Spooky House

 I got to revisit a favorite subject, the spooky house next to the dentist's office, and do a quick sketch using #CerviCarneTable in the real world. I only had about 30 minutes and used them to sight size proportions and locate strategic points on the page. 

I then returned to the same site a few days later, with more time, and worked into the sketch again, truing up lines and adding details.

Mr. Cone

 Mr. Cone, Chicopee, MA

It was fun standing across the road sketching this iconic soft serve ice cream place, watching the customers come and go, and getting the beginnings of a summer vibe.

Bit of an homage to James Gurney and his eye for signage.

Forest Path

 Revisited this forest path.

It seems to be associated with some sort of construction or landscaping enterprise - whenever I visit, there is a different pile of refuse or building materials dumped back there.

9th Building Bridges annual showcase

 Clothesline will have a one day appearance at the 9th Building Bridges annual showcase on Tuesday April 7 at the UMass Amherst Ralph W. Bromery Center for the Arts.

The Showcase Event is an annual gathering where UMass staff and their creative talents take center stage. This year, the showcase features work from over 70 worker artists across campus. The showcase—curated and installed by participants in the Showcasing Worker Artists class, a core Building Bridges offering through the Partnership for Worker Education—will be on view from 12-7pm, with catered receptions at 12:30pm and 4:30pm and artist demonstrations and workshops scheduled throughout the afternoon. There will be various performances by the UMass worker artists including music and poetry. The event is free and open to the public. A full schedule will be found on the PWE Building Bridges Website closer to the day.

Monson Art Council Spring Art Exhibition & Sale.

 "Winter Fugue" and 

"Sunscreen" 

have been accepted at the upcoming Monson Art Council Spring Art Exhibition & Sale.

The House of Art,

200 Main St

Monson, MA

April 11 - 26,

Saturdays & Sundays 12:00 - 5:00

Opening Reception April 11 12:00 - 5:00

Winter show

 Tree House and Little House in the Big Backyard have been accepted into the upcoming show "Winter" at ArtWorks Gallery in Ware, MA.

60 Main St.

Ware, MA 01082

March 7th to April 4th, 2026

Saturdays & Sundays | 1 to 4 pm

Opening Reception Saturday, March 7th | 3 to 5 pm

Rain Walker

A pen and ink sketch from this morning. Walking in the rain and melting snow, saw a lone woman in black silhouetted against the misty background, tried to draw from memory.

New shed in new snow in new sketchbook

 The sun was low in the sky behind the shed, casting the front surfaces into shadow and creating rim lighting around the roof. The snow on the roof, while technically in shadow, had its own luminosity, collecting and reflecting the skylight.

 Time for a new Montanapolitancroptic sketchbook!

Here are a few from the old one that I hadn't gotten around to posting:

Another of those rocks from the UMass Sun Wheel. People gather there to observe the solstices and equinoxes.

At first I thought these guys were building a shed but it turned out they were carefully disassembling it. In any case, the light was very striking.

The former Amherst, MA train station. It's right down the street from the old Emily Dickinson place, which apparently was no accident - her family held a lot of stock in the railroad company.

Self Service Car Wash

I was initially attracted by the luminosity of the snow and white fence vibing off each other in the sunlight. As I was working I saw several people coming and going on the beaten path leading up the hill. I wondered if there was a name for such unofficial byways and thought that "via vernacula" would be a good one. I found no instances of "via vernacula" on the web but did find a couple references to existing terms: "social path" and "desire path." Results of searching on "social path" got about 50/50 "Did you mean 'sociopath?'" and a k-pop song of the same name. "Desire path" got more legit hits but had mostly negative connotations of environmental damage caused by lazy or impatient people bushwhacking across the landscape. Furthermore, "desire path' sounds like a route for a street car. Neither has the zing of "Via vernacula," so I am hereby nominating it as the term of record.

Hartsbrook Farm

This is a scene I never tire of sketching. The geometry of all those metal roofs and the ever-changing light are always rewarding.

Watercolor, 4" x 6"

Propane

 The propane tank lurking like a submarine in the bushes caught my eye, along with whatever that rusty metal cylinder is next door.

Grass Spider Web (Precipice Pano)

Another take on the view from the precipice, this time in a vertical pano format to get in the entire sweep from the cliff edge beneath my feet to the horizon and sky. I noticed a bedewed grass spider web at my feet and was struck by the dramatic sense of scale created by this tiny spider setting up shop atop a 128 foot bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the edge of the planet, and beyond.

Cape Cod precipice

 Our rental at the Cape was perched atop a 128’ bluff. I attempted to render the view down to the beach in a watercolor sketch. It was challenging to indicate the height and steepness. I did consider adding a Wile E Coyote silhouette at the bottom.

2025 Monson Art Council's Spring Art Exhibition

 Little Tinker Hill, Autumn 2024 will be at the 2025 Monson Art Council's Spring Art Exhibition

Unframed etchings, PCC Memories and Three Women for sale in the shop.

House of Art and Memorial Hall

200 Main St, Monson, MA

Weekends 5/10 – 5/25

12:00 - 5:00

First Snow

 Woke up to our first proper snowstorm this morning. It wasn't very much snow but enough to frost this gnarly tree and bring out its undulating wavelike properties.

Black, white, and gray ink on toned paper

4" x 6"

Little Tinker Hill

I've done this scene a couple times before. There's something adorable about its gently curved profile that keeps bringing me back. The late afternoon light in the fall is always spectacular.

Backyard Snow has now been accepted to the Workshop13 6th Annual Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition of Traditional Realism in Ware, MA.

It was on a waitlist - if other accepted entries couldn't make it for some reason, it would be selected. Now I can call off my Kind Hearts and Coronets operation.

Workshop13 Grand Hall
13 Church Street
Ware, MA 01082

Show Dates and Times:
September 28 to October 13, 2024
Fridays | 4 to 7 pm

Saturdays & Sundays | 1 to 4 pm

Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 28 | 1 to 4 pm
Awards, 3 pm

https://workshop13.org/calendar-event/northeast-fine-arts-exhibition-2/2024-09-28/

Rail Road Crossing

I had about 30 minutes during which I did a pencil sketch, then messed around with it at home. The X shaped sign reminded me of James Gurney's analysis of the Rembrandt windmill and putting light against dark, dark against light, light against light, and dark against dark; so I tried to get something like that going. I ended up getting more into the overall flow of light, with the RR signal acting as a kind of photonic antenna or Van de Graaff generator.

More on the James Gurney Windmill Principle:

https://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/04/windmill-principle.html

Pix at Vic's

 I got to visit with my brother-in-law in Pennsylvania recently, and reconnected with these three little watercolors I had given him over the years, all depicting scenes around his house and farm.