October Afternoon -West Cornwall Bridge

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on board (Raymar)

This took a bit of maneuvering downstream to catch this view. The sun was getting lower in the late afternoon sky & I wanted to see if there were any other places along the river that caught my eye. So I did a bit of climbing down the rocks to catch the light on the distant shore beyond the bridge. The shadow work of tree limbs made interesting patterns along the red bridge. This is supposedly the "most photographed" covered bridge in CT. I believe it. There was a crowd of people there for just that purpose! Another perfect autumn afternoon....great road-trip, great views.

This painting is not for sale, just yet. Please contact me if you are interested in it - roxannesteed@gmail.com

New England Colors - sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

This past Sunday afternoon, we went on another drive - a "leaf-peeper" trip. I was actually interested in the covered bridges in the Litchfield area, and it had been many years since I'd spent much time over there. I got way more than I set out for. The light that day was beautiful- a perfect fall day! The maples are just getting past their peak color...some beginning to drop.....and many oaks are still green. But the sky was a cool crisp blue and it's definitely 'sweater' (maybe even jacket) weather! The afternoon sun on the side of this older colonial psinted earthy green was such a pretty contrast to the orangey-red leaves. I am delighted at the color surrounding me lately!

Dawn, Breaking Light on the Greenhouse (Harkness Park) - sold

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on board (Raymar)


This evening I put the finishing touches on this painting that I started yesterday. The morning that I went out to the greenhouse at Harkness Park was pre-dawn. I had planned to see the sun come up & move across everything along the shore line before it rose up high in the sky. It was incredible to see as it came across the fields & hit the face of the old turn of the century greenhouse. The panes of glass reflected the most beautiful warm colors while the rest of the surrounding atmosphere was that pre-dawn mauvy sky. At that time of day it seems like your eyes just begin to see color - everything is muted by the remainder of night....getting pushed away by the day.

Autumn Riot! - sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

Oohh - I love to see what my neighbors have on their porches during my morning walks! I take my camera with me most days, just in case there is that amazing shot along the way. On the next street back from us is another cedar shingled house with this huge pot of mums & a pumpkin next to it...almost the same color. When the morning sun hits it - all the color elements from yellow to almost deep purple in the shadows are found in this riotous heap of blossoms! Just another reason to love fall besides the colorful trees!

Glow of Early Evening- sold

3"x4.75" oil on gessoed board

I love late afternoon into early evening type of light. When it comes across the marsh & hits these 2 barns near us- the place just lights up....and lasts for just a few sweet moments of just a few certain days.....oh, to linger in it's glow - what a delight!!

Welcoming Arms of Autumn - sold

8"x8" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

One of the last places we stopped on our "Sunday drive" was Salem Valley Ice Cream. Usually this is a summer time stop for us, an old favorite we've been coming to back when the kids were little & still living at home. We weren't sure if it would still be open at the end of the "season". (okay, I'm laughing at this since I grew up in Florida - there is no 'season' for ice cream or iced tea for that matter). Well, indeed all that's left at the end of the season is vanilla, strawberry, and 'apple-pie' ice cream! So of course I had to try the apple-pie ice cream. There are picnic tables out on the small lawn to finish off your cone & across the way is a field edged by trees, and this one big beautifully shaped tree with branches reaching like welcoming arms in the golden late afternoon light. What a pleasant way to spend the last bit of weekend!!! and ice cream out of season?? indeed!!

New England Gothic - sold

11"x14" oil on linen mounted on board (Raymar)

New England Gothic (unfinished)

11"x14" oil on linen mounted on board (Raymar)

Yesterday's road trip led to some interesting painting subjects! The leaves up here are about at their peak. Some are dropping & some are still green. Along our drive we headed toward Haddam. There is this old church that looks quite like the little gothic bird houses that they sell at garden centers - for decoration...I loved the look of it surrounded by this blast of orangey-red tree. It's almost done...a bit more to go. That will be tomorrow's job!

Ponderings of Sanctuary - sold

12"x12" oil on canvas

This is from a favorite hiking place of mine, over in Rhode Island. This little pond is on a side trail & the brilliant colored fall leaves reflect into the pond. From the tiny study of this I did last week, I have been wanting to play with this image again in a somewhat larger format.

Wet Woods, Hudson River - sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

Have you ever taken a walk in the woods when it's raining? Or at least a misty drizzle? The wet tree bark looks so dark & the leaves look so fresh & green! This is from my retreat last week to the Hudson River Valley. This bit of woods is at the top of the slope leading down to the Hudson River. The path is so inviting. If only I had brought my "wellies", I could have been slogging around for hours without getting wet feet!

New England Shoreline, Autumn - sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"Typical New England" and one of my favorite shoreline scenes in the fall. When we go hiking over at Bluff Point State Park late in the afternoon, the sun illuminates the opposite shore over at Groton Long Point. Trees are beginning to turn their fall colors. Too bad it's followed by a winter that lasts so long! I guess that's the price you pay!

Frederick Church's Favorite View (Olana Over the Hudson) - sold

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

From last week's visit to the Hudson River Valley...On one of the days when the rain was barely a mist, I took my husband over to Olana, the home of Frederick Church. He designed this incredible home atop a hill overlooking the Hudson. The most incredible views were from his studio - which he had added on to the home in his later years. Brilliant, fortunate man!

