“American Goldfinch”

Oil on Wood, 8”x6”

 

Masked Bandit

“Masked Bandit”

Oil on Canvas 6”x6”

This little guy is so out there with his outfit!

 

Pair of Eggs

“Pair of Eggs”

Oil on Canvas, 4”x6”

When you paint eggs, precision is called for. Whenever I paint eggs, I promise myself it will be a very long time before I do it again. The last time was a long time ago, lol.

 

“Crane”

Oil on Wood, 6”x9”

Here is the beginning of a bird series…and we just put up a bird feeder, what a riot! I mean it, it’s a riot of birds on our deck.

 

“Field in Provence”

Oil on Linen, 9” x 12”

This is the first landscape I’ve done in awhile, and I finished it before breakfast. I’m starving. :)

I painted a small version yesterday, it didn’t turn out. I’m happy with this one. There are some things I would possibly change but hey, that’ll be for the next painting.

 

“Peony & Hydrangeas”

“Peony & Hydrangeas”

Oil on Board, 8” x 8”

I painted this in 2016 but it bothered me…until I cropped it to an 8” x 8” painting. Now I love it! 

 

Hangin’

 

“Hangin’ “

Oil on Canvas, 8” x 10”

Orange Pear and Celadon Bowl

“Orange Pear and Celadon Bowl”

Oil on Canvas, 6” x 4”

I keep saying I need to paint larger, but here I am at 6x4 inches - oh well, I really like a 

small painting!!

This reminds me of the German Expressionists. I used to think I would 

paint like them especially having studied German, but I ended up being more realistic. 

Well, maybe this is a new beginning.

 

White Rose

 

"White Rose"

Oil on Canvas, 8" x 6"

 

“Venetian Doorway”

Oil on Canvas, 8” x 6”

Is this finished? Well, I do see something that needs changing, but it’s late, I will do it tomorrow, and I am posting anyway! So we took this trip to Italy, Florence & Venice. Americans are so taken with the beautiful architecture in Europe, combined with the stunning light in Italy, and I am no exception. How can I Not paint these lovely doorways. One imagines, “who lives here, and who loves to tend to their window plants so well?” I will never know…but will always enjoy looking at this picture.

 

Back to Italy

“Back to Italy”

Oil on Canvas, 8”x6”

We’ve been back long enough to recover from jet lag. Is my door crooked? I guess I can fix that. What a place Venice was, and we took in 2 days of the Venice Biennale. I love how the grid on the left window is light, and on the right window is dark. More cool door fronts to come.

 

Five Zinnias in a Bottle

 

“Five Zinnias in a Bottle”

Oil on Wood, 6”x6”

This took 2 days, and I’m exhausted! I grew these flowers several years ago, and never get tired of painting them.

A Single Rose

 

“A Single Rose”

Oil on Linen, 8”x6”

Three Zinnias

“Three Zinnias”

Oil on Canvas, 6” x 4”

These were from my garden, zinnias are the best!

 

Marshlands

“Marshlands”

Oil on Canvas, 8” x 10”

 

Dam Town

“Dam Town”

Oil on Stretched Canvas, 6”x6”

The Croton Dam was built somewhere around 1906…wait, let me look it up. Sure enough, the New Croton Dam was completed in 1906. It replaced the Old Croton Dam that gave way. It was an engineering feat, which brought water all the way to New York City where they desperately needed it for clean drinking water as well as to fight fires. The aqueduct was an underground tunnel that brought water to the city some 35 miles or so. To celebrate the opening, the mayor, the head engineer and maybe 1 or 2 others rode a rowboat through the underground aqueduct tunnel all the way from the dam to the city, maybe to Bryant park, or perhaps to the reservoir at Central Park. You can look it up in Wikipedia. Highly recommended: a visit to the Ossining Community Center where a free museum depicts all this along with an extra bonus, a fascinating display on Sing Sing Prison. Just call for hours.

Anyway, the Croton Dam is a great place to spend an hour or an afternoon.  After a heavy rainfall, it can be quite dramatic. It is a beautiful structure that changed the demographics of Croton. Italian stone masons were brought across the ocean to help build it, along with many Irish workers. If you peruse the burial plots near the Croton Library, you will see the family names of many of these workers. More paintings on this subject to come.

 

Lemon and a French Dish Cloth

“Lemon and a French Dish Cloth”

Oil on Canvas Board, 4” x 6”

Enjoyed painting on Zoom with some friends, but was unhappy with my lemons. To make up for it, I painting this tiny little lemon and it worked. First painting in 2022!