Hard To Reach

The Green River is quite narrow at this location, so runs fast.  I was told it's the site of a former inappropriately-placed beaver dam that was destroyed with heavy machinery.  I'm not sure how the machine reached it.  I could hardly get there on my feet.  8x10 inches, oil on linen panel.

Leftover Snow Patch

This afternoon I painted outside for a while across from the high school on Route 7 near Five Corners in Williamstown, MA, except I was far down the hill looking up, so you  probably wouldn't have seen me from the road.  I found a couple of bushes and just a bit of leftover snow along a fence separating a hay field from a devil-may-care field with a bunch of bushes and whatever.  This is a 6x9 oil on panel.

There Isn't Any Sun

Until recently I've shied away from painting on cloudy, rain threatening days.  The main reason is that there isn't any sun, but since there isn't any sun, the light remains constant for a long time.  This 12x16 oil on panel I did on the slope of a hillside off of Route 7 that faces the Hopper in Williamstown, MA near Five Corners.  There's an intervening stand of pines screening the mountains, and the horizontal Route 43 down below contrasts with the undulating mountains above in the distance.

Sunny and Windless at the Green River

This morning since it was sunny and a windless 18 degrees I went back to the Green River at Five Corners in Williamstown, MA, where the water bends into an "S".  I wanted to paint the sun reflecting off of the water. The result is this 9x12 oil on panel.  I picked this spot because I wanted to include the tree to counter the strong down flow of the water.

Impossible Painting

Some things are nearly impossible to paint.  This painting shows an "s" bend in the Green River in Williamstown, MA when the sun was striking the surface, a "contre-jour" effect, where I was facing the sun when painting.  The benefit is that the sun is not hitting my panel, but one can only hint at the intensity of the light.  The painting is a 9x12 oil on panel done a couple days ago.

Looking the Other Way

Another 9x12 oil on canvas painting of a view near Five Corners, from the same spot as the other painting posted a couple days ago, but this time looking in the opposite direction, north instead of south, which I did a while back but did not previously post.

Near Five Corners

A 9x12 oil on canvas painting I did a while back but never posted.  It depicts a spot near the Five Corners intersection of Routes 7 and 43.

Threefer

The top 9x12 oil on canvas I did this morning at Sweet Brook Farm.  The middle 9x12 oil on canvas I did at a spot to the right last Saturday at Sweet Brook Farm.  And, alas, I felt I had to revise just a bit the "Near Five Corners" 9x12 oil on canvas that I did earlier this week.

Painting outside can be a pain.  I had to take off my apron and my shirt at one point today to get rid of some stinging bug that was caught between the fabric and my back skin.  But suffering for art, it's ok.

The weather has been so glorious for the last week or so that I feel like I've discovered clouds for the first time.  Usually they bring rain.  I did some other work outside today, which hopefully will bear fruit in the next few days.

Near Five Corners on Wednesday

The sky was threatening, and the light was hazy, and I did exaggerate the incline of the mountains in the background, but that's how they appeared to me.  When I get back there later this week, hopefully it will be sunnier, and everything will of course look different.  Even the mountains will be less steep.

Back To The Hills

Back to the hills.  12 x 24 oil of the Five Corners site looking south towards Stony Ledge.

Five Corners Study

8x12 pastel.

Rudolf Arnheim writes: "The question is not, Why did Cezanne not use correct perspective? but,  Why should he have?  The tradition of naturalistic representation has made us forget that every pictorial device calls for justification--including the conformation to nature."

Five Corners View

Another in the series.  8x10 pastel.

Early Hopper

12x16 oil.

Hopper Study

I have always wanted to do a series of paintings of the spectacular view of the Hopper and Mt. Greylock from Route 7 near the Five Corners, but have shied away from it because ...  it's a spectacular view of the Hopper and Mt. Greylock from Route 7.   Scenic views don't always make for great paintings.   I could paint something like 7 x 10 feet large in the mode of Bierstadt, but I won't.   Though this view needs a bit more space than provided by the 11x14 oil above.   In any case,  I will attempt the series.  It's a beautiful spot, but also kind of sad, since the apple orchard seems to have been abandoned.

Near Five Corners

This one's actually all corners, corners of fields, mountains, house and road. 9x12 on colourfix suede.

I have been immersed in Emily Dickinson lately, reading through Helen Vendler's new book of commentaries. Emily must have been quite a character. When she said something, men responded, "What?"

She wrote:

The Inner - paints the Outer

The Brush without the Hand -

Its Picture publishes - precise -

As is the inner Brand -

I want to give this stanza my own meaning - in terms of painting on a surface other than the face and eyes.

Above Five Corners

You may say the view can't be real. I say it's one of the most incredible spots I know. By the way, if you think I am in an 8x10 rut, I plan on making some pastels in different sizes soon. The method behind my madness is that I want to be able to frame something quickly. I don't have time or inclination to cut mats, or make frames.