marsh

Welcome. I love to paint and would like to share my paintings with you. Most days I will try to create and place a new painting here. Sign up for my emails and I will send you an image of my daily painting every time I do a new one.

“Eel Pond 1892″, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel.

In 1892 this was the northwestern most edge of Eel Pond in Edgartown, Mass. The southeastern most corner was and still is about where the houses stop on the left of the far shore. 120 years of storms and Nor’Easters have eroded away, opened, and pushed the eastern edge of the pond into itself. A small, sheltered anchorage for shallow draft boats is all that is left of the once large saltwater great pond…

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“Sandplain Dunes”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel.

I went off the path to find this location. The dunes were the highest landmark along this flat sandplain. As it went down, the sun gave its warmth and color to the winter landscape. I stayed out until I found myself working in the moonlight…

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“Pond Path”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

I scouted this spot weeks ago, but hadn’t found a good and sunny day to come back until now. This is along the edge of a finger of Tisbury Great Pond at Sepiessa in West Tisbury…

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

I painted here in late afternoon light over two years ago. Driving by the other day, I couldn’t resist creating it again in morning light with the tree shadows rippling across the drive…

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

Sometimes I go out to paint a subject I have seen before, but come back with a completely different composition. I haven’t left the sky out of an image recently and I like the low view angle with not even the top of the horizon showing…

“Awash Behind The Dunes”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. USD $550.00

This creek behind these dunes is where I sometimes catch blue claw crabs. I began this painting 2 weeks ago. When I went back to finish it the meadow in the foreground was completely submerged with water. Usually by this time the ponds connected by the creek have been opened to the sea and the levels are much lower. I was glad I began this when I did…

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

It felt like snow, but was just thick, tight clouds. I think they look denser in the winter air than in summer. When they leave, it really makes the sky brighten up in comparison…

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

I discovered this oyster boat when out on a Christmas walk. Tisbury Great Pond is so flooded with fresh water that it has been washing into the parking area. Normally this pond skiff would be anchored out past the grasses and I would be standing right where it is now to create this painting. Soon, I hope, a backhoe will amble down the barrier beach and cut a trench from the pond to the ocean. The great pond will drain out some and the tides will come in and bring more salinity to this brackish water. Then the oysters will have a better, saltier taste…

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

This is part of the view behind my winter studio in Edgartown, Ma this season. It is about a 4 minute walk from the house to the edge of Sheriff’s Meadow Pond behind me. Eel Pond is off to the left with the Sound beyond. This was one of my favorite haunts when I was a little boy. I first painted the little mud hole pond in the middle-ground in 1974 and have returned to paint here many times. There are few walkers on the paths around the pond this time of year, but I often think the winter colors are more spectacular than the summer foliage…

“The Naked Season”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

A long walk near the beach found this tree to paint. The sky went pink and orange as the sun went down. A well deserved end to a beautiful, cool day…

“Far Meadow”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

I almost missed the color changes in these marsh grasses, as they turn from green through orange and gold then brown and silver. Soon enough, beside sky and cloud, the cool blue water will remain the sole enchanting dancer in the land and sea of winterscape…

“Moon Full”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

I sort of knew where the moon would rise when I started this piece. But, I really didn’t. I hadn’t done a compass reading, nor looked at the astronomical chart. I was glad it wasn’t off in the pines to the right as I might never have seen it until too late…

“Black Point Moon”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

A beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon found me out along the paths behind the dunes. The Atlantic Ocean gently rocked the air with sounds of surf and scent of sea. Ducks dropped down into the reeds for an overnight rest. Moon rose from the east gaining its luminous power as the sun slipped ever lower and was gone…

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

I came into town to paint a friend’s garden, but the frost had beaten me to it. The lighthouse was just down the street…

“Watering Can”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

I accidentally scared a turkey away in a friend’s backyard and discovered this red watering can as I turned to go. I think if it hadn’t been red, I might have let it be and gone about my business…

“Fall on the River”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

For decades I have passed this river on my way to Boston and have wished to paint it. When I finished this painting and did a quick global positioning to really see where I had worked. I was totally surprised to find this was the river I always wanted to paint. It is the North River and passes under Route 3 in Hanover and Pembroke, Ma. It looks beautiful from the highway, but even more stupendous from the river bank, especially in fall colors. I was just a half mile east of where I had first seen it so many years earlier…

