"The Survivor" (Framed)

Oil on Canvas

12x12

Framed in Contemporary Light Wood Frame

$590

I did this painting in Plymouth, right in the middle of the tourist area, with Plymouth Rock and the tour busses behind me. I had some time to paint, and was dropped off. Looking around this was what I chose. It was a lovely park on the waterfront, with large shade trees and great shadows. All that beauty, and I was drawn to this small tree, bent, twisted, and pruned until there was just one limb left. Maybe I felt a kinship....Later I found out that the tree has a huge fan club, who came out in huge numbers to prevent it from being torn down, and that it is photographed more than the Mayflower! Also people come out and water it in the winter. I guess it's struggle and survival touches us all.

I wish I had painted all fishing boats, but there is a pleasure boat there. I would have called it The SurvivorS, because of the struggle the fishermen have now and how many of them have quit.

Vermont Treeline, Early Autumn

4x6

Watercolor

$140

This tiny piece was done sitting in the car....on a crisp autumn day in Woodstock, Vermont that was too windy to go outside. It's another small gem I found in my treasure hunt, and I have always loved the simplicity of it. I particularly like the way the evergreens stand out. I always enjoy that part of fall, seeing them return after being hidden by all the deciduous trees. They are like the bones of the landscape. Now it's your chance to own it!

Fall into Winter

5x7

Oil on prepared Paper

Auction 

$50

I had totally forgotten about this one, too, before I unearthed it recently. I cannot remember where I painted it, but I think it was out of my back window when I moved to Vermont. I love the rich colors and the feeling of transition.

Spine of the Forest

Spine of the Forest

7x5

Watercolor and Prismacolor

$140

This is a second piece discovered lurking in my drawer that I decided I like. It was done from the forest floor found at Haystack Mountain School Of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. The amazing boreal forest there is rich in lichens, mosses, roots, balsams, ferns, and  tiny sea urchins dropped by the gulls. It is a most wonderful collage. I love walking there and especially love the roots that ladder the surface in wonderful twisting ways and they spread over the massive rocks and ledges. 

"Rainbow"

 "Rainbow"

about 5x7

watercolor on watercolor paper

$50

OK, Now I am going to have some fun here. Because I am working on large work for an upcoming show, I have not done small paintings in a while. Recently I cleaned my studio and made some cool discoveries of great little work that I have never posted. I am putting these up for auction at low starting prices so that they can find a good home! So much better than sitting in a drawer!

This one's title came easily. I think I did it while experimenting with new watercolors.

"Above and Below"

Above and Below

20x20

oil on canvas

Original Sold

Now available as a giclee on paper or canvas

One of my all-time favorites, I wanted to put this up again to share it with you. It is one of my "Coastal Sunrise " series of paintings that I did in Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, ME. The amazing sunrise just filled every inch of my being and the incredible quiet space between the layers of clouds above and below drew me in. It was the first to sell of the series, and I spirited it away from the show over the day the gallery wasn't open so that I could get it digitally captured to make giclees. They are now available in a range of sizes and in both canvas and paper. The giclees are a perfect match for color with the original. I also have some cards made from the design. Please e-mail for details.

On Native Land (Framed)

20x20

Oil on Canvas

Framed with Contemporary Natural Wood Frame

$950

This piece was painted standing high on the cliff near the GayHead lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard. The amazing cliffs underneath the lighthouse are multicolors of clay. The land is fragile, and the cliffs are falling into the sea at an amazing clip. I read recently that the lighthouse is likely to be lost because there is not enough land to move it. Nearby there is a new Native American Museum. I felt I could see forever here. 

Blue and White Boat

Oil on Prepared Paper

7.5 x11 plus mat and frame

$390

Archival mat and contemporary natural frame 

This piece is a great memory one for me and it is getting reframed and is on its way to the gallery, unless someone buys it first!  I was taking a summer painting class at U Mass Dartmouth and we were supposed to stay on campus to paint, which was primarily a solo undertaking. We would go out, do our thing, then return to the studio for an extensive critique. One day I escaped and discovered a wonderful out of the way boat yard. It was full of old boats and weeds, gravel roads and had a wonderful view of the ocean. I came back day after day, doing painting after painting. This was one of my favorites and is the first image I ever used on a business card. The little blue and white boat sits waiting patiently for its owner.

Much later, I went to revisit "my" boatyard. It was totally cemented over with all the boats parked in neat rows and unwelcoming signs. I was so lucky to discover it when I did!

"Painting Motif #1"

8x10

Oil on Prepared Panel

framed

$295

It was the first day of my painting outdoors season. I went to my favorite place, Rockport, and decided to start with a classic, Motif #1. It was very cold by the sea. Because it was the first time that year, I forgot stuff. Like my solvent. Like my white paint.Like my gloves. I did the best I could but it remained in my studio for two years and every time I looked at it, I could feel the chill in the air. This week, I took it out and dressed it up and warmed it a bit, allowing some bells and whistles, including a bit of white paint. I don't know if I like it better of not! Comments welcome. It doesn't look quite so chilly now. 

