Day 581 "Low Tide" watercolor and ink - gray day in Scituate Harbor

The days have been gray for weeks... spring is slowly revealing itself, and will burst forth if and when the sun returns.  Today I spent some time in Scituate Harbor.  It was gray, but pleasant, with people walking by with their dogs.  There was one particular clump in front of me that was especially fascinating to each and every dog.  It occurred to me that each dog's human had no idea this was a special patch.  But, the dogs knew, and I knew... our little secret.  
The fishing boats in the harbor were below the walkway with the tide, but I liked the variety of horizontals with walk, fence, boats, reeds, wires, one above the other.  This is my five hundred eighty-first daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest and comments on my work.  

"Sun n Pines" 12 x 12 oil

As spring finally feels like it might be here to stay, I begin to think about summer and time in Maine.  Our friend Natalie had a lovely cottage in South Bristol where we stayed for a week several years in a row.  The cottage is set back from its own quiet cove, separated from the water by a yard of tall pines.  I remember the sun filtering through and the tempting water just beyond.  Here is a painting of those pines, without the water, and without the house.  They created a beautiful, quiet space, a space I cherish the memory of, just as I cherish the memory of our good friend, Natalie. 
Thanks for looking.  

Day 171 "Early Spring" ink, watercolor, pencil

March remains gray and raw.  I hung out in the car this morning before church and painted this scene across the street in my sketch book.  The pines are lovely against the sky, and I loved the sweet antique cape peeking out.  Spring is itching to burst forth, but is held in check with the low temperatures and the weekly storms we have had.  There is still snow on the ground, and it alternated between snow flurries and sleet for most of the day.  The trees are budding, which looks odd with a foot of snow on the ground.  
I found a small watercolor set in my studio, and used it today (see below).  The watercolor pans  produced color a little grainy, but I think I'll use it again.  I like the combination of colors, and it comes with a portable sable brush.   

This is my hundred seventy-first daily drawing.  Thank you for continuing to look at the world through my eyes.  

Day 165 "Snow Shadows" 6 x 9 watercolor & ink

Although spring begins tomorrow, we have been hit by nor'easter after nor'easter storm this month. March came in like a lion, then morphed into a dragon.    In fact, they are calling this week's storm "four'easter".  The snow is beautiful on the ground.  Across the street are a number of pines, leaning into the hill.  I love the way their shadows descend down the hill below the trees.  The snow has so many colors in it.  It is gorgeous.  
This is my hundred sixty-fifth daily drawing.  Thank you so much for looking.  

Day 143 "Timber" mixed 9 x 6

We have a number of tall pines in front of our yard next to the street.  Our electric company has done a great job over the past few years inspecting trees for their health, then asking if they can take down any that have aged out.  These trees are beautiful waving in the wind during our variable New England weather.  Years ago, during a heavy snow storm or wind, we would inevitable loose power, sometimes for several days.  That has not happened (pause to knock on wood) for the last few years, even during snowpalooza of 2015 when we got a record breaking eleven feet of snow.) The difference in number of power outages is due to the expert work of these electric company crews who trim back trees, take down trees, and keep our power lines relatively unencumbered.  This past week, they came to remove a few trees from our front yard.  It is precision work.  One lane of traffic still gets by, with police presence, while these large pines, with 2 foot diameters, came down in pieces.  This tree man on the ground, worked with his partner up in the bucket, with a rope and a winch.  The rope was applied to a piece of the tree above, the winch tightened, and the branch sawed off.  They all landed in the narrow space of half the narrow road.  Impressive.  When the larger pieces fell, I could feel the house shake.  So could our cats, who found this process unnerving.  
This is my hundred forty-third daily drawing.  Thank you for taking the time to look at my observations of daily life.  

Day 93 "Last Light" and the bombogenesis 6 x 9 mixed

We are waiting for the bombogenesis  beginning early tomorrow.  Our local weatherman insists that bombogenesis is a typical winter pattern. With the television and radio hype, the panic at the grocery stores, and the dropping temperatures, it is difficult not to feel a little apprehensive.  We teachers headed back today after the winter break for a day of professional development.  Students were to return tomorrow, but now have a day off.  I'm ready for them if they show up on Friday with a solid plan for review to get their heads back in the game.  My ninety-third drawing is the winter woods across the street late in the afternoon. I like the calm, and the pattern of light between the branches close and farther away.  Thanks for looking. 

"Rear View" mixed 12 x 9 #Inktober

Just a glimpse of the Atlantic through the pines behind a couple of buildings on Monhegan Island.  This is pen and ink with watercolor pencil and colored pencils.  
This is my 24th drawing for #Inktober 2017.
As always, thank you for looking.

