New Paintings at Somerville Manning Gallery

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At Somerville Manning Gallery yesterday- Left: Evergreen, Middle: Winter, Right: Narrow Cove Ogunquit




At Somerville Manning Gallery yesterday, Warm September

I took four new paintings up to Somerville Manning Gallery in Greenville, DE yesterday. Two had just returned from Ogunquit Museum of American Art's exhibition Philip Koch: Isle of Dreams in Maine, and the other two were large canvases fresh off my easel.

 



Evergreen,  oil on canvas, 36 x 54 inches, 2022 (above).  When I was out on location painting the study for this large oil I had the feeling this was a home happily contented people lived in. Perhaps that's silly as I didn't see anyone around over the three mornings I worked on the painting. But there was something wonderful about their yard- bright sun splashing on exuberantly colored shutters and roof. Setting this off were the solemn dark evergreens, impressive in their size and obvious maturity.

 



   


Just returned from the Ogunquit Museum exhibition is Winter, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2022 (above). Like so many of my paintings this one draws on childhood memories. I grew up on a remote shore of Lake Ontario. In winter the water would freeze into strangely beautiful ice formations. They could get quite large and seemed otherworldly. We kids loved playing on them. I smile now just thinking about those days.





Also back from the exhibition in Maine is the Narrow Cove: Ogunquit, oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches, 2021. This is based on the drawing (below) I made in October of 2021 on the shore just outside the Ogunquit Museum. In person the rocks are large and quite imposing. Often my painting can best express the personality of  forms by choosing colors that are just a step beyond what is possible in real life. 


Narrow Cove: Ogunquit, vine charcoal, 9 x 12 inches, 2021


Me working on the same drawing of the rocks outside 
the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Oct. 2021

 



This is Warm September, oil on canvas, 36 x 54 inches, 2022. Like its cousin Evergreen, it describes the dance between a beautifully restored 19th century barn and closely surrounding foliage. My initial interest was grabbed by a small cupola atop the barn at the left, but this gave way to letting the trees take center stage.  



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