Dewey's Pond

Yesterday was a fine, warm November day to gather with the Odanaksis artists at Dewey's Pond in Quechee.  The sun was shining and there was a little breeze and we all know that any day now it will be cold and snowy--making the day even more special.

I took up a seat looking over the pond toward the west and using my Sharpie, sketched what I saw in my traveling sketchbook.  My watercolor brush with the water in the handle, accessed by squeezing the barrel, works well for this kind of sketch.

"Dewey's Pond"

watercolor and marker - 5 1/2" x 9"

Although the foliage was actually a bit muted, I decided that being a bit fauvist would be fun.  So, my painting looks a bit more peak foliage than it was...

Vermont Artists Week and "Brookmelt"

I'm in the midst of packing and getting ready to go up to Johnson to the Vermont Studio Center for Vermont Artists Week on Monday.  What to take, what to take?  I have drawing, watercolor and oil painting supplies, my iPhone, my iPod, some ear phones, a laptop computer, some books, some knitting and my pillow.  So far.  Fortunately they have an art supply store if I forget anything....

Here is my painting based on the photo of the melting brook I took last week.  I'm enjoying watercolors so much!

"Brookmelt"

9" x 12" - watercolor

Artists Week is going to be an interesting experience.  In addition to my room, three meals a day, my studio, a meditation space, yoga classes and life drawing, I look forward to meeting a variety of Vermont artists.  

MUD(season) at Artistree

Today is the last day to drop off work for the local MUD(season) show at Artistree.  We've hardly gotten to the beginning of mud season this year with the cold and snow lasting so long.
In addition to "Early Spring, Cloudland Road", I am exhibiting the watercolor below.  In the beginning, the painting was oriented vertically.  But as I worked on it I thought that cropping a bit off the bottom would improve the composition so that's what I did....

stage one

"Barnard Brook Meltdown"

transparent watercolor and gouache - 7" x 7"

Here is the finished painting with some added color to suggest the coming of spring--and not a moment too soon!
Friday night from 5:30 to 7 pm is the opening of this year's exhibit in the new gallery at 2095 Pomfret Road in South Pomfret.  Please come and enjoy!

Early Spring, Cloudland Road

Winter wants to hold on to the cold but the sun is getting stronger day by day and the snow is diminishing.
I've been working on a watercolor painting of a huge tree on Cloudland Road in Pomfret.  The painting came together in stages which I photographed along the way.

In the first stage I am beginning by painting the lightest colors and then check to see how dark I need to go with the tree.

As I build in the darker shades of the tree trunk and branches, these begin to set off the snow on the branches and ground.

"Early Spring, Cloudland Road"

watercolor - 10" x 12"

The finished painting includes the shadows on the snow and the brush along the horizon.  The foreground snow is not pristine but we've gotten used to this leftover mixture of snow and dirt by the sides of our roads and driveways.  Mud season is here!

"Woods"

Outside my studio window, the field across the road goes up to meet the woods that climb our western hill.  There are deer tracks and shadows that mark the snow and then the deep woods claim the view.
This is the beginning of the watercolor I made yesterday.  It is a loose composition using the colors on my palette, mostly burnt sienna and ultramarine blue but with the added springtime yellows and greens that give hope to us all at this stage of the winter....

"Woods" - stage one

"Woods"

transparent watercolor and gouache - 4" x 6"

My small finished painting is a loose representation of the snowy field and the deep woods both waiting for spring which arrives in about three weeks.