Juggling On the North Trail

Mount Greylock from Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on board. I was juggling compositional elements on the North Trail yesterday afternoon.  

Passageway

Path, Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, pencil on paper. I drew this while on my walk the other day.  It's a path cut into the tall grass going into the woods that feels like a passage from one realm into another.

Field Farm Path

Path at Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, gouache on mixed media paper.  I went for a walk yesterday.

People in a Plaza

Plaza del Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela.  12x16 inches, oil on linen canvas. I wanted to see how this would turn out: a painting of a crowd of people in a plaza in front of a big church, so I painted it.

Sheep Hill Summer View

Sheep Hill View, Williamstown, MA. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.  Too hot to paint outside so I painted a large studio version of the view.

In a Different Spot

View from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on Raymar panel.  My power over the weather diminished today since the sun stayed out.   I set up in a different spot this time, more to the left, mainly determined by the location of some shade.  The painting sort of rolled off my brushes as if it knew where it wanted to go.

Weather Power

View from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  I'm starting to think I might have some control over the weather.  I show up to paint, and the sun disappears.  Today, it even rained after I finished. 

A Mountain Variation

View from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel. A variation of a familiar view.  The mountain doesn't move but everything around it does.  

This Afternoon

Mount Greylock and the Hopper from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on linen panel. I spent the afternoon painting this view.  I've probably done it over a hundred and fifty times.  I do not get tired of doing it.

Entrance Mark

Path, Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 8x6 inches, ballpoint pen on paper.  I brought rudimentary tools to record my walk this afternoon at Field Farm.  I love how the path has this dark indentation in the grass to mark its entrance into the woods.

From the Bridge

Hoosic River at Protection Avenue, North Adams, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  With the temperature in the 70s, I was able to stand in the open on the bridge to paint this view.  I last painted here six years ago almost to the day.

Barcelona Postcard

 Barcelona.  12x16 inches, oil on linen canvas.  A larger postcard.

Not In-Between

Hoosic River at Stony Beach, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  When I arrived, the sun was shining and when I finished the painting the sun was shining again, but not in-between.

Not in the Water

Hoosic River, North Adams, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  This time I went to the Hoosic in North Adams accessed via Ashton Avenue.  The beach area extends into the river, so it only appears that I was painting while standing in water.  

All Different

A Pond, Grafton, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  This pond I've painted many times in recent years. Like all bodies of water, it's never the same. The pond is never the same. The paintings are all different. Each experience of painting the pond is different.

Mainstream Event

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  While working on this one yesterday afternoon, I heard voices and laughter coming from down river.  I was on the beach at the confluence of the Hoosic and the Green Rivers.  A flotilla of over a dozen pool inflatables came by each with a person stretched out on them.  They were young Williams alums doing some alumni weekend event.  Two people praised my painting from the center of the river, a first for me: mainstream approval.

Like a Postcard

Plaza del Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela.  6x8 inches, watercolor and pen & ink.  Like a postcard, a remembrance of a place once visited not so long ago.

Santiago Sketch

 

Plaza del Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela.  6x8 inches, watercolor and pen and ink.

Smash and Crash

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  I haven't visited this spot in three weeks. It's now completely overgrown. While painting there yesterday afternoon I heard a loud smash and crash behind me, as if some large animal was coming through the thick bushes and decided to make an impromptu one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn around. I yelled and turned quickly only to see the branches still shaking.

Wild and Remote

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  The river is receding, so I was able to access another shore area seldom visited. The edges of rivers are often wild and remote.

Stony Plaza and Smart Phones

Plaza del Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela.  6x8 inches, watercolor, gouache and pencil on mixed media paper.  The hikers don't seem to mind stretching out on the stony surface to use their smart phones.

Santiago de Compostela

Plaza del Obradoiro, Santiago de Compostela.  8x10 inches, watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper.  First of a series of sketches of the plaza, usually filled with arriving hikers and visitors.  I think of them as postcards to recapture the experience of being there.

From a Beach with No Name

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  The river view from a beach with no name, east of Cole Avenue.  The water level is going down at this time making this beach accessible, but the coming weekend rain will inundate it again.

At Sandy Beach on the Hoosic

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  I'm no longer in Spain, so I went out to paint this afternoon at Sandy Beach on the Hoosic.  

Many Paintings

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.  Testing out some pictorial ideas in a little painting.  The river contains many paintings.

A Rare Phenomenon

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 12x16 inches, oil on canvas panel.  From my wanderings along the edges of the Hoosic, my guess is that this overhanging willow is a rare phenomenon.  

