wind

I used to think that cold was the enemy of the outdoor painter but have decided that it is definitely wind......even with the weight I have attached to the tripod of my easel, there are some days when it is just really hard to paint outside. I thought I had found a fairly protected spot (and it was) but I probably would have had better luck staying in. The sky was wonderful though and despite chapped hands and the fact that I am still trembling somewhat it was worth it. This 6x10 panel was done from across the harbour from Tiverton.

the last stand 2

I wish I could claim credit for figuring this out on my own but, alas, I cannot. My daughter (sensing my agony) told me obtain a free program called "picasa" and it worked! I am very grateful. In addition to it working, their "help" made sense.......I am stress free.

the last stand

I painted this farm stand nearly totally in shadow.......... the name of the post is the name of the place. I didn't realize just how windy it was until I tried to set up at the beach after I finished with this. The weather is just so beautiful I don't even feel like coming inside......storing up small paintings to finish over the winter or to use for larger work. I spent nearly an hour yesterday trying to reduce the image size (or whatever you call it so you can click on the photo and have it all fit on the screen) of my pictures and was unable to do it.......the help section was absolutely no help so I will keep trying!

Westport Rivers Winery

The plein air group gathered at the winery this morning for our last scheduled meeting of the year. I tried out one of the new 8x10 panels and like the birch better than the luan (sp?). This house is on the property and must be a part of the winery.........the light was nice anyway even though it changed tons as I was painting it.

long drive, bad photo

I got home this afternoon after a great visit with my dad and sisters............I stretched canvases and primed some of the 50 birch panels my dad and I made after I got home. It was so darn easy to make the panels with a table saw!!!! My sisters and I picked a TON of apples from a tree in my NY sis's back yard........so I will be making alot of apple based concoctions from them. I will probably also take some to a local orchard to see what variety they are since they are awesome and like nothing I have ever tasted before...........the tree is really old and the apples are completely untreated and look kind of ugly. I am posting a 10" square study from a stormy day at Seapowet......not the greatest photo but it's gone and I can't get another. It was weird to get home and realize that it still looks like summer here and is total fall in upstate NY.

Coastal Roasters 9X12

Thank goodness I felt much better this morning..........I did stay out of the fields, however, and parked across the street from this neat coffee roasting place in Tiverton. This shop smells absolutely wonderful because, as their name implies, they roast coffee.....lots of different fair traded and organic coffees. Today is my son's 32nd birthday (hard to believe) so.......happy birthday, Brendan. I am off to visit my dad in NY tomorrow morning so I won't be posting for a couple of days since it's hard to drive and paint at the same time!

forgotten picture

I felt so crummy today I had to stay inside..............5 days of continuous painting in the midst of fields triggered a major allergy attack last night. Luckily as I get older the allergy symptoms seem to become less severe but I guess I really pushed it this last week. Anyway, I discovered a painting that I had not posted - the photo isn't great but I can't take another since this picture is in the gallery at the moment. This 11x14 is oil/linen and juried into the Little Compton summer show. I am eyeing the benedryl and hoping I will be all better by tomorrow.

green, green, green

I met a couple of painters from the Westport Art Group this morning..........it truly is fun to explore this area. I had a bunch of trouble photographing this 11x14 picture; it is much more effective in life. I don't feel very chatty today and absolutely must wash the kitchen floor......plus, the fog has moved in and I can't work on the afternoon picture I began on Sunday and hoped to finish today.

Judy's dunes

We went to this fantastically beautiful area of dunes in Westport this morning; another place I have never been (it's private access). This spot is at the very end of Horseneck Beach and would be accessible by walking down the beach if one felt like lugging their stuff about a mile. I love hiking into a spot, even one on a hillside, but sand is another matter since I always manage to get everything all gritty and the wind is invariably strong enough to make it difficult to carry a really wet canvas back. It was a pretty wonderful last morning of summer - this picture is 11x14.

ah, parking!

