Thursday, December 27, 2012

Where is this?

56th street and Madison Ave? Looking West....a December afternoon....everything man made except the tree,sky and people...I love all the abstract shapes which put together make up the city....and it's streets...oil on canvas 30x30"

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Going, Going, Gone

As you can see the peppers turned red and got smaller and lesser....but they just made me want to keep painting them....oil on canavas 30x30"

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

5th Avenue Looking South

As we left the Metropolitan museum and started to walk down 5th Ave this is what I saw...the skyline of midtown buildings in the distance behind the trees of the park in the late afternoon light...yes, there was no traffic at this particular moment...I like seeing the "avenue" in all its naked glory...note the banner hanging on the lamp post...a Van Gogh at the Frick Museum (which we had just seen)...a nice touch of color on a December day in the city...oil on canvas 30x40"

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Madison Ave and 55th st

I went into the city this weekend to see the George Bellows show at the Metropolitan museum....excellent , don't miss it....I have loved his work for ever and here there were great examples of his paintings of NYC back in the day....early 1900's...gorgeous oil studies of the streets  and scenes of New York....got me real inspired so I had to come home and paint what I had seen that day heading down Madison to catch the train home...more to come...oil on canvas 30x40"

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Just Checking In With Me

Every year I try to do a self portrait...Like where am I now? I found this big black hat in my closet one morning and thought"perfect for a portrait"...so what's new? I just don't know why I haven't changed more over the years...some day I am gonna bust out and paint with such wild abandon you won't recognize me....or not....time will tell....or what?  24x30" oil on canvas

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Portrait of a Table

This the table where we just ate our Thanksgiving dinner...but I painted this the week of the hurricane, my husband was out of town and I set up my easel not to move it for days nor to move the fruit...I don't know what exactly inspired me , but looking at this table always inspires me and I had never painted it from this angle before...I wanted to include the chandelier with the Venetian glass and the dry grasses from our marsh...it is larger than usual...36x48" oil on canvas

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The August Garden at Dusk

This is the last study I painted in August of my wonderful garden...It took me a long time as there was a lot of information to process and it was a large canvas...actually I am still working on it...but winter is coming and before the snow flies I thought I should share it with you...36x48"

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The Big Leaves in the Studio

Oil, watercolor, pastel...same subject different medium...wonderful leaves great old glass container and a good way to study a subject...what do you think? 30x40" oil on canvas   22x30" watercolor,gouache  22x30" black pastel

Monday, October 29, 2012

The Calm Before the Storm

A blissful afternoon painting out in the field as the sun was dropping in the western sky, the air was warm and not even a slight breeze....just a beautiful time to paint out in the Poplar grove, all the fire wood stacked and branches piled...wonderful...and then came SANDY....what a difference a day makes! 30x40" oil on canvas

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Three's The Charm?


The first study  of these gladiolas was done with oil on canvas 24x36"...I loved the red against the black background...I was inspired by Soutine's painting of this subject...then I went to see a film, documentary by Werner Herzog, The Cave of Dreams, showing 30,000 year old drawings of animals found in the caves of France. The simplicity of the black and white and ocher (the color of the cave wall) was very inspiring so I tried it out...22x30" pastel on paper, which led to the last study(as the flowers were dying) drawn with only black pastel on hot pressed Arches watercolor paper...22x30"

Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Vegitable garden II

This is the second view of my August garden....I have been working on it since I painted it back then...think I am done now...think....until I see something that needs to be changed...can you see the Hummingbird? I love the garden in August....the frost has come and gone and so this scene is no longer ....life is short art is long...oil on canvas 36x36"

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Same Sunflower, Different Day

One sunflower, two different views...The first one is looking up at The Springhouse Hotel in the afternoon light, the second is looking away from the hotel towards the ocean and the old Springhouse Annex in the morning... the vegetable garden is where this flower was growing , well out side the fence actually... oils on canvas 16x20" and 24x24"

