Stone Beach- Monhegan

I was going through some old sketchbooks and I found this little sketch that I realize now was the catalyst for my interest in painting rocks and cairns. One Summer in the late '90's my wife and I took the ferry over to Monhegan I. off the coast of Maine. I wanted to walk and paint in the footsteps of Kent,Bellows, Hopper, Wyeth and others in painting this beautiful Island.

We hiked all over the island and I was completely overwhelmed. The scenery was magnificent but nothing I did worked. I was still new to plein air .There was just too much to take in. The shapes just fell apart and whatever I did just seemed like bad calendar art. The temp was in the 90's and I had had it. We found ourselves on the west side of the island at the end of the day on a rock beach. I had put away my materials and just sat and admired the view.

After awhile I began to notice how the rocks fit together and I thought"what if I begin a drawing with ONE rock, not by taking in the whole scene." A drawing teacher I once had used to describe his drawings as "knitting", one stitch at a time. What would happen if I proceeded one rock at a time?

I began with the one small stone at the very bottom of the paper. I then drew the next one touching it, then the next and the next with no thought of outcome and composition and I actually started to feel pleasure in the act of drawing. The day went away. The scenery went away and I was totally into the moment. 9.5x7in. ink and watercolor

Bouquet

Pastel on sanded paper

18x26in.

The river bed along the Bouquet offers endless possibilities for color, shape, and texture. I will live with this one for awhile to determine how "finished" I want it to be.

Severn River Pine

I went down to Sherwood Forest MD last Sunday. The sky was almost cobalt blue and the Severn a deep shade of ultramarine. I usually am down here in the summertime when the colors are rich warm greens and cerulean blues. The river is a different color in the wintertime. Colors are simple, flat and stark. The weather has been so overcast this winter in Maryland. When there is a clear sky everything seems new. I walked by this pine and just happened to see the sun hit this crooked branch. That is what sparked the painting for me. Was it cold!

I finished the painting off in my warm studio using reference shots from my cell phone.Yeah technology.

oil on birch panel 10x10in. SOLD!

Plein Air show at Quiet Waters Park

Jan. 12 - Feb 14

Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis is showing the work of the Maryland Plein Air Painters Society. My little panel of the Idle River was accepted and is hanging with the work of many other landscape painters in the beautiful visitors center until mid Feb. All small works, they range from Annapolis scenes to Monhegan ME. Not a bad one in the bunch. (Painting pictured later sold in May 2010 at 49 West show)

Pink Rock-Bouquet River II

There are 3 things I enjoy about painting rocks, especially these rocks. 1st. It brings me back to the Bouquet River, finding my favorite site in the Hemlock forest on the way to Keene Valley. It's a place I discovered over a decade ago where the light changes from dappled yellow to green filtering in through pine branches and the forest floor is a silent carpet of burnt sienna pine needles with the suprise of a crimson salamander. The scent of balsam permeates the air and the sound of rapid water over the rocks make speaking impossible. 2nd. Constructing a rock painting is like building a stone wall. One has to work rock by rock so the pieces of the painting have to all fit together like an Adirondack fireplace. 3rd. I can be endlessly inventive with marks, lines, textures and even color as I work. My rocks are made of slashes, squiggles and many built up layers of calligraphic marks. Pastel gives me immediate freedom of color and gesture that describes for me the feeling of moving water. It may seem photographic from a distance but on closer inspection I try to be loose and very expressionistic. pastel on sanded paper18x26in.

CHAPEL POND TRIPTYCH

On our last day in the

Adirondacks in August I went out early in the morning painting with Bear Miller on the shore of Chapel Pond. It was a cloudy morning that threatend rain but never did. Clouds moved quickly across the sky.

12x36in. oil on birch panel

IDLE RIVER

This is the view I was painting in the photograph below. My goals were to flatten the trees into shapes and to capture the orange-yellow light of the setting sun reflecting off the boats. I also liked how the white sailboat in the shadows turned blue and had to keep waiting until the boat drifted into sideview.

12x12in. on birch panel. oil SOLD!