Assabet Arts

Friday, August 31, 2018

Stow, Massachusetts includes a neighborhood named Gleasondale (formerly called Rockbottom) which has been an industrial area for over two hundred years. The Assabet River flows there. The river formerly powered a mill, manufacturing cloth, which was built around 1854. This mill with various additions and alterations, still houses a number of businesses, including woodworkers and cabinet makers. A newer mill was also finished in 1919 which houses local businesses.
Here is a painting done on site:

It's 9x12 inches, oil on a panel.

A detailed article about Gleasondale may be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/debbeling1/14264595991/

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Next to the road in spring are fringe-petalled, small bluish daisies. This year I learned these are asters, and painted them in a Mason jar:

This is an 8x10 size, painted on a panel.

Monday, August 13, 2018

ArtWalk Concord

On August 11, 2018 Concord had its ArtWalk, in which artists displayed their work in retail locations around the town, which then became "pop up galleries." Here is the flyer:

I was lucky enough to show my paintings in Albright Art Supplies and Gift Shop
http://www.albrightartsupply.com/).

Store manager Betsy Yamron helped me set up my paintings. She moved much colorful merchandise to make space:

Betsy also had brought in some still life objects to set up an arrangement:

Which I tried to paint:

A 2 minute video was made, viewable here.
It was a really fun day.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

In Hudson, Massachusetts is a family owned farm named Ferjulian's (www.ferjulians.com). They've been open since 1942. They sell their own produce such as corn, peaches, and kale, as well as flowering plants for gardens. The farm house and buildings sit up on a hill (Gospel Hill). I finally found the perfect angle for including the fields in the foreground and tried a small painting over a couple of days as trucks rumbled by (see below).
Ferjulian's Farm from Chestnut Street, 8x10 inches:

Monday, June 18, 2018

Next to a laundromat in Maynard is a charming abandoned house which has one "white x in a red square" symbol on its side to indicate it is not safe to enter. An unknown local artist has added more squares with these symbols in the lawn in front of the house as "flowers" in an incredibly thoughtful gesture.

I had wanted to paint this house and finally tried it from my car over the winter. The result is 11 by 14 inches, oil paint on panel, finished n February 2018:

Thursday, May 17, 2018

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 considerately left the original website in place.

I was walking in the area when I noticed the old barn and thought it would make an interesting composition. I was unable to contact Karl or Elena directly, so I showed up hopefully with my canvas, 24 by 30 inches long.

They were very nice, and said I could paint on the property. At Karl's suggestion I chose a spot on the lower road, facing the barn from the east and slightly below.

I painted the barn first, with large sized brushes. The ell on the side of the barn does not recede into space, despite its sloped roof - an optical effect I wanted to avoid by increasing shadows under the eaves. Colors were burnt umber, cobalt blue, cadmium lemon yellow, titanium white, and viridian green. By five o'clock the sky had clouded over and it was cool ; Karl was driving a tractor with cement blocks weighing down the tool in back so that it dug into the earth. I left quietly.

Here is the result.