Picnic Tables and Lupine W/C 7x9

I sat on a small bluff next to our cottage and painted this watercolor looking towards the Pier which would be just slightly to the right of this frame. I think of this as more of a study, to grab some color notes and some practice on the spot. The little cottage with the red shutters is just a doll house and looks out over a large patch of Lupine to the Lighthouse. The view from my previous post, which I shot from behind this Lupine, is behind me. Heaven.

Parrsboro

I'm in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia for two weeks. Got here late last Monday night and so far have done at least one painting each day. Yesterday I painted a couple of watercolors outside fighting the blackflies which bit me numerous times. Thank heaven for spray benadryl. If one must know why I would plan my Nova Scotia vacation for the last two weeks of June, when the weather's iffy and the blackflies are biting it's because of the lupine which blooms profusely this time of year only. Sunday I donned my bug jacket which completely covers my face and upper body and set up to do a painting at Two Islands. There are no serviceable photos of the paintings yet but I thought I'd share the lupine. An addendum to this post is that I have to come to the Fundy Geological Museum to connect and I didn't get this post up last Friday as I'd hoped. They were closing and I only had the draft prepared. Didn't feel like spending time indoors either Saturday or Sunday so today I had to come over and put up the post. If you want a quiet vacation, this is the place.

Irises Watercolor 6x6

Yesterday I had all the air conditioners on early which kept the temperature inside at a cool 70 degrees. 70 is freezing for most people so I took my watercolors outside for a painting session. Just a little doodle here. Practice makes perfect. By the time I finished this I was pouring sweat even though I was sitting in the shade. It was close to 100 degrees here.

The Yellow Caboose WIP

Some of us are reluctant to put up WIP's or works in progress. It's almost a given that one might not succeed in bringing it to completion without overworking or losing the initial magic. On my way past the Fairgrounds I glimpsed this fabulous caboose on display with the late evening sun on it and pulled a U-ey ( U turn in New England parlance) and set up to block this is. By the time I got this far it was getting dark and I had no memory stick in the camera (oops) to take a photo. However, I may be able to work this out with out one since I already have so much information. I'll probably wait for the sun to come out again (this IS New England) and go back in the evening to finish it. Wish me luck!

Del's Lemonade 8x10

This is Tuesday's painting done near Kelley's new studio in Warren, Rhode Island, where my wonderful GPS girlfriends surprised me with a Birthday party a couple of weeks early. It was fabulous. A complete surprise and they went all out making nice food and giving me lovely gifts. I wore the Birthday Hat too. I left my memory stick in the computer so I have to rely on one of the girls for photos of that. We all painted outside and after sketching out a truck that left to go on his route, I just couldn't lug my setup around the front of Del's lemonade paint the famous (in these parts) lemon sign. So here's the view of the loading dock.

North River 6x8

On the run this morning. Going out to paint with the girls.

North River 6x8

I did a little sketch of the river and the marsh looking toward Norwell from the new turnout in Scituate. I used the same strange' grab bag' palette that I used for the Stonington Bridge. It took some adjusting to get the colors. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for a good photo because I can't get one tonight. I enclosed a teaser detail. I love the way paint strokes look close up.

Yellow and Violet Bottles Watercolor

Just fooling around today with this set up of clear glass bottles against a neutral background. I'm going to do another one too. Just keeping it simple here ;) That's a joke.