I have fallen into the funk of New England when it is cold and dry and dark and we take to the indoors.In this case I mean the basement studio. The basement is cold, maybe only because of the cement floor and the ceiling level windows and the electric radiator. It is dark at the end of the day when I get there. I have worked on some imaginative paintings which are taken from drawings I have done, images I store and emotions that live somewhere nearby. I rely on the techniques I learned from Robert Henry last summer to start with a drawing and develop it. Something pleases me in one part and I can see a beginning. The development of this painting is quite different from stepping outside and capturing fleeting moments of light on objects. I have stacks of drawings I have done of light on objects that have interested me and
this gives me meditative time to move th
em into something else. That sounds a bit grand but the reality is an effort to dredge free floating images out of my head. To simply imagine, not to plan for particular images. This is different from trying to read something into the paint.Here are some paintings I did from the late fall, and even the beginning of winter. These are a mix of outdoor work in some inside.
I took these pictures in the studio without the flash which means the picture is of limited focus. They show the color and the composition. I am using oil bars on canvas with palette knife and tube oil on top. The tube oil diminishes the airiness of the canvas. The total snow scene of limited color intensity was done inside after drawi
ng the scene outside in a heavy snow. It is a palette knife pa
inting.The last is from the fall. It is a palette knife painting of the Merrimack as it passes through Bow NH. It is a beautiful spot. It was hard to photograph in the light of the studio as was the snow scene. There are elements of the studio around the edges.
Beware.I got an email from a Salmon Walker inquiring after a painting and its availability. I was flattered though suspicious. The email was written in broken English, implied a need to close the deal with speed. So I answered, and came away wiser. No loss, thankfully, when he said he was sending more than I was asking and would I give the extra to the mover, I knew it was a scam. Vulnerabilities get me. Not every time, but often enough. I hate to develop more wariness than I already have.
