Always Helpful

Three preliminary sketchbook drawings done prior to paintings while on Monhegan. It's helpful to know the composition before starting.  6x8 inches, pencil on paper.

 

Delicious

A view down the oft-painted Fish Beach Lane on Monhegan Island. I got a delicious fish sandwich there at the Fish House.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Stopped Me

As I walked down the path, I saw the lit tree and the receding parallel bands on its right.  I stopped right there and set up to paint.  Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  I've been reading Delacroix's journal: He wrote on April 4, 1849 that an artist 'starts over' every time he/she begins something new.  The artist can't reconstruct/recall after a while how they once did something.  Those artists who have systematized their methods so they can repeat what they've done, usually are, as a consequence, the most inferior and cold. 

On A Slant

The painting I did while standing on a slant at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  My little variations on the same landscape: it's like Morandi and his bottles and cans. I'm a Morandi of local landscapes.  Morandi painted wonderful, very spare, landscapes too, not something I'm going to imitate.

Bright Gusty

It was a bright, gusty day on the west coast of Monhegan Island looking towards the harbor.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

On Sheep Hill

 A painting of The Hopper and Mount Greylock done yesterday from a small promontory on Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Figure Sketch

 A recent figure oil sketch.  12x16 inches, oil on linen.

Southwest and Northwest

A late afternoon plein air painting done on Monhegan Island at its southwest corner looking northwest.  You can see the southern end of Manana Island.  The Kent/Wyeth house is located directly behind where I was standing.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

From Within

A painting done from within the shore rocks at Ogunquit, ME near the entrance to Oarweed Cove. 9x12 inches, oil on linen. 

Under My Feet

Though all the roads are dirt on Monhegan Island, some of the foot paths are planked.  I painted this backyard view from a newly constructed walkway that spanned a tiny brook, which faintly gurgled away under my feet.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

PUBLIC Display

Earlier today I installed twenty-six paintings at PUBLIC eat+drink in North Adams, MA. The paintings will be there until at least December.  They are a mix of North Adams, Williamstown, and Brooklyn paintings.  I hope you get a chance to see them!

Paint And Hang On

Gray shingled houses and tall jumbles of weeds, with a piercing sea and eternal sky, a place of dreams.  Imagine a fierce warm wind threatening to topple your easel at each gust.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Directly East

The first painting I did almost two weeks ago at Ogunquit, ME.  There are two benches under the trees overlooking Oarweed Cove.  I climbed down safely from the location of one of them to a rocky corner sheltered from the sun and wind, and painted the view looking directly east.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Rocks And Ocean

A morning view of the rocks and ocean at the southwest corner of Monhegan Island. 9x12 inches, oil on linen.  

What Ever Else

Yesterday I went out briefly to a favorite spot to paint.  A corn field, a mountain, a pasture fence, a dirt road, what ever else does one need?  Maybe that's why I like to paint boats and water.  There aren't any where I live.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Natator

A fishing boat in Galilee, RI, with an unusual name: Natator.  That blue thing on the side of the boat, I've learned, is called a trawl door.  One on each side drag along the sea bottom and keep the net spread out.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

There's Something

When I was last at Camp Sarsaparilla in Vermont I worked on this painting as well.  I took some liberties but the results seem to work.  There's something about the brilliant sunlight combined with the everchanging sky and the rhythm of the building contours.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.  

An Old Couple

Yesterday I went back to Vermont to apply more paint to this painting.  The day before I had to stop when the clouds rolled in.  The buildings are like an old couple.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.