December Gold, Old Lyme, Watch Rock Preserve, CT

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Click here for more information, or to purchase.

I've embarked on a fun series of paintings along the Connecticut River. They'll be part of a show this summer in Old Lyme, CT.  Back in November, when it started getting chilly, I started taking my sketch-book all around with me, and sought out places along the river. A friend of mine directed me to Watch Rock Preserve, and I have to admit, I've fallen in love with the place...in all seasons.  Carrying my sketchbook along became pretty efficient for me, and I decided to paint in oils from these sketches and memory.  My oil paintings aren't a "botanical review" by any means, but an interpretation of the brilliance and exuberance I feel from the good energy of the river!

Here's a view of the quick sketch from my sketch-book:

I know a lot of artists really resist painting on location, and paint only from photos. While photos can be an 'okay' memory jogger, there's nothing like capturing 'color notes' on location, while the 'exciting thing' is staring you in the face! Hearing the birds, smelling the brine of the water at low tide, watch the water sparkle as the sun burns through mist...all those things stay with you when you take part in nature....by just sitting ...slowing down...and observing. Your heart rate slows, your breathing steadies, ahh....nature therapy is the best prescription for any thing that ails you!

Winter Walk in the Marsh

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival board

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." -Albert Camus

Yesterday I mother nature provided exactly what I needed, a gorgeous sunny day mid-winter here in Connecticut. I'm sure it hit at least mid-forties. It truly felt like spring and of course I knew I'd take the opportunity to go outside and paint.

I kept my supplies small, so I could bring along the least amount of weight, and hopefully get a painting in quickly before the wind picked up and froze me out! This little 'thumb-box' pochade is something I found at the Utrecht Art Supply store a few years ago. I don't use it that often as the egdes that hold your panel in make it difficult to paint with a knife. So I figured, I'd use knife AND brush on this one. It holds a 6x8" panel, and the palette slides in & out to store a few small tubes of paint underneath as well as brushes (short ones!). Finding special plein air supplies can be such fun- and less calories than going through the candy store!

Here's a link to buy this pochade box at Utrecht, scroll down the page to "Utrecht Wooden Pochade Box w/ Shoulder Strap, Lightweight" they're asking $89.99 for it, but watch for some of their online coupons and specials.

I take this little box when I truly am interested in hiking out to a spot and don't want to lug much at all. I'll put that little box, along with 7 tubes of paint inside (a warm & cool of each primary + white)and brushes & painting knife too, inside a tote bag, with some paper towels, plastic bags for trash, small camera (or cell phone camera), 'hand-warmers', a pair of pliers, a 'bulldog' clip to hold the trash bag on to the tote (so it doesn't blow away). It's all pretty light to carry this tote bag on one shoulder, while the on the other side, I'm carrying a little 3-legged folding camp-stool to sit on to paint. Yes, normally I'm standing to paint, but for winter painting, I try to be as comfortable and warm as possible. I figure keeping a low profile will keep me out of the wind, or at least be less of a target!

The other handy thing to go with this little box, is short handled brushes. Now you can either just tote along your regular long handled brushes, or saw them off to fit in your box, ...or just get some short handled brushes that are made to fit into a small pochade. Judson's Art Outfitters carries some that I've been using for many years now (when I bring along the small box). They offer filberts and flats and mine have held up quite well over the years.

When mother nature provides the sunshine, it's up to me to show up! and just paint!!

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Price: $200 USD

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Serene Solitude, November Marsh

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board (Raymar Feather Lite)


"The smaller the boat, the more you use it." - Judy Benson

Hope there's more days like this before the cold sets in. Truly delightful to be outside painting in this! The marsh grasses are drying to their golden hued splendor, the cool mud flat shimmering before it...just enough to know that it is wet and damp, yet the tide is still low. The trees have started loosing their leaves....some without evening turning color. It's been an interesting autumn to say the least.

I've been spending some time catching up with varnishing and cataloging a lot of the paintings that I did this summer and into the beginning of fall. I guess I've felt like I'd rather keep up with painting while the weather is cooperating rather than miss out. But sooner or later, the business end of things needs to be tended to.

