Snow and grey, the farm and the river.

   #902  Hoosic River @ Valley Falls, NY.                           12-6-16                                   14x16

    This is at the end of Bunker Hill Rd.  I've painted from the other side a few times.

   This convenient platform is part of the dam structure.

Yesterday......

      #901  Skellis Rd.                                              12-5-16                                                 12x16

Snow is fun!

A casino, a house, a cemetery and a bar.

A real diverse group of paintings over these four days, place always front and center, and that's just picking them and getting set up.  On Wednesday, September 28, I went to Saratoga to drop off the paintings (the one that one the award) and stayed in Congress Park and got a scene with the old casino.

    I liked the sun on the building with the shade on the lawn, a current obsession.

               #865  Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, NY.                    9-28-16                   11x12

         I found this on S. Union St, right here in Cambridge, NY.  I was buzzed about the award I got the night before!

       #866   S. Union St.                                  9-30-16                                     14x16

This house was just recently sold, it's a beautiful Greek revival, fully intact with an attached outhouse!

      I drove around aimlessly, way longer than I should have and ended up here, a stone's throw from our old house, on Nickmush Rd. in East Pittstown, yes, it's remote, and yes we had a lot of our lives here, Alane and I met here and Emma was born here.

          The light changed dramatically while I was there, not unusual on these big cloud days.

      This is the East Pittstown Cemetery, with it's original iron fence, it's spooky on a chilly late autumn night!

      #867  Abbott @ Nickmush Rd.  Pittstown, Rd.                 10-3-16                            11x12

      This is the Hoosic River along SR22 near SR7.  I've been by this spot many times, but usually on the road between home and New York or Boston, and I could see this sand bar from the road.

     I could park on the bar, no doubt it's underwater when the river rises.

         #868  Hoosic River on the sand bar, Hoosick, NY,              10-4-16                       8x10

    That,s four more! two more on the hopper ready to blog, but later.  Tomorrow starts the Landscapes for Landsake show,  so  that will be a lot of talking.......

The close by and familiar, the lost and the found, Varak Park and Buskirk bridge.

    There is nothing like hanging out on green grass in the late afternoon in the summer. The world is your living room.  Last night I went out wanting some lawn and late shadows. I didn't really need to go anywhere, there is a lot of lawn and shadows at my house, but "going out" is part of the process.  I did find something petty close at Varak Park, a Victorian era factory complex in the middle of my village.  The front of the property is a lawn, bisected by a channeled stream, and a footbridge, lovely.

     At the start the light was mostly on the building, and more on the lawn as well.

      I liked the pattern that the light and darks made, like a secret language, a binary code, but way more complex, way more mysterious.  The world is all pattern, and all changing, and it is there to be discovered.

           #835  Varak Park      8-17-16        12x16

     A red pick-up truck pulled up along Main St., in front of the building and the light was hitting the back of it.  I spent a lot of time on it, as is often the case with certain details.  The big pieces, with a little luck, can be broadly and quickly rendered, while some of the smaller pieces take more time.  Those big picture things are often the things

       This morning I went down to a familiar spot along the Hoosic River at the Buskirk bridge.

           #836  Hoosic River @ Buskirk's bridge.      8-18-16      12x16

         This painting didn't have a large lawn, I think I like going to familiar spots to see how my take on life (or seasons) have changed since the last time I was here, and that's usually a good thing.

Two bridges and a house, the familiar and the damned.

The last few days, weeks even have been a bit of a whirlwind, 5 window jobs have manifested themselves, my aging parents need some time and attention and they are out of state. Somehow I've managed to get out when I had sunshine. I love the sun in the morning, or evening, but I'll take it anytime if I must. So here is what I did the last three days:

         #769  County Route 60, Jackson, NY.     5-12-16    11x12

2nd time at this scene.

Yesterday I found this scene:

             

  #768 State Route 67 bridge, Valley Falls, NY.     5-11-16        12x16

Tuesday I had a different experience, I painted on this spot that's practically in the river.  

     

     This is the construction site that is the Johnsonville bridge.   The wrapped structure you see is the old trestle bridge, and the new construction is the new bridge.  The painting does not explain this, and maybe that's a problem, the confusion is about what you are looking at, it's subject and it's hard to make sense of it.  

  #767  Hoosic River@ Johnsonville bridge.         5-10-16       11x14 

     I've been thinking about finding new places and new motifs, seeing what happens with them. Sometimes they don't work. sometimes they need a re-visit or a re-think.  Other times I go right back to familiar places, sometimes it's to try and get what I had missed or to see what different light and different seasons look like.  It can all be maddening at times.  

A mighty river and a little trickle.

60   F   mostly sunny.

     #757  Hoosic River @  Rt. 22 bridge. Hoosick Falls, NY.   4-21-16   9x12

I had seen the parking area by the bridge a number of months ago while driving by, and happened upon it again today.

There was a nice little sand bar, just a short scramble down from the path, and Ollie enjoyed hanging by the river for a while.

Love that green water!

I like this, the Hoosic River Greenway!

Later today........

       #758  Content Farm Rd.   4-21-16    6x8

I've been noticing the reflections in puddles, in this case a little seasonal stream, especially late in the day when the rest of the light is going down.

I'll have to work on this (or a similar scene) again, maybe a little more water......

3 days 5 paintings, look into the light!

The skies have been clear and sunny.

#750  Cty rte. 60, Jackson, NY.    4-14-16    9x12

The light on this said "paint me".

That was the morning of Thursday,  later that day......

               #751  Hoosic River @ Buskirk's Bridge,   4-14-16   8x10

I came back to this scene.

The Money Shot.













Friday morning I got out before taking Emma for her road test for her driver's licence.

      #752  Park Place, Cambridge, NY.     4-15-16    11x12

This "backlot" scene, is becoming a favorite.

Some progress shots.

Later on Friday.......

I found this scene on Duel Hollow Rd. near Turnpike Rd.

Sometimes I think you just have to get paintings out of your system before you can get beyond them, this is one of those.

    #753  Duel Hollow @ Turnpike.    4-15-16     7x10

    I came here this morning,

A popular spot, I needed to be near the river this morning (I was hung-over from partying last night)

#754  Battenkill @ Battenville.

4-14-16

11x12

I carried down to my painting spot, not far, but in one carry.





Please excuse the sparse commentary.  I really do have more words in me but I'm overwhelmed by all the things laid out for me right now and I'm loving going out to paint sometimes twice on these beautiful sunny days!