Sunset- click picture to bid

The clouds where looking awesome this evening so I grabbed my gear and headed off to Kelders fields, not far from where I live. It seemed the only way I could get the vortex bright enough was to put a dark object in front of it. In this way the silhouette actually increases the intensity of light.

Hudson Boatyard

I ventured back to the New Hamburg Batyard and found this view, which I painted yesterday - as before, I'm intigued by the color and long shadows of the late afternoon sun. Boats that are in dry dock or beached have always fascinated me- perhaps its their shapes , but maybe its also some kind of metaphorical symbol- I'm not sure.

Jefferson Market

I'm on a cityscape kick lately so here's another one. This is the Jefferson Market library in Greenwich village at night. I love the Manhattan night-time painting experience; the lights and reflections do things to the colors that are surprising. They also tend to be moodier than daylight paintings. Cityscape and especially nightime scenes have a contemporary feeling - a bit less derivative and "scenic" than pastoral scenes.

Ellis Island

Here's a plein -aire sketch of Ellis Island from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It's late afternoon, just before sunset, and the rays of the sun were creating this beautiful shimmering progression in the sky and water, almost like one sees in the Venetian paintings of Moran and Sargeant. That's the Staten Island ferry on the left, plowing it's way back and forth across New York harbor. Brooklyn and the Verrazzano bridge loom in the distance.

Columbus Circle

Here's a Manhattan night scene I did recently from a plen-aire sketch. I was camped out on the stone benches so I had a little bit of privacy- although it was difficult to step back from it to see masses. I tried to indicate the hundreds of lights with broad strokes-more to imply them than to actually get caught up in detail which would weigh down the painting.

New Hamburg

Saturday-for a late afternoon scene, looking away from the sun with all it's strong coloration, I chose a little gem of a view along the Hudson at New Hamburg. The old stone house, with it's interesting windows, became a foil for the sleek boat , proped up with supports and balancing on its keel.

Plattekill Creek

I painted this one later in the day after painting the New Paltz morning view. Thunderstorms roared through over the Shawangunk ridge all afternoon, yet there was a break around 2:00-4:30. This is when I shoehorned in this one. Beautiful motif- there really are cows that come down to the creek to drink and cool off. Reminds me very much of the Hart brothers, especially James MacDougal Hart.