Mid-Summer Festival in Old Lyme-Saturday-July 30th

I hope you can make it!! For those of you living in traveling distance, take exit 70 off of I-95 in CT. Go to historic Lyme Street in Old Lyme. There's lots of events happening in several places here. I'll be outdoors under the BIG tent at Lyme Academy College of Fine Art with the other alums with many of my recent paintings; florals, landscapes, small, medium and LARGE.  

And, if you haven't seen my solo show "Touching Water" at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, now is a great time to visit! The weather is supposed to be fabulous, so come on out!  

For the full schedule of events, go to:

OldLymeMidsummerFestival.com

Please do come by and say "Hi"! I look forward to meeting you! 

Coastal New England Autumn

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information, or to purchase, click here.  

Gosh, it's been a couple weeks now since I was out to Barn Island and painted this. One of the last bits of color this autumn before the temps plummeted, the harsh winds blew and cleared out most of the trees. brrr!  It's wicked out there right now. That day was quite beautiful; with interesting clouds rolling through...just enough grey in the sky to make the trees stand out in contrast. Ever notice how the stormier the skies, the autumn color seems even more vibrant? 

If you've received my Cheer Factor newsletter, you already know the exciting news...my Barn Island series will be heading up to Hartford, CT; to be shown at the state DEEP headquarters there. (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection).  I'm over the moon excited, humbled and honored by this! We're hanging the show Dec. 9th and will hang until the end of February 2015.   

Osprey Landing aka Great Day for Fishing

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel
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They're back! Those sunny, brilliant days of late Spring in New England where it's a delight to be outside! The air is clear down by the shore.  The wilderness has whispered my name, and I answered the call.  The tide was definitely IN when I showed up to paint the other morning. It's actually nice to hear that gurgling water sound, that washes up into the marsh grasses. 

So many birds are migrating through at this time of year. I don't know them all, but I did spot an osprey overhead. A birder that was walking through that morning confirmed my observation! As luck would have it, he landed on the big oak I was focused on, the big one with the sun illuminating the trunk and branches. He didn't stay for more than a moment. After all, it was a great day for fishing. 

Peace and Color in the Marsh

10"x10" oil on cradled birch panel

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When I take on a commission, I frequently do small color studies to determine what the finished painting will be similar to! These small studies are quite fun for me- and provide another opportunity for this image to 'live in the world'.  This place (Barn Island) is a frequent point of refuge for me - a bit of nature that is so welcoming in its familiarity. Yet every time I go out there to paint, it has changed....sometimes a little, sometimes quite a lot! Yet, the familiarity is there. There is comfort in that!  

I did do an additional panel of this image, (and 8"x8" on Gessobord) with stronger colors in the sky and water. This was right on target with what my collectors were looking for! (Click here to purchase this study).

Summer Morning, Heat Rising

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival board

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This was the second painting of the day, Wednesday morning. The heat is rising, and the bugs are getting hungry! The marsh is waking up and quite busy! Yet the temperature is still comfortable out, perhaps a stronger DEET cocktail is necessary (or I missed a spot behind my knee where one hungry horsefly persistently bothered me). 

 What our eyes see when painting from life, is so much more exciting than what a photograph can "see". 

 

It's Friday again (already!) and time for the final drawing of those water-color post-cards from France!

I'm emailing them this afternoon (Friday) and with their permission, I'll list the winners on my blog tomorrow! 

 

Sunny Spring Seat

9"x12" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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Oh how I love this little section of our garden! It's like a little room surrounded by a picket fence and a lush growth of flowering plants from Spring through Autumn, right by our front door. In the morning the sun warms the back of this curvy bench, casting shadows on the slate stones below. They are brightened by the warm light.  

As I've painted this space over the last five years, it's been so fun seeing this area grow and mature. The peonies in the upper left corner have yet to bloom, but this year there are so many buds on them. This particular one is white and fragrant!!!! ooh, I can hardly wait for this one to bloom.  The canes of the rose behind this bench now arch across several spans of fencing. When I first bought this plant via mail order five years ago, it was so puny and tiny, I could hardly imagine that it would ever spread this far! The 'creeping phlox' at this edge of the slate circle mounded up with gorgeous wild color again this year.....so exciting to see after the bareness of winter! Ahh- life is sweet once winter is far behind!

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October Sky

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

$200

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Clearing skies

following a rainy weekend.

Dry crisp breeze off of the water,

a sense of change surrounds me.

New colors are coming to the tidal marsh.

Subtle daily changes 

that will be a remarkable difference

in a few short weeks.

Morning Coverup

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

$200

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Mornings on the marsh are quite meditative....

The white egrets are in their group,

some are 'singing and calling' as they fly in to join the others.

Little creatures are working hard, so quiet in their quest...

A little dragon fly is trying ever so hard to haul away a tiny little crab.

In such a quiet place, it's so busy;

but we only see it's 'busyness' if we are quiet and still.

The sun made a short effort to burn through the clouds, 

but was momentarily defeated by a passing shower. 

The dance of 'weather' holds me in its gaze,

moving paint before the dance is quickly over. 

Morning Path Through The Marsh, Late September - SOLD!

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

$200 

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Mornings are quiet on the marsh...

Reflective times, 

watching the weather,  

and the birds as they stalk prey in shallow water, 

perhaps a walker with their dog passes by.

September Marsh

12"x12" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel

$400 unframed

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I did get out to paint last week in one of my favorite places, the marshes over at Barn Island in Stonington.  Early morning, and the weather has a bit of crisp chill in the air already this month.

Morning Over Easy, Late Summer Plein Air in the Artist's Garden

14"x11" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

$575, framed

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Last Friday was another beautiful summer day here in New England.  So of course I left the studio to get outside to my side garden.  I can stand and paint in the shade of the house for a while, until the sun crests over the roof top.  At the top of the morning the arbor is in total shade, my aim was to catch the light just as it crested the arbor,  quickly indicating where everything was still in shade, and where the sun was brilliantly lighting everything up (the colorful zinnias in the front yard).  Once you see what you want, as a painter, you'd better indicate it quick on your canvas, and REMEMBER it. The light continues to change and you won't be seeing what initially attracted you to the scene.