Edward Hopper's House

SOLD

I stayed up 'til all hours finishing this painting. What a glorious day we had painting in the dunes of Truro.

Three Amigos

The most beautiful day was had painting in the dunes of Truro, with the Three Amigas.

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.

Rexhame Beach Dunes Study 7X9

SOLD

I consider this more of a study than a finished work. Using the limited palette gives it nice color harmony.

Beach Day

I sat in the dunes at the beach today and painted this. I need to refine the shapes and the angle of the waves hitting the shore and finalize this. I used a limited palette of Ultramarine, Rose Madder (Grumbacher) and a lemon yellow. I had a hard time getting sand color but I think I managed. Heavy surf today. I hate to say it but winter was in the air :(

Party Lights

I apologize for my website marysheehanwinn.com being down for over a month now. I'm not good at reading the directions to restore the site but my web mistress, Miss A will get it going soon. I am also going to post a website on Fine Arts Studio Online, which I will be able to work from my desktop. Oh, technology. Where would I be without you? Meanwhile, back at Studio 439, the party lights go on for the last time.

Sandpaper Factory Studio

This is the before and after at the new studio. It took forever to sand this floor which was a grimy gray paint. My nephew, Win and I spent Saturday and Sunday all day and Don and I spent another 10 hours between Monday and yesterday. The results are well worth the agony of such a project which, I'll never be doing again :D This is the 4th floor of the building which has fantastic skylights over the entire roof. This is one of the very few remaining buildings of its kind in this area. I was lucky to get a space here.

Stonington Overlook Watercolor 9X12

This is a watercolor of Barbara's house in Stonington, Maine. It's done on Fredrix watercolor canvas which I'm not sure I like for watercolor, but may work better with opaque watermedia, like acrylic or gouache. After many attempts to photograph this painting, the results are washed out. Disappointing, but I suppose I should read the camera book?

Anna's Cottage 8x10 oil on board

I've been so lax in posting but I don't think anyone's hanging on my every word ;) I've had family togetherness since Saturday, beginning with a lobster cookout at my mama's house, in Brockton, with all the sibs and significant others. On Sunday, my baby bro Tom, his wife Anne and their toddlers Ryan, 3 and a half and Colin 2 came to stay until late yesterday afternoon. We had lot's of fun at the beach during a super high moon tide on Sunday and exploring tidal pools yesterday morning at low tide. Awesome to have these babies in the family after so long without young ones. I am working on another watercolor which I'll post in a day or two. With all the Codman trauma, some paintings never made it to the blog. I painted this 8x10 in Nova Scotia in June. I call it 'Anna's Cottage' after one of 3 sisters who owned the cottage. After I did the painting I found out that one of the sisters, Joy, had just passed right when I was painting it. Everyone who knew her said that her name, perfectly described her. She was a young woman of 72 :(

And Over At The Codman

FINALLY, Win has sent out the vacate notices under Heritage Mgmt's name in a Codman envelope. They're actually asking for their months rent and terminating us as of October 1st. Meanwhile, over at the Codman building ,the scene is this. I took the photo yesterday when I went over to the building to maybe go up to my space, which I did not. The area behind this dumpster is a bank of windows which is boarded up now but has been wide open, windows removed, for at least a week now. In the other photo the windows on the top floor are across from my studio. The whole wing is almost wide open now. We're really renting storage space in an active construction site. The way we've been treated by the ownership of this building past and present is bizarre. The good news is that I went and got the key to my new space and my nephew is going to sand the floors for me next weekend. I have 7 windows! and there is light reflected back into my space from a huge skylight on the roof. Also, some of my friends are in this building so, all will be well. Open Studios is being planned for multiple buildings now. Stay tuned.

Stonington Cat Watercolor 9X12

Two years ago today I was on a trip to Stonington, Maine with my friend Diane Scott. We stayed at a sweet little place on the harbor and painted for a few days. I did this watercolor from a photo I took there. Another fabulously picturesque place in Downeast Maine. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans and cable TV kept us updated. I remember thinking at the time how necessary human optimism is to the survival of the species. The weathercasters kept saying, "if the levees break". And I kept thinking, "IF?" It seems there's always hope, even when there's no hope, which is a good thing.

