Cox reservation – Marianne Thompson

February 27th, 2016

February 27th, 2016
Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 18 x 24 in

I was still not particularly “inspired” by the landscape, but I wanted to paint. I chose a subject that was of some interest, and jumped in. It’s funny because what I chose to paint was the birdhouse, but for the first three hours of my painting day, though ultimately the canvas was covered, there was no birdhouse in sight. Background comes first! By the time I was ready to lay in the birdhouse, the frigid wind had picked up and was blowing in force. I was freezing and didn’t have much control over my hand or the easel that kept lurching in the wind and threatening to blow away. So I got the gist in, then went home to warm up. Then, on Sunday (the 28th) I spent about 45 mins getting the birdhouse in there and fixing the foreground.
I remembered, in the process, that sometimes work is just work – and regardless of whether you feel “inspired” at the outset, you will always find things to be excited about… be it in the beauty of blending paints, the satisfaction of a color well matched, or a little highlight that ties seemingly disparate planes of color together. Always something worthwhile in the process.

January 30th, 2016

January 30th, 2016
Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 12 x 16 in

I had only very small canvases and very large canvases. Having to walk the dog before I go painting and after I come back cuts into the number of daylight hours I can spend out painting, so I opted for the small. It was an overcast, mellow day and these feathery grasses (an invasive species) caught my eye again as they often do. I’ve painted them from a distance, as a body, but I thought I’d try a bit more of a close up. A huge part of the experience of these grasses is the sight of them shimmering in the breezes. The challenge is to show the breeze. I don’t know if I did, but I like the colors – subtle and serene. A good day’s work.

January 9th, 2016

January 9th, 2016
Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in

It was a dense communion of colors I was taken by, so it was a dense communion of colors I painted. It definitely has an abstracted feel – I was not worried about having a linear subject, only a true patchwork of tone which I think I achieved. I stopped when my hand was too cold to hold my knife, which is always the cue in winter that a painting is done. So, on to the next!

December 19th, 2015

December 19th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 12 x 16 in

I think it is because I have been so non-plussed by this unseasonal weather that the day I finally get out to paint happens to be one of the coldest ones this season, and again I make the fatal mistake of standing out of the sun and in the wind (in my defense, I was shielded from the wind initially, but not for long.) It was a “I will keep painting until my hand can no longer grip the knife” day. I had wanted to practice clouds – trying to get a softer and more airy weight to them than I generally do with the knife. I feel like I learned something about the subtlety of the value shifts within clouds, thanks to David Curtis who gave me key advice at a key moment.

November 13th, 2015

November 13th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 12 x 16 in

I only had an hour and it was very windy, but David (the leader of the posse) had said they’d be painting today and I didn’t want to miss yet another. It was the kind of day where all the clouds and wind with patches of sun and sky mirrored my internal landscape. I used a small panel and painted on a clipboard rather than deal with the frustration of wind wiggling a fragile easel. I jumped in, painted hard, then packed up and came home. Something, ANYTHING, is always better than nothing. Now I am off to teach but glad I decided to paint, regardless wind and time constraints, and mental tumult. Grateful David keeps sending the posse invites in spite of my poor attendance in recent months.

April 18th, 2015

April 18th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in

I was able to steal away from the tumult of my present life for a little oasis of painting. It was a beautiful day – especially when the sun was out and the wind was still – felt deliciously like spring. I focused on the buds and the promise of new beginnings.

February 28th, 2015

February 28th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 8 x 10 in
(sold)

Finally! I got to go painting outside again! It was a beautiful day and if it was cold I didn’t notice. I brought my dog with me for the first time (normally I leave him with my Uncle.) I wasn’t sure it would go too well, and I didn’t want him to freeze, so I only did a very tiny painting. I’ll get a picture of it alone tomorrow. You will notice a lot of pink in the painting that doesn’t seem to be in the picture. It’s an effect you get when the sun is too bright, everything begins to look sort of pink, or the light bouncing off white has a rosy blush. If you’ve been in snow on a sunny day you’ve probably noticed it. One more point for paintings over photos in communicating the experience of “being there.”

October 19th, 2014

October 19th, 2014
Cox Reservation, Essex, MA
Newfane, Vermont
Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24 in

Well, longtime no paint. I went to Vermont earlier this week but didn’t have enough time while there to paint – then was busy all week. Got to the Greenbelt nice and early on Saturday, was bedazzled by the beauty… I stayed there later than anyone else, laboring, laboring, swearing over this painting that just would not be tamed. I brought it to the studio and labored on it more this morning, and when it did not come to life, I got mad and scraped it all off. Then I decided to try and paint the old sugar shack I had seen on my trip to Vermont, though I was too frustrated to really rein in. This is the result – I think a picture in better light could show it to greater advantage but even so, NEXT!

ps – I have been working on sketching some portraits in preparation for a commission I have upcoming, which is half the reason I’ve been AWOL. The other half is just being busy and I hope that things have settled down. I may post a photo of the drawings I’ve done, eventually.

September 20th & 21st, 2014

September 20th & 21st, 2014
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in
(sold)

This was a “late light” painting day, and I was facing west watching ornamental grasses blowing as the clouds and sun sporadically light up and cast shadows over the land. When the light shone through the leaves and grasses, their colors gleamed like gemstones on the tarnished silver of the dying reeds. I enjoyed the day’s work on Saturday but did not consider the painting finished. On Sunday, I returned to the painting having left the scene and rather than plumb the depths of my memory for all the details of the land, I followed the play of colors that had evolved on my canvas. It’s no longer exactly accurate, but I like the way parts of it turned out.

August 16th, 2014

August 16th, 2014
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in

If you look closely, you can see a yellow leaf stuck to the surface of the painting. I was not quite in the mood for literal representations, and riding a light breeze of abstraction when that leaf fell into to my painting and brought it to life. Not sure what will happen in a few weeks or months when the leaf has succumbed to further decomposition, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.