Sunrise on the Hudson (Holy Cross Monastery) - sold

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

The second morning of my stay at Holy Cross Monastery last week, I was up before dawn & wondered if we'd have rain again. The sky was covered in that same dark slab of gray - heavy rainclouds. But over the distant horizon, there was a slender break in the sky, and when the sun began to rise, just clearing the far treeline, it began with pink light stretching through that part of the sky, and the piercing diamond briliance of the sun itself. There was only a narrow place for it to rise before being blocked for the day by that slab of raincloud just above. I had been in the moody dumps looking at that raincloud, almost allowing myself to wallow in the misery of the thoughts of a long, dark winter beginning. The incredible daybreak....that I swear was 'sneaked' in just for me - was like a promise of better things, just hang in there through the much needed rain. So it was bright for a moment, when the sun found that space in the clouds to shine through and spread beautiful colors across the sky. Once it continued to rise it was well behind the big slab of those heavy rainclouds. But I kept that sunrise in my memory (and in this painting)- I can't tell you how good it made me feel to think of that all through that rainy day!

Pearly, Silvery Light; Rain on the Hudson - sold

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

On Wednesday, it rained the whole day. Just a steady drizzle, sometimes slowing to a continual mist, then in the evening a heavier rain. Made for good sleeping. I was staying at the Holy Cross Monastery on the Hudson River with my husband. Since I really didn't want to stand out in the rain to paint, I painted the view from our 3rd floor window in the guesthouse overlooking the Hudson River. The light outside and in was a cool, pearly, gray. We both came on a retreat - a time to mark the separation of our old military life and our new one to come. I also came in somewhat sleep deprived and found the separation from computers, phones, household grind and such weird at first, but essentially liberating. And I caught up on sleep, and became aware of the important routines essential to a calm, balanced life.....yeah, with God holding the heavy end of the balance.... learned a few things about myself as well.....

Yellow Dahlia - sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

Here is one of the last dahlia's I saw recently at one of my walks at Harkness park. they have a tough time protecting them against the deer, but there was a beautiful selection of them that had not been touched!

Sanctuary on the Pond-sold

4"x4" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

Oh, how I love the ones that "just fall off the brush". This little painting was a joy. Just as there are some places that I have hiked that are this type of joy. This is an area up in Rhode Island, Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge. Along one part of the hiking path, there was a short side path that led to this little bit of the pond, surrounded by trees that were beginning their autumn changes! The reflection in the pool was like the most beautiful stained glass. Lilly pads and fallen leaves added to the effect. Quiet, but for bird sounds, gentle rustling of trees and grasses, I felt like I was in a private chapel, surrounded by trees, but open to the heavens- part of God's creation. While men have created some amazing interior spaces, this was truly a sanctuary, and a reminder of why we need to protect our wild places on this planet. These spaces are truly our gift from God.

This little painting is a study for a larger painting I'm planning. Now I can't wait to begin!!

I hope to get another post in tomorrow before I leave on my 'retreat'. We are going to be staying over in New York on the Hudson River for a week. Yes, I'm taking my paint box, my husband has scoped out some great views for me! I don't think I have internet access where I'll be though, so there will be no "Cheer Factor" emails going out this week. (computer withdrawal is a difficult thing for me to face, ha!!). But I will be coming home with some great new landscapes, I'm looking forward to this!

Corn! - sold

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

Another 'small' one! they are fun for me to paint, especially on days when I have many other "chores" to finish.

This is somewhat abstract impressionism, I really focused on the color shapes in this one, then came back to have more brushwork in the focal area. I gather source material when I am out on my daily walks or hikes. I love painting landscapes - they extend the joy of being outdoors. But sometimes I come across interesting shapes & design elements out there in the 'great outdoors'. It's fun to focus on the abstract elements as well.

Golden Fields of Grasses - sold

11"x14" oil on oil primed linen mounted on professional artboard (Raymar)

I love walking down a path through tall waving grasses. This is the season they are golden. Day by day they fade to the lightest straw color, as they dry the wind rustles them in vast ripples across the field. Ah the sounds of autumn approaching!

Sunlit Farmhouse - sold

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on Profesional artboard (Raymar)

I am still dealing with computer issues. I can't use Firefox as my browser & upload pictures for some reason, it keeps freezing me out. So I have to use mac's Safari - I am stumbling through this, grouchy as can be at having to waste sweet time re-learning something that I already liked in the Firefox application.

This is one of the farmhouses you see down along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It is one of my favorite drives, when I am heading from New England down to either Chincoteague or Virginia Beach. There is much development happening here in the last few years, at an increasingly rapid pace. These lovely places on large expanses of land won't be around too much longer.

trouble in paradise!

I have had trouble for the last 2 evenings now loading a picture into Blogger, Daily Painters web-site and now my emails. I've tried re-starting my computer - which is all I can do - once I try to load a picture, my computer freezes up & I can't do anything. I'll try to get through to the apple -care support tomorrow (if I can't get help off the website tonight!) grrr... this is way-past getting to me!