Keene Valley Raku

 

Here are some pictures of my latest batch of Raku vases based on birch bark from Keene Valley. I actually used a piece of downed birch log from the Trails End Inn to create the texture. I make them intentionally rough instead of trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) because I still want the nature of the clay to be apparent and when you see birch resting on the ground it really looks like this.  I also created a tile based on my ink drawing of a forest scene. It came out very calligraphic and abstract. I like it.   

Portrait of an Artist (as a Young Man)

 Last winter my friend Bear Miller painted my portrait. Here I'm getting him back.  11x14 pastel.  Working in pastel is the best. You can layer, erase, scrape, brush off,  wash. Much more forgiving than oil.

Morning Cloud

 At dawn in Keene Valley I grab a coffee and walk to a small pond where they used to harvest ice in the old days. It's right across from the local school. This particular morning a cloud hovered over the pond and dissipated as the sun rose and  revealed the mountains behind. I chose to focus on the cloud before it disappeared because it seemd such an ethereal presence. 11x17in pastel

Crooked Tree, Johns Brook

 Johns Brook is a boulder strewn, fast running river in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks. This tree is a survivor, twisting its own path to the sun. 11x14in pastel.

New paintings

 Moving Cloud -pastel 11x14in

this is the view from the field at Keene Valley Central School at dawn. I noticed this  pinkish cloud rise up in an arc and disappear in the sun.

 

 

HIDDEN 12x 24in oil

At Chapel Pond near Keene Valley, NY a fallen tree

lies hidden under the surface like a sleeping giant.  

 

White House, Blue Shadow  9x12in oil