Another 'house-keeping' task I've started is checking on supplies to see what I need to order more of. I've been a fan of Raymar panels for years & years, but have recently tried their 'Feather Lite panels'- which are great! They are a bit thinner yet they are still the same strong panel, with a wonderful surface (I really love working on their oil primed panels). The big advantage is that it keeps your gear really light weight. So if you need to hike out to a great painting spot, you don't feel like you're "moving house" just to do it! No point in wearing yourself out hauling gear before you even break out the paints!

Now the quote I offer today is from a friend that I went kayaking with a couple times this summer. I was thinking of that today as I dragged my easel gear with me. It's my 2nd lightest set-up, but it does have a nice big paint mixing space. I set out with small painting panels today, as I didn't know how chilly it might be down by the water today. I found a bit of a sheltered spot on a nature trail there at Hammonasset and it was delightful.

This painting is available directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery, or contact me here.

Summer Coastal Fog, Harkness Park, Coastal CT - sold!

10"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival board

"It's hotter than hell, but not as hot as Texas!" - R. Steed


Seems like I had vanished off the planet for a while there. I just survived a pretty big computer crash/mishap/disaster. What ever you call it, it was not fun. Two weeks without my work-companion left me feeling adrift! At the same time we had our credit card number stolen, and I got a nail in my tire (that was not pluggable). They say things come in threes, so looks like I'm over that hump and am coasting for some good things to come my way! At least that's how one friend suggested I look at it!

In the mean time, I did do a lot of painting done. On the first day back to my easel after "the crash" (as we'll call this computer disaster) I went over to Harkness Park, a favorite spot of mine, whether to paint, walk, or just un-wind. The fog was thick over the coast line during this morning of painting, and was just starting to burn-off, a ray of light seeming to cut through to the garden space I was viewing. For those familiar with the park, this is the area behind the old mansion, where weddings are now held, looking over into the walled garden. The fairy-roses were in their full glory arching over the walls of that garden space.


My postings to come will be like a garden tour of sorts. Today I'm continuing a large painting (24"x24") I started yesterday on the back deck. It's a certainly a challenge to go big when you're working outside. Most of my plein air works are 9"x12" or smaller. But that's a post for another day!

Thanks for following along, and thanks to those of you who asked "where are you"!

The Perils and Pleasure of Plein Air/Split Boulder at Bluff Point oil sketch

6"x 8" oil sketch on linen mounted on panel

"Do not be timid and squeamish.....All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes going out to paint en plein air is filled with risk. You can manage a lot of risk by just being prepared. It does get easier over time. But there are those outings where you know you'll have to put some extra thought into it. I've been wanting to bring my paints out to the end of Bluff Point (here in Groton, CT), where the big split boulders lay at the edge of the water. It's about 2 miles out from where you park your car so I knew I'd have to pack really light. I've narrowed down my gear over the years and I've written about my back pack & set-up in a previous post back in April. But there's no way I'm willing to haul that out for two miles on a warm day! So, I decided I'd put my little "pochade box" to use. Some folks call it a thumb box, as there is a hole in the bottom for your thumb to fit, so you can hold it while you paint. It holds a little 6"x8" panel, a tiny palette for your paint, and room for short handled brushes under that. Not much room, but not much weight either. I decided to stick to Tim Bell's limited palette that I had tried out the other day, which is a few tubes less than what I normally carry.