This morning I decided to go to one of the private beaches that are inaccessible in the summer. I went pretty early and no one was around - the woman who owned the beach club showed up at about 10 and was pretty annoyed that I hadn't asked her if I could paint on her property (and I hadn't even parked there)! She let up a bit when I told her I would have asked if she was there and offered to leave; she said I could stay and told me that she had had a bad experience with an art group not asking her permission and then leaving the place a mess. I finished the small picture but lost the feeling I had when I got started and kind of felt like she was keeping an eye on me, waiting for me to drop some trash. I went out after lunch and started another picture parked in a Bank of America parking lot - no problems there.

stairs

I helped a friend begin to move today..........third floor stairs and lots of boxes! I didn't get home until after 5 so I am posting the figure study I did on Wednesday since I am too tired to begin working on anything. I hemmed and hawed a bit about showing this but decided to go for it and show how much I struggled with this particular pose.......it is quite obvious from the picture. The view I chose was very foreshortened and, by the first break, I thought I had it but of course the light changed and the pose changed a little and I had to regroup. I feel like I would have been better off sticking with drawing this pose rather than painting it since I was so busy trying to figure out the structure of the body. I have always been very grateful for the classical art education I received and feel that the less I get in my own way by not understanding what I am seeing the better. When I was in college it was very out of fashion to draw and paint realistically; I am glad that the pendulum has swung back and there is renewed interest and appreciation for classical training.

farmland

I stretched a linen 11x14 this morning in anticipation of painting a particular charter boat..............I thought it only went out on weekends but today is so nice and it was gone. I ended up going across the street from Seapowet near a field full of the biggest winter squash I have ever seen........I loved the way the plants spilled over the edges of the field and the way the wind turned their leaves so the whitish undersides showed.

what a different day

I went out to explore, hike and paint this morning after waking up at 5am. I ended up at Simmons Mill in Little Compton..............I have never stayed to paint there before because the place is posted with a million signs warning all who enter wear at least 200 square inches of fluorescent material. What luck that today it is not yet hunting season and I felt safe enough to hike in about a mile and paint. I am growing more comfortable with the 8x10 size. The sky was wonderful and the air was actually chilly following yesterday's warmth.

early start

I am posting yesterday's picture early today.........off to figure group at the Westport Art Group and then to find an afternoon spot if it's not raining too hard. This is a study and is 8x10......on an archival canvas panel. I usually try to finish things when I get home but find that these panels remain so wet that I have to wait a bit. I am unsure if this is because there is no air circulation from the back and no absorption from the front.........at any rate, if I try to manipulate the surface I simply pull the paint off.

searching

I have decided that I have to move from my current apartment. I have been looking on Craig's List and, boy, do I have an awful headache. I don't understand how anyone can stand being on the computer all day long. I started out painting near Colt State Park in Bristol today (which was awesome) and then came home for "the search." My reasons for this decision are many: not enough light, ceilings that are so low I can't fully extend my easel, little maintenance by the landlord (dingy 60's style kitchen) and, finally, I detest the people that live above me (the reasons being too many to list even though I doubt they are computer literate and I have never given them my business card). I am posting yesterday's 8x10 study and taking some advil!

turtles

The title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with today's post but I was amazed that I saw three turtles trying to cross the street in different places on my way home from painting.....they were all huge. I did two paintings today, the first in Russell's Mills and then the second somewhere in Dartmouth at an ice cream place named Salvatore's Ice Cream. This painting is 16x8.......I worked pretty fast.

study/new painting

I thought I would post a small study (8x10) for a painting I am contemplating........I have worked out most of the issues and will probably begin as soon as I have finished the farmer's market picture. I am really trying (as I have for some time) to think compositionally and be able to work small as well as large........might end up adding some additional foreground and make the picture more square. The sun has begun to appear after two days of torrential rain and the world should be pretty dry by tomorrow morning.

inside today..........

