Ocean-side Cottage Garden - Day 27 of #jan30in30

4"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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Remembering a summer a few years ago, with billowing flowers over-looking the sea...

the tang of sea air, 

mixed with fragrant roses

circles around on the breeze,

following me all the way home.  

Wide Wetlands (dyptich)

6"x24" x2" deep cradled panel -dyptich, 2 (6x12")
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and here's a close up of the left side:

 (side 1),

and below is side 2, the right side:

I've been wanting to paint a wide panoramic view of what I see out at Barn Island. Usually I just choose one small area to paint. The place is so expansive! Actually I could go on with additional panels and continue the view as though I were standing in the midst of the place.  haha, but that's another project for yet another day!

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. 

Island View

10"x10"x1" deep,  oil on gessoed, cradled birch panel

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Sometimes inspiration comes from unlikely places.

Sometimes it's rather obvious;  seaside cottages, 

wild roses billowing over a bank on a bright summer day, 

a soft breeze, fragrance of ocean and roses, 

who could resist? 

My recent day trip over to Block Island was a bucket full of memories! 

and yes, I'm looking forward to my next trip back!

Summer Beckons

20"x24" oil on stretched canvas

"Summertime is always the best of what might be." 

-Charles Bowden

For more information about this painting, please visit my website here.
 
Delightful seaside cottages, summer gardens, here in New England (or any place you can imagine for that matter), cool breezes off the water - can you think of any place you'd rather be?

This one took me longer than usual to finish - it's a bit bigger than I usually paint.  That, plus I spent the whole weekend working in my own piece of paradise- our own garden is over-flowing with blooms right now! It's my favorite time of year!

 

Garden With An Ocean Breeze

9"x12" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, click here.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.  ~John Muir

It is such a wonderful thing to have state parks, national parks, city and town parks where we can renew ourselves.

John Muir certainly knew it "way back when", and I think it's truer than ever these days. This particular garden has one walled in area, that breaks into open spaces that over look the sea.  

Ocean breezes make the tall, red montbresia blossoms bounce in the wind  - and how DO those little hummingbirds have such good aim as to drink from their blossoms?

Seasoned By The Sea

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

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea." ~Isak Dinesen

Today was incredibly warm for February in New England, upper 40s. So of course I was determined to go out first thing to the shore line. Moody skies are always an attraction at this time of year, but it's certainly nice to not be knee deep in snow! Lots of things still going on in the home-front, so I've been keeping most of my paintings small lately. I carried my tiny little pochade box just to keep things easy, in case it was colder than I thought. So I worked with brushes. This box has an edge that holds the panel in, and it's not very conducive to painting with a knife (no free edges on the panel). So, I'm a firm believer in using the best tools for the circumstances. This provided a "quick-sketch" to consider color, etc. for a larger painting. Outdoor sketches done with this sort of speed, are good for the equivalent of "note-taking" to be developed further.

Heron Study II

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite hardboard

"Man's heart away from nature becomes hard." ~Standing Bear


Yet another study of the marshy area behind Waterford Beach....and some of those wonderful herons that hunt for dinner there!

This painting is available from my DailyPainters.com gallery or send me a message here.

Heron Study I - sold!

5"x7" oil on gessoed masonite archival artboard

"In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia." ~Charles A. Lindbergh

Today I'm packing my art bags and equipment to head down to Norfolk, VA for the annual "Out & About Norfolk Plein Air Event". I'll be painting on Thursday and Friday, Saturday we will hang our wet paintings for the show & sale on Saturday evening at Waterside in downtown Norfolk. For more information, click the link above! I'd love to see you there!

Today, in between packing, I got out some of my sketches of egrets, I'm putting together in a much larger painting. But today is a color study of what's to come!

This can be purchased directly from my DailyPainters.com Gallery or by contacting me here.

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.

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

Open To Possibilities

14"x11" oil on linen mounted on archival board

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be." - Abraham Maslow


Open to possibilities....a period of growth...thoughts of change. I have been wanting to work bigger for a while, so I'm inching up gradually again. For work on location, smaller surfaces means I can capture the light before it changes, get my ideas down in a limited amount of time and space. It also means I can keep my gear light. I've worked larger canvases indoors in my studio, but not so much outside. But a bit of exploration is in order. Over the remaining weeks of summer I intend to try to some bigger canvases outdoors. Even if I end up bringing them back into the studio to finish, I know there will be much gained from the effort.

Coastal Living, plein aire at Harkness Park

8"x8" oil on gessoed masonite art panel

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you."
- Kahlil Gibran

What a perfect day out by Long Island Sound, here in southeastern Connecticut. Nice and warm, no humidity today, just a bit of breeze, no stiff winds, just perfect.

I've been wanting to get out to do some 'tree portraits' of various kinds. There are several groupings out there at Harkness Park that are very old and huge, with interesting shapes massed together. This morning the sun was coming up behind this grouping of trees, so they were backlit. By the time I finished painting the sun was high enough to light bits of the tops of the trees. I also find it interesting while painting in familiar places, the variety of the quality of light...and looking for warm & cool light, and where these planes hit on each object lit by the sun.

For purchase information, contact me here.

Hazy Summer Morning at Harkness Park

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


"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." ~Russel Baker

This morning came all cloudy, remnants of the previous nights storm. The humidity was rising, and as the sun tried to burn through, you knew it had the potential to be sweltering! But I found a place in the shade, with a good view, and an ocean breeze, what could be better? A bit of protection from the sun and swelter, fog-horns off shore a constant reminder of the weather. The horizon melded with sky in the distant haze, looking like there was no beginning, no end. What a feeling for a summer day!

For more information about this painting, contact me here.

Red Right Returning

15"x30" oil on deep gallery wrapped linen

Everybody's talking at me.
I don't hear a word they're saying,
Only the echoes of my mind.
People stopping staring,
I can't see their faces,
Only the shadows of their eyes.

I'm going where the sun keeps shining
Thru' the pouring rain,
Going where the weather suits my clothes,
Backing off of the North East wind,
Sailing on summer breeze
And skipping over the ocean like a stone.
- Harry Nilsson

As I was posting this painting, I just kept thinking about "sailin' on a summer breeze"...and honestly - if you're my age, you just can't say that phrase without singing it to Harry Nilsson's tune. With all the chilly rain we've had lately, this is one fine daydream, to recall the sunny days out on the water last summer! Watching the boats go by!

Apple Blossom Spring Morning

"Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers, but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms."

-Ikkyu Sojun



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

Monday morning opened on a beautiful sunny day, and the apple blossoms are opening every where up here in our corner of Connecticut. This old tree is one of my favorites to see in bloom, I wait to go rush and see it in Spring, like an old friend, willing to commune for a while and be (just...be) in its presence. It's over at Haley Farm, a local state park close to us.

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Price: $450 USD
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