Monhegan Inspiration

View from Fish Beach Lane, Monhegan Island, ME. 12x16 inches, oil on linen canvas.  My inspiration for this painting of these two structures is the great version of the same buildings by Charles Movalli, which he did from a slightly different angle.  

Fish Beach View

The view from Fish Beach on Monhegan Island.  My inspiration is the masterful painting of this view by Charles Movalli. 14x18 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.

Controlled Chaos

This is a 12x12 oil on panel, which I worked on for a span of two days.  I stood in a shady spot looking into the pond.  Most of the view is water.  Charles Movalli called painting "controlled chaos".  I was trying to achieve a controlled chaos, from the chaos of a pond surface, on the surface of a panel.  The view looks down the pond to where there's an old barn.  The outline of the pond has been described as like a pair of sunglasses.  In the center of the painting you can make out the nose on which the sunglasses sit.

Change and Tradition

Another Gloucester pastel, this on an 11x14 on pastelbord.  I can understand why seaports and boatyards have always attracted painters.  Where else can you find colorful and shapely man-made objects surrounded by sky and water?  And there's always the patina of age, and other aspects of change and tradition.  I went to Gloucester to see an exhibition of paintings by Charles Movalli, a great painter who died last year.