The marsh is ever changing, although so subtly that I'm always surprised when the new season appears in full regalia. Such a moment came in early November with the first frost. As the days shorten and the weather cools the marsh slowly gives way to umbers, ochres, and sage greens. The grasses take on a brittle and aged appearance. What in high summer looked like a velvet covering of green inviting enough to lie down in, now looks as if it threatens to prick and tickle. In the strong fall winds the grasses undulate like waves of water. By September the osprey have flown away, Venezuela I've heard, and the Great Blue is once again left in peace to squawk and hunt side by side with the Canada geese. The tupelos shock us with their sudden donning of cadmium red. And the skies are brilliantly blue with dramatic cloud formations. So rising early and opening the shades that November morning I'm greeted with sparkle and dazzle. Every blade of that brittle grass is crystalized and white as snow. The maples have shed all their leaves and each tiny branch holds hard to the frost. Behind them the oaks are just beginning to turn a most red color this year, unlike their usual burnt sienna. The sage grasses along the tree line are soft and truly sage green. And the fragmite wave their frozen fronds.

Worked mostly on the lower right quadrant. But also realigned the direction of the water trenches.

Changed the sky today and at the same time redefined the tree line which will now need repainting. I now see the gradation from pink to blue is too abrupt. Will have to correct that. Continued to work the marsh grasses and correct the lines of water inlets. Still work to do on that in the center. The bits of water in the lower right will change color and the tall fragmite needs definition and contrast. The marsh is ever changing, although so subtly that I'm always surprised when the new season appears in full regalia. Such a moment came in early November with the first frost. As the days shorten and the weather cools the marsh slowly gives way to umbers, ochres, and sage greens. The grasses take on a brittle and aged appearance. What in high summer looked like a velvet covering inviting enough to lie down in, now threatens to prick and tickle. They undulate like waves of water in the strong fall winds. By September the osprey have flown away, Venezuela I've heard, and the Great Blue is once again left in peace to squawk and hunt side by side with the Canada geese. The tupelo shock us with their sudden donning of cadmium red. And the skies are brilliantly blue with dramatic cloud formations. So rising early and opening the shades that November morning I'm met with sparkle and dazzle. Every blade of that brittle grass is crystalized and white as snow. The maples have shed all their leaves and each tiny branch holds hard to the frost. Behind the the oaks are just beginning to turn a most red color this year, unlike their usual burnt sienna. The sage grasses along the tree line are soft and truly sage green. And the fragmite wave their frozen fronds.

Yesterday several friends visited the studio and had praise for the work. It wasn't a critique of any sorts, but did encourage me to work more today.

I worked my way down into the marsh grass today. After a while I found my rhythm and the colors and grasses started finding their own rhythm and movement. Once the foreground is in, I probably will need to tone down the intensity of the trees. Did a little of that today, but probably not enough.

The 20 minute work rule applied today.

The devil is in the details. Worked a bit on the water and marsh grass. It needs to be painted far to near because of the overlapping of the grasses. I got bored and went on to the white bare trees in the distance. Got bored with that, too. I need a better brush. Ha! The carpenter who blames his tools..... But I do wish this was on board. The grasses and bare trees would go on so much better and easier.

Intensity.

Finally back in the studio. I lost my connection with this painting and took 2 days of minimal work to regain the feel for it. I bought a new color, Naples Yellow Deep, which I love. Love of a color is a risky business, though. It can seduce you into behavior that is totally unbecoming. This work in on a canvas that I had on hand. I'm missing that luxurious feel of oil on board.

Still life drawing for consideration of a Study in Blue with bittersweet.

A quick wash lays out the point of view and composition for me to consider.

We had our first frost a few days ago and it was just beautiful in the morning light. The trees still held onto their fall leaves. The contrast between the bright colors of the trees and the muted tones of the marsh grass was striking.

Added some lighter, more intense leaves to bring some of the bush forward and lead the eye diagonally lower right to upper left and back to upper right. Does it work?

It was satisfying to put the leaves in today. I probably have one more session to add some light leaves that will lead the eye across the two diagonals. I also may rework the large oak leaves, bottom right, to break them apart.

Spent the entire day outside cleaning the yard, storing away the dahlias, raking, etc. It was glorius, in the 60's. Just before the sun disappeared I painted in the basic structure for the little bush's branches. Tonight I'm having dinner with a naturalist. I'm hoping he can identify my little bush.

Just worked a few minutes today on texture to create some depth of field.

It stopped raining today and the sun came out in the afternoon. That made for better working conditions in the studio. I also walked to the spot in the woods where my little bush grows. I first thought it was an euonymous, then a sassafras. Now, I don't know. I took a small branch to ask about it. On the painting, I worked the middle and near grounds, adding some texture that will lay a foundation for details.

I'd forgotten how absolutely lovely it is to paint on board. The brush glides and the paint melds with glee.

The weather is dark and dreary making it difficult to see in the studio. On dark days I rely on bad lighting. I must rectify that. Today's work was spent layering in color in the ground areas. My objective is the illusion of deep woods with atmospheric light and color. The focal point, a sassafras bush, will sit center and front. I'm guessing at this point what the values in the far ground should be. Once the bush goes in, I can adjust. It's just easier to work all over the ground than around the intricacies of the bush.

