Pillows of Snow and Under the Apple Tree

Pillows of Snow, 8x10 (click on image to enlarge)

Plowed snow formed pillows on the blanket of snow around these South Glastonbury tobacco sheds.    Warming air provided some nice atmospheric effect.  The blue sky reflecting off the snow, infusing violet into the red barns.

Under the Apple Tree, 12x16 (click on image to enlarge)

The arc of this snow-covered tree limb perfectly framed the farmhouse across the field.  It took a while to get this painting done.  When I noticed that the moon had risen over my left shoulder and street lights were coming on, I realized it was time to pack it in.  

I think it sometimes takes a bit of obsessive compulsiveness to stick with a painting.  Often, a painting gets off to a good start.  Then problems have to be solved, and there can be a period of frustration and distress.  But, provided that the composition is strong, generally it is good to stick with it until the multitude of challenges are resolved -- sometimes until the absence of daylight compels calling it quits.

Yale Skates to National Title

Pick Up Game, 24x48 (click on image to zoom)

OK, I actually don't really follow hockey.  But I thought that posting this recently-completed painting was timely after Yale's victory over Quinnipiac this week to win its first national title.  In painting this, I used some photos I took this winter at Eastbury Pond here in Glastonbury.  One of the guys happened to be wearing a Yale sweatshirt.

Roaring Brook

Roaring Brook - Upstream, (14x18) (click on image to zoom)

Roaring Brook - Downstream, (14x18) (click on image to zoom)

These were done just down the street from my house sometime in January.  The road which crosses Roaring Brook floods out several times a year.  I used to drive through the rushing water, not realizing just how strong the current can be -- or weather the road below was still in tact.  Now I take the slightly longer route rather than risk having to process a really stupid insurance claim.

It's a truly beautiful place.  If only I could incorporate into my paintings a soundtrack of the tranquility of the water chattering through the peaceful woods.

A Warm Day in January

Tracks, 13x24  (click on image to zoom)

Just before the recent arctic blast arrived, I grabbed some warm January sunshine at Horton's Farm.  Sometimes I can really get into all this global warming.

With the sun low in the sky, a line of trees off to the right painted their self-portraits on the land as long lavender shadows.  If all my subject matter painted itself, I guess I'd be out of a job.  Actually, that's how Peter Zalinger, one of the professors at The Lyme Academy, used to describe working from direct observation.  In life drawing class, he used to say that if you got enough reference points in the right places, it would "draw itself."  While I never achieved that level of perfection, I still hear those words in my mind when struggling with drawing issues.

Near Peak

Near Peak, 14x24 (click on image to zoom)

Here's one from October.  I've painted this farm in South Glastonbury for over a year now, from various angles and in all seasons.  No two days or paintings have been the same.  On this particular day, the sun lit up the greens of the recently-harvested fields, and the hillside glowed with golden autumn color.

Blackhead (Monhegan Island, Maine)

As winter approaches, I was reminiscing about painting on Monhegan Island this past September with my good painting friends Kim Ruggiero and Bob Schweizer.  With the threat of rain, we took a shot at hiking over the island to paint the most distant of the headlands, Blackhead.  The black colored rock, as I just learned (http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mgs/explore/bedrock/sites/apr10.htm) is called gabbro, which is igneous rock.  What makes Blackhead really striking are the veins of white rock, which apparently is feldspar.  It was challenging to paint the feldspar without it looking like sun bouncing off the black rocks, particularly since it was somewhat overcast.

In the photo below, you can see the unusual colorations of Blackhead.  To get a sense of how big it is, look at how small the pine trees above it are.  My easel is marked with the name "Henry Kallem," as we stayed at the former summer cottage of the late Henry Kallem, a well respected abstract impressionist who died in 1985.  The island, with a population of about 35 people, has only a few vehicles, mostly all pickup trucks.  When one of the small ferries comes in, you can have your supplies trucked up to your cottage.  But once you're settled in, you have only your own drumsticks to get you up and down the beautiful trails that traverse this small painter's paradise.

Authenticity

Autumn's Approach 9x12  (click on pic to zoom)

This week I was in South Glastonbury just as the last of the cool morning fog was lifting off the eastern hills.

But this journal entry is about something else --  authenticity.  In a review by Billboard.com about Mary Chapin Carpenter's recent album, "Ashes and Roses," MCC spoke about how she just tries to be true to herself.  Well said, MCC.

Though she is grateful for the positive reviews she has received over the years, she says that nobody pleases everyone all of the time. "No one is going to like everything you do," she admits. "That's just an impossible standard. I think the way I feel about what I do is that I'm trying to be authentic. I don't know what else to write about. So, if it doesn't connect with someone, or they don't like it, I can't be angry or disappointed. I'm just trying to be true to myself."