I was about to go paint outside today when it started pouring.............too bad since the light was quite magical. I've been working on the farmer's market picture and have made progress but am posting a rececnt figure study rather than another "progress report."

citrus vendor - 16x20

This painting is one that I am working on from a photo I took in Medellin, Colombia. There are tons of all types of street sellers there (also tons of military & police which can inhibit one's photo taking). I took pictures from the window of the hotel I stayed in with my daughter...........very clean and well maintained despite the fact that it was a lover's hotel with most rates set by the hour. I decided to work inside today beacuse my allergies are terrible and I was waiting for a UPS delivery of paint (which didn't come) so I took some photos of stuff that is in progress in addition to trying to finish things.

color experiment

I decided to ignore my usual way of working at figure group this morning because I have been tending too much towards earth tones recently. Mixed results, but I could see the possibilities and if I am going to paint for the long poses I might as well not simply draw in paint..............I will probably go back and forth depending on my mood.

last day for the lobster

The picture I posted this morning was from yesterday...............then I went out to paint. Imagine my surprise when I got to this spot (a place I have been intending to paint for some time) and was informed that this historic sign was being taken down today! Since I love this thing so much, I decided to post it on the actual day it was taken down.......my own little 9x12 tribute. The building is for sale (approx. 4 mil.) and the owner was afraid it would not hold up to an approaching storm - the guys who were taking it down said several people had tried to buy it just this morning. At least it will be preserved and kept by the owner; there are so few of these gems left.

power plant

I started this one the other day.............11x14 and of the view of the power plant that I see from the end of my street. I am still working on the chimneys but had to let things dry a bit before continuing.

the poor farm

I painted this place in the winter and loved it but couldn't seem to find it again............I finally did and was thrilled to see that they have a community garden. My goal today was to simply practice painting greens, something that the garden had in abundance. I am making progress but am unhappy that everything still seems so yellow to me. I also took a picture of their sign since I thought what they do with the produce was so great. The location is now named the Westport Town Farm rather than the poor farm; more politically correct I suppose.

friend day

Two of my dear friends came to visit me today to go out to lunch and I went to the farmer's market this morning.........then, after my friends left I processed what seemed like a TON of tomatoes from my garden. I just realized it was after 6 and I had not posted. I will post yesterday's unusual painting tomorrow after I have made some refinements.............so, today, a potrait study of my favorite model.

sachuest point

I met up with some other painters yesterday to paint at Sachuest wildlife refuge - it's always nice to paint with other people even if you barely speak or are quite a distance apart. Even in wonderfully safe places you can draw unwelcome/creepy visitors...........most people are quite appropriate and respectful but there are those rare ones. I might be more sensitive because of my former career (and the fact that I did receive some promises that they would "find me when they got out of prison"). Besides that unpleasant fact, it is just fun to discover new places and views. I now need to discover how to reduce the image size of the photos I post...........I just found out about this feature and could have done it if I still had photoshop but I cannot figure it out using the windows photo gallery.

monkey face

I have taken to calling the smallest girl in this painting by the above title............of course she will not remain "monkey-face" for long but her face looks like a monkey at the moment. I am going out painting later today so worked on this picture this morning (I posted it at an earlier stage a couple of weeks ago).

perfect weather

I couldn't bear to be inside painting the figure this morning when it was just soooo gorgeous outside. I am getting bolder about going on to private property - after asking of course. This 11x14 picture was done from the parking area of Quality Yacht Sales in Tiverton. The man in the office was very nice and just warned me to stay off an area of docking that is unsafe..........I don't know why I have always been so reticent about driving into areas that are posted "private" since people are usually quite accomodating and interested. I did find an awesome place in Fall River that I couldn't paint at due to "homeland security" - the security guard was quite nice, however.

The theme of this picture is one that I have tried in the past but always wiped off.........pilings in front of a water scene.

portrait sketch

I am chafing at the bit to get outside today.........beginning of the month business stuff has kept me trapped inside. Already I feel the impact of decreasing light that fall brings!