Wharf Holes

This was the first boat painting from my time at Rocky Neck in Gloucester, MA.  The water level was slowly going down, so I blocked in the wharf first to preserve its relationship with the middle boat.  The "wharf holes" I found appealing, especially how they lined up with the boat windows.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Views Were Great

Mid-morning into mid-day two painters, Thor Wickstrom and me, hunkered down in the shadows under the trees, at the top of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA to paint the landscape.  It was not so hot in the shade, but the views were great.   12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

 

Rising With The Tide

The other day I found myself in a bar in the Northeast Kingdom in northern Vermont where the television was showing a golfer demonstrating how to hit a golf ball.   He had a multitude of tricks and gadgets to improve one's swing.  If only I could learn everyone of these tips, acquire everyone of these lessons, and absorb each of these ideas, I too could become a Master.  

The painting depicts parked boats rising with the tide at Marine Railways at Rocky Neck in Gloucester, MA.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Hint Of The Hopper

A few days ago I painted in a mowed hay field looking towards the Hopper, which is partially hidden.  I chose this particular spot because... of the shade, not necessarily for the great composition, but that seemed to work out as well: the hint of the Hopper, also with an opening to another hayfield way in the back, a simple composition with some complexity. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Gentle Lapping Sounds

A couple days ago I visited Mauserts Pond at Clarksburg State Park in Clarksburg, MA. While painting on the shoreline, the water made delightful, gentle, lapping sounds.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Paralleling

Another view of the Liberty Star in drydock at the Marine Railways in Gloucester, MA.  Her two masts are stretched out in front of her paralleling the rusty barrier. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

 

The Blue Sail

The Gloucester painter that I admire the most is Charles Movalli.  He could capture all the stuff that is visible without getting too specific, whether is was an old farm or a boatyard.  His paintings are like quick glances, which slowly acquire solidity and meaning.  They reward slow viewing.  This scene of part of a large, parked boat with a blue sail at the Marine Railways reminded me of his work.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Hauled In At High Tide

My mind is still in the boatyard nevertheless, as I count down the paintings I made there.  Large boats are hauled out of the water at high tide on wooden ramps for repairs.  The high vertical beams with narrow walkways and tall ladders that surround a large boat make for interesting compositions. 9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

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Cursory Markings

By the time I reached this point in the painting, it was raining.  I painted quickly to get there.  The cursory markings for the planks and concrete pit in the foreground effectively set off the more developed boat.  12x9 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Fragment

To paint this small boat I squeezed myself between the Marine Railways building and several other parked boats.  Its jumping fish profile was quite appealing.  Being so close to the boats, looming overhead, I quickly realized that my panel was too small to do what I wanted.  So this is a fragment.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel. 

Saved

It was a foggy, cloudy, rain-threatening day when I painted the Explorer IV.  The front end of the boat had a yard-long hole from hitting some rocks.   I was told that a water compartment at that location, capable of being shut off, and not usually found in such boats, saved it from sinking.

Liberty Star

The schooner Liberty Star from Boston was out of the water at the Gloucester Marine Railways last week. I witnessed the masts being re-installed but missed the boat being moved back into the water.  Later when we asked a crew member how it went,  he said that the boat was taking on a little water, a surprise to a novice like me, and we could see the pumps working.  He said the wooden boards shrink when the boat is out of the water, and all would be ok as soon as the hull was newly acclimated to the water.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Knowing The Ropes

When I first looked at this one back inside, I saw that I left off a couple of important ropes.  It's easy to look at something and not see it.  After repeatedly watching the fishermen tie and untie their boats, I had to put in a couple missing ropes.   9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Last One

The last of the eleven paintings done at the Marine Railways at Rocky Neck in Gloucester during this past week.  9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

Remnant

Looking down the Green River where it bends before an old stone wall.  Besides stone walls, there are remnants pedestrian bridges in this section of the river at Mount Hope Farm in Williamstown, MA.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

Falling

The Green River falling just before the bridge at Mount Hope Park in Williamstown, MA.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

A Deliberate Process

When I did this one I was perched on some rocks, so backing up to look at the painting had to be a deliberate process.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  

Painted Looking Down

A bend in the Green River at Mount Hope Farm where an ancient stone wall contains the flow: I painted looking down from the wall.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.  

Always On The Move

A view looking down the Green River at Mount Hope Farm in Williamstown, MA from a shady spot a couple mornings ago.  The Green River flows north on a meandering course into the Hoosic River in Williamstown.  The Hoosic ends up going into the Hudson River.  The river water is always on the move. 8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

PanAm Railways

A painting I'm reposting since I've tweaked it and re-photographed it.  A group of disparate items hang upon a not-so-evident gridwork, like rags on a clothesline.  It depicts the many-puddled yard of the PanAm Railways office next to the tracks and the bridge over the Hoosic River in North Adams, MA.  12x16 inches, oil on gessobord.

More Paint

 More boats, more paint.  9x12 inches, oil on linen mounted to panel.  

Suggesting And Implying

This painting experiments with paint suggesting and implying.   9x12 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Paradox Of Painting

Here I am trying to paint moving water in the Green River at Mount Hope Park in Williamstown, MA.

I've been reading the book Monet: Nature Into Art by John House.  He writes, "The idea of instantaneity, as Monet confronted it around 1890, reflects the ultimate paradox of the painter's practice, the point at which painting is forced to acknowledge its categorical disjunction from the perceived world: the work of art, produced over a period of time and viewed in time, transcends the instant which ostensibly it claims to capture."   8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.