Another Winter Painting

Today I painted another Watercolor - this one of a local stream tumbling over low ledges. Over the next few days I think I will work on varied versions of this stream as it is challenging to endeavor to capture the movement of the water over and around the snow laden rocks..

Winter Watercolor

It was a typical winter day in Maine today; sometimes sunny sometimes overcast. I drove around looking for a scene to paint... something simple-not too complicated, since I haven't been painting for a few months because of my arm injury and resultant Brachial Plexis and "Frozen Shoulder".
It was a world of white out there today with 12 inches of fresh snow piled on top of the 18 or more already on the ground. The contours around the countryside vistas are all soft and peaceful... in many places the snow has fallen so thick it has totally buried the stream-beds!
I wandered out to Skyline farm in North Yarmouth and found an ideal composition for today's mood.
So here it is, my first watercolor of 2011 :)

Sketching in NY & The Body Exhibition

Took out my sketchbook to work my hand for the first time in several months while cruising through NYC last week. After months of an arm that would not lift and a hand that seemed to leap erratically when I tried to  draw, it was fun to sketch again - and even more fun to have the usually aloof  NYers complement and encourage me.  

 

This was my first sketch on the NYC subway

Following my subway ride I went to the Body Exhibition in the Seaport

This first Body sketch was difficult for me as it was so strange to see all the muscles and sinews exposed and in some cases even peeled back to expose other muscle groups below them and the second attempt failed entirely so I tried another figure from the back as it followed more recognizable patterns - the muscles actually looking much like they do under the skin, except for the buttocks which, with all the fat removed, seemed incredibly flat.

I am not sure anyone would call this art but it was a start to getting my hand in again and it was certainly challenging to illustrate the familiar in such an unfamiliar way! I think NYers are fortunate to have such excellent subjects to hone observation and rendering skills... 

Now that I'm back in Maine again, the piles and piles of snow and snow covered objects are stirring my desire to record the incredible beauty and contrasts of white on white, white on dark, and white mounding into all sorts of mysterious forms!