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!

A factory, a city street, a canal lock, and a tree.

43  F  overcast

      I had been looking for a tree, one in millions of beautiful trees, why so hard to find the one?



 
                         When I started there was some light, and the tree was lit up like Christmas, but the cloud cover came in and changed the scene.  The bright yellow orange leaves are still luminescent, even in filtered light, and I don't know why I don't do more of them!

                              #885  Shields Rd.                   11-6-16                          12x9

Yesterday I went to a friends open studio, on the way back I stopped at Lock #3 of the Champlain Canal, along the Hudson River, just north of Mechanicville.  

         
              #884  Champlain Canal Lock #3 Mechanicville, NY.     11-5-16        11x12

      I wanted to go on the other side of the railing, but there was a sign prohibiting it.  I didn't see a soul the whole time I was there!

                                      The sun came and went a lot too, welcome to November!

      This is in front of the building where AMP gallery is.  I had to bring in a panel rack, to display un-framed paintings, so I painted out front.  It was a problematic scene, one I wouldn't have picked otherwise.

                 As it was, not a bad spot to paint, I had a few visitors, and "Death Wish" coffee across the street.

     #883   Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY.              11-4-16                   12x16

          I liked the sun and shadows in this scene, and I felt like I needed a larger panel, this one is 16x20.

           #882   Pearl St.                                                 11-1-16                                            16x20


As always thanks for reading my blog!

Finished September Paintings

    September was a productive month, with 25 paintings done, here are 15 of the best, although a few are missing because I had trouble with the photo files. The weather was spectacular, with a lot of sun and warm temperatures, and somehow I was able to keep life at bay enough to focus on painting.  I had a lot of successes recently with the "Best in Show" award from the Trask event and a bunch of sales. I got a show at Saratoga Arts, scheduled for the spring of 17'  and joined a new cooperative gallery in Saratoga Springs NY, to be installed this week.  All good stuff and I'm happy about that, as long as I can keep painting!

                   843 Strand @ night, Old Forge, NY.                         9-1-10                                    11x12

              #844 Moose River                                         9-2-16                                             9x12

         #845 View from Bald Mountain, Old Forge, NY.                      9-2-16                         12x16

                       #848 Park Place                     9-5-16                                   14x16

                 #849 Spraguetown Rd, @ CR 52 Greenwich, NY.                   9-7-16                          12x16

              #850 C.R. 59 @ South Rd.                                       9-9-16                                 11x14

               #851 W. Main St.                                      9-10-16                                        12x16

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

                                 #855 Home                                     9-15-16                          11x12 

                      #857 Stuben @ James St. Albany, NY.                         9-16-16                            14x16 

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

                                          #859 N. Park St.                                  9-20-16                          12x16 

                       #861 South Rd. @ C.R. 59                           9-22-16                                 9x12  

               

                 #864 McCray Rd. Greenwich NY.                            9-27-16                               11x12

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

                          

                                         As always thanks for reading my blog!

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!