Women With Cello and Violin

6x6

Oil on Panel

This is my second paint sketch from my morning of painting at the open rehearsal of Music at Eden's Edge, the chamber music ensemble. There were four members of the group present and I was positioned to get the cello and violin player most directly. 

I have a history of figure drawing, most artists do, and it seems that returning to it is like coming back to the place where you can get renewed, or maybe, made humble again....... You can also get pretty frustrated with figures, because the slightest movement and everything changes. I found that I would try to really see a specific movement, shape, color, light, and put it down, trying to catch the essence of it. If it didn't really go with the next one, because of time and movement of the model, somehow it generally works OK it it is authentically drawn/painted from something clearly seen. I think it may be time to do more of this!

Woman With Cello #1

6x6

oil on panel

I had an opportunity today to paint a chamber music ensemble, Music at Eden's Edge  at the North Shore Art Association in a "really open rehearsal" open for listening and for artists to paint and draw. 

It was an absolute delight and I did two paint sketches. I haven't had time to determine if they are finished so I will not price them at this time, but I wanted to share them. Now, it is a challenge to paint figures, and I haven't done it for some time, and it is even more of a challenge when they are moving, and playing their instruments! I was particularly taken with the cello player in her white dress. I kept remembering a May Sartom poem: 

"Girl With Cello" by May Sarton

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow

To bring into this house her glowing cello

As if some silent, magic animal.

She sat, head bent, her long hair all a-spill

Over the breathing wood, and drew the bow.

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow.

And she drew out that sound so like a wail,

A rich dark suffering joy, as if to show

All that a wrist holds and fingers know

When they caress a magic animal.

There had been no such music here until

A girl came in from falling dark and snow.

"I Told You That They're Not Mine

6x6 oil on panel

Sold

It was hard to set up the composition of this piece but deciding to use the 5x7 rather than the 6x6 worked for it. I like that the little bird is denying parental ownership of the limes.

"Red Boat"

6x6 oil on panel

$295

It's a good idea not to get too complacent. At all......It was my last day in Rockland. I had struggled all week to put the learnings from Carol Marine's class into my normal way of working, and had finally had a pretty good day on Thursday. So I took on this boatyard (see below) I LOVED the way the tugboat in drydock contrasted with historical and contemporary vessels both in and out of the water. Well, first my panel fell into my palette. Then I had to bungee everything because of the wind. And when I started painting, it was like painting with stickum on formica. I was painting on a surface I did not realize was extra slick. It was awful, but I kept plugging. The "drawing" part was very hard, getting all the parts in scale and place.Three hours later, I finally had a basic cover on the panel and quit. Trust me, you will not see this one., it was really bad. So I had to end the week with something I could handle successfully. 

So I turned around and found the little red sailboat, waiting patiently for me in a small cove. Simple, straightforward, kinda sweet. Ahhhh. at last. A better ending to my two weeks in Maine.

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

"Friendship Harbor Walkway"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89

to bid click here

"You First"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89
click here to bid

Well now I know that that tall pear is a bully. Look what he is doing today! Pushing her ahead of him into the copper bowl so that she can take the brunt of the unknown! Even the color is kinda evil.

"When Push comes to Shove"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89

click here to bid

OK, those red pears looked so well behaved yesterday, but today one has become much more domineering. I love how these items take on new lives all their own, depending on how you place them. There's always a story somewhere. They are close, next to each other, but definitely at odds and the one in the back looks like a bully to me. 

"Red Pears and Cherries"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89

to bid click here

Finally! It's the first piece I did back in my home studio after my Carol Marine workshop and after my week painting plein aire in Maine.  I have always loved the beautiful red pears and the glow and sparkle of cherries so I chose to do them first. The hardest part was the white oval soap dish the pear is sitting in. It's hard enough to get an elipse from a round object, and now an oval is something else entirely. But I am happy with this. I do not know how long I will do still life this way. Currently it is a good way for me to solidify the learning I had in the workshop. But I also find I am looking at landscape and florals differently so let's all just watch this new direction unfold!

"Hot and Sweet"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $69

click here to bid

This is another piece I did in Carol Marine's class in Maine. Let's just say that this was a challenge. Any idea just how many yellows are in that yellow pepper? Especially if you had to wipe it all out and start over. I like the way the peppers seem to be having a conversation, trying to come to something in common.

"Aglow"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $69

click here to bid

It's the first of the new work! This was the last painting I did in Carol Marine's Boothbay Harbor class in Maine. I think I like the joy and the energy it has best of all those I did. Stay posted and you will see some more!

Two Yellow Daisies (Matted)

7.5x5 oil on prepared paper, archivally matted

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $69

to bid, click here

Oh, it's a classic. I have been using this image since 1997 for card sets; it is a favorite in the green ribbon set on etsy.  It is simplicity and joy; who couldn't love two yellow daisies? Still available as an original.

This piece is archivally matted to 12x14 for a nice presentation. This image, as are the other small florals, is part of "A Year in Bloom" a series of 365 paintings I created one year. Many of these images are available as blank cards, and I have 10 card sets (sets of 5 different blank cards) available on Etsy.