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

Sometimes it is nice to get up high for a long, distant view of the landscape. Color this fall is not as bright as other years. The vistas have a mellowness to them as they fade into the winter softness of lavenders and grays and tawny browns…

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

It was late when I arrived here at the beach. I was despairing about only having the dunes to paint. I set up my gear and was amazed to see this sailboat with 2 sailors appear. They beach the boat at the back of the dunes and followed the path up to the surf side. After a few minutes of satisfying their curiosity, they reappeared. They then shoved off in what little air there was, probably berthing at their dock as I arrived in my driveway…

“Fog Rolling”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

Earlier in the day the fog came in along the south shore shrouding all with silent secrecy. When I came back to paint it, I was tortured by its repeated movement back out to sea and back into land. It never gave me the image I wanted, but I took what I could get…

“Lagoon Goldenrod”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

It was way foggy up on the western end of the island when I decided to try here. The Vineyard Haven harbor and environs is usually the last place for the fog to close in upon. Today was no exception. It came roaring in right after I started to paint. But I did get to start in the sunlight…

“Menemsha Creek”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

It rained most of my painting time here. No one was out. I parked on the wrong side of what I call “Fishermans’ Lane” and worked with my windshield wipers going on and off and then on and off. It was drismal, except for the finished piece…

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

Back in my watercolor period I painted in this area once. It felt so much better creating this scene in oils today. The paint just seemed to flow right off my brushes. After Hurricane Irene yesterday, all the leave are beginning to show subtle browns and reds. The vibrant greens of summer have turned in the space of a day…

“Sunset Sail”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

Today I tried to capture another moonrise, but clouds were threatening to obscure the 30 minute painting window I had. And this sunset in the opposite direction was just too color rich an image to leave unpainted. As I worked, a small gaff rigged sailboat swung into view unexpectedly adding a human scale to the landscape before me…

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

I used my compass and the astronomy info from wunderground.com to figure out the correct direction for today’s moonrise. I checked with Google Maps satellite view to choose this location. My intuition told me it was a good place, but I just wasn’t sure about that stand of cedars on the opposite shore… The moon had its own plan and did not reveal itself until about 10 minutes after officially rising. At that point it was well above the trees…

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

Clouds threatened from a distance and made a dour end of a pleasant day. I set up just slightly off the tarmac in some bushes so the traffic would could not bother me. A few friends spotted me as they drove by, but they were past before they could give a shout out. I painted into the dark until the passing headlight began to disturb my view. After packing up, I rushed to the gas dock in Menemsha and jigged up 5 squid for a late dinner treat…

“Waiting”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

This is a plain white dinghy I have been scouting and photographing for a few months each time I travel up to the Gay Head Cliffs. It can be a very buggy place to paint if the wind is not right. The sun was not correct today for me as it slid behind a thunderstorm disturbance as soon as I got there. However, the bugs were almost non-existant which made my day…

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

It was raining lightly when I went out to paint. I had to stay in my van to create this piece. The sky turned yellow as I hoped it might just before I finished. A warm glow always cheers a rainy day…

“Long Point Moon”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD

This was the last full moon I was able to capture about May 15th. It is hard to believe the landscape greened up in just one month, but it didn’t look like this on June 15th. This is on the glacier outwash plain, flat with a reluctant slope into the Atlantic Ocean…

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

It stopped raining and fogging just long enough for me to find these swans and to paint them. I stayed far away because I know how territorial they can be. (One hit from their wing can break a man’s arm.) The one minding the eggs remained very still. The other mute swan was harder to paint as it was back and forth on full patrol…

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

It was a cool, freezing actually, and windless day this the last day in January. The red boat on a friend’s dock had been a painting in my mind for at least 5 years. I could never find the correct angle to work at until this year. Just having inherited the house, she had cut down all the tall spruce which had protected it from southwest winds, but also had hidden this view. While I painted, a Belted Kingfisher was working the low tide pools around the dock. He seemed to accept my stillness as not a threat. Many times he came within 10 feet of my easel, hovering and then splashing into the water for food…

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

Snow came in during the night. By morning everything was covered by 4″ of white. Afternoon and the high tide melted all snow off of the marsh grasses. The island and lands all around were still laden with snow, but the bare naked marsh added an eerie dimension…

