Frost's Woods

I have started a series of posts about Visual Poetry which you can follow over on the New York North Fine Art blog where you can read some great posts by my friend Rita DiCaprio as well.  I have started a series of paintings that are based on poetry.  These are not intended to be literal translations but are visual ideas that hopefully communicate a particular mood or emotion in a poetic manner .   My first artist is Robert Frost (you will also be able to follow on instagram with the hashtag #robertfrostproject but there are only two so far!).  The poem referenced above is Stopping by the Woods on A Snowy Evening:

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.  

The only other sounds the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

New Snow Paintings

"Saratoga Fields", oil on linen, 24 x 24

I've finally finished up all the winter paintings I've been working on the past few weeks.  I've done quite a few studies and paintings of the area between Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville.  I'm leaving for the tropics tomorrow so this will be the last cold weather painting I will be doing for a while!  Next stop Tortola . . .

Schuylerville Sunset

Study for "Schuylerville Sunset", oil on linen, 6 x 8

Another painting from the Saratoga-Schuylerville area done from sketches and memory.  I am working on a 24 x 24 version of this painting but changed the composition to accommodate the square format.  I am happy with the progress so far and hopefully will be able to post something tomorrow.  Busy, busy.

Winter Landscapes and Memory

"Winter Vineyards", oil on linen panel, 8 x 10

This little painting is a scene from the same area as the last few posts.  Working from memory is both liberating and confounding!  It is liberating in the sense that the artist doesn't feel constrained by the limits of what is in the photo or sketch and is free to move trees around, change the direction of light and create different color harmonies than what may have been there initially.  It is confounding for just that reason as well.  There is no guidepost or map to follow when painting from memory.  The color of the bushes against the snow was what I remembered most vividly of this scene.  I may have overdone the saturation of the rust colored bushes but I'll let it sit a while.

Along the Road to Schuylerville

"Road to Schuylerville, oil on panel, 6 x 6

This painting was done from sketches and memory.  I have been visiting a few spots on the road between Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville every day for the past week or so.  This is beautiful country very close to the New York/Vermont border.  Bordered by the Hudson River on the east,  there are horse farms, corn fields and apple orchards along the road.  From some vantage points you can see the Adirondack Mountains and Vermont's Green Mountains on the horizon.  I particularly like the winter landscape here.  Below is a pastel version of the same composition.  The colors are cooler and stronger in this version.  I like the texture of this piece (it reminds me of a Twachtman winter scene) but I am doing the larger piece in oil.

Happy New Year

"Fresh Snow (from the studio window)", oil on gessoed paper, 5 x 7

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  I had a great time with my family in Saratoga Springs NY and Ridgefield CT.  It's been a busy month traveling which partially accounts for my absence from the blog.  The main reason I have not posted very much is that I am starting to take my work in a different direction.  I took two classes in the past few months that have really impacted the way I create my artwork.  I will discuss these two classes and what I learned from them in more detail in subsequent posts.  I will devote more time in the coming year to doing the the preparatory work that goes into creating a piece of art:  drawing, design, conceptual refinement, color studies.  I am going to use my plein air pieces as real studies and not as just little copies of the scenes I happen to find wherever I may be at the time.  The bottom line is that I want to take my work to the next level in the coming year which will require a lot of hard work that doesn't necessarily result in something that can be posted on a blog everyday.  I will be working on ways to make this blog more interesting for those of you who like to look at art every day and those who create art every day!  I will keep you posted  .  .  .

See you next year!