Pondering

The other painting that I did at the base of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA last Friday, a view of the pond, a 9x12 oil on panel.  The pond is not very large, but standing at it's edge for a while, one sees (and hears) that it is full of life, things that keep breaking the water surface, besides the breeze.

Cloud-Like and Tree-Shaped

Painting in the Manchester, VT backyard again on Saturday, I shifted my view to include more of the large mountain and the vibrant sky above.   The treetops are cloud-like and the clouds are tree-shaped.  12x16 oil on panel.

The Slant of the Hill

This is the second of the two paintings that I made on Friday at the bottom of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  You can see that the clouds are beginning to form, which motivated me to move uphill.   The slant of the hill offers wonderful angles to make interesting compositions.  I love the word 'slant', as in the 'slant of light' from Emily Dickinson.

No End in Sight

Though I started the day painting at the bottom of Sheep Hill, in Williamstown, MA, when the clouds started to form, I moved to the top.  Here are two 8x10 oil on panel cloud studies.  We call them 'studies' to reflect their informal nature, and suggest we might learn something eventually, but there's no end in sight to studying clouds.

Better Late Than Early

An 8x10 cloud painting from a couple days ago at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I tried to paint quickly, without thinking too much.  Afterwards, when I started thinking again, I discovered that even better clouds happen later in the day when I wasn't able to be out there.

Clouds All Day

The weather forecast threatened, but the rain stayed away.  However, there were great clouds forming all day long.  I did six small paintings, including the one here, an 11x14 oil on panel.  All were done at the top of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I've included a photo of where I was set up in the morning.

Overlooking

Last week I went to the Fitch Overlook again (I had incorrectly called it the Fitch View earlier) on Notch Road near the top of Mount Greylock.  I prefer the word 'overlook' since it's one of those rare words that means what it means and also its opposite as well.  I overlooked the word overlook when I was overlooking the overlook, which I didn't overlook.  I'd like to go back there as soon as the weather improves.  This painting is 12x16 oil on panel.

A Far Away Place

A painting of a far away place that fills me with a sense of long ago: a view of Manana Island from Monhegan Island, an 18x24 oil on panel.

Backyard View in Vermont

I spent the first part of the day gallery sitting in Manchester, VT, but in the afternoon I went to a familiar location nearby, the backyard of friends, to paint.  This is actually a view from their backyard bench.  The mountain that rises on the right is Mount Equinox.

Patterns

Here's a recent Sheep Hill painting that I made on site (in Williamstown, MA) where I painted the patterns offered by the trees, mountains, and clouds.  It's an oil on panel, only 8x10, but the effect is dramatic, maybe because it's constrained by its small size.

Closer to the Clouds

Since the clouds are up in the sky, I went up the mountain yesterday afternoon to get closer to the clouds to paint them.  Most of the way up Mount Greylock, near the top, there's the Fitch View offering this view of the Petersburg pass through the Taconics.  That's it, that little dip in the middle of the range, and the triangular wedge below it is Sheep Hill, which looks pretty flat from this height.  This painting is 12x16, oil on panel.

Sheep Hill Clouds

Sheep Hill clouds in Williamstown, MA.  The trees and the clouds seem always to be in concert.  9x12 oil on panel.

Waterless Seascape

This boat out of water I painted fairly quickly trying to keep a fresh sense of the bright sunlight.  She's called the Margaret Louise, and she was located at the entrance to the Gloucester Marine Railways shipyard at Rocky Neck, when I encountered her.  Is a painting of a boat still a seascape when there's no water visible?  The painting is 18x24 oil on panel.  

Clouds

Painting clouds can be fun, challenging, and frustrating.  8x10 oil on panel.

Greeeen Again.

A painting done at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA on Friday.  I was halfway up the hill path looking back towards the farm buildings.  I was trying to make green work once more.  A 9x12 oil on panel.

Boat Appearance

The paint for this Gloucester boat image flowed into place.  The inkiness of the water, the whiteness of the boat, the framing wharf, all just appeared.  9x12 oil on linen.

Re-arranging

Painting in a series can be exciting for an artist, because one discovers something that generates the next painting, and then the one after that, and on and on.  I'm thinking of Monet's haystacks and cathedrals, but also of Morandi's tin cans and jars, which he kept re-arranging all is life, and which express the deepest sensibility and human pathos.  It's that process that any artist can tap into.  This painting is 9x12 oil on linen.

Hard and Soft

What I like about this boat series is the opportunity to paint recognizable images, and also be quite abstract and loose with my approach to laying on paint at the same time.  This boat is the "Melanie Jean" from Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, but its image is also a means of using a different combination of colors applied variously.  The additional mixture of something 'hard' like a boat, with something 'soft' like water is also appealing to me.  The painting is a 9x12 oil on linen.

Boat Reflections

Boat reflections are so fascinating.  Where did that other boat come from, asked the little boy. 9x12 oil on linen.

Thinking of Boats

Lately, I've been thinking of boats, and painting boats.  These are lobster boats in Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine.  9x12 oil on linen.

East Gloucester from Rocky Neck

A view from Rocky Neck across the harbor to East Gloucester: a 20x24 oil on panel.  I acquired some frames a while back, so I have been painting to the frames.

A Musical Grand View

This long painting I conceived as if it were sheet music to be displayed on a piano, for a project supporting the Berkshire Music School.  Uncleverly, I call it "The Hills (of Williamstown) Are Alive...". It's a grand view of the mountains and hills from the top of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I always feel like singing when I am up there.  The painting is 12 x 40 inches, oil on panel.