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

There are certain areas of the marsh which are tidal pools. From high to low tide, they never fully drain off, but are replenished by the next high tide. Other areas have direct drainage through the marsh waterways to the rivers and thus to the ocean tides. These places will move from empty to overflowing and back again during each tide cycle. I enjoy the sky reflections on the tidal pools. It is as if a mirror was laid down in the dark grasses giving a strong contrast of light to dark as the daylight fails during the sunset hour…

“New Year’s Marsh”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

I continue to be fascinated by the marshlands here. Because of the private causeway which goes through the marsh, and is flooded at periods of high tide, at low tide I have direct access to the inner workings of this ecosystem. Otherwise I would be outfitted with hip boots or waders to get to the views available here. I am transfixed by the warm, golden sunset light on top of the grasses in contrast to the dark brooding edges of the waterways and the blues of sky and water reflections. Add to that the smokey blue/purple atmospheric haze of the distant shores and hills and the scenes dazzle the eye as the sun goes down…

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

I pass these rents in the fabric of the marsh on innumerable occasions. This was the first time I explored on foot and at the very beginning of dead low tide. It is always enlightening leaving the car behind and exploring at human level and speed. I jumped down into this channel and was engulfed by the marsh itself. Sounds were muffled here. Just above the field grasses, marsh hawks hunted. Gliding low, up and down the tidal stream beds, they appeared startled upon finding me quietly absorbed in my craft…

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

I look forward to visiting this meadow marsh in the fall while the salt hay has its way with orange and gray. The hills roll on into the background, while this field is perfectly flat. Only a moon tide changes it when it becomes submerged a few times each month…

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

I drive past the Mill Pond almost everyday. With a great sky, clouds or thunderheads, off in the distance, the view is just waiting for a painter to capture it. I missed my few opportunities this past year until now. My friend, Joannie, is the local Animal Control Officer. She has been saving ducks and geese and swans with wing or feather damage and placing them here in the Mill Pond. She comes by late every afternoon to feed them and see how they are getting along. When she brought in the first swan, I started to dream about this painting. Then news came that “Bob” was actually “Bobette” when she brought in another hurt swan. Bobette is currently enjoying her second companion as word got out that the 1st companion to arrive was so damaged as to flow over the waterfall and drowned…

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

I found this small grove of sumac poking me in the back while I was working on this painting. It seemed like the right thing to include them, too. They are one of the few dark reds still left in the bleak, winter landscape until the birds finish them off…

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

I have been lugging my paints along with me on some recent trips to the mainland, just incase I am inspired. This is a view near a friend’s house in a town, oddly called, Marshfield, MA. In early US history, pioneers would venture forth in flat bottomed skiffs and harvest the salt hay, marsh grasses, rinse it and use for livestock feed. What look today like mosquito control ditches throughout the marsh are actually town or farm property demarkation lines. Your hay is there. Mine is here. Stay away! The Indians were aghast at this European sense of personally “owning” the lands. Now, sadly, Indian place names are the only signs left of their former “stewardship”…

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

Working outside in the wet weather has not been fun. Finding places to work out of my car has also been a challenge…

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

This is the last one of the little island series, painted sometime between the creation of the earlier two. I am standing at a different location, about 500 feet north of the first, but looking more southwest, rather than west. It is close to U. S. Coast Guard Station, Menemsha or whatever the heck Homeland Security now calls it. I am very happy to report that mosquito season has ceased for this year, but that means the cool season is definitely upon us. Not sure if I’d rather be warm and have mosquitoes to deal with while out painting or be bundled up warm and have no such blood suckers around my face and head and neck…

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

This piece was created about 3 weeks before yesterday’s painting. I am standing at the same location, too, but looking more northwest, rather than west. It is the only spot on Martha’s Vineyard where there are so many small marsh islands and terrific sunsets as well…

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

I have been here to paint three times in the past month. This is the first to be finished to my satisfaction. Each time is so different from the previous one. The sky was singing in today’s view and I was bundled up in my winter parka with hood to keep the coolness out…

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

This was a cool fall evening. The sun set at the same minute the moon was rising. However, the low lying cloud cover at each horizon delayed the rising from the setting by about 5 minutes. I thought I had gathered the correct technical information to point me to the exact location of moon rise, but, I was off by quite a bit. Ah, there is always next month…

