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!

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. 

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!

A return to winter and Eagle Bridge.

32  F  sunny, some clouds, windy.

         #743  Eagle Bridge rail yard.    4-3-16   12x16

It snowed last night and was cold and a little windy this morning, but sunny. The snow was beautiful, but as soon as I drove out of town it seemed to disappear, as it looks here.

The clouds came and went.

     Not sure how I feel about this, parts I like and parts I don't.  

More white, more white!

This was yesterday......
41  F  sunny!

           #740  Burgoyne St.. Schuylerville, NY  3-30-16  11x14

The Saratoga Monument is right up the road.

I liked both the white off of the houses on the right as well as the shadows crossing the road.

Just a few progress shots, this tone is on the dark side, but not the darkest value, and opposite in color.

Later on yesterday the sun stayed out and the shadows were even better.

54  F

         #741  R.R. Park.    3-30-16   9x12   

Hoosick Falls with sunshine.

54  F  sunny,

            #730  R.R. Ave. Hoosick Falls, NY.  3-16-16  12x16

I liked the dark shadows but lost them after a while.

2nd.

I quit here because I the light had fundamentally changed and I just couldn't pretend anymore.

My scene at the start, complete with freight train.

The sight-size shot, showing how the scene had changed.  The utility truck parked there just at the right time for me to include it, then left.












     It was one of those days when the sun warms you like a snake on a rock, it felt good.  Maybe that's all you need, even though I spend a lot of time and energy finding what I want to paint, with countless things of interest,  big picture, intimate subjects, natural, man-made, beautiful, sublime.  I question it all, question it to the core, and when I'm done I want to sleep and forget, and see what the next day will bring.  Thanks for reading my blog, I know my musings might verge on the insane, on questions that asks for answers that can't be made, so I appreciate your patience and understanding! 

Two days three paintings:

33  F  sunny

              #721  R.R. Ave.  3-1-16  9x12

         Nothing soothes the savage beast like the music of paint, at least for me.  After days of the market, and all that, getting out with the sun out was restorative, this is what I did.

This is becoming a favorite spot.

      Today's Money Shot.

     

     Late afternoon, yesterday.

  I'm in the back of the parking lot of the post office  looking at the Presbyterian Church with the late day light on it.



#720  Backlots,  2-29-16  8x6

Yesterday morning I found some red hay wagons in the landscape.

#719  Cty. Rte 60  2-29-16  7x10

Hay wagons.

Hoosick Falls and Coila; making hay.

21  F  sunny, a little wind.

                               Making hay while the sun shines, is a farmer's expression and it applies to a lot of things, and painting for me is one of those things. I don't like painting when it's overcast, the light flat and  and the shadows, practically non-existent.  The month has been cloudy, rainy, windy, so when the forecast was for sun, reasonable temperatures and little wind, I ditched some of the things that I can do on cloudy days.  Shop work and basement insulation can wait.

I don't like doing "Portraits" of houses or buildings, I would suppose that this might be one, but it's also a street scene, and the light and shadows also have a narrative.

The old "American House" has seen better days, I remember having lunch there when I rented space in the "Specialty Building" to the immediate right, also now abandon.  This was in 1988- 90.

#715  R.R. Ave, Hoosick Falls, NY.

2-18-16

14x16

This is a scene I decided not to paint, I'll often stop and walk around in an area looking for just the right place, and I didn't like the pattern of shadowed building, like they were marching down the road, so I moved. Still there are a lot more pictures to paint in this neighborhood.

There was  more beautiful light in the afternoon, so after I picked up Hope from skiing, I had time to paint here, along Coila Rd., right down the street from my house.

This was extremely quick.

#716  Coila Rd.

2-18-16

8x10