cliff

“Wind Swept”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

More cliff washed out in the past month’s winds and tides. A section slumped half way between the top of the cliff and the beach. I was able to stand on the slump, set my easel up and appreciate the new view…

“Crumbling Cliff”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I have not been to this beach for a few months, nor since the storm came through. It is amazing how much was eroded by the large sea and wind which swept past. I have gone back to view paintings I made on the beach in the winter of 1995 and the loss of cliff is really noticeable. It is like 2 feet per year in many places. Boulders I would paint next to then are in the surf zone now. It was great to be in the sand working with the sound of a heavy surf muffling all other thoughts until a rogue wave washed up around my easel’s legs…

“Rollers”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

Rain came down most of the day. When it wasn’t rain it was mist or drizzle. Radar showed there might be an hour window of just plain clouds, no moisture, toward the end of the day. I took the chance, scouting when I got to this beach using my iPhone camera to take photos. I went back to the van to get my paints and mull over the photos. No sooner was the door shut than it poured. I was able to manipulate the van into a painting position and worked until dark with the wipers on and off and on and off. It was a grand sea out there. Big rollers were continually pitched against the cliffs below, probably from the force of a nearing tropical depression. It was tempting to jump in, but for the fact that I was alone and the cliff stair was missing the bottom 2/3rds steps…

“Meanwhile”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

The day was sunny to start, but not to end. I chose a Vineyard cliff experience from which to begin. I was looking for the contrast I had felt in my head the whole time I had been away, between an Australian seascape and my familiar New England scene. I suppose, being cloudy (and finger numbing cold) helped me to really feel the difference, too. The waves below sounded similar, but, oh, were the water colors and cliff tones two seasons and a world apart… (And yes, it is always nice to be back home.)

“Tide And Pool”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel.$500.00 USD

Amanda Malin and dog, Snoopy, drove me down from Melbourne to Cape Paterson to paint on a beach one day. There she, my brother and their children use to go when the boys were little. Besides being one of the closest southern capes to Tasmania, it also had some marvelous surf beaches for swimming. As the ozone hole down there causes bad sunburns, I slathered up with sunscreen and hugged the cliff shadow from which to paint. A slight breeze kept the green heads away, but wasn’t enough to rile up the sand from the cliff face onto my palette. The wind increased as I lost my shadow and I had to quit when I felt grit in the air. The now cool lamb chops Amanda had grilled before we left made for a perfect snack as I walked out to explore the volcanic rock slabs and tidal pools stretching out into the waters…

“Cape Schanck Light”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

My brother, John, and I went for a drive-about my last weekend in Australia to the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula, due south of Melbourne. It is a rugged coast with sand and an overlay of ancient lava from past volcanic activity. We stopped long enough for me to paint this lighthouse. Moseying onward we got out and followed a rolling hill path to a seaside overlook. Discovering 200 well heeled revelers way out ahead of us on an ocean bluff, we turned to go and nearly walked into the bride and bridesmaids. They were in full attire gently gliding down the footpath to make her grand entrance. Farther along our journey, we found a helmeted man hanging onto a pair of wings about to jump from a cliff into a stiff headwind. He survived and soared off into the wild, blue yonder…

“Light From Afar”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

This was a safe place out of the WSW wind today. I remained up on top of the bluff to enjoy the elevated view of the coming sunset. Unfortunately clouds on the far horizon obscured most of it. The lead up to sunset was what I concentrated on and it was the better choice. I had a dryer sheet under my baseball cap to help ward off the mosquitos. Despite wearing a short sleeve shirt and a 1/2 mile walk back to the van through deep woods, thicket and marsh at dusk, I only got one bite the whole way. Maybe these dryer sheets really do work…

“Shadows Shorten”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I was out the door very early trying to capture the late setting, almost-full moon. Finally at this west end of the island, I still couldn’t line it up with anything worth while without lying about it. (That means more than just using my artistic license!) So I stumbled up the stairs to the observation area to look out on the dawn fishing fleet down below and the moon as it fled towards N. Y. City. There, the lighthouse looked kind of cool all in shadow…

“High Tide”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

To capture this view in my painting, I had to climb an outdoor spiral stairs to get to the roof deck on some celebrity’s house. Luckily, they weren’t home at the time as I was followed up the stairs by a Boykin Spaniel, an Australian Cattle Dog and an accomplished student painter. The availability of this view will not exist in a few more weeks. One of my contractor friends who is moving this house back from the face of the cliff below allowed me to do some works here before the move starts. I had scouted this view a month ago and realized it would only work as a morning painting with shadows still on the cliff face in the distance…

“Long Draw Dry Creek”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 US

I was out scouting around and drove up this dry creek bed. I turned around when I couldn’t drive any farther and there was this painting in front of me…

“Santa Elena Canyon”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 US

I painted this in Big Bend National Park, an unbelievable place. This is the Rio Grand exiting out of the Santa Elena Canyon. The Canyon walls are over 1,000 feet high making this a most impressive sight. As I painted, all around me were different types of flycatchers doing their acrobatics as they sought tasty morsels flying along the river banks….

“October Moon”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

This is the last of my October moon paintings. The weather did not co-operate on the other 2 available days in the month…

“Surf’s Up”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, SOLD