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Path To The Bluffs

I painted this study a couple of weeks ago  on Block Island at Mohegan Bluffs...These wind blown Bayberry trees I found very intriguing...Follow the path and you will be standing at the edge of the bluffs overlooking the sea...one of my favorite places to be...It was late afternoon, a beautiful September day...remembered  forever in this painting   ....oil on canvas 20x20"

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Editing Process

Here is a good example of what I did to a painting that I did not like in order to like it...I had to remove a few things....change a few things...until it said what I really wanted it to say to the best of my ability...can you count how many ways in which it was changed?   Zinnias and Guitar oil on canvas 30x30"

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The Vegetable Garden I

Here is the first of three studies I am working on of my vegetable garden ...the lettuce plants have gone to seed which I think is really wonderful...there are some new lettuces etc...planted ...the garden bench was my mother's, our house, ie the barn is in the distance....grapes try to grow on the arbor....I left the weeds out on purpose...one way to get rid of them....oil on canvas 36x36"

Saturday, September 15, 2012

The ferry Heads Out Again

In this painting, done from the beach, it looks like the ferry is heading for the bluff...I was  really interested in those clouds so perhaps I just wasn't paying close attention to what direction the ferry was going? Just a little watercolor sketch from the beach...the 5 o'clock  swim is always lovely...

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Drawings from Snake Hole

Here are a couple of sketches done down at Snake Hole Beach BI...black and white drawings are tricky when you have gotten very used to having color to describe what you are looking at...I like them, they were done with a China Marker....that is a wax pencil that can be used to write on China! It does not erase but gets really good darks...you just can't make any mistakes...or at least ones you want to erase....16x20 on Bristol paper

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Heirloom Tomatoes

So here is a fine example of some fancy tomatoes...and boy are they not only good to paint but also to eat...love the way the green works itself into the red...tis the season.....oil on canvas 24x24"

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Housatonic River Looking North and South From the Bridge


Well the first study was done a week ago on a hot August day...looking North, up river as it were...funny how the reflections of the trees are so green, taking into consideration the actual green color of the water...lazy summer days along the river...there is a particular smell to warm slow moving river water...sort of like mud...It was really fun to spend time down there watching the water flow under the bridge...24x36" oil on canvas
The second study was done on another hot August day two weeks ago looking South from Great Barrington Mass, on Bridge St....go figure...The bridge shakes every time a car drives over it, a truck is worse...I liked this view through the bridge to the river...36x36" oil on canvas

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Circus Is Coming to Town

Tomorrow, Sunday August 12 from 2-5pm is the opening of this exhibit at the Front St gallery in Housatonic Mass....All are welcome...Please come see these watercolors they are really wonderful ...and will probably never be hung together in a gallery again....but who knows...Bring the kids...they are all welcome!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Out Buildings at Narragansett Inn Block Island


Here is one of about 20 small oil sketches to be shown at the Jessie Edwards Studio ... I painted it in the spring...I loved the color note of the shadow on the small white building...The opening to the exhibit will be this Saturday   August 4 from 5-7pm   this is an oil on canvas 11x14"

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Summer Corn Field

Just want you to know this painting is part of an exhibit of my work called "The Farm" at 510 Warren St gallery in Hudson NY...It will be there until the end of the month....this weekend will be the last one to see it there...along with many other fine farm paintings! Several have been sold...but there are plenty for everyone...the corn is ripe for the picking! come and get it ...oil on canvas 36x48"

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Weed on the Tracks

I cannot resist these magnificent weeds...and when they grow next to the railroad tracks that's a double header...I forget the name if it right now...it grows everywhere....this one I thought to be very elegant with the dark woods behind....oil on canvas  24x36"

Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Flowers Outside my Gallery Door

These flowers were painted a few weeks ago....It was a sunny day and the class decided not to paint inside so we brought the table and flowers outside...I liked the look if the painting inside the gallery behind the bouquet....the Iris and Peonies were on the way out and there was some other wonderful vine with red blossoms, which I cannot remember the name of...you can see the partial name of the gallery ( Front St) on the window with the  reflection of the mountain across the river...so here it is  ....oil on canvas 36x36"

