Fort Revere, Hull Massachusetts

I've been conspicuously absent these past several weeks first vacationing in Mexico and then coming home to various chores and duties that have kept me from my paints. Procrastination even. Yesterday I put the finish on this painting started on site at Fort Revere in Hull, about 3 weeks ago. I like architecture but this thing drove me crazy with all it's planes and values and temperature changes. I am a harsh critic of my own work and can see room for improvement here, but overall I feel I captured the feeling of the day which was freezing for September. I also started a panorama of the Lighthouses and the Boston Harbor Islands which is marinating in my studio while I ponder on where to take it, without losing the initial flow of the 'start'. How about those Red Sox ;)

Boston Light and Graves Light 8X16

Yesterday began with a Birthday Breakfast for one of 'the girls', a congenial group of women artists who meet in honor of the Birthday Woman at a breakfast and afterward, anyone who can join in goes out painting for a few hours. I was lucky to be able to spend the day painting high on the grounds of Fort Revere, in Hull where an incredible view of the Boston Harbor Islands, Boston Light and Graves Light and in the way distance, the North Shore coastal towns of Salem, Beverly, and Gloucester. This is yesterday's rough painting.