Autumn in Oils

As one who enjoys painting landscapes, this is my time of year.  The colorist painter, Wolf Kahn, once said that in the fall, "nature gives you permission to use outrageous colors."  (Although whatever the season, he loves wild magentas and bold cadmiums ... turning tree trunks blue, skies pink, shadows violet.)  Though it turns out that he shares his time between our town in summer and NYC the rest of the year, I first saw his work when I lived in Santa Fe and walked into a gallery where I felt as if I were seeing a new Monet.

After living in Santa Fe, it took me awhile to adjust to the New England scene after I moved here.  So, in order to retrain my eye from the southwestern to the eastern landscape, I faithfully drove the back roads so that I could see my new land with its colors, not the Mexico-like ones still lingering in my mind ... or on my palette.  For one thing, I needed to adjust my vision to the multifarious blacks and whites of a northeastern winter, though it took attending a talk by Wolf Kahn, himself--he wore green trousers and a yellow T-shirt--to make me appreciate the varieties in grey.  Then, too, summer leafed into an omnipresent green with June and July the most difficult months to paint for their lack of nuance.  This state, after all, is covered with trees.  It was only during the change-over to spring and these powerful few weeks in early autumn that the landscape offered a painterly diversity.

Some autumns here are better than others.  Unfortunately, a highly wet spring and summer--peaking with Tropical Storms Irene and Lee--have dulled this year's display.  Regardless, here are some of my oils of the local scene from past years.

"Lowering Light"

"October Pond"

"Rice Farm Road in Autumn"

"Wind-row Afternoon"

"Rice Farm Pond"

"Autumn Hill"

 I have a batch in watercolors, too.  But I'll save them for another time.