Landscape painting is partly about place, but equally about time – its passage, the seasons, and how geology and geography intertwine. I’ve been painting the ponds at Hamlen Woods for quite a few years – long enough to see the changes wrought by drought years and beavers, not to mention human development. I’ve also been painting the pond long enough to see the changes in my painting – looking for the essential forms and colors and letting the rest go. Painting hundreds of these small oils on paper has given me an opportunity to explore, to experiment, to redo, and to rethink the subjects. Oh Junely Morning! is an appreciation of early summer in all its lush glory. It was painted mostly with a palette knife. Path to the Pond is a September amble and takes the viewer into an intimate woodland setting. It too is mostly a palette knife painting – a good way to think and paint broadly. Enjoy.

Technical painting notes: the paintings are on rag paper, primed with shellac front and back (this isolates the fibers from the acids in the oil paint)