Monday, June 15, 2009
59) Liberty Bloom
Early May in the north western most corner of the orchard. Here are the Liberties, a variety that Nick has committed to growing organically. As I spend more time at the orchard I learn more about the multitude of varieties. The Liberty bears lovely yellow fruit with red stripes. It is a hardy apple and considered one of the more disease resistant apples (to learn more visit The Backyard Gardener).
Although the sky was without clouds, the late afternoon was cool. With such a dry spring the bloom has been wonderful, though some trees are late (as with the tree on the left) … “late bloomers”. One of my favorite times to paint is 2 - 3 hours before sunset, as was this day. The late afternoon sun kissed the bark on each tree in a unique way. One of the two tress displayed a rose pink bark and the other a golden yellow. The blossoms that once had inhaling the blue tint of the sky, suddenly took on a shade of crimson. I am overwhelmed at times in how the landscape can suddenly morph from one set of hues to another, sometimes subtle and other times stark. It was challenging attempting to capture the movement of colors while time was fleeting.
The background was interesting with the tilled soil radiating warm shades of orange, dancing with the complementary blue above, and the lime green grass slicing between the upturned earth and the far away blur of trees. I labored with sections of this work, leading to over painting, though the vitality of the two Liberty trees made for a happy ending.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
58) Harvest Gold
11 x 14” watercolor on 300 pound cold press paper - $125Just a day before Halloween another warm and dry autumn day. The foliage is stunning throughout Vermont with red and orange maples or yellow birch, yet the most amazing site of the season was sitting in the orchard surrounded by what Cindy called the “Harvest Gold”. Thousands of apple trees all turned to a gold tinged with crimson, woven round blue and purple branches. Even the willows competed with warm waves of yellow and rose. The green grass seemed so vibrant with shocks of sumac red, delivering a complementary visual jab. Clouds spun between a purple and aquamarine sky.
Last year I missed this time at the orchard, I had thought I had seen every transformation of this space. As in life, I was humbled at the realization that I should never assume that I have “seen everything”, and so art was a wonderful teacher. Sitting just below the Packing House looking east I tried to capture the bounty of colors and tones. The playing of light was just as magical as the wide palette. Overwhelming and yet such a find for the last water color painting of the autumn.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
57) Snow Lines
This work is out of order, painted from a picture taken two years ago the day after Christmas. Georgia and Max stop to share a scent … I often think that instead of taking the girls (Georgia and Max) for a walk I should take them for a “smell” as they constantly keep their noses to the ground.
The wind had blown much of the snow away from the still green grass, leaving the truck and tractor tracks hardened with snow and ice. These lines of snow formed wonderful patterns that swirled and cut through the picture.
Standing at the end of the runway looking north towards the southern sky just before sunset. The light above the trees amazed me with a show of primary colors (yellow to red to blue) and cast a golden glow on the trees.
Friday, October 31, 2008
56) Autumn Splash
The last Sunday in October, an unusually warm day allowed me to find an unexpected opportunity to paint outside. The autumn colors were still bright through the oranges and yellows or maple and birch. Blurring my eyes created an interesting effect where the grass of the field looked much like water with the dead grass and tire tracks resembling shadows from the trees. On the left side of the work can be seen the northern most rows of apple trees. On the left side displays a rail fence that forms the northern border of the orchard.
I tried to paint quickly with large swaths of paint. Being comfortable with a more abstract technique, I chose not to use purple and black outlines as with earlier works. The large dead tree in the left upper side reminded me of a neuron cell.
55) Autumn Crates
Middle of October painting on the run way, half way down looking east. Rows of crates had been spread out blocking the young trees from public pickers. Most of the trees were turning orange and yellow. The hard lines of the crates worked well with the flowing outlines of the trees.
54) Autumn Half Moon
11 x 14” watercolor on 300 pound cold press paper - $75
Early October back in the old orchard near the Gate House looking southeast. The older tree on the right came out well including the early evening light changing the purple gray bark to a rosy blue. The center of the picture turned out muddy as I tried to capture the autumn maples and the flowing willow tree sandwiched between them. As with the prior work (Elder Lady 3) I needed to leave the orchard due to darkness and return a week later. During that time the moon went from a near complete half size to its full phase. I settled for representing the moon in the way I saw it the first time, halved in a beautiful crystal clear sky.
53) Elder Lady 4
11 x 14” watercolor on 300 pound cold press paper - $125
Mid September in the eastern corner of the old orchard looking south. I was intrigued by this old tree whose form was mostly two trunks arching low to the ground. Despite her age, the smaller branches were loaded with apples. It was late in the afternoon and I painted until it was too cold and dark to continue. Four days later I returned to finish the work only to find all the apples gone (harvested).
Vines of dark and light green leaves spiraled up the main trunk, a cool pattern to paint. Despite the disappearance of the apples between sittings, I was able to capture the multitude of fruit from this elder lady.
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