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Commencing February 2010 Along the Trail Beginning with Mount Washington, part of my AMC group of paintings, this is a series of images focusing on the hiking trails we make, long walks in the woods and fields and the beautiful scenes we see. Capturing views from the mountaintop and from deep in the woods. With it I am resurrecting many fond memories of time spent With friends, hiking, talking, and exploring, together. On exhibit at:
Artworks at Seventh CalvArt Gallery --- And available directly from
Paintings and Drawings Showing in 2010: Artworks at Seventh Friday's Creek Winery Come celebrate the holidays at CalvART Gallery |
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the paintings...the adventures
Cloud Dome This image got stuck in one of those 20 year cycles, where it waited patiently while I worked in the graphic arts field, took commissions, painted yet more restaurant murals (one of the reasons I started a big canvas "just for me"). Mt. Washington moved with me three times and ruled the studio while I went and got married and had two wonderful fun-loving children. I have hiked (like a turtle) the huts of the Presidential Range in both directions. I would love to share this experience with me children one day. I am a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) which runs the huts on the mountains. This hike from hut to hut is one of the premier hikes along the Appalachian trail, and it was a huge experience for my friend, Mary, and I, and our friends. The huts are situated above treeline and to get to know them and their history, you just have to go there and hear about it from the hut crews. I got up early this morning to see the sun rise over Mount Washington and I think I got really lucky. The wind was blowing in from the west, but the clouds were being blown toward the west by an upper current going in the other direction. The result, as far as I can describe it, is a cloud dome and I tried to capture it photographically, and here in this big painting, I am trying to show how the clouds are moving swiftly over the mountain and down the slopes. The sun peers through dramatically. In August, I am wearing a sweater and wind vest, the wind is at least 30 miles an hour and it's pretty cool. Last night we hiked up Mount Monroe and these are the same clouds that are continuing the amazing show from last night. We will hike up the mountain today. Those are the cairns marking the trail along the ridge. Once up there, we can see Tuckerman's Ravine. At the very top of the mountain, in the image, you can see the poles for the weather station poking up in to the blue sky, above the clouds. Quoted from the AMC White Mountain Guide: "The Crawford Path continues along the edge of the precipice that forms the northwest wall of Oakes Gulf, then follows a relocated section, passing an area that has been closed to public entry to preserve an endangered species of plant. The area between the two ends of the Mount Monroe Loop is one of great botanical importance and fragility. To protect this area, the most scrupulous care is required on the part of visitors. The Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail diverges left at the corner of the hut, and in another 30 yards the Dry River Trail diverges right. The Crawford Path crosses the outlet of the larger lake an passes between it and the second lake, where the Camel Trail to Boott Spur and the Tuckerman Crossover to Tuckerman Ravine diverge right. The Path then ascends gradually, always some distance below (northwest) the crest of the ridge. The Davis Path, which follows..."
White Oak Canyon This is part of the AMC series. White Oak Canyon of Shenandoah National Park is one of my favorite hikes. This is an amazing waterfall and this painting is a compilation of several photos of the falls.
Greenwell We walked all of Greenwell State Park in St. Mary's County one hot afternoon and came upon this beautiful scene. We were hot and sweaty, the bugs were all out in force, but we persevered, and were well rewarded for our effort. Greenwell is not always this hot and challenging. There are many lovely walking trails, a rose garden, old barns, and river views.
Parkers Creek 1 The SOMD (Southern Maryland series) will explore those areas both beautiful and quiet and which make this part of Maryland unique and beautiful. I will also embark upon a series of paintings of the Trails of the American Chestnut Land Trust this year. Beginning with a set of four paintings with trail perspectives.
My paintings debut at Annmarie's 2010 Juried Exhibition, GREEN
A fifth painting debuts at Annmarie's 2010 Juried Exhibition, GREEN they asked us to do something extra, with more impact As I was working on the painting, it's name came to me It's a child's game where with hands the kids represent symbolically a rock, wth a fist, paper, with a flat hand, and scissors, with split fingers. They shake their fists three times, paper wraps around rock, scissors cuts paper, rock pounds paper and scissors. As I was making the painting, I started with the landscape features first, and the mountains took on a crisp, papery feel, reminding me that the earth's crust is much like a thin bit of paper wrapped around the rock. Then the roads cut through the paper like scissors, especially in this painting, where the roads go off at angles. And of course the final is the rock, the pounding force of the explosion. |
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