Finding it down the street on the 1001st time.

48  F  Warm and sunny

                     Here I am painting along W.Main St. maybe just over 100 yards from my house.  I've driven by this spot thousands of times, and today the early afternoon light was bright on the houses on the north side of the street.  Sometimes the subject right in front of you is the one you pass over, and over a thousand times, and then the 1001st time, there it is, unique, unseen.  I don't know if I succeeded with this painting, the contrast doesn't feel strong enough and the middle tones of the lawns look dull and lifeless, but we'll live with it for a while and see.

   

               #924  W. Main St.                                            1-11-17                                        14x16

2 blue houses, 2 new spots, a church and an election.

This was a week, as they say.

             #890  Mill St. Greenwich, NY                       11-12-16                                11x14

           I came to this place because there is access to the Battenkill, with old rail road piers in the water, and because Ollie was with me and he loves the water!

          The light wasn't right for the river scene, but when returning to the van I saw this.  A back lot view, with light on the blue house.

     First 2 light colors.

    Most everything is blocked in. I didn't get a good end shot.

On grey days, and there are a lot of them in November, I've been working on my new studio, and getting ready for my "Grand Opening", more on that later.  Last Thursday I drove up to Salem, NY, it's the town just north of us on State Route 22.  I couldn't help being transfixed by this scene, right at the traffic light (the only one in Salem).

                           Broadway and Main, there is probably one in every town in America.

           I was feeling like the buildings were too large and I wanted to move farther back, but that wasn't possible, I was also concerned that there wasn't "a way out", that is the viewer is blocked by the buildings to (metaphorically) get out of the scene, I guess one could go down the dark ally or between the other two buildings.

       #889  Broadway and Main, Salem, NY                   11-10-16                           12x16


     Money Shot.

Tuesday, November 8th, if you remember was election day. and of course I voted.  I'm also a custodian and courier for the Board of Elections in Washington County, a very minor job, but one I've done for a few years now (10, 12?)  anyway after I cast my vote, but before any results were in, I went out painting:

   A short while ago I was painting in the neighborhood, and met the farmer and owner of this property, He invited me to go up this farm road (a path between fields) to see the view.

      1st.

     2nd.

     #887  Tiashoke Farm S. Cambridge.                  11-8-16                                        14x16

     Later in the day, I went to a familiar spot in the parking lot of the Presbyterian Church.

        At the end the light fundamentally changes from a white to a yellow.

      #888  Park Place.                                     11-8-16                                               9x12

    This is Little Colfax Rd.  not far from my house, but it's a dead end, so I don't go up there, not at least until last Monday.

              #886  Little Colfax Rd.                          11-7-16                                   8x10

    Not much time went by before I lost my light, and stopped here.  Day light savings had just happened, an evil plot by early risers to get the worms meant for night owls!

Another mega- blog! 7 paintings and a whole lot more!

   The first part of October has been full of stuff, yes of course painting, but also shows and some traction in getting the paintings into the world, all great, and desired, but a lot to process.  The weather has been just beautiful, with the fall colors changing in exciting and unpredictable ways.

     This is a scene looking down Carey Ave, a back street in Hoosick Falls, NY.  I honestly don't know how I ended up painting this scene, but it did have some redeeming qualities with the shadows crossing the street, the distant hill and the tree cut (where the tree is cut back for the power lines, and is a common subject for me)

                           Truly a back street in an old post industrial small town in Upstate New York, there is a scruffy quality, and a majestic quality and they co-exist in a lovely fashion.

                         #869  Carey Ave. Hoosick Falls, NY.     10-5-16            10x8



         The next day, I visited my parents in Newton, MA.  This is the city hall, not far from where I grew up, and my parents still live.

      This was a great scene, the light on the building, the shadows of the trees, and the traffic, so much traffic going by.

      #870  Newton City Hall, Newton, MA.               10-6-16                                11x12


         Friday night was the first of 4 days in the Landscapes for landsake show, a fundraiser for the Ag Stewardship Association, a cause close to heart, preserving farmland in our region, I'm friends with a lot of the other artists and many of the people that come to the show, and that's a lot of people.  It was a great success with a lot of sales, seeing old friends, meeting people and fun!

      Early (5:30) Saturday morning I took Alane and Hope to the airport for a trip to Puerto Rico, they would have a blast with Alane's sister, niece, and families.

   On Monday, Columbus Day, also the final day of the show, I went out to paint. This is what I found:

  I really liked this process shot, it shows how I'm thinking while developing the painting, notice the scraping away of the sky for the tree, and that the bright lights and darkest shadows are there early in the session.

    #871 Cross Rd.  Salem, NY.                   10-10-16                                    14x16

Later the same day I went to Greenwich and found this:

These village scenes close to the end of the day pose some interesting challenges, with the way that the light goes on one thing then another, it also give you an opportunity to create a very dynamic composition with these radical elements of different parts.

     I don't necessarily like "chasing" the light, that is to change things as the light changes, but I do sometimes.

       #872  Salem St. Greenwich, NY.                    10-10-16                        11x14

Tuesday was just too beautiful not to paint, and with the trees turning colors I went looking for trees, you'd think I could just walk out the door and find a tree to paint, but nooooo, I have to drive around past millions of them to find the ONE.

 

      #873  Black Creek Rd.  Salem, NY.                   10-11-16                     12x16


   This was Wednesday, another day with gorgeous light.

     This is the largest panel I've painted in a long time.

      #874 Lincoln Hill Rd.                             10-12-16                               16x18

Yesterday on my way back from Saratoga, I drove around way too much, but I found something pretty good. 

   In this case I had to stop because I was loosing the light, which was great, but fleeting especially toward the end.

       #875 Scotch Hill Rd. Salem, NY.               10-14-16                           9x12

Thank you for reading my blog!

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.......