Oxford, UK

I'm in the UK for the next month and will occasionally post some drawings (I hope).  The King's Arms, pictured here, is a typical English pub located diagonally across from the Sheldonian Theater.  It is very warm with rich, dark, walnut colored paneling.  Custom is to choose from the menu, order and pay at the bar, and await delivery.  We had excellent steak and ale pie.

Little Harbor

I'm working on this little painting along side the Field of Queen Anne's Lace.  It is 10"x16" oil on board view of the the Little Harbor with Buzzards Bay beyond.  

Field of Queen Anne's Lace

The horizontal band of green in the center of the picture plane marks the end of the Queen Anne's Lace field.  Beyond that lies hay of some sort.  Queen Anne's Lace is also called wild carrot.  It was introduced from Europe and it is from that plant the carrots we eat today were cultivated.  One can eat the QAL's tap root.  

Queen Anne's Lace, Berkshires

There are gentle, undulations in the middle ground field that will show nice variations in the color.  This lies behind the lower half of the painting, which is where all the queen anne's lace will be.  

Queen Anne's Lace, Berkshires

15 1/2" x 28" Oil on Board, Queen Anne's Lace

First day back in the studio after the Berkshires.  This piece is a response to all the glorious Queen Anne's Lace that was blooming there.  The field will eventually be filled with the plant.  In the distance is the Hancock, MA Shaker Village with the round barn and a few other out buildings.  In my head, I keep coming back to Monet's Field of Poppies.  

Norman Rockwell Museum

Marooned by Howard Pyle

The Rockwell Museum is holding a show of Howard Pyle's illustrations.  Pyle was in illustrator and children's book author during the fin de siecle.  Rockwell studied and admired his works.  Pyle was also N.C. Wyeth's teacher.  You can see the influence on Wyeth in the above painting.  Pyle's work is extremely varied.  He was a true illustrator in the sense that his color, composition, style would adapt to the time and intent of the story.  Strictly considering the works divorced from the story, his pieces done in a Pre-Raphaelite style were strongest.  The color popped.  To bring home the point of his eclectic style, the museum hung works by other artists that Pyle observed and mimicked.  The best of these was an Audrey Beardsley and The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Hokusai, a work I had previously seen only in reproduction. For a comprehensive look at Pyle, visit Ian Shoenherr's blog.

Sanford Smith Fine Art

Untitled by Michael Zelehoski

Cape Light by Warner Friedman

The Sanford Smith gallery in Great Barrington paired two regional artists who complemented one another and gave greater meaning to the show's title, Double Vision.  Zelehoski's work is composed of found wooden objects that are embedded in flat panels.  Friedman is a more traditional landscape artist but uses shaped canvases.  So, if you can imagine the canvas above literally shaped like the railings, you have the picture.  They both address the idea of perspective, fooling the eye, the idea of canvas as window.  I found them both to be equally abstract and realistic in their presentations.  I think Zelehoski's work has more integrity and asks more of the viewer.  Friedman somehow wants to do all the work for me when it comes to suspending my doubt.