Paint the Wren House

"Wren House" was one of those quick sketches I enjoy doing from time to time, this one is oil on watercolor paper.

This little bird house has been visited every spring for many years now, by the wrens who clean it out, fix it up with fresh bits of grass and other bits, pausing only to share their joyous song of the season. Things quiet down a bit when the eggs are laid, but the song returns, along with frantic chirping, when those eggs hatch.

I'm looking forward to the wrens' return.

Find Beauty in my own Backyard

 

"Backyard"

I'm still resurrecting some paintings of days past to make available as prints. This scene of this ol' red maple is one that I've painted many times, from many angles, in every season, and I suspect I'll paint it again ... and again.

Some days I just want to set up the easel, paintbox and sketch ... and often with only enough time and light for a quick sketch in my own Backyard ... a quick sketch that allows me to appreciate the simple beauty that's around me every day ... the beauty I might otherwise take for granted. 

Look Forward to Plein Air Painting

The snow is melting and spring will be here soon and I'll be able to get outdoors to paint again ... to paint springtime scenes like this one, "Resting Tractor." I'm looking forward to it.

This painting is one of the many scenes that I've sketched along the Salisbury, Connecticut road called Salmon Kill. The maple tree, old barn and the tractor parked beside it, all seemed to call to me ... to join them while the tractor enjoyed at bit of rest between its tasks of the season.

I hope you'll take a closer look at this and my other artwork on ArtFire. 

Enjoy the day. Do something creative!

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Dream of Summer

With all the recent snowfall, I've been dreaming of sunshine and warm weather, and this image of "Hay Field" helps me to conjure those warn, sunny days of late summer. Paintings like this - mine and others - remind me of Picasso, who said, "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

You can take a closer look at this and other pieces of my artwork on ArtFire. If you live somewhere in the heart winter's cold and snow, I hope this image helps you to recall those warming, sun-filled days too.

"Cow Barn"

Today I added a giclee print of this image, "Cow Barn" to my ArtFire studio. The original painting was done oil on canvas, on location and in one sitting. Capturing such functional beauty in the freshness of Connecticut springtime really is a joy.

I may go back to paint this lovely barn again.

In spring!

Honor the First Flurry

This morning I woke up to the first snow of the season. It was a real flurry, with the winds blowing the flakes here and there and everywhere. Even though it turned into sleet and freezing rain as the morning progressed, it seemed only fitting to honor this "first" day with an image of first-snows-past, a little ACEO reproduction of "Parker Hill Farm."

Get out and Paint

I made myself a new paint box and rigged an easel - so that both will accommodate sitting. You see, I've always stood at my French easel to paint, but I'm not as young as I used to be and sitting is a welcome option.






The weather is chilling, but I'll get out there in the open air to paint a bit more, I think, with this new set of sitting tools.

Two Winter Maple ATCs

"Sleeping Maple" and "The Dappled Maple" are a couple more of my original oil paintings that have been reproduced in miniature, as Artist Trading Cards.

Artist Trading Cards, also referred to as ACEOs and ATCs, are one example of affordable fine art and wonderful handmade gifts to give and receive.

I invite you to visit my studio to see more of my art work!

The Dappled Maple

The original painting of "The Dappled Maple" was created plein air, in two sittings, in oil on panel, at a land trust in Winchester Center, Connecticut. On a mild afternoon in early spring I hiked through the melting snow, lugging my easel, to this lovely spot where the sun poked through and danced on the landscape.

At one time this land was a dairy farm but has since been turned over to a land trust, where locals can wander to recall and imagine some of the history of our shared community. I imagine there is someplace like this near you too.

Giclee prints of "The Dappled Maple" are available for sale at my ArtFire Studio.

On the Lake

I return today to this ol' blog to share with you "On the Lake." This alla prima painting was created in oils on masonite, on location at Park Pond in Winchester, CT. Painting from life in one sitting is a special discipline. It challenges and sharpens the technical abilities, while at the same time allowing mood and spirit to come through ... to be captured, even if only in a small way. That's my experience anyway.

Fine art prints of "On the Lake" are available for sale at my ArtFire studio.

Winter Farm

This painting, "Winter Farm," was created while standing outdoors in Vermont's chilling midwinter bite. I recall the experience as being one of my coldest. Nonetheless, it was a nice day, shared with a painterly friend. We had attended an opening reception at an art gallery in Manchester, Vermont before heading out into the beauty of the state's landscape and doing some painting before heading back home to Connecticut.

One thing's for sure: This kind of weather forces one to employ the techniques of alla prima painting, with skill (real or perceived) and quickness. And it makes a spring day like today all that much warmer.

Sleeping Maple

Today was the day I put my artwork back out there again. I opened my ArtFire Studio and I am glad. It feels good to share my work again and this will likely motivate me to get out into nature and paint some more - as if the warmth and beauty of springtime in New England weren't enough.

I've shown in art galleries in and around Connecticut for over 30 years now and it really is nice to be able to share my work directly with you. Venues like ArtFire are so cool in that they bridge the gap between artist and collector. This reminds me that these really are amazing times we live in, don't you agree?

So here is my first listing, "Sleeping Maple," a fine art giclee print of an plein air painting I did a couple years ago. Painting outdoors in the dead of winter doesn't appeal to me quite as much now as it did when I was younger, but the challenge is still more than worthy of nature's extreme beauty in that cold, cold season. I have a couple more winter landscapes that I'll be sharing with you in the coming days ... while I look forward to painting in the warming days of spring.