"Three Chimneys" watercolor & ink 12 x 9

We arrived on Monhegan Island yesterday. Weather is sparkling! I began a painting this morning then put it aside for the next time the light is where I want it. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next day.... one of the lovely things about vacation. Then I embarked with sketchbook and small watercolor set. Turns out I had no water dish, so used the cap of my water bottle as a tiny reservoir, and kept emptying it as needed, which, as you can imagine, was frequently.  A man paused while I was painting and told me I had done a nice rendering of those 3 chimneys. He asked if I knew the name of the house. (Each of the houses here has a name... Treetops, Field, Wildhaven, Inkspot, The Bog, Ice Pond House, etc). I did not know the name of the three chimney house but guessed, "Three Chimneys?"  Good guess as it turns out. Here is my watercolor sketch of the aptly named Three Chimneys.  As always, thank you for looking. 

"Swan Boats" watercolor, pen & ink 5 x 9

I added some watercolor to a sketch of the swan boats from the Boston Public Garden.  Have you ever ridden them?  It is really a slice of the past; the boats travel slowly, propelled by a pedaling pilot sitting within the swan. They travel through the Public Garden Lagoon, past the sights found in the famous Robert McCloskey book "Make Way for Ducklings".

I did a little research.  The Swan Boats were introduced to the Public Garden in 1877 by Robert Paget, who combined the popularity of boating in the Garden lagoon with the new and popular mode of transportation, the bicycle. And, interestingly, Paget designed the swan boats with the opera "Lohengrin" in mind during which Lohengrin crosses a river in a boat drawn by a swan. 
The fourth generation of the Paget family still runs the Swan Boat operation today.  Check out the Swan Boat website from which I pulled a lot of my information. 

As always, thanks for looking.

"Waiting for the Boat" 8 x 9 pen and ink

Waiting for the ferry to come in this afternoon, I had a few minutes to sketch.  I keep my sketchbook in the car at all times, and am using summer time to pause and reflect in the book.
As always, thanks for looking.  

"Garden Doorway" 10 x 10 oil

This lovely antique home has a beautiful and inviting patio leading you into the studio.  I was intrigued by the window on the far side of the studio.  I often say that I love to paint the idea of "through".  This alluring path into the studio brings the viewer in, and then through. I first laid in the approximate color and value of the inside room, then worked through the flowers and the layering of the flowers and carved out the wall behind them.  The day began overcast, but then the sun peeked through.  I quickly made an indication where the shadow line was on the wall, and modified the painting to include the sun.  The house was on a garden tour so there were a lot of visitors talking about plants and mulch or no mulch and the beautiful  beds surrounding this house. 
Thank you for looking. 

"Monumental Evening" oil 10 x 20

I lived in Washington DC during most of my twenties.  I loved the city, and have been back for a number of visits since then.  Recently, my daughter and I took a week-long road trip, spending a couple of days in DC.  The city is even more beautiful than I remembered.  We had beautiful weather, dry, bright, and sparkling.  One evening, NC Wyeth-like clouds formed behind the monuments as the sun set over the Potomac.  What a lovely day. 
The Girls Just Wanna Paint theme for June was "value".  Regardless of the political turmoil roiling about our nation's capitol, the city is active, vibrant, multicultural, and a reminder that each of us has something to contribute to the value of our nation.  See the rest of the Girls Just Wanna Paint interpretations of "value" here.

Seven Deadly Sins - Jigsaw Puzzle and Memory Lane

Jigsaw puzzles.  We don't do many of them in our home because our cats  always want to participate more than is practical.  But, we always had a puzzle going when I was growing up. I recently remembered a specific jigsaw puzzle from my childhood.  The phrase "Seven Deadly Sins" jumped into my head as I was listening to the latest inexplicable political grandstanding.  Then I remembered a beautiful puzzle we had as children on the topic.  It was a Springbok puzzle with a circular design for each of the 7 sins... and easy to find on the web.  Turns out it was illustrated by Christopher Hobbs.  I looked him up and didn't find any illustrations similar to those in the luscious puzzle. So, I thought I'd share my trip down memory lane. I added a few of the "sins" below.  Check out those great designs!!  Apologize for their quality... best I could find.

"Gluttony" 

 I grew up in a big Victorian house with two living rooms arranged end-to-end.  We always had a sturdy card table set up between the two rooms and a jigsaw puzzle in process.  The puzzles were always beautifully designed and challenging. Sometimes my mom would pick them up at yard sales in small, unmarked cardboard boxes.  Often, those puzzles had wooden pieces that did not interlock, no picture to indicate what the puzzle depicted, and no guarantee that pieces weren't missing.  We attacked them enthusiastically none the less.  We developed an unspoken family protocol for working on a jigsaw puzzle that was cooperative and effective.    If someone was working on the sky or the boat, or the parrot, or "fill in the blank", then others would put those pieces on front of them and usually wouldn't work on that area at the same time. 

"Envy"

 I used to challenge myself, after all the pieces were turned over and the edge was constructed, not to touch a piece unless I knew where it went.  It was a visual exercise in understanding the shape I was looking for as well as the subtleties of the color arrangement.  In my head I would describe the pieces to myself "looking for two sticky-out things, one rust-colored and one larger innie thing on the opposite side, with blue then mostly greeny grass stuff".   I would look at the pieces until I found one fitting that description.  Interesting to remember now.  It was probably great for my SAT scores, or whatever standardized test shows shapes and patterns and expects you to extrapolate that pattern to the next series of shapes.  

"Lust" 

I love when one thought triggers a deep memory, and I love the internet because it helps me flesh out those memories with more complete images of what I have tucked away in the corners of my brain.   Thanks for reminiscing with me.

"Walk - Huntington and Forsyth" pen & ink

There is an outdoor cafe on the Northeastern campus where I sat for an hour the other day.  It was fascinating to watch the Green Line,  buses, and pedestrians coming and going.  Some waited by the corner to meet a date, some smiled joyfully as they bumped into a friend, others walked purposefully to a variety of destinations.  I have always been intrigued by the layering of traffic patterns; cars, trolleys, and multitudes of pedestrians.  How are the traffic lights arranged to keep everyone safe and moving?   All I know is that it works.  
It was a beautiful evening, and interesting to decide how to arrange the layers of people front to farther back.  I began with the arrangement of the lamp posts and traffic lights and then added people as they came and went, with the goal of conveying the hubbub of the afternoon.  

As always, thank you for looking.