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

A nice, almost windless, afternoon gave me a chance to set up out on Short Beach and paint this view. I had no expectation of finding catboats on moorings in this sheltered cove. At this time of changing seasons anything may appear around a bend in the landscape…

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

I did not paint this from inside the van because of the wind or potential for rain. I worked from inside due to the large clouds of mosquitos ready to complete their birth cycles the moment I opened a door. It was an excellent choice for it started to rain soon after my start. The near opposite shore was intriguing to paint because the blueberry leaves had all turned a deep, dark red. They just barely stood out against the brightness of the sky and darkness of the land mass in the lowering light…

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

This was a place of safety from the wind gusts of 40 mph. The one bad part of painting in the lee of the breeze are the pockets of mosquitoes hiding there. The only other company I had was a lone clam-digger in waders who was up to his waist in the water. He was using the latest technology for digging clams. It was a toilet plunger with a long broom pole handle attached to it. Must have really sucked, as he came back to his car with a full half bushel of cherrystones and littlenecks…

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

It was exceptionally drippy fog the other evening. So I sat in the van to paint this view. I could tell when the sun set as the fog became noticeably more yellow on the horizon. This gave the scene a happy warm feeling. Much nicer than the drab gray I had started out to paint…

“…And Not Alone”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

It was raining. For some reason it stopped as I got my easel out to paint this scene. Fall colors are beginning to announce themselves here in the marsh. I love to capture them as they proceed from vibrant greens to orange and rust. Happy and sad all at once, as the season changes from warm to cool to cold…

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

The Quansoo gate is locked from May until September, when it is finally opened again for the fishing derby and the rest of the winter. It is a long drive down a bumpy dirt road, but well worth the occasional tree branch scratches along the length of the car to get there. Under a big domed sky at sunrise and sunset there can be an infinite numbers of colors and reflected colors to tickle one’s fancy…

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

I stopped along the way to check this location. There had been a nice, white pond skiff anchored out just off shore last time I drove by. It was too late to paint it then, but maybe it was still here. I couldn’t see it from where I parked and decided to clamber down the hill to check the beach. This little rowboat didn’t register with my mind at first as I was still looking off shore for the skiff. I am now glad I took the time to get down to the beach…

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

With thunderheads floating about in the way of the sunset, I thought this might be a painting opportunity. I did not anticipate the sunbeams streaking out across the clouds, nor just how fast the colors would change from moment to moment…

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

The sun had left the Cove as I started to paint. It was hidden by the hill which partially surrounds what must have been a glacier sink hole back in the ice age. The subtle glow from the lightly clouded sky over head gave a shadowless scene for me to interact with. Other than a Great Blue Heron and a lone Cormorant I had the Cove all to myself. I put my headphones on and rocked out into the dusk…

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

Except for a few fleecy clouds early on, it was a nice, crisp, clear day. Late in the afternoon, white mare’s tails appeared in the western horizon. I took a chance they they would be high enough in the sky to capture the orange light of the setting sun. I started painting and the sky started glowing…

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

Everytime I walk down here I want to paint this boat launch boardwalk. It is both a point of departure and a point of return. If the pond waters are low, you could wade across to the dunes and onto the beach. Now that it is owned by The Land Bank, no wading or swimming across. Only paddling is allowed and they don’t mean doing the doggy paddle. I made friends with some of the returning kayakers and even had a Presidential experience. One paddler, returning with his car to pick up his gear, donned a Barak Obama halloween mask and jumped out of his car to greet me!

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

This is a slightly different angle from my other pond skiff boat paintings. Makes me think I am about to get in and go for a ride, but, with the taught anchor line, it could mean a bucking bronco type of ride…!

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

Another breezy day, but worth it. No bugs at what could be a perilous spot from which to paint. The only other persons there were a harmonica player and his son heading out to fish the twilight waters. Not even a Canada Goose floating by to disturb the serenity of the view…

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

I began this two days ago along with a larger one. Yesterday was too breezy to go back. Today was better, but I had to finish this one and did not work on the larger one. Luckily there are lots of splendid views here. I will go back to finish the bigger one and do a smaller one of one of the other views. For lack of a more meaningful name, I call this location, “the old hunt place” as it is stated on a mailbox a few properties away…

