Beacon Marine Basin at Gloucester

This past week I was able to paint in Gloucester, MA, the site where many prominent artists have lived and painted for a long time.  This painting shows an old building, known as the Beacon Marine Basin, which houses people and boats in East Gloucester.  When I did this painting last Sunday morning, I was on the grounds of the North Shore Arts Association.  This is a 9x12 oil on multimedia board.

Dark Pond on the Mountain

When I drove up Mount Greylock yesterday, the sun was shining, but it faded away by the time I reached the top.  So, instead of painting a long view, I went to the dark pond on the mountain and painted this 12x16 oil on panel.  The only sky appears as a couple spots at the bottom, which I think are important to the composition.  This time I was in a place where I could hear hikers, but most of them never saw me.  The frogs, however, were aware of my presence.

Looking North into the Haze on the AT

The haze never quite burned off after I reached the top of Greylock yesterday morning.  The spot where I set up is on the Appalachian Trail next to the road.  The view is looking north towards North Adams, MA.  I met several hikers, both women and men, all walking by themselves.  I asked them where they were going.  "Maine."  I asked them where they started from.  "Georgia."  This is the time when they should be going through this spot if they hope to make it to the end.  Some didn't linger, and some spoke for quite a while.  All were interesting people.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.  I hope to revisit this spot on a clear day since I want to paint those humpy mountains again.

A passerby in a car asked if she could take my picture.  I asked her to send it to me.  You can see the guard rail separating me from the cars.

A High Point

One could say that I've reached a high point in my painting: this 9x12 oil on linen I did yesterday at the top of Mount Greylock.  The painting looks southeast towards Adams, MA.

A Lobster Boat in the Sun

An oil painting of a lobster boat in the sun in Perkins Cove at Ogunquit, Maine, on a 9x12 piece of linen.

The Surface of the Pond

As I worked on this painting, coincidentally I read an essay by David M. Robinson on Thoreau's Walden.  He writes, "...the description recreates the pond surface as a medium of cognition, an ideal analogue for the completely perceptive mind.  The line of demarcation between two different realms, water and sky, the surface is also the place at which these realms meet and merge, recording and thus comprehending each such event.  Perception, as represented by Thoreau through the perfectly impressionable pond surface, is thus a process of merger or unification."

The painting is an 18x24 oil on canvas of the small pond located on Mount Greylock.

A Splendid Prospect

Mount Prospect offers a splendid prospect of Williamstown and the Taconic Mountains in the distance.  I reached the clearing, which is on the Appalachian Trail, using the short hike accessible from Notch Road.   It took twenty minutes even though I carried up my painting gear.  Being so high up, I thought I would be an interesting sight for through hikers, but I only met one, who was in a hurry.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.

One More Pond

Yesterday I went back to the pond.  I painted this 9x12 oil on linen while the sun gradually disappeared, and the clouds increased.  I could hear thunder getting closer.  I was off the mountain when the rains finally came.  Even though I used bug spray, my legs have been eaten alive in the last few days on the mountain.  Next time at the pond, I will wear long pants.

Painting From The Mountain

When going to the pond on Mount Greylock, I pass by this view going up and down.  If one is going to paint on a mountain, shouldn't one try a long view?  This is a 12x16 oil on panel that I did yesterday from the "Fitch" view on Notch Road below Mount Fitch.  The view looks west toward the Taconics in New York state.  Fascinating how that tree can only expand on one side.

A Faster Pond

This is the second pond painting that I did yesterday from my spot next to the old pump house on Mount Greylock.  It's a 12x9 on linen.  I worked a little faster on this one going after a more abstract design.

From A Spot At A Corner

From late morning until mid-afternoon today, I spent three hours at the fantastical pond on Mount Greylock, painting from from a spot at one of the corners of the pump house.  This is the first painting I did, an 11x14 oil on multimedia art board  (which I previously coated with gesso to make it less absorbent).  The vegetation around the pond is so thick that less than half of the pond edge is accessible.  This is probably why this pond is in such nice shape.  Even on a Monday, I saw about twenty-five hikers go by.

Fantastical Pond

The pond, the pond.  I spent a couple hours at the pond yesterday when the sun finally came out. There's something magical, dark and fantastical about this pond.  This painting is a 9x12 oil on linen.

I've been reading Julian Barnes' "Keeping An Eye Open: Essays on Art."   He quotes Georges Braque, who wrote, "The only thing that matters in art is what cannot be explained."  Barnes tries to explain a few things nevertheless, but I like the quote, nevertheless.  I'm trying to get at something I can't explain.

Another Boat

Another boat at Perkins Cove.  I might do a series of boats like baseball cards.  The boats always park in the same spot.  They all have names.  This one's called the "A MARIA".  The previous one is called "BUCKWACKA".  This painting is also a 9x12 oil on linen.

The Whirring of Bird Wings

Since I was already set up at the pond on the mountain at the intersection of Notch Road and Rockwell Road, after I finished my first painting, I turned slightly to the right, and painted another view.  My guidebook has no reference to this pond.  My vague recollection suggests that it had to do with getting water up to the mountain top via a pump station, which explains the tiny building at the pond edge.  As I painted, it was so quiet I could hear the whirring of bird wings in the trees, and occasionally the footsteps of approaching hikers.  This is a 16x12 oil on panel.

Painting On The Mountain

When I drove up Notch Road this morning, I could barely contain my excitement.  I've painted the mountain many times over the years, and it took me until now to realize that I could paint on the mountain.  My destination was a small pond just below the last leg up to the top of Mount Greylock.  Fortunately there's a small parking lot nearby.  All I heard for a while were the bull frogs chanting.  Eventually hikers came by since I was next to the path.  Some were day hikers, and some were on a longer journey.  All seemed happy and cheerful.  This painting is a 9x12 oil on linen.