Friday, June 29, 2012

What a Difference a Day Makes





So this is what I look at out my studio window...and when a summer storm comes blowing into town...well things change....all day long the view changes...the light changes ....but my feeling for this place doesn't really change...I just keep loving it....oil on canvas  24x36" 36x36"

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Farm House by the Sea

This old farm house is on Block Island...I can see it from our house...I have always loved the way it looks  facing out to sea...imagine all of those sunsets it has witnessed over the hundreds of years it has stood there strong and solid like the stone wall leading up to it....can you see the sun setting over the water?...oil on canvas   11x14"

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Flag Day

Today is my mother's birthday and in her honor I will post a painting of the flag flying at our home on Block Island...her ashes were buried around this pole....I don't know what the flag is but I did this quick study a few weeks ago at sunset while on the island...it is an oil on canvas 16x20"? I can't remember the exact size...

Arlo Guthrie's Church

    The class went out landscape painting today and ended up down the road from the studio in Van Deusenville(now  part of Gt Barrington Ma)...This church belongs to Arlo Guthrie and it is a music center and spiritual center, it was also made famous in a film back in the 60's... This is the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie's life, celebrated here all summer....I've been meaning to paint this building for about 30 years ...finally did...hope to again soon...I have done alot of painting this week and had  to hang several shows....come check out the student show at Front St Gallery...great work...there until July 1....oil on canvas 30x30"

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Ball Jar is Full of Springtime




First came the daffodils then came the apple blossoms...both of them filled the Ball Jar just fine...It was a great year for the daffodils, they lasted for weeks....and the trees were full to the brim with apple blosssoms....after spending the morning working on a Venice watercolor I had to get back to the real world so I would do one of these oil studies....I love the way the water looks in the jar....both are 16x20"





Friday, June 1, 2012

The Horses of Block Island



Today we had to leave the island ...but for several days all I did was paint what I saw, and I saw these horses...as well as many other things....these are sketches, oil sketches...done very quickly on sight....so they are NOT perfect...but an impression...the colors tend to be exagerated....they are small...16x20 20x20"

Friday, May 25, 2012

View from the Studio Door, Springtime

The pansies and chives are blooming in the old whiskey barrel...the Berkshire Hills are turning that brilliant green that only happens in May....and the train tracks are waiting for the next freight to come through Housatonic while the weeds get a fresh start growing up in the trap rock around the railroad ties...oil on canvas 36x24"

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Plant in the Studio

I don't know what kind of plant this is...except when I saw it at the greenhouse I wanted to paint it...and so I did...finally after looking  at it for a week or more I was able to do this study of it....I loved the cloth with the roses on it   oil on canvas 20x20

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Night Time Canal in Venice

This painting speaks for itself....Wonderful light on the water at night...and the inevitable tower looming...there is the sense of mystery in the ancient buildings....watercolor gouache 22x30"

Friday, May 11, 2012

Tulips on the way out

I cannot believe a week has gone by since I posted last...so many paintings, so little time to post them...well here is a study of the dying tulips and the new chair in the studio...it belonged to my student's mother, who has just died....and so it finds a new home and is added to the subject of paintings....last weekend I was involved in three gallery openings...hanging the shows and doing the party....way too many...but....so it goes....wish you had been there....and if you were , thank you.....oil on canvas 30x30"

Friday, May 4, 2012

The View From the Gondola


As you can see, this is what I saw from where I sat in the  gondola...quite a nice view of the quiet canals weaving in and out of the ancient buildings...a wonderful way to spend some time in Venice...watercolor 22x30"

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Three studies of Venice




The first was a vision just at dusk of the gondolas and San Giorgio in the distance, actually the lights of the Lido are off to the left...Secondly, The laundry hangs from a building in the Arsenale and is reflected in the canal...sea weed clings to the wall and moves with the current...The last painting is of a foot bridge(they all are)crossing the Grand Canal with some wonderful boat going under it...more reflections in the water... all are watercolor and goauche 22x30"