Light at the end of the day (x's 2)

This week was predominatly cloudy, but on Wednesday and Thursday, a little sun peaked out from the cloud cover and I was able to paint.

                        #904 RR Ave.                             12-9-16                                     9x12



                                    Here is the scene at the start,  a lot of contrast.


                                   On Wednesday I stopped here before the grocery store.

   
               #903  Burton Rd. Greenwich, NY.                             12-7-16                                       8x10

   Here is the scene when I found it and you can see how vastly different it is from the painting and the scene not long after.  I still don't know why that happens; the variables are many, but that's painting under the big blue.  I'm loving my new studio space, and had a great opening, with old and new friends visiting.  I think I'll enjoy actually working in there, and just made some new panels, it was warm and comfortable so I'm feeing great about it.  Thanks again for reading my blog, as always your questions and comments are always welcome!

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!

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. 

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!

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

This week in the town and in the country

           This is 9-11 day and no matter what you think or feel about it, the world changed and if you were aware on that day you remember where you were and what you were doing.  For me I was working on a ladder on the side of a barn, in Washington County, NY. The sky clear and the air crisp, much like today, 15 years later.

Last Sunday I drove home from the cabin on 6th Lake, after the painting festival in Old Forge, NY.  I needed something familiar and green. There is a lot of that around here, I went to this spot:

       I've painted here before, just not too recently, it's a lot of green, and not much that is man-made, except or the mowed fields and an overgrown fence line.

           #847  Duel Hollow Rd.                      9-4-16                                 9x12

         The day light has been waning, just a few precious minutes each day, and it makes for a rush of elongated light as the sun sets, and then it's gone.

     This was Monday, Labor Day.  and another familiar scene just down the street.  The end of the day light made for some great shadows, but I failed on the drawing of the church, and a few other details lost in the process, seeing the image in front of the scene really points this out.  Maybe it doesn't matter, maybe I'll try again and get it better next time.

              #848  Park Place                         9-5-16                                    14x16

          This place, an intersection is one I've been through many times, and connects some fabulously picturesque scenery, but I liked the shadows and the trees.

      I've been working on the patterns of light holes, shadows, and the patterns of light and darks in the foliage.  There is a lot to those patterns and they can be vexing, getting them to feel right has come about after a lot of error, and we are still often vexed by them.

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

      
        It seems like I'm getting out to paint in the 2nd hour before sunset, this means I have some time before the light really starts to change, by the 1st hour before the sunset the changes in light turn most rapidly, and all hell breaks loose.

       The scene had a lot of glowing green and yellow, they were all so close, it was difficult to differentiate one from another, by the time I stopped the light was gone and I feared the painting was pretty dull and lifeless.  Much of this is because when you're out in the world the painting just can't do light the way nature does it.  When I brouht it back and saw it in artificial light, it looked ok.

      #850  CR  59 & Schweininger Rd.                  9-9-16                                          11x14

      Just down the street last night, a place I go by often many times a day.

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

          This was tonight on Raefield Farm Rd. I was excited about the corn field being harvested, but in the end you couldn't tell in the painting, but the light and shadows carried the day.

              #852    Raefield Farm Rd.                          9-11-16                                           11x14