Walking the dog-sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 10"
From the same morning at the beach.


Tonight (Wednesday 9/19) is the Providence Rotary Club's Paint Off! $45.00 at the door, 8 artists painting for 2 hours, all for charity. At the Providence Art Club in Providence RI.

And, my limited color portrait class starts on October 3 at the Portsmouth Art Guild in Portsmouth, RI.

Marsh with egrets- sold

Oil on panel, 8" x 10"
Back home again, at the Tillinghast Estate in Barrington RI. I don't always like painting marshes- not enough verticals!- but the egrets provided an interesting accent.

Cove with canoe- sold

Oil on panel, 8" x 10"
While on Deer Isle, we stopped one morning at this absolutely beautiful cove to paint. The coast of Maine- what can I say- it's breathtaking.
Email me for price.

House on a hill-sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
Another painting from Stonington, looking uphill.

I found a great book when I was there, it's called "How Photography Can Make You A Better Painter" by Michael Weymouth. He is a professional photographer, designer and painter. His paintings are quite loose and beautiful, they don't look at all like they were done from photos, and he has some good advice on what to do and not do when using photos for reference. (I paid $30. for it at a touristy shop in Maine but it's $22.80 at Amazon.)

Providence Paint Off

I'm taking part this year in the Providence (Rhode Island) Rotary Club's Providence Paint Off on Wednesday, September 19. Eight artists painting for two hours at a cocktail reception, at the end of which the paintings, as well as some other fabulous items, will be auctioned off to raise money for charity. Should be fun!

Tickets are $35.00 in advance, $45.00 at the door.

Sunset Yacht Club

Oil on panel, 6" x 8"
The dock of the yacht club at Sunset on Deer Isle- aptly named, it faces west, giving residents stunning views of the sun setting over the water each evening.

The top of the hill- sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
This old Victorian sits on the top of the hill in Stonington, with a killer view of the harbor.

Painting on the coast of Maine-Sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 8"
I just got back from a stay at a lovely old house on the water in Deer Isle, Maine with some other painters. We had fantastic weather, sunny almost every day except for one morning when it rained, and you need an excuse to go shopping anyhow, don't you?

This was the first painting I did there, that cute little skiff providing the perfect accent.

Trees by the road- sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
Painted these trees as the sun was rising yesterday morning. I should probably tone down my color when painting roads. I always seem to see them as being very orange.

My plein air set up

I was asked about the pochade box I use so decided to do this post. I have three different portable easels that I've bought over the years. The first was a full box Julian French easel. Well built but heavy. I still use it, but mostly as a second easel indoors.

This is my second one, a pochade box by Open Box M. I bought the lightweight tripod from a friend who bought a bunch of them off Ebay a long time ago. It cost me $15.00. It has a quick release mount so it sets up in seconds.

 On the lid is a list I made for myself of things to remember to bring. It reads:" Paint, Turp, Brushes, Rags, Panels or canvas, Hat, Easel, Suntan lotion, Bug spray, Water, food". I try to remember to actually read this before I leave the house. Recently I almost walked out without my brushes. This box was expensive, but it's gotten a lot of use and held up well.

Here it is actually set up. It has a spring mounted clip that will hold a 10" wide panel or canvas. There is actually a little storage space behind the panel which I never use.

The first palette bit the dust so I made another. It's a bit smaller than the original, which fit so snugly that in humid weather I had a hard time getting it out of the box because it would swell. I tape wax paper to the palette before I lay out my paints so it makes clean up a lot easier. Wax paper is somewhat porous, so some paint residue does get through.

 There is storage space under the palette. In this I put extra pieces of wax paper, a palette knife, tape, business cards, and a couple of viewfinders which I made and find very useful. One is square, the other more rectangular. There is an S hook fastened to a string taped to the bottom of the box. This fits in the corner of the box when it's open and I hang my turp container from it. The string prevents it from falling off and getting lost.

I carry paint, brushes, turp, rags or paper towels in a backpack. Often I also use a small tote bag to carry an extra panel or two, food, water, hat, etc. All together, it's pretty light weight and portable and still my favorite set up for outdoors.

Recently I bought a Coulter Plein Air System so that I could paint larger pieces outdoors but have to admit I haven't used it much.

Yellow house at sunset- sold

Oil on panel, 8" x 10"

I was painting on the bike path one evening and had packed up to go home. I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of this house. I looked at it for a few seconds and thought, should I or shouldn't I, because I knew the light would only last a couple of minutes. I decided to go for it, dropped my backpack on the ground, set up my painting gear (love that quick release tripod and pochade box), took a quick photo for reference, and practically threw paint at the panel.

I ended up reworking the house somewhat from the photo, mostly to correct architectural details. I'm pretty happy with it, maybe I'll try a larger version.

view from Corn Hill- sold

Oil on panel, 6" x 6"
While on Cape Cod for a few days I painted these little cottages at the top of Corn Hill (another place you want to get permission before you paint). One of the few places on the Cape where you're up high and have a wonderful view.