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

Not only had the pond just been opened to the sea, but a call from a painter friend had encouraged me to come enjoy some new views. The Land Bank, which owns this property, mowed the field along the edge of the Great Pond to keep invasive species at bay. Usually this is done at the beginning of spring, not mid summer. Now some of my favorite fall grasses will be stunted and not really ripe to paint. But right now I may walk all over this mowed poison ivy area where I never would have done this time of season. This has opened up vistas never contemplated. It has also riled up all the ticks which had been happily going about their business at the ends of long grass stems, a few of which have made it back to my studio…

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

Catching a wind as it cooled down, I wandered the pastures and looked around. I could have been here or there in Texas or New Jersey, Colorado, you name the place. Water, horses, cedars, field, sun playing the end of day… it felt just right…

“1st Launch”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I watched as John put his freshly painted boat in the water. He went off fishing for an hour. Came back and hauled his boat back out. Slowly, he drove off down the beach, pulling, by accident, someone else’s anchor line attached to 3 other boats. The line went taught. I yelled “STOP” and he did! Just before the other boats would have dislodged his from it’s trailer. Bad boat manners by the other boaters…

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

I found open western sky with a wind break to catch this change of weather passing. It wasn’t an impressive sunset, nor did it stay clear for long. But for this moment, it was enough of a change from the gray sky color to give a sense of optimism…

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

Today was a day of forest fires up in Quebec, Canada and smoke all the way down here on Martha’s Vineyard. Hard to believe but true. The result was a blue haze out in the landscape distance. Sunset was more diffused and probably redder then normal. The blue distance boosted the red color of the sun, just above it before it sank into the sea…

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

The day was rain. Then mist. A small break before six… I took it. 45 minutes of dry. The mist came back with a vengeance. Spit… Packed up quickly. Made it….

“Edges of Evening”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

Sometimes I get to a great painting destination, but… The wind is wrong, the sun’s in a bad place, the clouds are there, something just is not right. I end up walking slowly about in large circular patterns. I make frequent, unexpected stops and take iPhone photos of unforeseen, unexpected views. Eventually, I become so spaced out that the perfect scene hits me over the head. I say to myself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” And I feverishly unpack my paints and try to make up for lost time. Life is good, again…

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

A wonderful warm spring day found me up on a dune enjoying a favorite view. The waves lapped lazily down below while birds could be heard behind me claiming territory and calling mates. A jogger drifted past from on the beach exchanging pleasantries. And then I was alone with my paints and thoughts and the beauty of it all…

“Boathouse Talk”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

A truly gray day, a few days ago. This is always a nice place to duck into out of the wind, but the mist made it more complicated. Buds slowly starting to swell are incrementally changing their color shade. The wetness only intensifies the color values darker. My kind of drama in the landscape…

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

This is a slightly different perspective on the Lighthouse because it was another paint from inside my van day. It was breezy and raw outside. Then the mist came in and shrouded the far shore. My windows became coated with millions of tiny droplets of water. It was time to finish and head home…

“Up Tight”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

It took me a while to find my subject this afternoon. When I stopped painting before Christmas, all the marsh grasses were still standing up straight and tall. Their coloring had maintained its vibrancy. Now, 3 or more snowfalls later, the grasses are flattened and their color is turning gray. But the shrubbery has started to plump out its buds and a subtle color nuance is coming forth. I was cold at the end of my session. Yet, the feelings of winter are no longer strong and the optimism of spring floats easily on the breeze…

“Menemsha 2006″, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I almost completed this in 2006, but had to leave before I had finished. I never returned to complete this painting. As I recall I started out at 6 am working on the canvas and continued until close to 11 am. Way too long to tell the light story here. I was able to put myself back into that frame of mind and finalize this in the studio…

“A September Day”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

Today’s cold temperature persuaded me to stay in to paint. I found myself going through my “not quite finished” pile and setting this on my easel to contemplate and then complete. I think I painted this with my friend and sometime painting partner, Cherie, on a property she had access to. If that is so then it was started a year ago September. I am very pleased to be able to complete it now. It is always hard to leave a piece unfinished. Whatever the reason, lack of time, rain moving in, inability to unify the whole, I feel a sense of loss when the piece does not reach completeness. And now I may pat myself on the back and finally say, job well done!

