What You Get

Determined to paint despite the gusting winds, I sheltered next to the barn yesterday afternoon at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA.  The view wasn't ideal, and so this is what you get.  Earlier I started to set up at the shed with the two tractors but left it quickly when I noticed baby mice darting all over the ground. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.

Flatter

A view from this morning from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  It all looks flatter in the morning because the sun is behind the mountains.  8x10 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter carton board.

 

Doldrum Day

It was a doldrum day, but that usually makes the mountains more uniform across the background, which can be appealing and useful in a composition.  So, here's a variation on the view of Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on mixed media paper.

 

Happy Report

I'm happy to report that these two paintings were juried into the 158th Annual Exhibition of Small Paintings at the Philadelphia Sketch Club. The first is "Monhegan Clothesline", 16x20 inches, and the second is "Nevins Street, Brooklyn", 6x8 inches, both oil on panel. The exhibition runs from May 9th to May 28th.

 

Decorative April Painting

Having painted this view of Mount Greylock and the Hopper from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA so many times, sometimes I just like to respond to or express its decorative side.  It's also an April painting, half-winter and half-spring. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Sunny But Breezy

It was sunny, but breezy and cold at my workplace today, Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on Guerrilla Painter carton board. 

 

While Below

For a painting re-adjustment I went back to the mountains: Mount Greylock and the Hopper from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  It's not unusual to see the mountains covered in snow while below it is later in the season.  This is a study for a larger painting.  6x8 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter carton board.

A Life-Experience

From the path that goes through the pond at Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield, MA, I painted this view for my third painting of the day.  

Ever wonder why the painting or drawing of something appeals to us more than the actual thing?  John Berger wrote, "To draw is to look, examining the structure of appearances. A drawing of a tree shows, not a tree, but a tree-being-looked-at. Whereas the sight of a tree is registered almost instantaneously, the examination of the sight of a tree (a tree-being-looked-at) not only takes minutes or hours instead of a fraction of a second, it also involves, derives from, and refers back to, much previous experience of looking. Within the instant of the sight of the tree is established a life-experience."   

So this painting represents my trees-being-looked-at.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

From The Bridge

The only solid thing that I saw, when painting the stream, was the concrete slab on which I stood that bridged the stream.  The water, the leafless bushes, the gleaming grasses, formed and unformed edges, appeared and faded away.  From the bridge at Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

Canoe Meadows

This morning I painted at a new location for me: Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield, MA.  I didn't see any canoes but did see a few people watching birds. This is the first of three paintings. 8 x 16 inches, oil on linen panel. 

Just Long Enough

The sun lasted just long enough this afternoon to do this little painting on Luce Road in Williamstown, MA.  The Chenail farm is in the background. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.

Limbo Landscape

It's not St. Augustine, but Sloan Road looking towards the Hopper and Mount Greylock in a kind of expressive paint marking.  Not much else to do in a limbo landscape between seasons. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Maria Sanchez

The view of Maria Sanchez Lake in St. Augustine facing south.  From the moment I saw the serpentine wall, I wanted to paint it.  I've read that the origin of the lake's name is old and unknown.  It also used to be a much longer creek, later filled in at the north end by the famous Mr. Flagler. 6x8 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter Carton board.

Palm Tree Shadows

Palm tree shadows on Riberia Street approaching Lovett Street in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter Carton board.

St. Augustine 19

A view looking out of Twine Park at the corner of Lovett and Riberia Streets in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on mixed media paper. 

St. Augustine 18

A view of Cerro Street from a shady spot at the parking lot of the Willie Galimore Recreation Center in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on mixed media paper.

St. Augustine 22

Carl Judson of Guerrilla Painter suggested I try Guerrilla Carton as a gouache substrate.  Here's my effort depicting an old bungalow in the Lincolnville section of St. Augustine.  It is a nice surface to work on and stays flat too.  6x8 inches, gouache on Guerrilla Carton panel.