It Wasn't Far

Hay Bales, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen canvas.  So, I walked around the hay fields this afternoon, getting my exercise, and stopped at the round hay bales when I saw the triangles of the old cow barn behind them.  Of course, I had to go back to the car to get all my painting gear, but it wasn't far.

Like A Dried-up Riverbed

Dirt Road, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel. The farm dirt road separating the pasture from the corn field is like a dried-up riverbed.  

Down the Road

Edge of a Cornfield, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Down the farmer's road, along the edge of the cornfield, you encounter goldenrod, more fields, and can see the distant mountains in Savoy.  

The Old Milk Shed

The Old Milk Shed, Williamstown, MA. 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel.  When painting yesterday, I was standing where the milk shed's accompanying barn used to be.   The nearby road had a constant flow of traffic because the farm stand had just started selling sweet corn.

Simple Classic

Farm Road, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  A simple classic plein air composition of a farmer's dirt road from yesterday.  In mud season the farmer's tractors create deep ruts and unearth large boulders in this "road" but by July the dirt becomes hard as concrete preserving the ruts until the next mud season. 

Old Reliable

Old Milk Shed, Williamstown, MA. 12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  The sun was in and out, but I managed to make a painting of this old reliable earlier today.  I've been painting it for 17 years and it's still the same gray.

An Old Farm Cart

Farm Cart, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on gesso panel.  An old cart, seemingly abandoned, filled with debris, reminds me of my humanity.  So, I cannot just walk by.  I have to paint it. It's like a still life sitting outside.

View of Mount Greylock

View of Mount Greylock from an Old Farm, Williamstown, MA. 12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. I've been dealing with something more important than painting. This is the last painting I did over two weeks ago.

Old Farm with Greylock

 An Old Farm with Mt. Greylock, Williamstown, MA. 12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  

Sloan Road Barn

Sloan Road Barn, Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.  This is the late day view of the barn the cows see when they look towards the road.

Remember Seeing

Farmer's Truck Graveyard. 9x12 inches, acrylic wash, charcoal pencil and pastel on paper.  I'm old enough to remember seeing this last truck when it was still alive.  Also from my visit to the site a few days ago.

Rusting Peacefully

Truck Graveyard. 9x12 inches, acrylic wash, charcoal pencil & pastel on paper.  A couple days ago I visited the farmer's truck graveyard, which is tucked away in the woods.  A beautiful blue truck that was rusting peacefully was gone. This truck is now the next one in the line of abandonment.

Autumn Corn Stalks

Autumn Corn Stalks, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, vine charcoal, charcoal pencil and pastel on paper.  One of my favorite paintings has always been De Kooning's Excavation.

Flutter and Crackle

Row of Corn Stalks, Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.  The dry corn stalks flutter and crackle in the slightest breeze.

Corn Stalk Remnants

Dry Corn Stalks, Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel. These are remnants in a large nearby muddy, tractor-rutted cornfield.  

Where Pasture and Hayfield Meet

The Edge of a Pasture, Williamstown, MA.  12x9 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Today I painted where a fence divides a hayfield from a pasture.  The pasture has a stream running through it.

Late Summer Cornfield

Late Summer Cornfield in Williamstown, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  It was overcast, and looking like rain, so I stayed close to home for this quick painting.

The View from the Top

 The view from the top of Luce Road in Williamstown, MA. 9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.

At the End of Hopper Road

Evey year I try to paint this truck at least once.  Since the early 90's, it's been standing in a cow pasture at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.

Paean To Summer

The old milk shed, the hay bales, and the view across the fields to the mountains of Florida and Savoy, are just down the road from the long barn on Luce Road in Williamstown, MA.  This is also another paean to the colors of summer.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.