“Bend-in-the-Road Beach”, note: this painting is 9″ x 12″, oil on canvas panel. $1250 USD

Note this is a 9″ x 12″ painting (larger than my normal 6″ x 8″)… This view is from the back of the dunes looking through the cabañas to the east at Chappaquiddick Island. I could not paint this now as they have cut a road through this back side of the dunes. I would be standing on a huge pile of sand looking straight down the road. This is part of the beachsand refilling project. Sand is dredged out of Sengekontacket Pond, behind me, and moved by pipeline to the parking area into piles. Front-end loaders fill dump trucks with sand from the pile. They drive down the temporary road behind the dunes and dump the sand in front of the cabañas a million dollars later. For reference, this is what the view should look like!…

“Squibnocket Valley”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

I discovered this view by accident a few evenings ago. It had been very windy with big surf all day. Wandering to a sheltered corner on this property, only visited once before, I came upon this wonderful landscape. If the water were not there, it would be a valley…

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

I’ve not painted this view in a winter version before. The colors, although subdued, are kind of exciting compared to the greens of the warmer seasons. All was going well until just before dusk. When the scene was getting darker and dimmer, for some reason, my canvas was getting lighter and brighter, in a bad sort of way. I looked around and a sodium vapor street light was just warming up above me. So I came back a second evening to finish without help of the street light…

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

Today I miscalculated the sun’s now lower angle. I was looking forward to painting a particular boathouse while hunkering down in a hollow out of the 50 mph wind gusts. The sun had already set down there when I went to investigate. Driving around in circles, I ended up back at my friend’s house where I am staying. Patting the happy dogs as I looked out the window wistfully, I realized there was my painting. The best part was I was definitely out of the wind!!!

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

Having driven past this dilapidated boghouse innumerable times, I had never stopped to really look at it. For a few years a non-profit group, the Vineyard Open Land Foundation , has been clearing out and rejuvenating the cranberry bog behind the house. Thus the view has been getting more enticing to stop and paint. I photographed it one day last week to study the possibilities. It was the rain today which made me stop. The wetness had caused the whole foreground to intensify in color values. The contrast with the misty background tree row became much more intense than it is on a dry day. It being near today’s almost non existent sunset light pushed the colors that much more…

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

A boat still in the water this time of year becomes a rarity. A flat bottom pond skiff, painted blue, and still in the water is exceptional…

“Sheriff’s Meadow”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

The grey day brought out the colors, but not the cheerfulness of this scene. It was the end of daylight and the waterfowl were starting to settle in for the night. The faded reds of the bark and next year’s buds gave the landscape an extra breath of life…

“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…

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

A fall colored salt marsh on the south side of the pond. At a very high tide, this whole area of grass is covered with water. I love the absolute flatness of the marshes compared to the rills and rolls of the adjacent hilsides. But it takes the autumn colorations to really make them striking…

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

This salt marsh I pass by on the way to more favorite locations. Yet I always see it beckoning me as I drive or walk past. When the grasses in its meadow turn the burnt orange green of fall I can resist the call no more. The Great Blue Heron tires of hiding in front of me as I stand at my easel. He croaks his spooky call and slowly with majestic effort rises up and off to an even safer haven. The tiny deer tick slowly wander up the folds of my clothing to look for lunch, for I am on an active deer path. While swatting at the more persistant flying evil, I spot the slower climbers and pluck them off and into the oblivion of the dense jumble of undergrowth. And once again it is a joy to be out in this wild beauty…

“Awaiting Your Pleasure”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

At the far edge of the pond my friend had left her little dingy out after leaving for the winter. Lucky for me! It is irresistible to my painter’s eye with it’s vibrant blue seats and clean white colors against the fading fall scenery…

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

I climbed to pond level from the overlook parking area above. In scouting the shoreline for “my” spot, I found a private path leading down from a summer home. As I set up easel and gear, I looked around and realized I had a perfect view diagonally across the pond to Menemsha. The sun was low and reflectively gleaming off the white Menemsha Coast Guard Station buildings, making them exceedingly visible from my distant location. The marsh grasses and all other vegetation have donned their Autumn mantle of multi colors. With the looming shadow from the hill behind creeping forward, I was rewarded with muted colors in contrast to the sun-streaked highlights on the near shore. A small dingy drifted by with its lone occupant so intent on dip-netting for bay scallops, that he never even saw me painting not 25 feet away…

