Sailing Away

Sailing Away

8x8 oil on canvas

Spy Pond Series #27

The Arlington Boys and Girls Club with the new banner

photo

Captain Cally, my faithful partner in this venture

photo

The whole scene--many of the wonderful activities that go on at Spy Pond Park

photo

A year at Spy Pond.  All those times of walking there, looking, painting, taking photos and just enjoying it.   When art making is involved with being at a place then one begins to see all of the shapes, colors, changes that might be missed while walking by and only taking a casual glance.  My goal in starting this series was to get to know a natural area that was new to me in a way that I'd be really looking at it in order to capture the experience in paintings, photos and writings in this blog.  I think its been a great success.  The pond and it's environment is now a friend.  It's fun to pass by an area I painted and both reminisce and see the changes that have taken place in a year.  The most dramatic was the placing of a banner on the side of the Boys and Girls Club--it was hung shortly after the first painting I did.

  

I've walked by the pond several times this week and still can't stop thinking of how a certain scene would look on canvas or paper.  I might add some more pieces and will share on Facebook as I've been doing.  I also am looking for the appropriate place to show the whole series.  It might be nice to put these pieces together in a small book which I'd sell at the show.  Any suggestions?  It should be somewhere in Arlington.  I'll share any news of this on Facebook and also post when work will be up for sale.

What's next?  Well Menotomy Rocks Park is a delightful place and as I walk Cally there a few times a week it could be perfect.  I keep trying out new ideas--monoprinting, working more abstractly, larger and will continue to post works on my regular blog:  karenwihbey.blogspot.com

Many thanks to friends and family for their encouragement and support.  (I'm not sure,  John, if I even came close to what HDT did at Walden but thanks).  Thank you to Cheri Walton, a fine artist and former teacher in Eastport, Maine who started a blog before I even heard of them, and maintains it to this day. Also thank you to my mentor and friend Adria Arch-www.adriaarch.com/ for suggesting this series and doing some hand holding through it.   She's a terrific artist and will be having a solo show at the Bromfield gallery in November.  Check it out:

www.bromfieldgallery.com/future-exhib.html‎

Thanks for viewing this blog and wish me luck!

Karen

Walking the path

Walking the path

8x8 oil on canvas

Spy Pond series #26

I've spent many, many days walking this path once, sometimes twice a day.  It's a great early morning spot to just saunter and meditate as Spy Pond is visible for maybe 15 minutes along the Minuteman Path in Arlington.  This gentleman just captured the spirit of the moment in the bright sun and I thought he'd make a great subject for this painting, one of the last of the series.  I started October 7, 2012 and it's been an amazing journey of exploring, enjoying and trying to capture some of what I discovered.  Some of my favorite spots are a little hidden, such as the steps leading from path along Route 2 down to the Pond, the view from the tunnel, the rocks on the shore near the baseball field where I could take Cally down to the water and, hidden from view, let her take a dip.  

quiet morning

Quiet Morning

8x8 oil on canvas

Spy Pond Series #25

I couldn't resist painting this serene view Saturday when I walked with Cally to check out the early morning Pond scene.  There were tons of runners and bikers but all seemed to be on a mission to get out and exercise and no one was sitting just looking out, unlike most mornings.  I had a good time with my oil paints, brush and palette knife and got a glossy surface on the water which can't be seen from this photo.  The day which started out overcast turned to bright sun by the time Town Day in Arlington started.  Thank goodness and it turned out to be a great day.

cycling past the pond

Cycling Past the Pond

8x8 oil on canvas

Spy Pond Series #24

I managed to catch a pic of a bicyclist out early in the morning.  The Minuteman Bike Path runs parallel to Spy Pond for a bit and makes for a nice view while riding.  I'll be adding more figurative art as I wrap up this year at Spy Pond!  

Tunnel view, morning view

Tunnel View

8x10 acrylic on canvas

Spy Pond Series #23

I took a picture of this scene last fall and had intended to paint it, but just got to it yesterday.  It's of a view of Spy Pond that comes up as a surprise if you head down Pond St.  The Minuteman bike path is above the tunnel.  It's such a sweet scene that I love to drive there if I'm on my way to the parking lot near the playground with my grandchildren.  Max shouts, "Tunnel, tunnel!" And we all repeat it and then he laughs.  Simple pleasures of a 2 year old, his sister and I.

Morning view

photograph

Yes there's lots of activity on the Pond in the morning.  I was out to capture a scene and couldn't resist this one of the ducks and deep green reflections.  It was hard to leave to go home--mild weather, a slight breeze. No one seemed in a hurry, even the folks on their bikes going to work.  

More cloud reflections

Clouds and Sky

8x8 oil on canvas

Spy Pond Series #22

So you can say I'm a little obsessed with painting cloud reflections!  My eye can't stay away from them when I'm at Spy Pond.  They're a captivating mix of beautiful reality and interesting distortions from the wave action.  Also they're upside-down from the way they are in the sky and appear to be their own entities.  Makes me wonder what makes these cumulous clouds appear gray on their underside. According to Darryn Schneider at http://optics.kulgun.net, "Clouds can also look dark or gray. This can be caused a number of different ways. But it is also due to perception by our eyes. A light gray cloud on a bright white background will look much darker than the same cloud on a dark or black background, in which case it might look white and bright. A cloud can look dark or gray because it is partially transparent and the blue sky behind it can be seen through the cloud. This will happen in light wispy clouds with little water content, and more often in ice crystal clouds. Ice crystal clouds can spread out more as the ice crystals last longer once they move out of saturated air (air with 100% relative humidity) due to it taking longer for ice crystals to sublimate (change directly from ice to water vapor), than water drops to evaporate."  And I thought it was a shadow!

Somehow we're intrigued by clouds and probably most of us have spent time cloud watching.  Their whiteness does appear to intensify the blue of the sky-a wonderful illusion as far as I'm concerned.  

Spy Pond is full of boaters at this time of year so I need to shift from sky to water.  After all, it's all about the Pond.

Cloud reflections

Cloud Reflections

triptych-acrylic on 3 8x8 canvases

The cloud reflections in the water at Spy Pond got to me.  They were so beautiful as they floated on the water and blended with the blue sky reflections that it took my breath away.   I had to try a simple version so here's a triptych that's maybe not quite finished and that I had a lot of fun with.