After the Storm

The drawing for this piece was done on site in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. There are some narrow back roads tucked away from the center of that small town. As a child I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who lived in the area so I got to know the place very well. I was driving home one December afternoon when the storm began. I keep drawing and sketching supplies in the car for these impromptu opportunities and I stayed in the car as I sketched the composition, noted the colors I saw, and made notes to myself about the conditions that early evening. I went back to the site several times to work on the drawing. Although this piece appears to be monocromatic, I do not use black or grey for neutrals, only chromatic neutral mixtures were used.

Shore

This idea came to me while sitting in a secluded spot after a hike through the woods. I sat on the edge of the shore looking down into the water, the small waves washing up and covering the sand and stones like a veil. My main goal in this painting was to paint the transparency of the water without the glazing technique many artists would use to convey the visual difference between rock and water. From the time I began to paint, I saw the painting surface as a 2-dimensional surface with the painting being composed of colors and shapes next to one another. The rocks here are intrinsically very abstract and realistic at once. This image lends itself to the 2D abstract thought process. Also, looking directly down on the subject removes any traditional landscape space and depth and adds to the abstract quality of the piece. Most traditional landscape painters use the "back to front" technique, layering their colors and shapes on the canvas in stages. Although I do use this technique when needed, in "Shore" I wanted to take a realistic image from nature and make it as much about the paint as it is about the image.

Fall Birch

"Fall Birch" was completed from sketches done one fall afternoon at Westville Lake Dam in Sturbridge Massachusetts. The sketches include the time, date and details of the weather conditions and colors I saw that day. I lived close to this area at the time and I walked around at least on a weekly basis so I knew the area well. Color notes can change by the minute so it is important to get down what I see in small patches of color. That being said, I also choose to leave the work open to what I remember and how the image works on my emotions. The sky was gorgeous that day, looking up at this tree I was awestruck at how beautiful it was. The sky became more intense in its blue and the leaves brighter than I originally saw them as a result.