had now dried enough to stand there.  There's been so much rain that water from higher up has been running down where there usually are not streams.  I was at the top of Sheep Hill facing southeast with Mount Greylock in the distance.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Explorer IV

The Explorer IV in dry dock at the Marine Railways, in Rocky Neck, Gloucester, MA.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Same Spot, Different Results

The next day I went back to Sheep Hill and painted from the same spot looking north towards Vermont and the Dome.  Same composition but with different results.  8x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Approaching Storm

While painting the incoming storm, it intensified and started to approach faster, not passing by at a distance, as I hoped.  Packing up quickly, I reached the car as the raindrops started to fall.  The view is from Sheep Hill looking north towards the Dome in Vermont.  8x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

Convenient Rain

The day I painted this one, it didn't rain until I was done.  Very convenient.  The view is from the top of Sheep Hill looking towards Mount Greylock and The Hopper.  12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Strange Light

The haze, which I learned later came from the western smoke, caused a strange light in the woods and fields, on the day I painted this view at Field Farm.  8x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Painting For The Moment

A painting for the moment: lush foliage and the threat of rain.  A view of Luce Road in Williamstown, MA near the farm, looking north.  Delacroix wrote, "What a strange thing painting is, pleasing us by its resemblance to objects which could not please us in themselves!"  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Conversing On The Street

This painting I did yesterday while conversing with many people on the street.  It does capture the dynamism of the moment.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

 

How To Do It

From the other day at Field Farm. 12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  Delacroix wrote, "Constable said that the superiority of the green he uses for his meadows derives from the fact that it is composed of a multitude of different greens.  What causes the lack of intensity and life in verdure as it is painted by the common run of landscapists is that they ordinarily do it with a uniform tint.  What he said about the green of the meadows can be applied to all the other tones."

Watery Work

The frequent rain has granted me time to work on this watery painting, based upon the recent plein air work I did at Gloucester, MA.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Rain, Rain

To end up at this location to make this painting, I first wandered over a couple of miles of path at Field Farm, trying to find a dry spot.  We've had so much rain, that I didn't find one, but I got a lot of exercise.  At this point, I was close enough to my car, so I retrieved a plastic tarp to keep my backpack from getting all wet when I put it on the ground.  And it rained again just as I was finishing up.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Docked And Missing

A docked boat at the Marine Railways at Rocky Neck in Gloucester, MA. When I arrived to paint the plein air version, on which this painting is based, I encountered a short, stocky man of retirement age looking at the boat.  I asked him if it would be leaving.   He said knowingly that it would be there for a while.  Then he volunteered that he used to own a boat, but he sold everything and moved to NH.  Now, he said, I've come back.  I sensed that he missed his boat.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Majesty

A view towards Mount Greylock at Field Farm from the path that edges the fields and the trees on the north side. The majesty of the mountains is clearly apparent because of the expansive breadth of the view. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Liberty Star

To take advantage of the plein air paintings I did at Rocky Neck in Gloucester, I'm doing some studio paintings based upon them.   This is the first, the Liberty Star in dry dock at the Marine Railways.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Effect Of The Imagination

The weather has been so erratic, with frequent thunder and rain, that I try to get out and paint whenever the sun shines.  This unreal looking, but real, landscape I found yesterday at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  From my recent reading of Delacroix's Journal: "Painters of marines do not represent the sea well, in general.  The same approach may be applied to them as to the painters of landscape. They want to show too much science, make portraits of waves, as the landscapists make portraits of trees, of the earth, of mountains, etc.  They do not concern themselves enough with the effect on the imagination; the multiplicity of petty details--even true details--turns the mind away from the principal spectacle, which is the immensity or the depth to be rendered by any given art."  12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Across Fields And Hills

From a mowed path at Field Farm, I looked across fields and hills towards The Hopper and Mount Greylock.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  

No Boats

This was the first painting from my stay in Gloucester.  No boats.  It represents the little cove next to the Paint Factory on Rocky Neck.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  

Sensational

Yesterday I painted again from the tree shadows looking out towards Mount Greylock and The Hopper from Bee Hill Road at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  The landscape is as sensational as it looks. 12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.