Cloud Shadows 3

This plein air study became more about color shapes than cloud shadows. Here's how the three paintings in this series look as a triptych:

Cloud Shadows 2

Back at the orchard, same purple flower and this time in more dramatic light.

Cloud Shadows 1

Another plein air improvisation, trying to keep up with the constantly shifting play of light on mountain and meadow.

Three Days in Provence, #1

Another variation on a theme.

Three Days in Provence, #2

Little plums and a new bowl for the next panel.

Three Days in Provence, #3

Between landscape sessions in Provence, I like to work on a still life in my room, and this year it was a five panel piece with fruit, pottery and fabrics from the market.

Twelve Pitchers (detail)

I'm noticing that each pitcher (this is the fifth) has a personality of it's own--and this one is decidedly feminine.

Twelve Pitchers (detail)

Here's another panel in the piece I'm working on between landscape painting trips. I started with a working sketch for the composition:

Twelve Pitchers (detail)

Each of the panels in "Twelve Pitchers" has a different value relationship between object and ground (pitcher and table), and every tabletop is a different color or pattern. They'll fit together at the end to make a new value and color composition that can't help being more than the sum of its parts.

Twelve Pitchers (detail)

Perceptive readers will remember that this painting I'm working on was called "16 Pitchers" in my last posting, and while I like that title more, I'm leaning (this morning, anyway) towards a square composition that needs a dozen rectangles.

16 Pitchers (detail)

I'm working on a new multi-panel piece, one of a number I have in mind that explores the idea of "theme and variation".

Entering (detail)

I'm leaving on Saturday for a two week painting retreat at the wonderful Vermont Studio Center, where I'm hoping to make good progress on my "Elements of Place" series for the Art of Action, and also get back to work on the multi-panel painting "Entering" I began there last year.

Side Garden

James dug what looked to me like random holes and threw bulbs haphazardly on a grey and windy afternoon last November, trying to beat the first heavy freeze. I watched him out my studio window and thought "why bother?"-- I hadn't had time to design a proper spring garden and anyway those hyacinth, tulip and narcissi never appear as expected in May. This spring as usual I learn a small lesson in trust and optimism.

Up River from Plainfield

The Winooski reflecting the backs of old houses and a big cumulous cloud on a blustery day.

Daffodils on a Blue Napkin

These flowers are cheerful and intrepid travelers far from home (the U.K., according to a label tied to their stems.) Their Vermont cousins are still asleep in my garden under the snow.

Watching TV

My mother has been an obliging model since I started in high school filling sketchbooks with drawings of her napping, reading the Post, or watching "Mash", which she is still doing here.

Green Door

The classic farmhouse with a twist.

Indian Pitcher and Oranges

I found this pitcher in Jaipur at the workshop of the artist who had revived the use of this traditional cerulean blue glaze. When I visited his painting studio and saw a familiar jumble of brushes, pigments and paper, I felt that "caste" kinship that unites artists across country and time.

Into the Kitchen

Looking from my studio through the mudroom, into the kitchen and dining room, and out to trees covered with snow.

French Pitcher and Grapes

Every summer I fly back from Provence with my carry on bag filled with crockery that I bought at the market in Apt. The glazes (like this mustard yellow) are strong, unusual colors, so evocative of the place where they're made.