Plein Air and the Requisite Adjustments

Green fields, ominous clouds

In August, my friend Steve and I spent a plein air day on Route 30 in Westborough (proving that you don't have to travel far in order to find subject matter). The stretch between Nourse farm and Tufts Veterinary Hospital offer some good views (as well as spots to pull off the road safely).

Now that winter is approaching, we re-visit those pleasant plein air excursions by taking out the paintings, evaluating them and doing any necessary (or even un-necessary) finishing touches.

I find that my paintings are impressive when out in the field, but when they come inside the house they are lacking something. Perhaps it's the change in light, or the passage of time.

These excursions do provide material for painting indoors over the upcoming winter.

Steve packing up His works are far more vibrant with more exciting color than I dare to use.

I like to paint in style.

It looked good in the field

As painted outdoors

Some later reworking 

As painted in the field

With later work at home. Not that much was done; major differences due to lighting when photographed.

End of the Season

Bringing the doorstep pumpkin home for the winter. Well, for the compost pile.

When fall arrives, it's time to start thinking about when to close up the house in Maine. Usually, there are spells of weather so good that you keep saying "well, maybe I'll just wait another week". And invariably, immediately afterwards the weather turns bitter and cold, usually with some freezing rain in the mix. Once again, I had planned a long close-up weekend, and then the forecast was for a week of record cold. So I made the one day journey to close up, take home the things that I needed back home, as well as those that should not be left in the cold, cold house.

You'd think after all these years I'd learn my lesson and not keep trying to extend the season.

A Tropical Sojurn

On a cold, windy Saturday it was a nice respite to go a few miles up the road to Tower Hill Botanical Garden. While it wasn't a day for the outdoors, their indoor spaces were warm and tropical. We picked this spot for sketching, primarily because their was a convenient table and chairs to use as a workstation.

Not wanting to haul in any painting equipment, I took some photos and made a couple of sketches.

A Bacchante hiding in the foliage (at least from this angle)

He looks a bit like Harpo Marx in this sketch.

On Tuesday, made one of my sporadic appearances with a local painting group. Since a storm was imminent, wanted to paint something, anything that wouldn't include snow.

My watercolor version

Just Touch Up Some of the Gray, Please.

The weather was deceptively spring-like on Saturday, so a few of us went out for the first plein air session of the 2018 season at Potter Hill in Grafton.

This area has nice vistas as far as Mount Wachusett, but as usual, my focus was a little closer. The colors were not intense, as the day was not consistently sunny, and of course, due to this year's weather pattern, not much was leafing out yet.

As often happens, my paintings look ok until I get them home, where they look pale and insipid. I took some corrective action a couple days later. Improved, but I would still like more depth in some of the color.

"Hay Bales" as painted outdoors

"Hay Bales" after enhancement

"Wishing Well" as painted outdoors

"Wishing Well" after enhancement

Swept Away in the Flood - of 1938

"How high's the water, Momma?"

More than the lobster or lighthouses, your trip to Maine should include a stop at the Miles Hospital rummage sale. Years ago, these were enormous three day affairs under large tents. Merchandise was collected all year, and dispersed in one weekend. This was quite a fundraiser; by the time the ended a few years ago they were taking in over 100K  - amazing, when you consider that you could pretty much fill your car with purchases and not spend over $20.

They now have monthly sales at their collection center. I usually find some household stuff, books, glasses to replace the ones that get broken, etc.

This time I also found a painting. It is definitely an amateur effort, made appealing by the label on the back with the name of the artist, the date (May, 1938) and the person to whom it was given.

No "regifting"

I couldn't quite figure out whether the scene was accurate. Trees seemed to be growing out of the river - was this intentional, or a failed attempt at depicting snow? I knew there was a hurricane in New England that year, but that was in September, and this was clearly a winter scene. A quick search turned up stories of major flooding in March of that year due to extremely heavy rainfall in Maine. Aha, she was probably painting the effects of the flooding rivers.

While not in the category of Grandma Moses, it is still a fun souvenir of Maine history.

Label Text: Painted by Mamie Paine, May 25, 1938. Town name blacked out, but faded enough to make out "Plymouth Maine".

Given to Vera Tasker. Town name blacked out, but faded enough to make out "Dixmont Maine".



This seems logical, as these two towns are close to each other.