"Favorite Path" oil 12 x 12

If you read my blog, you have heard me expound on the beauty of Monhegan Island, and its small neighbor island Manana.  I have painted Manana through windows, over rooftops, behind visitors, behind children, from above, and from a variety of other vantage points. (You can click on any of the highlighted phrases above to see other views of Manana on my blog).  Here is another of my favorite views.  Just past the church on Monhegan is a small path that winds its away along the shore.  Manana is visible through these lovely pines, and the contrast in the greens from the trees and the island just across the harbor makes a beautiful and subtle juxtaposition.  This week promises to be cloudy, lots of new opportunity for views of Manana in all its personalities.   

Thanks for looking.

Arthur Rackham - Snow in Pines

 We had our second real snow of the season yesterday.  This one was heavy and wet, and resulted in loads of downed tree branches and power outages.  We lost ours for about 30 hours, and spent the afternoon hanging at the local coffee shop because I had grad school work to do.  We watched the sun go down, hoping we would arrive home to lights.
Stepping into the parking lot, the snow-covered trees caught my eye. I told my 

husband they were the Arthur Rackham trees from "The Night Before Christmas".  He saw it right away.  We read the book aloud every Christmas Eve. Here are a couple of pictures of the trees, and the illustration from our book.  The snowy angles are exactly the same, and maybe the trees in the coffee shop lot are talking to one another tonight under the starry sky.

And, we got home to the electric company trucks in front of our home.  Nice crew, men and women, working hard.  Our power came on within the hour!

"Monhegan Sketch Book" July 29 and a sunny selfie

Today I sat on the rocks above Swim Beach in the sun and added watercolor to some sketches from yesterday. I'll finish up tomorrow, but it was a joy to paint and listen to the hubbub on the crowded beach this hot July afternoon.

 The beach was filled with many children, and families with the singsong accents of our country's south.  Children on paddle boards, in small kayaks, on floats.  The water is COLD, but there seems to be an inverse proportionality to age and tolerance for cold water, as in, the younger you are, the higher your tolerance.  Toddlers toddle in, single digit-aged children head in with a little hesitation, then have to be ordered out eventually by adults witnessing their shivering bodies and blue-tinged lips; pre-teens have to contend with peer pressure so they hit the water a little more slowly, then simultaneously, with a lot of squealing.. and up the line.  Adults that I have witnessed are more likely to try but turn away; or just not try at all. 

Today's high point was watching a pair of toddler girls on the beach.  They were both naked, and loved the water and sand and excitement of their older siblings' activity.   At one point, the two girls looked twenty yards up the beach and saw an inflated raft. They toddled across the wet sand with great purpose, each grabbed part of the raft's rope and they dragged it down to the water. (Did I mention they were on the young side of 2 years old, and it was an adult-sized inflatable raft?)  Toddlers are not known for cooperative play, and these two weren't speaking in sentences yet.  I didn't hear them utter a word.  They formed their plan while exchanging a conspiratorial glance, and off they went.  It wasn't their boat, and it was a new beach to them.  These two girls may be future world leaders.  Very impressive.  


I added a "selfie" here from our rented house, late afternoon.  The sunset was glorious, and cast a golden glow into the living room.  

Thanks for looking; thanks for reading.    

"From Nigh Duck" - new view of Manana pen & ink 6 x 12

Today I made my way down to "Treasure Beach" or "Sea Glass Beach".  There are a couple of paths that lead there, and isn't far, but what a lovely spot!  And, a new vantage point for watching the shadows extend along Manana.  I climbed up on a flat rock and did some drawing while listening to the birds squacking on Nigh Duck nearby.  I'm going to find my way there again tomorrow a little later in the day to paint.

Finished today with a long read/nap/read on the deck with the intermittent thought that the air was perfect... the kind of air that kisses your skin, makes you think about a light sweater, which you never act on because it was a fleeting thought replaced by the next thought which is the feeling of being so blessed to be alive.  That kind of day....

Thanks for looking.

Thumbnail sketches... make a plan

When I work with my students, and when I'm on my game, I make thumbnail sketches as preliminary designs for my paintings.  Sometimes the thumbnail sketches are simple, usually with some indications of value.  I was looking through an older sketchbook and found these sketches, which I used when designing "That's Entertainment" below.  I began the painting at our local art festival where I paint out on the street during the day, chatting with the thousands of visitors.  For this painting, I left indications of the people and their placement, but took photo reference for the details back in the studio.  

Look at Box A, in the picture t0the left.  You can see from above, that I considered placing the two foreground figures farther to the right. I moved them left because their orientation and placement left have them looking into the painting instead of out of the painting.  
I remember debating whether or not to add the clown and I tried him in sketches for placement either closer to the foreground, or more sublimated under the tent as in Box C rather than in Box B.  When I have shown this painting to people over the years, especially children, I have asked if they can find the clown, and use it as an opportunity to discuss design.  I designed the painting to lead your eye down to the clown and then to keep moving around.  I added the clown to enhance the feeling of "festive" in the painting, because even if you don't see him, you can feel him. Also, I figured that if there was a focus under the tent, it would strengthen the painting's sense of space because the figures are all looking into that space... sort of an interesting idea.  I built the space with size, value, interest, color, etc, but also, the people in the painting built the space with their posture.  
I also have a sketch for how to handle the trees in Box D. 
 Just as an aside, I donated this painting as a fundraiser for the arts festival itself. Happily, and interestingly, the winner was the man in the painting in the blue cap.  