Five Islands 6x8

This was painted in Nova Scotia on a misty summer day in June. I stood outside with my palette on the hood of the car and painted this on canvas paper mounted into a little cigar box I picked up at the tobacco store. I love the landscape here. Sorry for the lag in posting. I'm sure with the move to the new studio, I'll be energized again.

Nantucket Lightship 8X10 study

This is a study of the Nantucket Lightship from the deck of the cottage in Wareham. It was a hot and hazy evening and I just blocked this in really quickly. It's very high key in terms of its color depth. I'll be getting back to it soon. Right now, we're painting the bedroom walls.

Hydrangeas and Black Eyed Susans

Today, rdl and I went to the MFA to see the Edward Hopper show. Just glorious. We had a great day, having a bite to eat in the Cafeteria and lingering to see other areas of the Museum. Taking it all in. I think we could say we were awestruck. Here is another photo of my last painting under warm studio light. Notice how lighting affects the colors. I need to photograph this outside on a bright overcast day to get the most true color and no glare.

Getting Away

Despite, my last post, I'd been invited by my friend Susan, also a painter, to spend a few days with her in Wareham in a house on the bay. I went down Monday and came back Wed night. We painted the fabulous and ever changing scenery and weather. This was Wednesday afternoon. I 'finished' this painting but it needs a tweak. The photo is too glare-y but you get the idea. The wind never stopped blowing at this place and the rest of the area was having a heat wave! It was fabulous!

Back Yard Plein Air

The expression, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence", applies here. I live a block from the ocean and 2 miles from a working harbor filled with boats of all types. Old fashioned cottages can still be found and there are beautiful gardens galore. Right here at our house I have a bunch of container gardens and cool garden statuary and endless still life "props', the collection of which, is ongoing. Yet, I'm compelled to drive to Maine to paint lobster boats, to Nova Scotia to paint flowers and cottages, anywhere to paint anything. It's an artist thing. Here in my own backyard is just as nice as anyplace, really. This is my block in of this little setup with petunias. I'll finish it today. The heat has been replaced by cool sea breezes, my kind of weather.

View from The Codman 8x10

I'm suffering serious Codman withdrawal thus the huge gap in posting. Luckily some of my dearest friends and fellow sufferers understand and have given a shoulder to cry on and really, that's all you need isn't it? Then you're fine. I didn't get this painting in a moment too soon. They started removing the siding a day later. All the windows were covered in plastic. I hope this fabulous chimney is part of the new design. I love it.

Cordage Park 5x7

Here's the finish.

While on my mission over there, I collected some of the broken window glass, which is purple. I've loved those windows and have been skulking around this place for years in all seasons but never got a successful painting. Something about the scale is intimidating. These buildings were quite something in their day. I hope when they go condo, they'll be able to save the brick buildings. Sorry about the crappy photo. I'm shooting these at home when the studio would be better. Uh oh. I had to edit this because I chose the wrong photo and published, so I think my subscribers are going to get the same picture I last published. I don't know if when you edit the post and republish, it sends it out again. Sorry about that ;)

View from The Codman Study 8x10

This is almost finished. You can see that I meant to include the window mullions but now think that it adds nothing and could in fact, detract. Any advice? There are no words to describe how I feel when I'm in this building. I'm doing a bit of a painting documentary on this space that I'll soon have to leave. When I came to the first Open Studios they had here in 1994, I felt a good vibe. It was my hubby that suggested that I get myself a space. Our studios validate us in a way that nothing else does. When we are here. We're artists.

Cordage Park 5x7

I got this little sketch done while waiting for the security patrol to come and let me out after I trespassed (Yes, I KNOW) out in back of the old cordage buildings, taking pictures. While I was there photographing blissfully, ever the artistic explorer, someone locked the gate, Oh Crap :(

Luckily, and I do mean luckily, there is a new Marina down there where it used to be pretty much desolate. I got the attention of one of the workers and he called the Security guy to come and spring me. While I was waiting I thought I should paint. I'll finish this up and post the final. I was a little embarrassed in a 'curiosity killed the cat' kind of way. These beautiful old mill buildings are right on the water where they used to ship the rope from. Good thing I got my fill of pictures 'cause I can't go back!