Suisun Marsh

. Our group painted on a beautiful Wed morning just below Suisun, CA. After getting very lost, I found the group and had an hour to paint before lunch. There is nothing like having few choices to get a painting done. First, a value study and then the painting. With the warm sun the paper easily dried. When I painted the reflections on the water, I carefully sprayed some additional water and let the paint run. At that point everyone was finished and ready for lunch.

A Rushing River

This painting of the Herring River was done while the water was rushing out. Often the kayakers get caught going up the river with the tide and then face the incoming tide and it is tough paddling. The wind picked up while painting and I hurried to finish. I wound up with a bold painting which happens when rushed to finish.

Backyard Moorings

A sunny morning for a change. This is a high rent district in West Harwich where many of the homes have their boat moored in their backyard. They can get out to the Atlantic with a few turns. Pretty nice. It was a nice morning with the fish jumping and the birds diving. We are into September and the mornings are warm with humidity but the nights are cool once the sun goes down. In this painting I moved things around so that a path led to the boat and the dappled path disappears and reappears. All the boats were white so I changed one to red. Fun to be an artist.

Cape Cod Lighthouse

. This is a painting of the Town of Barnstable. It is a place close to Hyannis and has a light house. There are many light houses on the cape and they are maintained. They played an important role in early navigation but now with GPS they are not needed. I liked this photo and and painted it. There is something about lighthouses and their importance. The one in Chatham is also a Coast Guard station which would not be a bad assignment.

Fog and Damp on Herring River

We were out painting before the fog lifted. Instead of clearing it wavered between more fog and less. The dampness actually helped the painting since none of the lines were sharp. I did get cold and had no extra clothes to put on. With a shaky hand I dropped my rigger brush and it went right between the dock boards into the water. Couldn’t do that again with a lot of tries. Color appeared with nearer objects. The trees were so dark in the distance that I mixed my greens with violet and Paynes grey. It was challenging but I learned something about painting in fog on location.

Stage Harbor Moorings

This Wednesday 6 painters found Stage Harbor in Chatham. The sun peeked out a few times but the morning remained mostly cloudy. I thought of painting the sky but when the top became blue, I imagined the sky would clear. There were plenty of boats moored so I chose one of each from commercial fishing to an idyllic sailing yacht. Most finished up painting in a couple of hours. The oil painters complained but had a good start. There are plenty of paintings to be done in this area and we will be back.

Saquatucket Harbor, Harwich Port

This is the harbor on a Wed. morning. The ferry to Nantucket has departed and the fishing boats are heading out. I chose to paint the buildings and lot. This was just completed this year and has the Harbor Master, art sheds, and an eatery which I included in the painting. The art sheds sell T-shirts along with small items. One organizes trips for kids to try ocean fishing. Our Grandkids loved this trip. No catches but plenty of excitement, especially when they pulled up the lobster trap with live lobster and sea crabs. The sun was out and I did not bring an umbrella meaning I needed a location with shade.