The oil sketch shown here was a bit of a change for this primarily coastal painter. Thanks to the Circle of Six artist Connie Greene, permission to paint at Windmist Farm in Jamestown, RI, was secured. Although the farm is indeed a coastal farm, bordered by a salt marsh with a magnificent view of the bridge to Newport, I was charmed by this gathering of rooster and hens at the foot of a curvaceous tree adorned with a few birdhouses. The sketch, 8x10, was done on gessoed illustration board. This farm certainly challenged the artist's ability to both simplify and select subject and areas of interest.
In the oil sketch above, although there are figures on the beach, it is the mass of seaweed catching the mellow light of a late afternoon sun that is the actual subject of the painting. Scarborough is a favorite beach for me to paint on, but occasionally I search for a change from the standard beach scape in which the sand and foreground are the least important elements.
One of my favorite views of the harbor, the oil sketch above was done in early May. In my recent move to Jamestown, this may be one of my works missing in transit or destroyed. (I will check the contents of my studio in Kingston in which I placed some of my paintings temporarily.) I will revisit this same view in the future and execute another plein-air sketch that may be quite different from this lost painting--and perhaps not as successful!
The plein-air sketch above was done a few days prior to packing up for my move to Jamestown. I think of this piece as a kind of personal celebration, a looking forward to being closer to the motifs. Last Wednesday I painted another Beavertail Rocks scene, but the work was taken by a collector before I could capture its image.
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