August Painting Challenge -1

Fresh off the easel! My August painting challenge is inspired by friends on Facebook who are creating as many paintings as possible throughout the month of August. This is painting #1 of my August painting challenge. The location is Parsons Beach Marsh. The sun was bright and the breeze warm. My goal is to finish at least 20 paintings in August. Some will be painted on location and others in my studio. All will be oil on panel and measure 4”x6”.

Quote for this post…by Heraclitus 6th century B.C; translated by Brooks Haxton. Haxton’s book is called Fragments.

“The sun, timekeeper of the day and season, oversees all things.”

Bright Morning Light

This painting just arrived home after spending some time in Cape Cod at a juried pastel show. The inspiration for this painting came from getting up very early while staying on Monhegan Island. I am a big fan of early morning light. Just beyond the barn is the ocean.

Quote for this post….by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 – 1882

“I see the spectacle of morning from the hill-top over against my house, from daybreak to sunrise. The long slender bars of clouds float like fishes in the sea of crimson light. From the earth, as a shore, I look out into that silent sea.”

Pond in Spring

This pastel painting is of a pond in Pownal called “Runaround Pond”. It is a very peaceful place… great for picnics, painting, and pickerel-weed!

Quote for this post….by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 – 1882

“In July, the blue pontederia or pickerel-weed blooms in large beds in the shallow parts of our pleasant river, and swarms with yellow butterflies in continual motion. Art can not rival this pomp of purple and gold. Indeed the river is a perpetual gala, and boasts each month a new adornment.”

Glimpse of Gold

I saw this pond on the Greenville Road north of Kokadjo, Maine. We were traveling back to Greenville after a September day in Baxter State Park. The pond was so remote and peaceful. This pastel painting is on exhibit at the Arts Center in Old Forge, New York. It is in the Sixth Annual Northeast National Pastel Exhibition from June 12 - July 10.

Quote for this post….by Henry David Thoreau 1817 – 1862

“A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is intermediate in its nature between land and sky.”

Cloud Reflections

This view of a river in Freeport is one of my favorite places to paint. This is a pastel painting on paper.

Quote for this post….by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 – 1882

“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence.”

Meadow in Spring

Every year I look forward to the new, bright green grasses of spring. A nearby wooded area reveals a glimpse of the meadow beyond. This is a pastel painting on paper.

Quote for this post….by Wassily Kandinsky 1866 – 1944

“In general, therefore, color is a means of exerting a direct influence upon the soul. Color is the keyboard. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano, with its many strings.”

Meadow Mist

Being a foggy, misty morning today I am posting my pastel painting titled: “Meadow Mist”. On a visit to Monhegan Island one year I saw this apple tree in blossom. The sky was full of moisture and it did end up raining all day.

Quote for this post….by Henry David Thoreau 1817 – 1862

“I find it good to be out this still, dark, mizzling afternoon; my walk or voyage is more suggestive and profitable than in bright weather. The view is contracted by the misty rain, the water is perfectly smooth, and the stillness is favorable to reflection.”