Cape Clouds

While relaxing with a friend in Falmouth Massachusetts, I noticed the calm cottony clouds quietly hovering above the ocean. I did a few quick sketches and finished it in the studio.

The beautiful blues and the light green transparency of the waves at their peak is so delicate and beautiful I wanted to see if I could capture it in this small painting. Several small paintings of waves were done around this time focusing on the change of color in the waves. Since the paintings are so small, the image needs to be simple and focused, which I believe is why these small paintings work.

I painted "Coming In" after dozens of sketches of the rolling waves. I loved the wonderful cool greens made by the light illuminating the wave from behind. I took just one reference photograph to be sure the perspective was correct. The color in the photo did not translate well so memory and the sketches I did that day were invaluable in finishing this piece.

This small piece was done on a warm Cape Cod afternoon. Sketches and color stuidies were done on site and I finished 5 pieces from Old Silver Beach. It's hard not to make the beautiful skies, which change so quickly, a focal point. Extensive information about the sky was notated and I was able to interpret from life and memory what I saw.

Mystic Wave

While on vacation in New Hampshire I was sitting close to the ocean shore in the early evening. I'd been doing short sketches all day and hadn't planned to do anymore. The sun was going down and I decided to sketch a few waves coming in. The evening light on this July day was so different from the morning and afternoon light that I decided to take out my notebook once again. One of the wonderful things about oceans and water is the highly abstract quality of the shapes, but at the same time, it is a very recognizable image. I don't usually work in acrylic but this piece began as a color sketch and ended up being quite able to stand on its own. I was very pleased with the results. As a result of my feeling that this piece was so successful, I began a series of small ocean paintings in oil on wood. I'll be posting these pieces very soon.

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.