Take me out to the ballgame....

"Buy me some Peanuts and Crackerjacks"  11x14 oil

Everyone is familiar with the springtime favorite; "take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the park, buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks...". Applicable to any team, the subject matter has universal appeal for the baseball crowd. It  appealed to the fan and the artist in me and was a really fun experience to paint. Because of the familiarity of the box, much of the design is suggested rather than detailed. The peanuts are used to lead the viewers eye into and around the composition. I made the baseball glow with warmth so the viewer wants to pick it up. The predominate reds may have a little Boston bias, but what can I say-? I am from Boston after all.

"Beacon Hill Trifecta!"

"Beacon Hill's Trifecta"  12x16 oil

My winter Beacon Hill painting...

As I completed my most recent Beacon Hill painting, I was excited to learn that my winter version of Beacon Hill, completed recently, was just awarded first place in oil painting and Best in Show at Norwood 's Art in the Park. I spend a lot of time on "the hill" since my son and his family moved here last fall and I find it a visual feast. Being enamored of historic architecture and antiques,  this is my newest painting paradise. While I sought to impart the cold, mysterious snowy atmosphere to the winter scene, I wanted to give the view from MT Vernon Street the same warm and glowing feeling I experienced that hot spring morning. My son and I had just finished breakfast at the bakery at the bottom of the hill and were walking back to his place. The view of three steeples lining up and being illuminated by the strong light when looking down the hill was impressive. I like the constant contrast of the old flat brick facades with the rounded brick facade portions added later. I initially was planning to include an overhead branch in my foreground, but decided that the composition was even better without it. Instead I decided to include  the "no parking" sign on the lamp post that is so Beacon Hill. The pure cad red right out of the tube popped it immediately to the foreground.  I kept colors strong and warm, with many gradations in my red bricks to bring out the forms and move the viewers eyes through the painting. Having completed 3 seasons so far, I look forward picking my "summer scene".
Adding an edit as I learned that this painting also received first place in the 2015 Foxboro Art Association show.

Boston's Swanboats

"Reflections of Youth" 16X20 oil 2015

 After an especially tough winter, Bostonians look forward to spring. One sign of spring in Boston is the launching of the Swanboats in the Boston Public Gardens. Each day they are lined up awaiting the tourists and residents who flock to ride around the lagoon. At night they return to their dock and bask in the late afternoon sun awaiting the next day's riders. Swanboats were a major fascination for me when my mother took me as a child. I enjoyed outings there with my own children and many students over the years. Now I look forward to taking my granddaughter for her first ride this spring. The sight of the boats brings a smile as old memories surface. It's a happy place. I wanted to create a happy painting. I used greens punctuated by red to create a smooth diagonal path in the painting. My focus was on the variations in the whites as the light bounced off the whites of the swans.  The warm and cool whites presented many variations in tints of color which when put together appear to be white. The ripples in the water formed wonderful reflections as the boats quietly bobbed in place. The horizontal linear patterns and horizontal painting format were employed to bring a sense of peacefulness to the viewer.

Beacon Hill Beauty

"Embracing Winter "of 2015 12X16 oil 

Boston had record snowfall this winter and neighborhoods were coated every few days with a  fresh white blanket. The snow piled up, cars were buried and paths became narrower and narrower as navigating the streets became more and more difficult. While frustrating for many, for me the freshly fallen snow presented an opportunity to see the beauty of the city in a different light. This scene of Beacon Hill is from the first storm, Juno, in January. It continued snowing for another 6 weeks giving me plenty of time to work on my painting. The late night view afforded the scene an ephemeral  untouched, untrodden freshness. The old fashioned lamp posts illuminated the scene in a unifying manner and created wonderful patterns as light and shadow alternated on the banks and buildings. The color harmony was strong and allowed me to focus on creating a mysterious glow bringing the viewer deep into the nocturnal space. I used rags instead of brushes in the first phase of painting. When I switched to brushes later, I kept edges soft and minimized details to give the viewer enough information to fill in the scene on their own.

Beacon Hill is Quintessential Boston

Acorn Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, MA   16x20 oil on linen

When I was asked to paint a wedding present for a couple moving to CA from Boston, all sorts of ideas flooded into my head. The groom had lived in Boston and especially loved Beacon Hill. Perfect! My son and his family just moved to Beacon Hill last month. It was a part of the city that embodied all the elements of "old Boston".  The brick buildings, cobblestone streets, old fashioned lamp posts that are on day and night, the window boxes and iron work all exemplify my image of old Boston. Almost every doorway demands to be admired and photographed or painted. I was excited to have a destination in the new family neighborhood. I spent the first day photographing all the streets, crisscrossing up and down the hills and looking for possibilities for future paintings as well. I repeated my steps and process that afternoon so I could examine morning versus afternoon light. I broke out my sketchbook on Acorn Street and did some preliminary studies. I hoped this would be the setting for the painting. After contacting the couple to be sure this would be to their liking, blocking in the masses commenced. I took advantage of the lamplight to brighten the colors somewhat as the street is narrow and dark. I chose the spot where the ancient green vine grew up the building to capitalize on the red/ green harmony and echoed this harmony in the window boxes. The colonial American flag that flew above the street clinched my choice of scenes as it defined the character of the neighborhood, being  repeated on other streets around the hill. The flag provided a point of interest to move the viewer down the hill while letting other detail and color diminish in the distance. Although the street was very crowded with tourists on my weekend visits, I decided to leave the people out of it.  I wanted to portray it as I saw it on weekday visits; a quiet, well kept and serene neighborhood with a lot of history.  Next stop- Louisburg Square!

Make Way for Ducklings!

Make Way for Ducklings -Boston Public Gardens 11x14 oil

A favorite childhood memory were my many visits to Boston with my parents. We would ride the swanboats and walk around the beautiful public gardens which was the setting for a favorite book, Make Way for Ducklings. In a stroke of genius, the city commissioned this sculpture of Make Way for Ducklings. It is possibly one of the most photographed spots in the city. As a lifelong Bostonian, I would be remiss not to include it in my favorite painted places. I love the  sun reflecting off the ducks, the warmth of the bricks, the meandering lines of the sculpture and the backdrop of my beloved city and it's gardens.

Cityscapes

Church St. Burlington ,VT  18x24---

Swanboat Memories 16x20---

The old and the new, Oxford University, UK-16x20-

Winooski Falls, Winooski, VT-

When thinking about painting  city scenes, first thoughts are the downtown hustle and bustle. The great thing in exploring a city is discovering what makes it unique and what makes it universal. The old mill towns in New England are great;  factory buildings are converted and the flavor of the community is preserved. Some old mills are marketplaces, artist studios, restaurants, fitness centers and a multitude of other things. In some cities parks and walking streets provide places to gather or relax. Sometimes it's the history that attracts me. Although painting the city provides a lot of opportunity, I have much more exploring to do in this area. I was able to set up my easel on my daughter's balcony to paint the Winooski Falls. The blue and orange harmony attracted me as well as the rushing  water patterns;  but today that view is gone as new high rise condos went up right after I painted this one. Some scenes, like the swanboats, are iconic and others are pure luck. When I saw the students come through the doorway at Oxford it was the moment when it all came together. I was already hooked on the lighting, but the new and modern juxtaposed with the old and established was the moment I wanted to capture. Church Street in Burlington is another iconic scene with the white steepled church at one end. Sometimes there are banners and flags or street performers and pushcarts or in the winter-lights and people bundled up against the VT cold. Any season is a good one to paint Church Street.