Showroom – Page 3 – Marianne Thompson

Showroom

Penny

January 6th – 10th, 2015
Penny
(nfs)
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in

This has been a fairly rough year so far – the most recent blow was the rather sudden demise of my beloved cat Penny. Her name is short for Pentecost, which I named her because she was all grey and black except for one big tongue of flame on her forehead. Painting her has been wonderful – a very fulfilling way to spend time thinking about her and our life together, to savor and celebrate her incredible beauty. I think I may tweak this here and there, but it’s basically done. I hope now that there’s a little routine & order to home life (and the care of my uncle at home in hospice) I will be able to get out and paint again soon.

July 22nd, 2014

July 22nd, 2014
Near Christmas Cove, Maine
Oil on Canvasboard, 20 x 16 in

Once again, there is too much glare on the painting to get a good photo – I’ll keep trying. Although I generally avoid painting backlight like the plague, this day I saw it as a challenge. the fact that the scene was so beautiful was all the motivation I needed. It was the water especially that caught my eye. Although I see a spot or two I would like to tweak to improve the painting, on the whole I felt it was another successful painting unfortunately executed on a poor quality canvasboard. Once this and the one below have dried, I’ll carefully remove the canvas from the bent up boards and restretch them. I was very happy with the way the water turned out in this one.

July 9th, 2014 PM

July 9th, 2014 PM
St Peter’s Square, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

Already feeling more like myself in this one, though everything is not strictly perfect, I like the way this one turned out.

July 9th, 2014 AM

July 9th, 2014 AM
St. Peter’s Square, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

I ought to retake this photo in milder light – this was middday and the shadows from the texture along with the glare do it no favors – but don’t really lie, either. This was the first morning of a three day workshop on Buildings and Boats – and although I desperately wanted to knock each of these out of the park, the truth is, I was still working out the rust & kinks.

May 19th-21st, 2014

May 19th-21st, 2014
Bass Rocks, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 in

Monday was a beautiful day, the weather was bright and sunny, with squalls of rain and storm passing through. To match my state of mind, I stuck with the squalls. I am still frustrated about what I can’t achieve with the knife in the way of spray and effervescent wave action.

May 6th, 2014

May 6th, 2014
Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

This Saturday was an Open Studio so I had to miss my day of painting, fortunately the “posse” were meeting today so I joined them. The days that one can park at an empty beach with impunity are numbered, and I did my best to make good use of the day. I plan to post a mini slideshow of this day’s work, but not today.

Windswept

March 15th, 2014
Windswept
Great Marsh, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

It was a beautiful day, warm (50 deg.) and bright. The sky was overcast when I got there and started painted but was magnificently moody late in the day. My intention was to learn how to paint these stands of reeds without using all lines. I can’t get an even or narrow line with the knife, and I don’t think that we focus on clusters of lines anyway, but instead the shapes that they create out of the surrounding masses of snow or land. There’s some reflection on the surface so the colors look duller than they are, I think. Will retake tomorrow. Incidentally, the scene behind the painting is not what I was painting, but a view off to the left.

February 8th, 2014

February 8th, 2014
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Oil on canvasboard, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

This was taken from a distance, obviously. Your eyes get tired quickly from staring at snow a long time, even if you carefully chose a predominantly shady vista. There was so much reflected light bouncing around towards the end of my time there I really couldn’t see the painting clearly. I think I’ll revisit it tomorrow, when I can see better, and when I have restored my fine motor skills, which the cold had overwhelmed. NB – Revisited it today. All I did was tidy up some lines I couldn’t control in the field and incorporate the afternoon light which was a little more lively than the even morning light

November 6th & 7th, 2013

November 6th & 7th, 2013
Between two fronts
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 36 in

Technically, this is not a plein air, as I painted it indoors with reference to a photo, and memory of the day this summer it was taken – on Lake of the Woods. The foreground is volcanic rock. So as not to have my images stolen / used without permission, I keep the files I post small. This is one I wish I could post large enough that you could see the detail of the color and texture. This photo is taken in daylight, and is completely un-doctored.

September 3rd, 2013

September 3rd, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

My spot this time was predicated on the painting that was being done of me as I painted. The colors at the marsh this time of year are surreal, and lovely.