Butterfly Song (Harkness Park)

20"x20" oil on stretched canvas

"This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders." ~Sarah Orne Jewett

This quote describes the weather today so well. It did feel like just a touch of fall was in the air. A bit scary/suspicious if you ask me, as I'm not ready at all for summer to end. It feels like it just got here! This scene is back at Harkness Park, the joe-pye weeds in this field are so pretty. Butterflies love it, and are flitting along the blossom tops.

This painting is available directly from the artist in my DailyPainter.com gallery store.

Fine Day For A Sail, Harkness Park

12"x24" oil on stretched linen canvas

"It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage."
-George William Curtis

Ah- today was another really fantastic summer day in CT. Doesn't get any better than this. And I got to be out painting in it, back at Harkness Park, here on the coastline of our state. I do love being out here from season to season. By the time September rolls around the purple Joe-Pie weed will have butterflies from all over flitting in and out of these blooms.

I am enjoying the larger canvases outside - why did I wait so long to try this out? It's only a bit more planning to manage the larger canvases outdoors, but I sure found this to be very satisfying.

This painting is currently available directly from the artist at my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

Boats On The Cove

12"x16" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

“A rising tide lifts all boats.” -Proverb

Another perfectly fine coastal Connecticut summer day. A cloudless sky and still water in early morning turned to big puffy cumulous coming from the North-west. The ripples from more boat activity broke the still reflective surface of the water.

I'm feeling pretty fortunate that we've had so much good weather for plein air painting this summer. I always find myself wishing it lasted longer. But maybe it's having that cold time in the winter that makes me appreciate this so much!

This painting can be purchased directly from my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

Zinnias of August

10"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity." ~John Ruskin

After two solid days of non-stop rain it felt so great to be out painting in the garden again! My husband started these zinnias in the yard this year, and they are doing so well! Almost waist high and such a nice variety of pinks, magentas, & cream. The hummingbirds love them, too! Which reminds me.....I haven't mentioned yet that we have 'BABIES'!!!! Little baby hummingbirds! They are half the size of the adult birds. The little ones were staying close to the butterfly bushes - I'm wondering if there was a nest in there! There is something truly delightful when you take the time to paint out in nature. You notice the things that you might not (probably not) have noticed if you were quickly just taking photos. I'm hoping to develop that out-door memory, so that when I am back in my studio again (especially over winter) I have lots of these outdoor memories and smaller paintings to develop larger ones from!

This painting is available directly from my DailyPainter.com gallery store.

Outside the Tasting Room (Gouveia Winery)

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

“What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile.”
-William Sokolin

Today I met up with several members of the CT Plein Air Painters Society to paint at the Gouveia Winery in Wallingford, CT. It sits atop a high hill with some incredible views. Before I left the house I had in mind painting some wonderful converging rows of grapevines. But there were several other things that caught my eye as well. This grouping of old oak barrels, vats, presses, along the rock wall as you enter the tasting room was hard to resist. The brilliant sky this morning really set off the white cupola and weather vane atop the roof line. I'm thinking this will be a wonderful place to go back to visit in the fall, as the expansive vista from the hilltop is incredible!

This painting is available to purchase directly from my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

North Cove, August Mid Morning

16"x20" oil on linen mounted on archival board

"Summer is not so much a season as a melody, that tune of contentment we hum as the days begin to beautifully blur." -Sarah Ban Breathnach

I got back home from my travels Tuesday night & rose to a beautiful day for painting this Wednesday morning! Back down in Old Saybrook, our friend Diane shares her wonderful view with a group of us painters. I'm finding that completing these larger plein air works are a bit like physical exercise....the more fit you become, things start to get easier. It's no longer quite so intimidating looking at these larger canvases outdoors. (It's a totally different feeling working in the studio when your surroundings are more stable. The light is not changing, wind not blowing, no bugs, or sunburn, etc.). But there is indeed something wonderful about being out in the weather while painting....painting the 'experience of the day', whatever that may bring.

This painting may be purchased directly from my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

Remains Of The Day

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"People live for the dream in their hearts. And I have yet to know anyone who has not some secret dream, some hope, however dim, some storied wall to look at in the dusk, some painted window leading to the soul." ~Zane Grey

I'm down in Norfolk, VA this weekend, visiting with fellow artist Norma Wilson, and trading out some paintings at London Square Gallery. A few of us got together yesterday just to paint and catch up. Luckily I brought my laptop with photos of Barn Island, in Stonington (CT) that I've been wanting to paint. I love the abstract shapes within the marsh as dusk falls. The colors of the grasses change minute by minute until the sun finally sets...purple dusk turning to night fall, the sun giving its final light show before taking a bow below the horizon.

This painting can be purchased framed, directly from me, through my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

North Cove, Old Saybrook

16"x20" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

"Do not tell fish stories where people know you; but particularly don't tell them where they know the fish." -Mark Twain

Another beautiful day here in New England! I was able to go back to Old Saybrook and finish the piece I started on last week down on the North Cove. My friend's yard overlooks the cove and all the boats moored out there are so beautiful.

I had been wanting to work on larger pieces on location. I usually work on this size in the comfort of my studio. But I did want to see what I could bring to the effort by being on location. I got the canvas covered last week, with everything blocked in & indicated in placement (in particular the boats and the clouds, which continue to move all the time). Once I indicate the direction of light hitting the boats, that's the crucial point for me. (***And I strongly suggest to artists just starting out, to lay out a lot of paint!)

This week I came back for the finish, which actually doesn't take that long once the "bones" (or foundation) of the painting are carefully set.

This painting may be purchased directly from me, at my DailyPainters.com gallery store

Hydrangea

12"x12" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel (Ampersand's gessobord)

"Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character." -James Russell Lowell


I spent this morning under a shady archway, where this side of the house is in shade during the morning. Our yard is planted with many hydrangeas, but this one has turned out to be the biggest. The blossoms are in various shades of deep purply blue, some of them leaning more towards magenta, and some of them a bit paler blue. There's some plantings of lamb's ear near the base of this huge shrub, which is a nice accent along our garden path.

Being able to stand and really see your subject for a couple hours, really gives you an appreciation of the tonal qualities you are looking at. The warms and the cools in the foliage, as well as the blossoms; with some areas grayed down from being in deep shade. I can't think of many better ways to spend a morning!

This painting is available directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery store.