We had our first snow last night. It was minimal; little clumps of white ice here and there. The acanthas has been nipped at last.
The new painting. I washed in some basic values and colors, set up the horizon line. This particular green must go.

I've been staring at this white 40" x 30" board for days. I finally just attacked it with enough line to commit to an idea. The colors in the landscape these days are ambers, browns, reds and yellows. Some green remains in the pine and cedar. But overall the pallette is warm and rich with clear cobalt skies. I want a landscape that is more particular and detailed than the recent panoramas of Minkcove; one that swallows the viewer. This will be a view from the daily walk I take through the Minot/Weld Conservancy. The palette will be warm and the focal point will pop with a lighter value. I'm also happy to be painting on board again.

Christy LaGue

http://www.minkcove.com

I have completely repainted this. The clouds are grayer and the ground has more variety in color and value. One word here about digital photography. Color appears different on each computer. And the camera is rarely accurate. I try to adjust the photo as I stand next to the painting in order to approach accurate color. But I never know how that appears on some other computer.

I have increased the contrast in the ground and also changed the darker areas to indicate a shadow from the cloud.

My in house critic thought the ground needed more interest, He likes horizontal and vertical bands of color. I worked some value changes across the ground, which really don't show that much in this photo.

This painting (30" x 40") is the second working after a smaller (11" x 14") version. I was interested in seeing if the cloud would be more powerful in a larger format. I thought the strong diagonal and large sky area could be visually dynamic. Now that my hand has returned to normal, I can use a larger, heavier brush and was anxious to get back to a looser way of working.

This little painting from the Tihonet drawing (8" x 10") is on board and gold leaf. The gold-leaf does a lot of the work in creating light. I probably over-worked the entire tree area and should have relied on the gold-leaf more. I'm still experimenting with format for these. I think I prefer the grids.

The area of Massachusetts I live in is rich with cranberry bogs. The bogs are often located near a significant water source because bogs are flooded to protect them from frost and, in some cases, for harvesting. One such water source is Tihonet Pond. This sketch is of what I think is a drainage ditch from the pond. My hand has progressed enough that I can use it to draw and paint.

Left Hand Self-Portrait with Bandage

Left Hand Self-Portrait

Left Hand Self-Portrait. I've had surgery to release my carpal tunnel. For the last year it has become more and more compressed. Lately, I could only paint for about 10 minutes before numbness and cramping took over. So,I cannot use my right hand for 2 weeks.

After looking at this for a few days, I decided to increase some contrast in the sky below the large cloud. I also did the same in the ground; really pushing the light areas where the sun broke through. I think I would like to paint this again in a larger scale (approx. 30" x 40") to see how the drama of the cloud views.

I really stuck with the wash and continued to work fast and loose. I'm satisfied that I reached my goal of avoiding tight detailed elements.

Spent the week in Quebec City. On a drive out of the City and up the St. Lawrence, the clouds were magnificent. At one point a storm was brewing. I took dozens of photographs. I like the drama of this view with the huge storm cloud encroaching on the land. Today I blocked in the composition and cloud forms. Worked fast, wet and loose. This session took about 15 minutes. My goal is to develop the values without including a great deal of detail, hard contrast, etc. 11" x 14"

I went back to increase the contrast in the reds. At the end I was disappointed to see I had gotten too tight and illustrative. I loosened the background a lot. Need to do one more session to loosen the piece some more.

Worked in values and contrasts to create depth and form. Trying to see if pushing the dark values is preferrable to pushing for lighter reds which can result in loss of intensity.

Blocked in color and shapes. Some values added to distinguish shapes.

I saw some beautiful little paintings of flowers this week in The Provincetown Art Musuem. Each one was about the size of a tarot card. They were very painterly with an encaustic-like surface. So, it made me think I should do some quick studies of our flowers. I am starting with the zinnia, which I love. Today I drew in the shape and set the composition. This is larger than the PTown paintings, 5" x 7"

The color here is deceptive because it was photographed in a different light. The finished piece is little different from session 3. I refined some of the details and diminished the contrast of the dew drops.

Continued to work the light source out. My in-house critic says the rain drops look like warts.

Darkened the values and increased the contrasts. Added details such as rain drops. Need to correct the veins so they converge in a point.

The datura is the most beautiful flower I grow. It has the purest white blossom. When the light shines through the blossom, it create a luminosity. Today, the dew was still clinging to the bloom. This is a small painting 4" x 6". Blocked in the shape, some values and the ground. More contrast is needed between the values.

Added detail to the foreground and reworked the upper left in an effort to add perspective. Worked about 10 minutes on upper left again and added a few sawgrass blades in foreground. Color is a little darker and more intense than actuality

I reduced the dark value of the top center cloud. Then decided working the saw grass could help determine how to approach the clouds. If I increase the detail in the foreground that could help with depth and perspective in the sky. I layed in a layer of veridian and the scored through it. Next session I will add line with paint.

This was a very short session in which I softened the transition between the cloud forms.

Again, worked exclusively on reducing the linear quality of the sky. Also, the color here shows more blue than the actual painting.

Worked exclusively on the sky trying to reduce the linear quality.

I think I'm channeling Thomas Hart Benton.

Started a canvas from photographs I took of Snake River in the Everglades. The expanse, flatness and sky offer much to consider.