Hearing Voices

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  As I was setting up to paint in a secluded spot on the river today, I heard a voice.  It came from the river.  I heard it again.  Only then did I see a pontoon boat appear around the corner with three people in it: one person in the front fishing, another in the middle rowing, and a third at the rear along for the ride.  I told the rower pilot that I was going to paint and that I thought the river was speaking to me when I heard him talk. He said, "I hope that it does speak to you."   Then the fisherman in front yelled "Plein Air!" a couple times and the boat disappeared around the next corner.

Looking at the Water

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  Here I am looking at the water to the other side of the river.  

Reacquaintance Drawing

Hoosic River Tree, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, pencil on paper. Since the weather is not cooperating, I will do a studio painting of the river.  I went back this afternoon to reacquaint myself with this location. 

Perilously Close

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  The river flows perilously close to the old footpath's edge, which is caving in at some places.  But it's a great view.

At the River Bend

Bend in the Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel. I went out earlier today. I was surprised when a walker asked if I was "Robert".  She said she's seen my paintings on FB.  Thank you, Lisa.

Never the Same

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  There aren't too many spots where the river is easily accessible for painting like this one right now, so pardon me for returning to a familiar site.  As the greenery expands and the water goes down, other views will become available for painting.  But even the same place is never the same.

 

On Top of the River

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  Trees leaning over the river are on top of the river in a painting so they tend to blend together.  I did this plein air painting this afternoon.

Study of a Tree

Study of a Tree at Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 12x16 inches, oil on canvas panel.  I've been working on this one for a while. It's a real study in the sense that I am trying to do something different and learn from it. When I first saw the tree three weeks ago, it was like Annie Dillard's tree with the lights in it. Time will tell what I've learned.

Up Close and Moving

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen canvas.  Today, I painted at the river.  The river always has more visual drama than a mountain view.  You are up close and it's moving quickly.  Also, exotic ducks fly by.

Painting Away

Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  This beautiful afternoon the faint sound of the traffic on Route 7 drifted up to where I stood high on the hill painting away.

The Dome from Stone Hill

Stone Hill View, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  From this vantage point on Stone Hill, the horizontalness of the Clark constrasts nicely with the beautiful arch of The Dome in Vermont.  I once climbed The Dome.  The exact top was glacier-scoured stone, but the trees around it were so tall that no view was available.

Spring at Sheep Hill

Mount Greylock from Sheep Hill, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel. Yesterday afternoon I painted at the top of Sheep Hill.  The mud conditions are gone, but Bee Hill Road is still rough. Trees are starting to leaf out.

Drawing in Grafton

Pond, Grafton, MA. 9x12 inches, pencil on paper.  When there's no opportunity to paint, one can always draw.  

A Lively Tree

Tree on North Trail, Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  I saw this lively tree the other day and came back to paint it on site this afternoon before the clouds appeared.

Ahead of the Rain

Hoosic River from Stone Beach, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Rain is coming so I ventured out to paint before it arrives.  

A Landscape

Mount Greylock from Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.  A landscape that really happened.

Green Into Hoosic

Hoosic and Green Rivers, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Yesterday I went to the same spot as the day before but looked right instead of left. Here the Green River flows from the right into the Hoosic.

Swirling Hoosic

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Yesterday afternoon, looking upriver from the little beach where the Green River intersects with the Hoosic River, I painted this view of the swirling water.   

Coming Soon

Looking South from Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.  Summer will be here soon.  

A Little Reminder

Greylock from Field Farm, Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, oil on linen panel.  A little painting of a high summer view as a reminder of what's coming.

Transitioning

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  The transition of going from painting in the studio to painting outdoors, just like going from winter to spring, can be immobilizing when the weather hesitates. Today it wasn't raining and it wasn't cold, so I ventured out for whatever I could achieve.

Painting in Early Spring

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  When everything is still kinda dull in early spring, sunshine and moving water can make painting outside worthwhile.  This view is located off the Mohican Recreational Path.

Tracery of Tree Limbs

Hoosic River, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, conte crayon and pastel on paper.  I went down to the river to draw some water (pun intended). Actually, I was scouting out a place to paint when the weather improves. It's not meant to be a great drawing, but a study of the tracery of tree limbs against the river flow.

Wild and Rocky

Monhegan Island, ME. 12x16 inches, oil on linen canvas. The east facing Atlantic coast side of the island can be disorienting in its wild rocky robustness.