Martha Vineyard paintings

With the Louisa Gould gallery opening four weeks away, I've been at the easel for long stretches.
My latest painting is of an old boat in the fishing village of Menemsha.

Old Salt

8.5" X 12"

Original Oil

The cages were an interesting challenge. To make them "see-through" not all the metal lines are painted.

Finished

Old Glory

15" X 16"

Original Oil

The Ugly Stage

It seems there are some parts of a painting which have to go through an ugly stage. Here it is the background tree. Blobs of dark green are doing nothing for me and I'd like to race to the finish line. But, I warm up my green tea, walk around the studio, and then it is time to mix up a number of greens from emerald to lime-yellow to slowly piece together a tree.

The Flag

Note that the stars are far from white. With the lighting and to create a stitched-on look, I painted them a cool gray.

Below is the first pass for the red stripes. Once this layer starts to dry, I'll be adding more detail and a cooler red to the stripe flap.

Reflections

This section I was really looking forward to - the reflections in the windows. All of a sudden, the piece feels more "alive" to me.

Close-up of the finished deck

Starting the sky

Now that the last roof is completed, I am starting on the sky. Usually I start with the sky and work my way down, but on this piece I took a more round-about approach. I'd love to tell you there was a brilliant reason why, but beyond the "it felt right," there isn't.

Piece by piece

One of the things I like about painting scenes like this is that I get to play with colors less frequently used in my pieces of the natural world. I probably used more cadmium lemon in the underpainting of the flag than I have used in 8 months!

Piece by piece, step by step. For me, a painting like this can't be rushed. It is the detail which helps inform the story. Though it might seem tedious from the outside, the chance to work with some different colors to come up with just the right hue keeps me interested, even fascinated, with the process.