Longwood Revisited

My plein air group went back to Longwood Estate last Tuesday. This time I focused on the back of the caretaker's cottage and the barn. I did this in watercolors and ink. This is 8 x 10.



Copper Beech

I lost the image of this for a while, so I didn't post it with the other painting from my trip to Oyster Bay last Sunday. This was done at Sagamore Hill, the summer home of Teddy Roosevelt. This copper beech tree was so massive it was impossible to get the entire thing on a piece of paper. So I focused on just part. I started with the roots and worked upwards. Then I sketched in the portico so you could see the scale of the tree a bit.



Farm and Corn Field

This is one of my favorite local scenes. It is the Suffolk County Farm from the off-ramp on the Long Island Expressway. I sat there on the shoulder to paint this 5 x 7 painting.



Oyster Bay Harbor

This was painted on Sunday sitting in a park in Oyster Bay Harbor. The painting is 4 x 6.



Harvest Ready I & II

Last week when I went to the north fork of Long Isand I found this spot to paint with a view of the local farmland. Of course it was on the main road and not really a safe place to sit in traffic the way people drive sometimes. So I sat on the shoulder of the road and painted from my car. I did a small 5 x 7 and was really happy with the way it came out.

I liked the spot so much I decided to go back on Friday and do a larger painting of the same spot. This one is 8 x 10. They are very similar, but there are differences. Which one do you prefer?



Farmstand

While I was out east the other day, I also painted a small view at one of the local farmstands. I just love this time of year to paint. This was done at Bayview Farm, a favorite of mine.



Pumpkin Patch

This is the final page in my journal for the Sketchbook Project. It is a view from Route 25 in Jamesport on the north fork of Long Island. It looks like you are in a real quiet country setting, but I did this from the front seat of my car because the view is on the side of a 2 lane road with a small shoulder to park on. Traffic moves along at a pretty fast pace, and I'm always afraid of being hit by a speeding vehicle or flying gravel or something. Now that all the pages in this book are finished, I have to design a cover and a title page. I hope to post a slideshow of it when it is all done.



Caretaker's Cottage

This is a second painting I did on Tuesday at Longwood Estate. This is the caretaker's cottage. I liked the light on the porch and the rocking chair. This is 8 x 10.



Longwood Estate Barn

Yesterday my plein air group went to Longwood Estate in Ridge, NY to paint. They have a few newer barns that are in good shape, but I love this one that needs a little TLC. This was done as a double page spread in my journal for the Sketchbook Project.



The Bridge

On Sunday I had a few pieces in a show at the Bayard Cutting Aboretum in Oakdale, so I did a plein air piece before going to view the show. Some nice park visitors stopped to pose on the bridge for me. This is 8 x 10.



Sketchcrawl at the Planting Fields Aboretum in Oyster Bay

This past Saturday was the Worldwide Sketchcrawl. My friend, Susan, and I had hoped to meet up with a group sketching in Manhattan, but we didn't hear back from anyone. We decided to stay on Long Island and head to the Planting Fields Aboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay. There was a lot there to capture our attention.

Our first stop was the tea house. Here is my painting of it as well as a photo of it.

I finished my painting before Susan, so I walked over to sketch one of the gates that led into the tea house garden.

Next we sketched over by the greenhouse. I did a window there.

Our last stop was to do a landscape. Unfortunately the trees on Long Island have just barely started changing color, but we did our best and used a bit of "artistic license."

Here are the great paintings and sketches that Susan T did. Here is her painting of the tea house. She worked a bit larger than I did and got more of the scene into her painting.

Susan T did a sketch in her moleskin of the decorations and windows of the greenhouse. I love her brickwork.

Susan T's last painting was of a landscape in the same spot I painted.

Rustic Shed

Last week my plein air group went to a farmstand to paint. I found this rustic barn with a chicken coop and foliage out back. This is 5 x 7.

Plein Air Painting in Maine

This weekend my sister, Michelle and I drove up to visit another sister of ours who lives in Maine. We turned it into a visit/painting trip. Here is a what I painted first. This was done across 2 pages in my Sketchbook Project journal. This is the Colonial Pemaquid Cemetery.

After sneaking off for a lobster roll lunch, we returned to Ft. William Henry to paint a view of the water there.

Then we made a quick stop at Pemaquid Point to browse in the lighthouse shop and look around. This is a tiny one...just 4 x 6.

On Sunday Michelle and Tina went to see the pumpkinfest regatta. I went down the street to paint one of the lovely Damariscotta houses.

In the afternoon we headed up to Camden and found a spot with a view of the Curtis Island Lighthouse. I did this one in my Sketchbook Project book, but I guess I was talking too much and wasn't concentrating since I painted it upside down. (I will have to turn the pages around. lol)

Tina was working on Monday, so Michelle and I headed off to Boothbay. I have always wanted to go to the Oven's Mouth Preserve so we went on an "easy" hike that we are still recovering from. This is what I painted there. This one is 5 x 7.

After lunch we headed to a park in Boothbay that is on the water with nice views. I figure if I practice painting boats enough, some day they might look like what they are supposed to look like. lol

Our last stop was in Ogunquit on the way home. I timed it so we had about an hour to paint, time for lunch, and then time to drive home without hitting much traffic. This is a painting of Marginal Way in Ogunquit.

In addition to painting, I got to see some of the pumpkins that were decorated for Damariscotta's Pumpinfest. They were just super. Here are a few of my favorites.



Patchogue Walkway

Yesterday afternoon, my sketching pal, Susan, and I went to Patchogue to sketch. She wanted to do something a little more urban than the landscapes that we usually do. This was a walkway from the parking area to the main street. The building on the left houses a restaurant so all we were smelling was fried onion rings and terriyaki marinade.

Squassux Marina View

This was painted the same day as the other version I posted two days ago. This one was done for my Sketchbook Project book that will be submitted. 

Sayville Cottage

This was done on Sunday down by the bay in Sayville. These lucky people have a direct view of the bay...and I'm sure amazing sunrises. This is about 3 x 4.

Clouds Over the Marina

We had rainclouds threatening yesterday but I wanted to paint outdoors. I headed for the Squassux Marina in Brookhaven. This is 4 x 6 and luckily it didn't rain while I was painting.

La Corte's Farm STand

On Tuesday my plein air group went to La Corte's Farm Stand in Mastic. You can tell they are ready for fall. This is 8 x 10.