Pottery Studio

 Pottery Studio, Pownal, VT.  9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.  A random view in the studio.

Further Along

Pottery Studio Sink, Pownal, VT. 16x12 inches, oil on linen canvas.  This one I decided to push further along, adding more paint, more definition and more contrast.

The Second Sink

Pottery Studio Sink, Pownal, VT.  12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  This is a second sink with a landscape view.  

Art and Nature

Entrance to the Pottery Studio, Pownal, VT.  16x20 inches, oil on linen canvas.  When I painted a plein air view of the studio entrance a month ago, I felt that the boundaries of the studio and nature were overlapping.  This is a studio painting with the same theme.

The Hot Kiln

The Hot Kiln, Pownal, VT.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  From my shady spot under a tree, I observed and painted the kiln, now cooling but still fiery hot at 1400 degrees, after the previous day's firing. 

 

The New Wood Pile

The Kiln and the Wood Pile, Pownal, VT. 12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  The weather allowed the sun to appear today, so I headed to the kiln to paint the new wood pile before it disappeared into the consuming fire.  The wood pile offers a nice contrast with all the surrounding green.

Everlasting

Open Gate, Pownal, VT. 12x12 inches, oil on linen panel.  The wind had its moments today moving my umbrella around and threatening to flip my easel. I wanted to paint this view because I like the shadows on the grass.  Something everlasting about them even though they move.  

 

Unlit and Aflame

The Kiln, Pownal, VT.  8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel. The other day I decided to push this painting a bit further on site:  a quiet, unlit place of fire amidst the flaming greenery of spring. 

The Kiln in Pownal

The Kiln, Pownal, VT. 8x10 inches, oil on canvas panel.  A second onsite painting from two days ago.

The Pottery Studio

The Pottery Studio, Pownal, VT. 12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.  The sun, the beautiful sun, stayed all day and kept moving across the sky in coordination with the shadows on the ground.  

Dooryard with Lilacs

Dooryard with Lilacs Blooming, Pownal, VT.  9x12 inches, oil on canvas panel.  A new painting venue, so of course I went for a complicated composition.  My initial goal is to include part of a structure in each painting (made when the sun appears).

There's Something

When I was last at Camp Sarsaparilla in Vermont I worked on this painting as well.  I took some liberties but the results seem to work.  There's something about the brilliant sunlight combined with the everchanging sky and the rhythm of the building contours.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.  

An Old Couple

Yesterday I went back to Vermont to apply more paint to this painting.  The day before I had to stop when the clouds rolled in.  The buildings are like an old couple.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

Pitching Side By Side

These two buildings, side by side, and not on the same level, are also pitched in opposing directions.  They have appealed to me since I first saw them, not only because of the pitching, but the distant view in between them.  The next time I paint them I will try a squarer panel.  They are located in Pownal, Vermont.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

More Obvious

A few steps away from where I painted on Tuesday in Vermont, looking in the same direction, I did this one making more obvious the "repoussoir", otherwise known at the big pine tree in the right foreground. 10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Hot And Muggy

The view yesterday from Camp Sarsaparilla in Pownal, VT, where even up high it was still hot and muggy.  10x20 inches, oil on linen panel.

Made In Vermont

This painting was made in Vermont yesterday.  The sky was flat and formed an interesting pattern with the huge tree on one side and almost fading into the barn on the other.  12x16 inches, oil on linen panel.

The Fragility of Things Beautiful

A painting about the fragility of things beautiful.  9x12 oil on linen panel.

A Great Advantage in Vermont

This afternoon I went to Pownal, Vermont to paint.  It was a bit windy but my gear stayed in place without my having to hold it while I painted, a great advantage.  You can see that it was a beautiful day.  12x16 oil on linen panel.

A Cloudy Day In Vermont

It was a generally cloudy day, with the sun making brief appearances, and a threat of rain always present somewhere in the sky.  But one cannot just decide to paint only on sunny days.  Well, you can.  But then you might not paint outside so much.

A question that keeps popping into my mind, I don't know why,  is something that I read a couple years ago:  can you imagine a color that doesn't yet exist?  It's like trying to look at your own eyes without a mirror (which I think came from Alan Watts). Or understanding painting?

This is a view looking north in Pownal, Vermont.  9x12 oil on panel.