"The Red Door"
This rambling outbuilding is attached to a venerable old house in a nearby town. I've been attracted to it over the hundreds of times I've driven by it. Linda and I were on a fairly routine drive shortly after New Year's Day this year when I was struck by the light casting a glow on the chipped and faded paint, and by the bucket hanging from a nail. I circled around and, taking a few risks on the snow-choked roads, shot the photograph this painting is based on.
"Rockport Harbor"
Last summer, Linda and I spent a night in Gloucester with two goals - eat at Woodman's (reputedly the birthplace of fried clams) and shoot some photographs in Rockport. We failed at the first - Woodman's had a line stretching out the door and around the corner - and were nearly disappointed at the second. It was gloomy and raining when we got to Rockport. We took some photos nonetheless, but the conditions weren't what we were hoping for. We stumbled on a lovely path and, while we were exploring it, the skies cleared. We rushed back to the harbor and I captured this scene.
"Rhode Island Windmill"
On our day trip to Narragansett Bay (see "Tall Ships", below), Linda spotted this windmill while we were trying to find a good vantage to photograph the lighthouse on the west side of Conanticut Island. The sky had cleared from the cloud cover of earlier in the afternoon. The windmill was lit by the waning sunlight, but the surroundings were already dusky.
"Tall Ships off Newport"
I've always loved tall ships but, until this year, I'd never seen more than the occasional schooner under sail. Linda and I took a day trip to Beavertail, at the southern tip of Conanticut Island in Narragansett Bay to see the Parade of Tall Ships on July 1st. The sky was mostly cloudy (I took some liberties with the sky in my painting), but shafts of sunlight sporadically punctured the cloud cover, illuminating the sails of a ship and making them glow like pearls on velvet.
"Westfield River Arch"
This relic of the earliest days of the railroad is buried in the woods near our home. It's in a beautiful, tranquil setting which I've visited and photographed in all seasons. The arch is one of a series that dates to around 1840. It's a dry-laid keystone arch that was engineered by George Washington Whistler (father of James Whistler, the painter).
"Edgartown Light, Martha's Vineyard"
Several years ago, Linda and I spent a weekend on Martha's Vineyard- the first, and so far the only time I've been there. We traveled around the island and photographed as many lighthouses as we were able to get to. This painting is from a photo I took on that visit.
"Nobska Light"
Situated near Wood's Hole, Nobska Light sits atop a knoll that makes for dramatic viewing angles. My mother and Linda and I visited on two afternoons during a week at the Cape in November, 2006. On our second visit, the sky's drama equalled that of the setting.
"Day's End, Hog Island Maine"
Linda and I visited Hog Island (an Audubon camp near Pemiquid Point, Maine) for a talk by Steve Kress, the genius behind "Project Puffin". This is a scene that I stumbled on as I was exploring the grounds. It's the porch of the "Fish House". There's something about the play of light and shadow on old wood that I find irresistible.
Awarded second place in the watercolor division at the 2007 Blandford (MA) Fair Art Show.
"Sailboat, Owl's Head Maine"
While visiting Maine last year (2006), Linda & I made the rounds of as many lighthouses as we could squeeze in. We went to Owl's Head, near Rockland, on a fine late afternoon near the 4th of July. As we were photographing the lighthouse from various angles, we became aware of a two-masted schooner in the cove to the south of us. We watched and photographed it as it sailed around Owl's Head in the direction of Rockland. Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island is visible on the horizon beyond the sailboat.
"Pontoosuc Sky"
Linda & I were on our way to Hancock Massachusetts on a late afternoon in August when we came upon this scene. There had been thundershowers for the previous hour and the heavy clouds were lifting. We were crossing over the low spine that rises to become Mount Greylock to the north. As you begin to descend on the west side towards Rt. 7, Pontoosuc Lake in Pittsfield is directly in front of you. The sky was particularly beautiful, so we parked on the side of the road, climbed the shoulder and squeezed off a few pictures.
"Artist's Bridge, Newry Maine"
This bridge is over the Sunday River in Newry, a small town near Bethel, Maine. It's reputed to be the most photographed and painted covered bridge in Maine (hence the name). Linda & I drove to Newry specifically to photograph this bridge. We happened to choose a spectacular day (luck, not planning) with a fresh coating of snow and brilliant sun.
"Berkshire Sugarhouse"
I came across this sugar house on my way from an errand in Charlemont, Mass. to my home in Huntington. Purely by luck (as is so often the case), the proprietor was boiling, the light was perfect and there was fresh snow on the ground. I took some liberties with the foreground, removing some clutter and adding the bucket on the side of the near tree.
"Portland Head Lighthouse"
One of the iconic spots along the coast of Maine- Linda and I visited late on an October afternoon when the tower and the keeper's house were awash in the glow of the autumn sun.
"Laudholm Farm, Wells Maine"
This is a nature preserve at a colonial-era farmstead. We stopped here for a brief hike looking for birds. On our way back from our walk, we came on this scene bathed in afternoon light. I'm fascinated by the relics of the ingenuity of our forebears, like the water tower and the icehouse on the right side of the painting.
"Snowy Morning, Perkins Cove Maine"
The morning of our departure after a winter week at Ogunquit, Maine, I walked around Perkin's Cove, photographing the footbridge in the blowing snow. I love the linear quality of the drawbridge and buildings, juxtaposed against the curving lines of the boat hulls. I tried to capture the feeling of the wind-borne snow in my painting.
"Covered Bridge, Stark New Hampshire"
I've always been drawn to covered bridges (who isn't?). The northern New England states celebrate their covered bridges in a way that I find refreshing (where my own state tears down originals in the name of expediency, then builds replicas when the budget allows and the citizens demand it). We came upon this bridge purely by accident as we traveled across northern New Hampshire. I love the detailing on the overhanging façade
