Early Blues

"Early Blues"

6x6

Oil on Panel

starting bid $25

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I am hungry to go to Long Hill Reservation in Beverly when the blue flowers come out. There are thousands of siberian squill and scilla and they pop up everywhere. It was a beautiful day when I sat down and painted these nestled in some rocks at the base of a greening-up tree.

The Neighbor's Garden

"The Neighbor's Garden"

7x5

Oil on Panel

startng bid $50

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I was painting off the porch in Friendship and wanted to do another small painting before I closed down for the day. But I had been painting the harbor (to my right) all day and wanted something different. Lookng across the street, I saw a garden with irises I had not really noticed before, hidden as it was by trees and parking. I enjoyed painting this even though the rocks made me insane (only for a while!)

"Storm-Tossed"

"Storm-Tossed"

7x5

Oil on Panel

startng bid $25

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Well, sometimes I just want to play and this is a play piece - I will have a few more in a couple of days. Just enjoying pushing the paint around and all of a sudden a story emerged. The boat appeared and who knows just what will happen?

Inside the Shop

"Inside the Shop"

7x5 

Oil on panel

starting bid $65

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This little guy is the newest addition to the "Working Waterfront" series. Sometimes I like to work small, sometimes just do creative play. This started as one of those, but I really started to get into it and I like it and now it has formally been admitted to the group. I love the way the yellow and orange-red just bounce around the shop inside the window, and the way the ones in the window kind of shimmer. Hmm, I wonder what tha shop is like now, in the winter? Even with the little stove there, it must be awfully cold.

Daisies, Veronica, and Coreopsis

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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This was the first time I did a bouquet cluster with the purpose of getting the light on it. All the flowers are from my garden. It is amazing just how many you can cram into a 6x6 panel!

"Harbor Sentries"

6x6 oil on panel

framed with an exhibition quality 

light wood contemporary float frame

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When I was painting in Maine, I was remembering an exercise we did in Carol Marine's class where we counted our strokes. The purpose was to be thoughtful and clear exactly what we wanted to paint, how it would be painted and exactly what color so that we did not have to go back. The process is harder than you might think. So I tried it on this small harborscape I did in Rockport, Maine. This piece had about 50 strokes, total, and I am happy with the way it came out. I call it Harbor Sentries because the masts and posts look very much like guards. 

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

"Hidden Town Beach"

6x6 oil on panel

Framed with a high quality exhibit floating frame.

On Auction now: click here to bid.

Remembering good days in this one. I even have it in my office now, but I will give it up if you want to buy it! This painting is one from Rockport, Maine. I was at the little park on the harbor and near the building there. While I was there a schol bus brought a whole bunch of happy kids to swim at the beach that is hidden behind the spit of land in front. But the flag announces its location!

I was again trying to use my limited strokes, but this time I did not count them, just tried hard to make every stroke count. But I had a problem, the rain started and I was only half finished. I was able to finish it in the studio, however, and I like how it came out!

This piece is nicely framed with a contemporary float frame.

Daisies and Veronica on Green

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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Sometimes it feels good just to put a flower in front of me, light it up , and paint happily away. It's not a big important gallery painting, but these bring me a lot of joy!  I like the unusual composition that the curving veronica makes with the daisies off-center. This one makes me happy. Here, I am focusing on the light and I especially like it when I get further away and see the shadow on the background.

Lavender Delphinium

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $75

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Here's another ode to summer in the middle of winter. I think posting flowers is a good idea, don't you? Last summer, I was sad when a big storm knocked down all my delphinium just as they filled out. But the upside is I got to pick massive handfuls of them for the house. This one was lucky enough to go to the studio and get painted. I am getting excited about painting flowers with strong shadows from a strong close light!

"Checking the Traps" (Framed)

18x24

Oil on Canvas

Framed with light wood contemporary floater frame

sold

When I visited `Maine, I was taken by the working waterfront and it has become my primary subject matter now. The piece shows a couple of lobstermen checking their traps behind a field of buttercups in Friendship, Maine. Recently, I heard that the lobster boats built in Friendship are considered the best.

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.

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

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"You First"

6x6 oil on panel

Available at Auction on Daily Paintworks

Starting bid $89
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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.