I WORK EN PLEIN AIR, OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE… Welcome. I am back to painting again after a sabbatical that included a few pieces done for charitable fund raisers. I am continuing to make small, 6" x 8", landscape oils, but not every day. I am also working on larger pieces. Every time I finish a painting, I will place it here on my website. If you see something you'd like to purchase, email me. Thank you for enjoying my work and keeping me creating new pieces. Your interest stimulates and inspires me and has made me a better painter. Sign up for my emails and I will send you an image of each new painting. I love to paint and am happy to share my painting experience with you. Most of my work is impressionistic landscape oils, inspired by the beauty of the Island of Martha's Vineyard where I live.
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“Eastville Jetty”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
Another day ending getting wet before finishing painting. Shadows gone, shades of gray, subtle colors, and foul weather sailors to brighten the harbor entrance…
“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…
“May Moon”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
This view always makes me feel as if I’m at the top of the island. Dramatic light makes it feel more so. As the daylight faded to moonlight, I was finishing up and four different “invisibilities” of Whip-poor-wills, in as many directions began to serenade me. Climbing back down from the ridge top I became aware of even more calling off in the distance. Besides their call being so distinctive, they are themselves, not quite like any other birds out there…
“Hunt and Peck”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $550.00 USD
Three of the twelve chickens I have been taking care of for the past two weeks. They are very people friendly and allow me to pick them up, if I wish to. One night I arrived after sundown to put them in their henhouse. Usually they go in without any help as soon as the sun sets. I found the coop door partially closed with three inside. Three huddled in a pile against the wire of the coop near the door. And that was it. The wind must have slammed the door closed with three in place. I got all 6 in but spent 45 minutes with a flashlight before finding 5 in the branches of the blueberry bushes next to the henhouse. Now I was afraid maybe a raccoon had strolled in… I kept circling the henhouse and finally found the last one above my head hidden in the branches of a holly tree. I carefully grabbed hold of her and placed her with the others. Safe and sound. The door now has a rock holding it open during daylight hours. It has been fun observing them and their habits in preparation for this painting…
“Dusk Light”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
This is one of the rare views of the Gay Head Lighthouse with a sunset backdrop. Most public viewing is from the south or west of the light. With close to 30 pounds of gear, it is a 1/3rd of a mile hike downhill from parking at 190 feet above sea level to near sea level and then back uphill again. Always great to get there and great to get back to the van before dark sets in. No coyotes passed me on my return that I could see. A few bats flew across my path, but I relish their presence as they are mosquito vacuums with wings! If I have judged everything correctly, the light should be good when I get there and the wind will not be funneled up the path directly at me. This evening was a sweet night down there…
“Ebb Tide”, this is a small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. $750.00 USD
When I chose this location, the view was less than stellar. The near shore had just gone into shadow with the tips of the grasses still in golden light. The far point had merly started its transition to this evening gold. The sky had yet to change out of its stiff, blue suit. I was intrigued by the exposed rock and seaweed left by the receding tide. (I admit to a half hearted search for arrow heads as I ambled back to my van for paints.) After I had set up against some bushes just out of reach of the breeze, the magic started. Two crows flew in to flip pebbles in their search for delicacies until my need to clean a brush sent them scowling off. A boy standing on a paddle board fluttered by… an elephant fell out of the sky… oh, sorry, wrong time line…
“Another Day”, this is not quite so small a painting, 9″x 12″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
Note: I ran out of my usual small panels. This is a 9″ x 12″ painting (larger than my normal 6″ x 8″)… A beautiful evening to be painting above a cliff as the sun settles over the horizon. Waves lap against the sand below. A Northern Harrier swoops low overhead on a flight across to Nomans Island in front of me. I stayed even after I could see no more to paint. The water colors at this time of evening against a fading sky have been spectacular for the past few nights. I am preparing myself to do a piece this late in the day, but the light gives me no chance to mix the colors I want. It is just too dark to see color, only values on a gray scale…
“Where Oysters Hide”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
A quiet place to paint and contemplate. A stop to smell the roses. A beautiful place for sunset and sometimes making new painter friends. Even if they are only 5 years old…
“Sunset Squall”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
I had no ideas of painting the ferry when I pulled up to the dock to check the harbor, weather and wind direction. But, there it was, begging for a portrait. Knowing it was halfway unloaded and I would only have it for 10 more minutes before departure I worked at fever pitch. Looking up I saw this slight glow on the belly of the squall line coming in. The next minute it was a full blown glow made more so by the dark of the impending squall. The boat set off as rain began sprinkling down. I moved to a nearby porch to finish up in the quickly fading light…
“Off Shore Gear”, this is a Small painting, 6″x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.
Especially this time of year, colors change quickly down in the fishing village of Menemsha. Gear comes out of barns, backyards and vacant lots where it has been stowed for the off fishing season. Stacked up and reoutfitted next to the shacks and boats along the docks, the gear size, shape, and color seems in constant flux on its way out to the ocean deep. This is my favorite time to be down by the waters painting. The fishermen are usually up so early that none are around at the end of the day to disturb any of my newfound “still lifes”. None of the sport fishermen have put their craft to sea yet. So they are not parading past me in car and truck disturbing the peace. The tourists, if any are about, are all inside with their cocktails at this hour of the year. I am left with the ducks, loons and seagulls to squawk at our hearts content…