In Search of Snow

Snow in Savoy, MA. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  Since there's no snow in the lowlands where I live, yesterday I traveled up to Florida and Savoy, MA in search of snow.  It's another world there, with deep snow on the ground and ice covering the trees.

St. Augustine Bungalow

A bungalow in Lincolnville, St. Augustine. 8x10 inches, gouache on mixed media paper.

Exploding Palm

An exploding palm on Riberia Street in Lincolnville, St. Augustine.  8x10 inches, gouache on mixed media paper.  

Disheveled Palm with Bungalows

A disheveled palm on a side street with bungalows in Lincolnville, St. Augustine. 8x10 inches, gouache on mixed media paper.

Palms on Riberia

Last April I made a small acrylic study of this view of palm tree shadows on Riberia Street in St. Augustine.  This is a larger oil painting.  16x20 inches, oil on linen canvas.

St. Francis Park

St. Francis Park, St. Augustine, Florida. 16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

On The San Sebastian River

When I was in St. Augustine, I made a number of small gouache paintings. Now I'm painting some larger versions in oil.  This is an abandoned boat on the San Sebastian River.  The egret really was there.  16x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Maria Sanchez

The view of Maria Sanchez Lake in St. Augustine facing south.  From the moment I saw the serpentine wall, I wanted to paint it.  I've read that the origin of the lake's name is old and unknown.  It also used to be a much longer creek, later filled in at the north end by the famous Mr. Flagler. 6x8 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter Carton board.

Palm Tree Shadows

Palm tree shadows on Riberia Street approaching Lovett Street in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, acrylic on Guerrilla Painter Carton board.

St. Augustine 19

A view looking out of Twine Park at the corner of Lovett and Riberia Streets in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on mixed media paper. 

St. Augustine 18

A view of Cerro Street from a shady spot at the parking lot of the Willie Galimore Recreation Center in St. Augustine.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on mixed media paper.

St. Augustine 22

Carl Judson of Guerrilla Painter suggested I try Guerrilla Carton as a gouache substrate.  Here's my effort depicting an old bungalow in the Lincolnville section of St. Augustine.  It is a nice surface to work on and stays flat too.  6x8 inches, gouache on Guerrilla Carton panel.

Seashore

I have always been attracted to the seashore. Who isn't? Yesterday I came across these words from Isaac Newton: "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

Check out the beach paintings of John Evans at painting perceptions. The painting perceptions site is rich with painters and paintings. That's where I first found Neil Riley.

The drawing has the same proportions as the pastel, but it's approximately 5x8, while the pastel is 8x10.

Beach

I made this quick, fast, and speedy, trying to keep an abstract quality. Does it work? I want to keep going in this direction, though I will stay on the shore. It's 8x10 on colourfix paper.

I recently came across a painter who does beautiful work that is very small, painterly and abstract: Neil Riley. Look him up.

Salt Preserve

I could have spent days in this place, a painter's paradise.

Back

It's hard getting back into the rhythm after being away for a week, but I am happy to be back. I have always loved those Dutch landscape drawings where the artist was located at some high point. This is a view of a salt marsh from a tower.