Hydrangea in Cobalt Vase #3, Work in Progress

Hydrangea in Cobalt Vase #3, Oil on Panel, 10"x10"

This transparent cobalt colored vase was not intended to be a vase.  It was once a glass insulator which I think was used on electric poles.  It is just perfect for capturing light and reflections.  Once every few months as I tire of birds, I will return to flowers.  Often, that choice will narrow to hydrangeas. I love them placed in the cobalt vase.   

 

Sunsets I Have Seen,

Bay of Funny, 2020, Oil on Aluminum, 6"x12"

I have traveled extensively.  And, in that travel, have seen some awesome sunsets.  I was on the Bay of Fundy for several evenings.  Each evening was a memorable experience of saturated sky color.  The Bay has the highest recorded tides in the world at over 40 feet.  

 

Work in Progress, Hydrangea in Cobalt Vase #3

Hydrangea in Cobalt Vase #3, Oil on Panel, 10"x10"

Blue, blue and more blue with a little violet.  This cobalt vase is among my favorite to paint.  The global form magnifies the reflections and transparencies.  I'm hoping the green leaf to the left when intensified will balance the asymmetry.  

 

Downy Woodpeckers, Work in Progress

Two Downy Woodpeckers, 2020, Oil on Panel, 8"x10"

There are two woodpeckers, the Downy and the Hairy, that are so close in appearance as to be difficult to distinguish between them.  Painted here is the Downy, which is a bit smaller than the Hairy.  The main distinguishing feature is the bill which is shorter on the Downy.  

Three Finches, 2020, Oil on Panel

I've made a minor change than will have an impact on the narrative.  Can you find it?  

 

Three Finches

 

Three Finches, 2020, Oil on Panel, 12"x12"

This board once had a Baltimore Oriole with the paint brush and the oriole facing down.  I was dissatisfied with the position and form of the oriole as well as the contrast against the blue.  Abandoning that idea I replaced it with the three American Goldfinches.  I played with having some yellow paint drip off the brush to indicate what the first finch is looking at.   

Bay of Funny, Work in Progress

 

Bay of Funny, Oil on Aluminum, 6"x12"

In continuing with the theme of "sunsets I have witnessed", this experience was in Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy.  To be more precise this is the Cobequid Bay which is an inlet of Fundy.  We were staying at Burntcoat Head where the highest tidal range in the world was measured.  The average tidal range is 41 feet. Wow!  Other than the sunsets of Imperial Beach, CA, these were the most fabulously colorful I've seen.  The oranges and reds were almost surreal. We were staying in a little cottage set high above the Bay with a completely unobstructed view of the sky.  It was an August summer evening.

Sunsets I Have Seen

 

Winter on Buzzards Bay, Oil on Panel, 6"x12"

The cove that runs off Buzzards Bay is named Mink Cove.  The mink are no longer around.  Instead there are fishers, coyote, fox, deer, turkey.  The brackish water rarely freezes as the salt and tide movements keep it fluid.  But here in the first week of December and at low tide, there is ice in which the sunset is reflected.  

Work in Progress, Winter on Buzzards Bay

Winter on Buzzards Bay

I took a photo last winter of this beautiful sunset and the reflections on the frozen marsh.  This represents about 6 hours of work.  The sky should be much pinker. The frozen water needs to lean more orange and the marsh grasses should be browner.  Still to come are trees that book end the image.