Here is a 9x12-inch acrylic painting done in October 2019 on a Greek island near Turkey.  I painted from a path leading to a chapel, which is behind the viewer.  A kind girl visiting the chapel brought me a bottle of water to drink.

The left hand gate leads down to the road which is out of sight.  The road winds by the white buildings.  The jumble of stuff in the middle ground is really an old cottage in ruins.  It was a pile of old ladders, concrete and stone walls with wooden palettes on end.

This is a watercolor I did last summer.  It was for a client and I used a photo for reference.  I really enjoyed working on the greenery because, while it was all green, there were so many subtle differences. 

Three 12x16 house portraits are done.  The first is a clapboard beach house, the second is a Colonial style, and the third is a Tudor style.

This 12x9 oil painting is of the local Town Beach.  It was fairly quiet each day after summer camp was over.  The view across the water shows a swimming raft and the distant waterfront houses. The second photograph shows the actual beach and the painting in progress.

12x9 oil on linen.

8x8 pen and ink wash

A daily sketch has been a way to practice composition.

This concrete foot bridge is located in Wood Park, Hudson.  The Assabet River flows underneath.

Wood park bridge, 9x12 oil on linen

Pilot Grove Farm is a stunning subject, with evocative buildings, waving grass, and peaceful, freely roaming animals. 

Pilot Grove Farm, Stow, MA, 18x24 oil

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Marlborough's Memorial Beach is a beautiful oasis among suburban backyards.  A sunny weekday set off its sand, lifeguard chairs and willow trees. 

Memorial Beach, Marlborough, Massachusetts, 9x12 oil on linen

The Hudson Public Library has one of the most beautiful spots I know of, to view the Assabet River.  Last year's painting of this spot sold, and as I was quite attached to the painting I wanted to replace it.  This year the painting is larger (18x24), and is on stretched canvas.  The river, like a lake here, has swans, which are not in the painting.

The "small farm"was run from the late 1980s through 2016 or 2017 by Barbara and Dwight Sipler (see http://small-farm.org).  Recently the farm was undertaken by Elena and Karl (http://www.small-farm.com) who continued growing vegetables and flowers using sustainable methods.

This painting was painted from the trees bordering the farm along the road.  A view opens onto the field nearest the road, in such a position that the morning sun hits the field.  I brought a lap painting kit and finished a 5x7 in about four hours, making friends with the local cat and seeing Karl and Elena as they inventoried.

Small farm, Stow.  5x7 oil on linen

Pilot Grove Farm raises chickens, which walk around in the shade, scratching and resting during the day.  Their inquisitive looks and gentle curiosity inspired me as I painted the livestock barn and rail fence.   I studied them and then painted them quickly.  The result is six inches by six inches:

Pilot Grove Farm barn, rail fence and chickens; 6x6 inches, oil


























































July 1 2019

June 27, 2019:  This small painting of Pilot Grove’s silos, barns and sheds shows the beautiful wooden architecture found throughout the farm.  The farm’s chickens kept me company while I painted this 6x6 inch oil.

Pilot Grove Farm 6x6 oil

Pilot Grove Farm was named by its founder Abijah Warren, in 1782.   After he acquired its land in Stow, Warren learned that ship pilots in Boston used the stand of pines on his hill as a landmark for navigation. Boston is over twenty miles away from the farm.
The Warren family has been operating it ever since.  Sheep, beef cattle, chickens, and hay are some of the things raised and grown there.  This view is southward from Crescent Street and it shows the barn overlooked by tall pine trees which may be in the location of the original "pilot grove." My painting is six by six inches, oil on stretched canvas.

Sources for this post include a Pilot Grove Farm talk by the owner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZAVH-7dpXY); and an article about long lived Massachusetts farms at: http://freedomsway.org/100-years-and-still-going-strong/

Ferjulian’s Farm in Hudson is crisscrossed with lovely stone fences which wall in the dirt on the hillsides.  Last year I did a view of the farmhouse and barn from below:

Ferjulian's Farm, 8x10 oil on linen, from Chestnut St.

and this year I decided to do another version in spring.  As I finished a huge tractor pulled into view on the hillside. After it was parked and only partly visible I was able to sketch it.  

Ferjulian's Farm, 5x7 oil on linen, from Chestnut St.

Ferjulians Farm seen from Main Street and Chestnut Street rests on a dramatic rise.  This four-generation family operation includes beautiful greenhouses and an orchard overlooking its farm stand.  On a weekend walk I sketched this view up Main Street, later returning with oil paint.

Ferjulian’s Farm from Chestnut and Main Streets, Hudson, 5x7 pen on paper

Ferjulian’s Farm from Chestnut and Main Streets, Hudson, 5x7 oil on linen

Ferjulian's Farm from the back, 5x7 pen on paper

Ferjulians is a family owned farm and nursery, in Hudson, Massachusetts open since 1942 (http://www.ferjulians.com/).   It has a beautiful large greenhouse, barn, and orchards, set on a the ridge of a long hill.   I made the pen sketch for compositional practice, then returned to make a small oil painting.  That day, the clouds were rolling in from the west. 

Ferjulian's from behind, 5x7 oil on linen

Horse corrals in Spring
9x12 watercolor on paper

A number of Belgian draft horses shown in the annual Sudbury Fourth of July Parade (http://sudbury.org/parade/) live in these yards or corrals.   The farm looks to the west; and the incoming weather made for a dramatic sky.  This painting started as an exercise in capturing moving clouds.  It was painted wet-into-wet.  I added the horse corrals and the airplane later.  

Magazu Landing View, Stow:

Using directions in Helen J. Haberstroh's manual _Painting Portraits of Homes in Pen, Ink, and Watercolor_ (published in 2000 by North Light Books) I fininished a portrait:

 

The winter scenery has been very colorful this year, with little snow.

 Here are a couple of paintings I started last year, then got back to, when it was warm:

Sketching with little snow on the roads in winter:

Massachusetts had the least snow fall than in any year since records started in 1937-38
(https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2019-01-17-boston-no-snow-record-wait)...
 up until January 18. 

Several new paintings were in the works in December 2018 (see below):

This first one is called "Escapees."

Escapees, 7x5 oil on linen

Cranberry Sauce in Mason Jar, 7x5 oil on linen

Gang of Five Button Chrysanthemums, 7x5 oil on linen

Sacrifice, 5x7 oil on linen

Three Sisters, 5x7 oil on linen