Waits Hill Rd. and the centennials of Greenwich. What I learned from carpentry.

   I've been feverishly getting my studio ready for the grand opening. The building was a garage that I used as a carpentry shop, my occupation for the better part of 30 years.  In that span of time I did a lot of things, morphing from an art student, to an apprentice for a sculptor, to a series of other specialty building, architectural model making, sign fabrication, but mostly carpentry and in particular as a stand alone concern in my small town.  I learned a lot through those experiences, much of which informs my work today.   There is an inherent logic in the built environment, and the craft of carpentry determines what works and what doesn't. I learned patience and perseverance: if something didn't work, I'd have to fix it so it did. I learned that craft had to have a use, and that too much of it wasn't paid for, so don't do it!  I learned that it can take years and lots of mistakes to find what you're looking for, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

Back to painting: last Sunday......

   I've been to this spot many times, and will often drive by to see how the light is.

   

          #891 Waits Hill Rd.                                      11-13-16                                  14x16

I also went out on Monday......

    Last week I had gone to the other side of the river where there is a path to the water, I painted the backlots, looking in the other direction, but had long wondered how I'd get to the other side, although I had a hunch and it involved a short hike in.

                    Ollie loves these spots too, but this time of the year we get attacked by ticks, so I'm waiting for really freezing temps.

   I had a fundamental problem with the values in this, and the only way to solve it is to return for a re-do, I'll wait until it gets really cold!

           #892  Battenkill at the centennials, Greenwich,  NY.            11-14-16                14x16

     This is from my hike back, I parked at the hydro plant and walked in along the river bank, there are lots more to explore. 

Battenkill and Belle Rd. 5 days until Cambridge Valley Fine Art Tour!!!

    It's that time again, in less than 5 days: The Cambridge Valley Fine Art Tour!!!

    Click on link:    http://cambridgevalleyart.org/the-artists/matt-chinian/

    Hope and I went to Newton to see my parents, Hope's grandparents! and we squeezed in a visit to The Fogg art museum of Harvard University, in the other Cambridge.  It was a lovely visit, I hadn't been to the Harvard Museums in ages, and there ware a lot of changes there, but the collection is amazing, and always more than you can take in at once.

                

                                Hope, Mom and Dad!

    So I had a few days away from painting, yesterday I ended up in a really nice spot, but didn't quite get it:

      I had driven past a lot of good scenes, and by the time I got to the bridge, and down the path to the water, then down along the river's edge, I got to a dead end, so I stopped. Sometimes the scene is a perfectly good one, but I can't get far enough back to actually see it.

       #837  Battenkill @ Shushan     8-21-16    12x11

       I also forgot my pallet knife.

       Today I went right to this spot. I didn't have it in mind, but there it was, when I drove by.  I had done this last year.

    #838  Belle Rd.     8-22-16      14x16

Along the battenkill and out the kitchen door. Yesterday

82  F  some clouds some sun

#778  The Battenkill @ Clarks Mills    6-1-16   11x12

       I've been down this side of the river a number of times, but not in this exact location, it gave me both a river and a factory including a reflection of the smokestack in the river, I liked that even if there may have been too much stuff in a relatively small panel.

          It wasn't a long hike down here, maybe a hundred yards or so from the parking area, I love places like this a few people, a good distance away, but mostly by myself.  My feet are still tingly so it feels weird to maneuver along the bank of the river, even with pretty well worn paths.

   "Money Shot"  for the morning.

   This is the view of my neighbors' house from just outside of my kitchen door, the light in the late afternoon offers a great play of light and dark, and I see this alot, so paint it, I must!

  #779  View from kitchen   6-1-16     9x12

    I think the lights are still not light enough and the darks are still not dark enough and that I fussed with it too much.

Tomorrow starts my Open Studio, I'll post photos of my studio/gallery as soon as I get it together, it's still a mess!

Thanks!

Mill St. start of something new?

64  F  sunny.

             #755  Mill St.  Greenwich, NY.    4-17-16     8x10

    This is part of my favorite trestle bridge over the Battenkill in Greenwich.

A few irregularly space process shots.

I've been looking at these railroad underpasses that spot the villages and the countryside and liked the patterns of light and shadow, there may be more.

This is "the other side of the tracks"  in Greenwich, an orphan house right behind me here, with the river across the street and the bridge right in back, maybe I should buy this house and live in it!