There's a bumper crop of poison ivy out there this year, so I made sure to watch out for that as well as trying to keep out of the brushy areas to avoid ticks! Found a rock to sit on that provided a decent view. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to bring a cushion (of some type) to sit on. I usually stand when I paint with my regular set-up (an 8x10" Open Box M). But with this tiny hand-held box, I knew I'd want to sit. I'd be out in the open with no shade, so I had to turn and get myself situated so that there was no sun hitting my canvas or palette. It can be done, but it wasn't easy. I wasn't sure I was going to be happy at all with this little study. I had hoped to use this as a study for a larger work. The air was perfect out there today & the fragrance of salty sea air mingled with wild honey-suckle is pretty wonderful. Like the fisherman who claims "Even a bad day fishing is better than a good day at......(you fill in the blank). I knew that I'd had a good morning whether I was happy or not with the sketch. I pulled it out of the box a few hours after I got home & looked at it from across the room. Yes, truth! The essence of that brilliant light that I was after was there after all! So, for the box I rarely use, I did find that it served me well to keep things really small and light for this little bit of exploration! I plan to get some more sketches out there. It is one of my favorite places to hike and has been for over the last sixteen years. We have a lot of family memories there.

So even though I wouldn't consider this one a 'finished painting' I did get what I was after. A good collection of color notes to remember the day by and serve me well as a good resource for a larger painting. I've added a little photo of the thumb-box (or pochade box, sounds like po- shawd) so you can see what a tiny thing it really is. I don't love using it, but it really serves it's purpose for a long trek!

Geraniums and Cedars, Harkness Park

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."- Henry Adams

Every little nook & cranny at Harkness Park, here in Connecticut has something interesting in it's many gardens, so it remains a pleasure for me to spend time there and paint, and hike, and photograph, and meander, and picnic...you get the idea. It's a wonderful place.

I began this painting as a little exercise to try out some new (old) paints. I was going through artist Tim Bell's website, and finding out what materials he uses. He keeps a very simple palette, which I tend to do, too. But he even specified his brand of paint, Maimeri Classico, and the colors he uses: Flake White, Cad. Yellow Deep, Cad. Red Deep, and French Ultramarine Blue. His point was to find the closest to the true primaries on the color wheel. I realized that I had several tubes of Maimeri Classico and Puro from when I used to be a part of an artists' co-op in Virginia Beach. A vendor had brought us many samples of his paint. I had tried it, & while I liked it, I was familiar with my old Winsor Newton colors. But today I decided to pull out my old colors (which were not these listed, but true primaries none-the less. My first dip into the blue and I realize it's pthalo blue, so intense, and I haven't touched a tube of that in years. But since this was a 'sampler' to try out my new (old) colors of Maimeri, I decided to just go with it. My focus lately has been a real effort to exaggerate the warms and cools within the painting...and even with these basic colors, you could truly get a lot of mileage out of these. I ordered some small tubes of Tim's preferred colors, to give that a trial run as well. So we'll see where this bit of experimentation leads to.

I'm also trying something new on the business end of things. I have joined up with Daily Paintworks, in order to sell my smaller works at auction. (Yes, those 6"x6" and 5"x7" sizes. The starting bid will be at 2009 prices - $100 for these sizes, unframed. You have a golden opportunity for finding your favorite little painting at a very affordable price. Click here to place your bid!

Incoming Front Over Ledge Light - sold!!

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots."

-Frank Howard Clark

Tuesday morning I went out in hopes of painting before the rains came. I was certainly lucky as I got just what I was after! Interesting cloud shapes and color filled the sky over the Wetlands Overlook at Waterford Beach. Looking out toward the Long Island Sound, I could see Ledge Light in the distance, where just the day before everything was enveloped in a very thick fog.


I had mentioned in a previous post about keeping your plein air gear light for travel. This is whether you're flying to a far destination, or just hiking in to your local park. It's all too easy to try stuffing 'just one more thing' into your bag/backpack. If you've got to carry that any distance, you'll be tired & regretting it before you even set up to paint. Over the years I've tried just about everything out there on the market until I finally came upon this combination. An 8x10 Open Box M easel/palette screws right onto a simple camera tripod (not a heavy one either, just a very basic one (got it for under $20 years ago). I have a little sack attached to the legs for laying rocks in for weight if it's a bit windy. If you're trying to paint in a gale, well, suffer the consequences...wind is just about the worst problem to deal with when painting outdoors. Keeping it simple is still the best idea. If you're determined to 'gut-it-out' in wind, you could detach the small box from the easel & hold it.

