Backyard Snow

 We finally got a respectable snowstorm out here and I went out back with ArtisticInTent to commune with it. This work in progress is a quite bit more expressionistic/chaotic than my usual, but its part of an idea I've been working on for a while, which is to incorporate the feeling of the whirling snow directly into the painting from the beginning, rather than establish the scene and then add the snow on top. Even though I started out very loose and unplanned, it wasn't long before geometrical and structural elements began to emerge from the mush.

ArtisticInTent

Earlier in the same day I did the previous oil sketch, I started a quick sketch in my pocket sketchbook, using white ink on toned paper (second pic). I was just trying to get the feel of the swirling snow, and only got a few lines down before the paper started getting too wet. I went back and filled it out more from memory and invention, still trying to focus on the movement of the layers of falling snow, with the trees, houses etc as supporting cast members.

North End Bridge

Watercolor sketch of North End Bridge and ice and snow on the Connecticut River in Springfield, MA.

Debt

Ink and pencil on illustration board

7" x 10"

This piece is currently in the juried show "Red" at ArtWorks Gallery in Ware, MA.

I started with the idea of "in the red" and "red ink" and the image of people drowning in a sea of red and struggling with debt in its various aspects.

ArtWorks Gallery

69 Main St., Ware, MA 01082

Show Dates and Times:

February: 4 – 26, 2023

Saturdays & Sundays | 1 to 5 pm

Opening Reception

Saturday, February 4th | 3 to 5 pm

https://www.workshop13.org/exhibitions/red-gallery/#gallery

Connecticut River Snow Scenw

 I did a watercolor of this scene on the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway in Springfield, MA back in November with some fall color. Here it is after the first snow, using gray and white ink on gray toned paper.

Connecticut River Stumps

 A watercolor sketch from today at the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway in Springfield, MA. There was beautiful light on the white stumps against the dark river. The clouds alternately illuminated and shaded the trees on the opposite bank.

Ancient Oak

 This ancient oak lives at the abandoned golf course. It's battered and broken but still able to kindle an incandescent fire. Like American democracy?

oil on panel 10" x 12"

Connecticut River Walk Structure

 I'm always fascinated by those cryptic obelisks that stand guard over the urban landscape, ostensibly contributing to legitimate civil engineering functions but suggesting a portal to the realm of the Morlocks.

This is from a rainy walk this morning on the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway in Springfield, MA.