New work at Amp Galleries, Saratoga Springs NY.

It snowed today, which totally made sense because I had to pack the van up with stacks of paintings and drive them over to Amp Galleries in Saratoga Springs, NY,

     AMP Galleries is in this building: 454 Broadway, the Saratoga Marketplace. Their web site:
http://www.ampgalleries.com/about

 
               There are 14 framed paintings (2 not shown) and a short stack of unframed panels.  any painting is available with or without a frame.

                     This will be up thru February, and maybe longer, the hours are Monday-Saturday 11-6. Sundays 11-5.  If you are around, stop in.  If you want to meet me there send me a message on the contact widget above.  There will be events and I'll announce them here as they come up.

                     Thanks for reading my blog!

A river, a church and a combine.

September 17, Saturday.

    This is the Charles River and the North Beacon St. bridge from Greenough Blvd. in Watertown, MA.  I was visiting my parents, and this is familiar territory to me.

            I liked the light in the arch of the bridge, which got more intense as the session proceeded.

     My start.

         #858 Charles River @ Greenough Blvd. Watertown, MA.        9-17-16        9x12

September 20, Tuesday.

    I was back in Cambridge, and at a familiar scene.

   My start.

    #859  N. Park St.                                       9-20-16                                             9x12

               I actually finished this on the 21st, but it was just a little tweaking, and the day was a carbon copy of Tuesday.  Right after that I went out and found something I had been looking for: a combine bringing in corn......

      I've been fascinated with this process for a while and how it shows the way the land looks, but it's difficult to get the right day with the right light, at the right exact spot.

    The machine moves pretty fast, while the trucks fill, then move on to be replaced by another.  I had to have a lot of the painting done, then quickly sketch in the truck and combine.

                   #860  Juniper Swamp Rd.                      9-21-16                     11x14

Does subject really matter? a post industrial relic and parking in Albany.

    I ask myself how much does subject matter?.  A lot of times I want something, anything with a little sun on it, and it's corresponding shadow, I want something with the potential to create a dynamic composition.  I can find most of these things in my backyard and I do sometimes. But place and subject cannot be ignored. Do you subject an important place like a state building or an historic house? or a dramatic place like a mountain, or a waterfall?  It makes me think about all the car commercials you see where the car drives by the Grand Canyon, or a lighthouse on Cape Cod. All beautiful places, but mostly these cars drive on suburban roads, to office parks and shopping malls. I believe in finding beauty where I am, places I see in my everyday life.  Even so I often agonize about what to paint, I'm beyond thinking about what will sell, because nothing sells. So I get on kicks, I've had light on white building kicks, bridge abutment kicks, tree cut kicks, and recently an intersection kick.  But still, there are times when I find places because that's where I want to be, and most often it is by myself,  and that's what I found yesterday, I was aimlessly driving around and found myself on the Thomson Rd,  and wondered just what was beyond the gated road.

     This is an old industrial dock on the Hudson River, and part of an old canal and lock complex long ago decommissioned.

      #853  Hudson River @ Thomson, NY.                      9-12-16                                      14x16

        Here is the old lock, there are overgrown roads, old bridges and I think some rails too!


        Today I went to Albany to check on a parking space for the "Parking Day" organized by the Albany Center Gallery.  This is scheduled for Friday, this week and I wanted to have a space to paint in that had some potential to work from.

      This is looking North, down Columbia St. The Albany Center Gallery is in the middle of the block.

      #854  Columbia & Broadway, Albany, NY.                 9-13-16                                   11x12

This is the space I picked out for Friday, if you are in downtown Albany between 11 and 3 stop in!

Two days, two paintings.

90  F  hot, hazy and humid.

 This was from this morning:

       #777  Hudson River @ Rodgers Island, NY.        5-29-16       14x16

           It took 1 1/2 hours to get to this place, where I've painted at least 2-3 times.

        By the time I get to this point, I've figured out a lot of things, basically what I'm going to include, or not.

My pallet.

     Today's money shot.

   Yesterday I went down to the Cambridge Town Hall, and found this scene.

    There were things I liked about the scene, but there was a lot of middle value greens that I didn't.

    #776 Center Cambridge road @ town hall.    5-28-16    11x14

      At the end of the day, not terrible, but there is probably too much stuff.

Here are a couple of sash, I've had a lot of them through the shop. I'm going to finish up the few projects I've promised out and quit this line of work.  I've done close to 1,000 of these, maybe that's too many, maybe I'm quitting too late.  

Two bridges, one familiar one new.

84  F  some sun, some haze,

   #775  Hudson River, Troy, NY.     5-25-16    11x12

              This is the Collar City Bridge, in Troy, NY. It's a draw bridge which explains it's unique shape, it's also an icon of Troy.  I've wanted to paint it for some time, I got my chance today when I finished up a window job early,  although the clouds were in front of the sun, I don't get down this way to paint that often.

     The design comes first with large simple forms, dark and light.

     I alway wonder how much I really need, and what is extraneous, what tells the story and when do I start to fuss with it, when to quit.

                The Money Shot for this afternoon.

       This was done on Monday,  a familiar bridge.

           This is the scene, one I like a lot, still not sure what happened, an off day?

   #774  Battenkill @ Battenville.       5-23-16   9x12


      As always thank you for reading my blog!

Friday late, South Union St, with a surprise!

62  F  mostly clear.

This is S. Union St. looking North at the back of the I.G.A, I've painted this scene at in the late day light a number of times, all wanting a re-match, Friday I had another opportunity, this is what happened:

                 #773  S. Union St. (with balloon)      5-20-16   12x16

     After I set up and started the balloon truck pulled up and started o set up, I really had no idea this was going to happen.

     Proof positive that the balloon was actually painted where and when, if it matters.

So there it is, ready or not for Balloon Festival, less than 2 weeks away!

Early and late, the best kinds of light.

45  F  sunny.

                                             #747  Outfront     4-10-16     10x8

     I got out early this morning so we could go for a hike in manchester, Vt.  This is my house, it often does not have the most interesting lighting, but for a few minutes in the day when it's like this.

The shadow of the trees moved quickly across the side of the house, a phenomenon I've been watching since I first painted his scene last August, when I actually get afternoon light on the front of the house.

Early evening today.......

  I found this scene on North Rd. in Greenwich, NY.

The shadow is the lift-gate of my van, and just slightly distracting.

#748  North Rd.  Greenwich, NY

4-10-16

14x16

As always, thank you for joining me on this journey, it's fun knowing you're here!