Other supplies that fit into this pack are an 8"x10" Raymar wet panel box, it holds 3 panels, but for most nearby outings I just take 2 panels. I bring 2 different palette knives, a couple bulldog clips to hold my trash bag onto the set-up, Kleenex, paper towels, a small container of wet-wipes/baby-wipes (yes they are GREAT for getting paint off your skin). In summer I bring a small bug-spray. I try to remember a water bottle, & a camera, but I've left home without them & it's been fine. For paints, I take a warm & cool of each primary, plus white. If you're working with a palette knife, you don't need any medium, solvents, and clean-up is so much simpler. The little rolling back-pack I found at Wal-Mart ($35 if I remember correctly), allowing you to roll it if you're in an area with sidewalks or hoist it up on your back if you have to hike into an area. This has been the most versatile set-up I've used over the years, and of course, may get tweaked over time as all things seem to. And of course, there's no "one WAY" to rig your set-up, what-ever works for YOU is the key thing! Hope it helps you if you're looking to lighten your load and get out to paint more often!

Foggy Day Wetlands, Spring Thaw

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

-Henry Van Dyke

Early Monday morning I went down to the shoreline to the wetlands overlook at Waterford Beach, here in CT. I think this is the first outdoor painting I've done this year. A heavy fog had rolled in over night and mist filled the air, it was actually quite beautiful! And it felt GREAT to be back outside painting again! Contact me here, for purchase information.


**A tip for painters- if you are going to paint outdoors in heavy mist (or possible light rain), you will want to make sure you are working on an oil primed surface. I learned this from a friend in Ireland several years ago while painting out in a light misty/rain. He was painting on an acrylic primed canvas and it began absorbing water and resisted the oil paint like a batik. This was certainly not the look he was after, and was so disappointed. I was painting next to him, and using an oil primed linen mounted on panel (from Raymar) the water beaded up & I was able to push it away with the paint brush/knife. I've since seen this a few times and was glad I had brought along the oil primed panels! AND, it's a great idea to keep your gear light, just in the chance that the weather gets worse and you have to pack up pronto to head for dryer, safer ground.

If you're in Norfolk, VA at the end of the month, I have begun framing new works to take to London Square Gallery in Norfolk, VA; where I'll be doing a demonstration of my palette knife work on Saturday, April 30th. If you're in town, I'd love to have you stop in to visit!

New England Summer By The Shore

6"x8" oil on museum quality Belgian linen board

"Don't follow the critics too much. Art appreciation, like love, cannot be done by proxy. It is a very personal affair & is necessary to each individual."
~ Robert Henri


My fellow artist & friend Don Watson found this quote by Henri. I was so glad to come across it, it was like another reminder to pull R. Henri's book, "The Art Spirit" off the shelf for another read through.

What a fabulous day we had again today! Now I know if you've followed this blog for more than six months, you've heard me wail about bleak New England winters. But summer is here and life is GREAT! Here on the shoreline, we even get the 'bonus- breeze'. It'll probably get all muggy in a few days, just because I took a notion to brag on the weather up here. Everyone else is sweltering with the heat & humidity....but I think as it moves up past the mid-Atlantic, we'll be having a "fire-cracker" 4th of July like the rest of the Atlantic coast.

We are so lucky to have Harkness Park as a state park, here in CT. It is one of the lovliest places I've ever seen...and that's in all seasons. Right now, everything is blooming like crazy! There's a large rose arbor to the left, it's tall enough for even very tall people to walk under. Today I could hear the birds echoing inside the thing from across the lawn while I painted. The day lilies are in full bloom, in so many wonderful colors, from pale yellow, peachy cream, orange, all the way to a deep burgundy red. The air was clear and the water sparkled off in the distance, and the breeze was certainly welcomed today. Ahh, can you tell I'm loving summer? By the sounds of all the happy people today, I know I'm not the only one!

While it's wet & unframed:

Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $125 USD plus $10 USD s/h
Or, send me an email