As always, thanks for looking!  I love your comments.  

Cathedral Woods - two takes

 A couple of images from my visits to Monhegan Island, both painted in Cathedral Woods.  There is a glade, in the woods where everything opens up, sun streams through the trees, and you are far enough (tough on Monhegan) from the water not to hear and sense its presence.  All sounds are muffled by the trees, and pine needle carpet.  It is a holy place.

It's very interesting for me to look at my choice of palette in both these images, done in different media a couple of years apart.  I use more limited palette with my oils.  Hmmm..

Thanks for looking!

Snow and Pines - then and now

"Snow in the Pines" Joanne F. Regan

"Snow Shadows" Jody Regan

 

 Spent some time organizing my studio this weekend.  Tucked in one of my many "safe places" I found a small painting of my mother's that I have always cherished (above left).  It's a study that hung in her home, signed but never framed.  I have no idea if she painted it from a window in our home, or while standing out in the snow in her boots...  but it reminds me of my childhood home, the yard, and the hours and hours we spent outside in the snow.  I can almost hear the quiet "plop" the snow will make when the sun warms the branch just enough.  
I can smell the wet wool of my soaked mittens after making snowballs, forts, huts, and sledding down the front hills before coming in to hot chocolate, and rolled newspaper to put in our boots.  Mom's painting draws me into the snowy woods behind our home... it's very poignant for me, as all my senses and memories feel activated.

Next to Mom's painting, is one of mine from a few years ago, "Snow Shadows". I've been studying the variety of colors in our two paintings.. similarities and differences.  I painted a small hill across the street from our yard, again on a warm winter day.  Completely different palette from Mom's painting, but I can still hear the warmed snow falling from branches.  

Someone told me a number of years ago that snow paintings aren't appealing, too cold.  Neither of the above paintings feels cold to me.  I feel the warmth of the sun, and the allure of snow in the pines... some 40 years apart.

Thanks for looking.  I enjoy all your comments.

On Top of the World 9 x 12 oil

We rent a house for a part of each summer on Monhegan Island.  It is on the top of Horn Hill... the top.  Before we arrive, while we are packing at home, The Hill becomes notorious, and a bit exaggerated, in terms of its height, its steepness, the stamina needed to climb it.  When we are bringing new friends with us, the Horn Hill lore can be intimidating.  Truth is... it is steep.  It is up there.  But, it is certainly doable, and absolutely glorious.  We watch the sunset over the 12-mile distant mainland every evening that it reveals itself.  We watch weather approach and  take on  fascinating size and shape when it nears this lump of rock in the ocean.  Every morning, I look North from the deck to see this wonderful view, divided by this luscious group of three trees.  The view without the tree would be amazing in itself, but the tree adds a beautiful vertical counterpoint to the horizon and village below.  

"On Top of the World" is my take on the Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge for July, theme "Tree".  

Thanks for looking, and as always, I love your comments.

Monhegan Sketchbook June 30

I hiked up to the lighthouse today with my artist friend Marianne.  We call each other cousins, though truthfully, her husband and I are really the cousins.  Marianne and I kept hiking past the lighthouse, up to Whitehead to paint.  It was breezy and beautiful.  We both began oil paintings looking down on Gull Rock in the distance.  I'll post that painting later.

Upon returning to the house, I did a quick sketch of the sunset over Manana. I think I'll spend a little more time in it, building the darks so that the sunset glows even more.  The real sparkle was in the thin strip of cloud above the sun.  I'll try for a better picture of it tomorrow under natural light.  

As always, thanks for looking. 

"Over View" 9 x 12 oil Monhegan

One of the reasons I love the New England coast is its topographical variety.  Up, down, around, in, out, over, under... the foreground and background constantly shifting in their relation to one another, providing a myriad of exciting views. 

Remember all those Hanna- Barbera cartoons where the Flintstones, for example, were driving in their car, and the background was zooming by?  The foreground was moving at a different pace than the background and conveying speed.  I was fascinated by that relationship of the front and back when I was a child.  Still fascinating.

"Over view" is a painting from up behind the Monhegan schoolhouse, looking out at Manana and the mainland 10 miles distant.  Walking along Monhegan's coast provides that same fascination.  Every couple of steps provides an entirely new arrangement of foreground to background.  So exciting.

Thanks for looking.  Feel free to comment and to share.

Oh, and here's the Flintstones opening segment.  It'll all come flooding back to you.

"Flintstones, meet the Flintstones..."