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

This is a painting I did at My Toi, the Japanese Garden on Chappaquiddick. I was painting with a friend on an overcast day in September and we ended up by the reflecting pool. It was nice to paint there with no harsh shadows to deal with…

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

Drama at the end of a day always strikes my fancy. The hardest thing is to know that it is coming and to place myself in a good location to take full advantage of it without being repetitious. Some evenings, I get all set up and the drama never comes. Other times I am just too late to capture it, or in the wrong place…

“Last Glimmer”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

A place I like to paint with a huge open sky and reflections in the water. After the fall equinox, the doors of the boat house reflect the sunlight better than earlier in summer. Some evenings it can be startling to observe as it is such a bright contrast against the darker shore and water…

“Quiet Reflection”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

A quiet time and place to think and paint and drift off into….

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

Today I started off with great intentions. The rain, however, had different plans for me. It brutalized the views wherever I went. This started out as a van painting through my rain streaked back window. As I was finishing and the light was ebbing, the rain stopped. I was able to throw open the side door and put in some final details which had eluded my vision through the rain. Finished, I walked out onto the beach behind me and took a few dark, evening photos for reminders of future painting spots. I stood, iPhone camera in hand, concentrating on counting seconds between lighthouse flashes so as to capture the red light flashing on. I smelled him before I was aware of him stepping across my boots to scurry on down the beach. A baby skunk!…

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

It was a beautiful early fall day to paint the light. There were fleeting clouds passing by all afternoon. Not only did they act as background, but they also kept me from getting too sunburned. There were ripe blackberries in the bushes to eat when I needed a break. And the poison ivey was turning orange and red to warn me away from itself. I thoroughly enjoyed my painting time there…

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

In case you noticed, my paintings have not been as regular lately because I have been working on larger paintings for a small show in an intimate space. If you are on Martha’s Vineyard (or know someone who is) please come to my opening, Monday, August 17th from 5 to 7 p.m. at the West Chop Club Inn in West Chop, MA, just opposite the Post Office. My works will be there from August 13th through the 27th. If you cannot come to the opening, please stop in to view the works anytime from 8 am to 8 pm daily.

I was going to be good today and stay in my studio and finish up some larger paintings for a small show I was supposed to hang tomorrow. But… there was this incredible sky out all day with great thunderheads floating by, and the studio was hot and it was very humid and uncomfortable, and, and, I had to go do this new painting of these clouds. Just had to… Does that make me bad? Of course, it is now 3 a.m. and I am still working. And, no matter what, the dog I am sitting for a friend will bark at me asleep in bed at 7 a.m. to be fed… and I will feel, well, bad… There it is, bad. I am bad!…And it feels so good!

“Fog Settles In”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

It was a warm day, but the fog made it feel cool. Even with the high humidity, the fog had a cooling effect when it touched you. The breeze had something to do with the cooling as well. It was actually pleasant to paint in and seemd to ground all the biting bugs. This was an added bonus around sunset time when this was painted…

“Water, Still”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

A calm evening at the water’s edge. A great time to catch no-see-ums!…

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

Another late sunset painting. Paint the water, then the sky and last the landscape. The water and sky color will change the fastest at this time of day. The land will slowly follow suit. Green is the last identifiable color as the light gets darker and darker after sunset, just as I am the last identifiable mosquito candy as it gets darker and darker and I paint faster and faster….

“Storm Strike”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $500.00 USD

The weather went from bad to worse, better and finally the darkest it could get without rain. Sunddenly the sky blew a hole in itself. This great lighting on the tops of the thunderheads shown forth and it started to send out thunder bolts. I was able to get it all in as it passed right beside me and it never rained….

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

The clouds parted just enough to give me a nice closure for the day, as the temperature dropped…

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

Just before sundown I found this stone wall and marsh scene and knew this was today’s painting…

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

In all the years I have painted this boathouse, this is the first time there has ever been a boat tied up in front of it… What luck today !

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

A riot of fun fall colors invigorate the near leafless landsdcape…

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

Today we painted out of the strong winds at the end of Cove Road and caught glimpses of the sun between the clouds…

“Dog And Cat Tales”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, $500.00 US

“Little Beach”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, SOLD

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

“Ducks Bedroom”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, SOLD

“Brave Boat Harbor”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, $500.00 US

“Eel Pond”, this is a Small one, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel, SOLD