Oh That Tree!

East Main Street Along Rt 22A
11x14 inch acrylic ~The After version

Over, (I estimate), 15 years ago I started a series of paintings for places I see on my walks around town. The above is the first and only artwork I've done. Projects get put aside for other projects.

The small painting has been hung in various places over the years until today. The large tree on the left has always bothered me. I intended to add more branches. I mixed the colors. And then got lost on other areas. The house behind the tree, I didn't even notice I was covering it up.

Main Street Before

I see now from the Before version, what my mistakes are. At one point, I signed it as I was determined to leave it as is. The tree will go back to being smaller, the house more visible, and the shrubs on the left less shrubby.

As that's all going on, I look up to see another painting that I planned to finish hanging on the wall. Mostly because I liked the way it was except for the sky.

An October Morning at the Field Puddle
16x20 inch acrylic on canvas

As I was painting, to my surprise I remembered the original idea for the image. It is taken from several watercolor sketches I did in 1999 of snow geese landing with the sunrise to their backs. The sketches are missing. I have no idea where they are. Thankfully, I have the pencil sketches in a sketchbook. More painting to do, this time I hope I don't lose sight of what I'm trying to achieve.

Update: The sky is getting there. The tree had to go. It would be in the way of the snow geese landing.

In Progress, Leftover & Finished

The Cosmos

The Cosmos in progress is next to be worked on until it is finished. As I paint more than one canvas at a time, it is good to line them up one after the other instead of selecting as I paint along. I find it is easy to become distracted during a painting's progress. Adding a pinch of organization preserves purpose.

Leftover Paint

At the end of a painting session, there is left over paint on the palette. Instead of spraying with water and sealing it up in a container, I use the colors on another canvas. Leftover Paint is such a canvas. I sketched the lines of the Adirondack Mountains from a familiar photograph, and then fill in the colors with the leftover palette paint. I have no specific image plan. I suspect I'm going for autumn.

Summer
Mixed Media Abstract
Acrylic 18" x 24"

Finally, after a few years this mixed medica acrylic abstract is finished. I do not want to paint anything else on the canvas other than maybe spruce up a black line or two. This painting has been through so many changes, I'm exhausted with fixing what didn't feel right. 

Actually, in a moment of frustration, without thinking about it first, I began adding the yellow over the left side. It was supposed to be all blue. I sat there staring at it, picked up the laundry marker, put in the lines, and got a WhaLa! The painting is done. I like that under painting showing through from some of the original versions. I like the fading into that area in the center.

Thinking Again

Autumn in the Vermont Woods

    This time of year, anxiety about missing the best foliage colors kicks in. I feel the urge to plan, makes lists, update passwords, clean out closets, and shop for a nifty tweed blazer and colorful scarf. Always there is an image building in my mind about what to wear when I go out and about to take pictures in the fall.

Am I shallow to focus on clothes? Nah. How we dress helps us embrace the atmosphere of the season. Dressing well is important. 

This year, however, the tweed blazer has to go by the wayside because I will not pay hundreds of dollars for that perfect one new; and thrift stores rarely have what I am looking for. Buy fabric to make one is silly because the tweed I like just is not out there. 

What to do? Think. How can I achieve the same look without a tweed blazer? Easy, change my mind to another look. Corduroy is a perfect fabric for a stylish warmth vibe. Even a denim barn coat with a neat tweedy scarf can channel a tweed feeling.

Thus, a size up corduroy jacket over a warm bulky sweater over a plaid flannel shirt with jeans and hiking boots is my look for Autumn 2024. 

Do you style your look for the season? 

Have a favorite jacket?