Dancer 1979 by me

When I was a sophomore in high school I drew this picture from a photo. The famous dancer-- I don't remember. I must have given the drawing to Nina, who left it behind when she moved. Chris, her brother, now has it hanging in his house next to a print that Nancy Nicholson made. 

You never know when your work makes an impression. Had Nancy not been asked to make glass for Chris, I'd never have known about this. 

A Good Day with Cows

 Nancy Nicholson sent me this photo from Chris Heegard's ranch in Oregon.  Nancy went to the ranch to draw and then make stained glass for Chris. While there, she discovered a drawing I did in 1979. Next post.

 Sketch, blocking out shapes on the perfect size canvas.

 Blocking in color, my technique resembles the watercolor days.

More paint, but now I'll wait before I paint again. The immediacy of color make me feel like this is done, but there isn't enough paint on the canvas.

Simple landscape different versions - and a link for lessons to remember

Terry Muira 

John Sloan. The Jitney.  Oil. 1915. Metropolitan Museum of Art

I love the street, how it lays flat and moves into the space, but has many colors. The path in Two Tractors needs this attention.

John Sloan. The Jitney.  Oil. 1915. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bailey's Island, Driftwood Inn, ME

Is it finished? Does it feel like that foggy day at Bailey's Island on the porch of the Driftwood Inn? The earlier version looks wetter, more foggy.

Two tractors Lampson Brook Farm, Belchertown

Last night, spent 2 hours on this painting knowing that the tractor in the foreground would be moved today at 5 a.m. It was. I took photo references--so how to work with the photo and not lose the atmosphere of being one site... Colors here are a little overexposed.  As usual, became lost while painting, trying to reduce the shapes, while thinking how to make the landscape believable. Can a viewer walk in the grass? My brain needs to register what works even faster--the darker parts create stability, but I have to be careful about too much value.  Yellow in the foreground captures the feel of the evening. Next correction, the purple trees in the back. What color are they really? What shape?  Tonight, 5:30 p.m. in the heat. I'm hydrating now.

Still Life in front of a window

LOVE this still life in front of a window by Ruth Miller, Cabbage, Melon, Window Still Life, 2013/14, Oil on canvas, 26 x 31 inches. Color, drawing, space arrangement--beautiful. 

 Two views of summer, one in Maine and one at home. Perhaps the juxtaposition will enable a clearer mindset as I complete these works.

Lampson Brook Farm looking northwest, Mt. Norwottuck in the distance.

Starting to come together. Still too many shapes. Simplify, simplify.

 View from the porch of Driftwood Inn on Bailey's Island. The day was wet and cool. Felt great to be standing next to my easel and looking into the mist. June 29, 2016

I'm back

“Maine in Fog,” oil on canvas, 1926-29Images courtesy Bowdoin College Museum of Art

...and I'll be rusty. It's been years since I've posted. Returned from a glorious 4 day painting class with Jill Pottle at Orr's Island. Today, I'm working on a painting indoors that I started plein air. How to capture a foggy scene, channel the day when I painted on site--this is on my mind. Jill talked a lot about Hopper and I'm analyzing this painting. Minimize. I like how I see in thirds, the house in distance in fog,  the boat at center in completely different value, the shrubbery on right. Somehow this sea scape makes me feel the day. I want to do that. I love how the boat is tipped to the right, how it's situated on an angle in the landscape. I want to see this painting in person.