First Plein Air of 2017

Picture perfect setting

Early spring means sometimes we have warm (for New England) days while there is still snow on the ground. Around the corner from my house is an old farm, where the owners have made the majority of the property conservation land, available for use by everyone.

Painters at work

This day, several members of the Artist Guild of Shrewsbury got together for the first plein air of the season.  We have painted here before, but this is the first snow visit. In addition to the scenery, as usual, I was attracted to what might not be considered the most scenic, in this case, the piles of logs being readied for removal.

Logs (and mud)

I find painting outdoors improves my work since I have to work fast (and when it starts getting chilly, you work even faster).

In the first painting, I tried to include too much. The second version reduced and simplified, making the composition stronger.

Overwhelmed by options

Simpler is better 

In the third, I wanted to work on getting more dark areas into my watercolor, so I forced myself to mix some very dark paint for the water.

That water feels cold!

After painting, back to the house for refreshments and critique. Looks like the weather will be warm all week, so maybe we'll get out again!

 

Critique session

The December Travels

We typically make some sort of December trip. In years when long distance travel is not feasible, we can take advantage of the many options available to us in the northeast. One favorite is to visit the Yuletide at Winterthur, and the holiday decorating at nearby Longwood Gardens.

Winterthur picks a theme relating to history, holiday traditions, or the lives of the DuPonts. This year's seemed to be a mix, with some vignettes coordinated with their current exhibition of Currier and Ives prints.

Christmas morning, DuPont style

Mr. DuPont wanted nice table settings and decorations

The cut-off date for the collection was pre-Victorian, but this display was created to show 19th century traditions.

Longwood's outdoor lighting is beautiful, but if you can't manage the long walk or the cold, just visiting the acres of conservatories and greenhouses is a winter treat.

I didn't need the scarf and coat inside there.

Organist from Australia (with jeweled jacket)

 With rest breaks, including a carol singalong in the organ hall, we managed to see just about all of it.

Painting Close to Home

When it's foliage season, with the weather so unusually warm for October, it is hard to resist going out to photograph and paint. And luckily, I don't have to travel far. Down the street is a loop of road where the owners have maintained a picturesque New England setting.

The old cider mill

Even better, they have arranged for the fields out back to be held as conservation land where people are welcome to visit.

No, not Vermont!

Even as the weather turns colder this will be a good place for plein-air painting; - easily accessible and close enough to home for an emergency hot coffee run.

My acrylic of the house

A watercolor of the cider mill window

Milling About

On the annual (and obligatory) foliage viewing trip this fall I meandered through the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, finally making a visit to Harrisville.

I heard about this old New England mill village years ago, both on the news (You can Buy this Entire Town!) and in various magazines. Seeing as how it was so close, I made the effort to check it out, and I was totally blown away.

I expected to see a collection of old, decrepit buildings with an accretion of industrial and commercial components. Instead, it is almost pristine in its 19th century appearance. In fact, if not for the automobiles of visitors, you would have to look hard to see modern day intrusions.

The short story is that at one point the corporation owning the complex went bankrupt, and a group formed to purchase and preserve the buildings, as well as obtaining easements that preserve the surrounding landscape. While there is not much commercial/retail for the casual visitor, just to wander about is worth making the trip.

The weather was perfect, I took lots of photographs, and expect to get some paintings out of this excursion.

For more information see www.historicharrisville.org

Plein Air Day in Phillipston

A gray day in the country.

The Massachusetts Plein Air Meetup Group spent the day out on the farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts. The farm belongs to the parents of one member, and they graciously allowed us to come paint there again this year (and served  us lunch!).

The huge maple is glorious when the leaves turn

The hilltop has amazing views of the countryside, and even on a gray, damp day it was impressive. Artists eagerly set up their easels to enjoy and paint the vistas. Joseph, of course, with his usual perverse nature instead took his setup down behind the barn.

I first spotted one lone pumpkin remaining in the remnants of the vegetable garden. While everything around it was dying off, this shone brightly in spite of the overcast sky.

The Last Pumpkin

We were not at peak foliage yet, so in a continued search for color I located the heavy equipment in the back. The front of the barn is as neat and trim as anything, but the back, as is typical in New England, doesn't get any attention. I painted this last year as well, but this year's painting was more successful.

Some bright colors

Looking forward to going back in the Spring..

 

Art work on display

And finally, the critique before heading home