A few nights ago, I had this terrible nightmare! I dreamed I was in a strange dark city and I felt frightened and lost. Eery music was playing and there were ghostlike figures dancing and rising into the air. I felt the urge to get it out of my head so I painted what I saw. This is the result.

"Midnight Dancers"

16" x 12"

Oil on Linen panel

It's been a long time since I last posted. I have been very busy traveling and painting and participating in family activities. It's that time of year once again, that I am thinking about Monhegan Island. This morning I went into my studio and painted this oil painting from a small watercolor sketch. This painting will be on display this summer and for sale at the Monhegan House. Please stop by and take a look if you are on the island.  

"Evening Light on Lobster Cove"

9"x12" oil on Linen Panel

$575.00

After attending a great workshop in the Catskills with Kim English this past summer, I have become more interested in painting figures. I have painted figurative scenes in the past but my primary focus had been landscapes and seascapes. While at the workshop, the model took a break on a hot summer day and she rested on a blanket. I caught that moment with my camera and recently decided to do this painting.

A Warm Summer's Day

12" x 16"

Oil on Linen Board

Today,  I felt very tired of the heat and humidity and decided to paint a cool scene. I found a photo that I took last winter on a trip to Boston. It's a scene of people walking down the street shopping. Here is the painting that was painted partly from the photo and the rest from my memory.

 "Winter White on Newbury Street"

                                                           24" x 24' Oil on Canvas

I am practicing a lot with a palette knife and really loving it! Here is one of the recent paintings I did.

                                                                        L'oignon

                     16 x 8 Oil on linen panel 

Two Painters By the Sea

I have not been posting lately. My life has been so busy and I have been traveling.  I recently returned from a Master Painters workshop with Kim English. He is such a great guy and a phenomenal painter. Unfortunately,  I had an accident on the first morning of the workshop and injured my right index finger and part of my hand. I am still recovering from it, but I am finally able to paint again for a few hours at a time. I had a dream that I was back on Monhegan Island painting by the ocean's edge with a very rough surf. A friend came to visit me and we chatted for a while. Here is a painting that I did from that dream. It's a self portrait entitled "Two Painters By the Sea".

I used to drive to UNH every Friday to pick up my son when he was back in college. I always took a shortcut down this country road. There is a large farm on the way with a large grove of trees in front along the road. I had a very pleasant dream the other night, that I was going to get my son and those trees appeared. This is how they looked in my dream.

                                 "A Grove of Trees"  18" x 24" Oil on Linen board

Seascape

This is a plein air painting I did in September. I love the challenge of painting the ocean. It is constantly moving, making it difficult to capture what you are seeing. It is so much fun and I take it as a challenge! Me against nature! LOL!

9" x 12" Oil on Linen Panel

Tangled Bush

This is the second painting I did during my session in the pine grove. I turned my easel to the right and saw this bush. That was it, I decided to just paint it. Sometimes, it is good to not spend a whole lot of time walking around searching for a subject to paint. Sometimes, the subject finds you. I like the way all three of the paintings came out from that afternoon on Monhegan. I plan on doing this type of plein air painting more in the future.

                                                                  "Tangled Bush"
                                                          6" x 8" Oil on linen panel

Sunlit Pines

This is actually the first painting I did on the day I set up my gear under the pines. I was instantly drawn to the way the light was beaming in from the left, leaving these deep long shadows across the grassy area. This was painted very quickly, keeping my brushes constantly moving across the canvas. The next painting I post will be the third painting from that afternoon session.

Sunlit Pines

                                                            6"x 8" Oil on Linen Panel

House On the Hill

I just returned from a fantastic week on Monhegan Island working as Stan Moeller's Assistant at his annual September painting workshop. We had great sunny weather for the most part. I normally paint a lot of seascapes while I am there, but this time I focused on the trees and houses. This first painting I am posting was executed on a very warm sunny day. I found sanctuary in a shady grove of pine trees. I set up my easel and decided to just paint what was straight ahead. I turned my easel to the side and painted another and repeated the process. I produced three paintings that day. It was like heaven being outdoors in the cool shade on such a beautiful hot fall day. I will post the other two paintings in the next few days.

                                                               "House On the Hill"
                                                          9" x 12" Oil on Linen Panel

Lupines

I did this small study in the studio very quickly. It was a great deal of fun doing this painting knowing that I would do a larger version of some sort later on. I worked out some problems I was encountering and made some composition choices when doing this. The next lupine painting will be a bit larger and a slightly different design. I will keep the colors vibrant and do a lot more painting with the palette knife in the next painting. Working several different versions of the same scene is so much fun and you learn a lot while doing it.

                                                            6" x 8" Oil on Linen board

Still LIfe with Purple Iris

16" x 20 " Oil on Linen Canvas

Clearing Ahead in Cathedral Woods

These days, I find myself feeling quite restless. I just don't have the patience to work on a painting for longer than 4 or 5 hours. After that length of time, the painting becomes boring as if my very mood was being projected onto the canvas. A painting can become technically perfect but absolutely dull and lifeless. I decided to start and complete a larger work in one session. This is the result of my painting like crazy without stopping for a break. I am happy with the results. It does have energy which was my goal.

 18" x 24" Oil on Linen Panel

Adirondack Chair

I painted this on a cold, dreary day this past February. I needed to paint something warm and happy. This painting brings me back to Monhegan Island in the summertime. This chair next to the library was just waiting for me to come and sit. Ahhhh, to dream........

                                                                Adirondack Chair

                                                          6"x 6" Oil on Gessobord

Coastal Path

I love to paint fast. I get bored with the subject if I have to wait for the paint to dry. Most of my work is done "alla prima" in my studio or outside "en plein air". Sometimes, on dreary winter days, I like to pretend that I am outside. I paint very quickly, trying to get down what I see as if I were fighting the changing light. This is a good exercise for any painter to do. It keeps you on your toes and the work is fresh.

                                                                        Coastal Path 
                                                               6"x6" Oil on Gessobord

Thinking About Monhegan....

It is so cold outside. I feel rather cooped up today. I want to be outdoors painting. At this time of year my mind always goes back to Monhegan Island.  Probably because my heart is there. For those of you who are not familiar, it is a small place, an island one hour off the coast of Maine. It is now and has been for a long time, an art colony that draws artists, musicians, writers, and bird watchers to it's shores every summer. The scenery from a painter's perspective is spectacular. There is a potential painting around every corner.  I always stay at the Monhegan House.  The wonderful staff, great food, and interesting eclectic group of people who stay there make it for me the best place to be. I have been returning there for many years to be a part of the plein air workshops being taught by my friend and mentor, Stan Moeller. He is a wonderful teacher who goes above and beyond to help his students.  I cannot recommend his workshops enough. We have so much fun, but we work very hard. I always come back having learned something new. I am so looking forward to the warmer weather and to going back. Below is a still life painting I did in the dead of winter last year when I was thinking about Monhegan Island and wondering when I was going back. This is a symbolic painting because each item either comes from or I use while on the island. The title of this painting is "Missing Monhegan".