RMW Ramblings

Remembering Isabel We are nearing the end of September and there have been  no  Atlantic hurricanes.  In 2003 we were not so lucky.  On the 19th of September hurricane Isabel came up the Chesapeake flooding us up to the windowsills.  When we finished recovery and remodeling I marked the high water line with a plaque on the kitchen wall.  The plaque is modeled on the Plimsoll lines painted on ocean-going ships to indicate the safe loading level for adequate flotation.  Several years later I further remembered Isabel with a painting of King Lear, accompanied by his fool, raging at the storm: "Rage, blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes!"  The storm shows many faces to Lear, activated by Shakespeare's breath, upper right.    

  Chesapeake Fauna     For a gallery show twenty years ago, I painted a trio of Chesapeake Bay life.   Rockfish  and  Blue Crab  sold.   Yellow Perch  remained and hangs over my shoulder at my cottage desk.   Rockfish (striped bass) is my culinary favorite.  But  Yellow Perch  is my artistic preference.  

Paintings With Glyphs 1 Often in my paintings I incorporate glyphs, small line-work elements.  Here are two paintings with glyphs based on actual American Indian petroglyphs spanning the continent. Girl of the Susquehanna  is a painting that occasional hangs over the fireplace at our summer cottage near the top of the Chesapeake Bay.  the Susquehanna enters the Chesapeake just a few miles away.   The scattered glyphs are modeled on petroglyphs from two locations on the Susquehanna River, Bald Friar, in Harford County, MD, and Safe Harbor, in Lancaster County, PA.  The Bald Friar petroglyphs were removed from the river when the Conowingo Dam was built in 1928 and are now in a museum.  The Safe Harbor petroglyphs remain in place and can be accessed by boat.  In my painting I have added color; the originals are cut into rock, not painted.   Canyon Greeting  is set across the country overlooking the Grand Canyon.    The glyphs here are ...

  Over the Mantel The Secret Garden Several years ago we bought an oak frame for use over our cottage mantle at an antique mall in North East.  While our intent was to use the frame for my art, to be painted to fit the frame dimensions.  The print in the frame was pleasant enough that I decided to not discard it, have it both ways.  Display my paintings sometimes, and the original print sometimes.  To do this I fabricated wood turnbuttons that would allow me to mount a painting on hardboard (Masonite is the common brand) in front of the glass covering the print thus avoid disturbing the print: Here's the framed print over the mantle: Often the print is displayed over the winter, and one year it was visible in our Christmas card: One picture I painted for this frame is Osprey : A second painting is Girl of the Susquehanna , depicting a young Indian woman canoeing with a baby, along with graphics based on petroglyphs found along the lower Susquehanna and upper Ch...

Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 4   On the flip side of the HdG barriers edging the Promenade Grille outdoor seating Ezra Berger and his crew painted birds of the Chesapeake. I have painted many of these Bay aviators, mostly great blue herons. Here is a set of four paintings depicting a heron prancing on our seawall with classical Greek and medieval heraldic references, Erodios.

    Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 3     Among the HdG barrier paintings on the water side is one non-piscatorial Chesapeake inhabitant, a blue crab. I have painted many crabs over the years, and one from the same set of the "Yellow Perch" and "Rockfish" earlier. We'll look at the inland bird side of the barrier paintings later.

      Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 2   Another fish on the HdG Promenade Grille barrier paintings is a striped bass, which we here call a rock fish. My take on this tasty fish was sold years ago, but I still have a picture. He's capturing a Mayfly.  

Havre de Grace Waterfront Art   Havre de Grace Waterfront Art 1   An outdoor seating area asides a snack grille at the marina end of the the HdG waterfront promenade. Earlier this year the protective Jersey barriers were painted with images of the fauna of the Chesapeake by local artist Ezra Berger and a supporting crew. Aqueous Chesapeake denizens on the parking side, birds on the seating side.        Many of these I have painted myself in the past. We'll look at a few. My yellow perch swims by my desk at the cottage.  

  Principio Flying with the gulls I painted this postcard size cartoony acrylic sketch of the office of the historic Principio Furnace iron works ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principio_Furnace) near our summer cottage.  

  Hazy Morning   This morning  the air was hazy from the Canadian wild fires.  Even then there was a beauty,   The color bands add a moire effect from our screen windows.

  Broken Reflections Herons Over Water  

  Sunrise Sandbar Heron To protect the wetlands, a sandbar barrier was created along the Havre de Grace waterfront Promenade.  It is now completely naturalized, but early on it was the site of various stonework temporary compositions,  stonework sculptural graffiti.  I lamented their demise, but they did not fit Maryland's preservation plans.  Of course the sandbar was not natural itself. Here I photographed a heron at morning sunrise at a  ring cairn or micro Stonehenge.

  Heron Hiding Another heron on a HdG waterfront walk.    

  Heron in Golden Sunrise Morning walks by the water in Havre de Grace are  visual feasts. The low morning sun gives texture to the water, silhouetting and shadowing the heron. 

A Live, But Impressionist Heron  On a walk in Havre de Grace along the water, I spotted this heron.  In the low light and at a distance I snapped a picture, which I have enlarged and color slightly boosted to make this impressionistic picture.  More herons to come.

  Iced Tea 1 & 2 Sharing an iced tea alfresco is a favored summer activity. I like doing paintings in sets or polyptychs, and here I have painted Mary and a friend, at home in Wilmington, and then at Carpenter's Point, with their iced tea.   Iced Tea 1 On our rear courtyard deck in Wilmington...     Iced Tea 2 And here, on our small waterfront deck at Carpenter's Point...     The paintings share a color palette, and each is signed with a monogram iced tea pitcher along the bottom.

  Trumpet Vine   The trumpet vine on one of our ash trees is now in bloom. While difficult to control, it's beautiful and attracts hummingbirds.   Here's a little painting in a found frame.    

  Nesting Trays A Kayak Outing Our family has been kayaking at our cottage over generations.  Recently great-granddaughter Alaina got her first kayak voyage.  This brings to mind a set of nesting trays I painted about twenty years ago,  imaginary bird's eye views of Mary kayaking with granddaughter Courtney.   The largest tray shows Mary and Courtney out on the water.  If you look closely, Courtney is pointing at something.     Nested into this goes a slightly smaller tray; she is pointing at something floating by.    On the final tray we see what has caught here attention. A dragonfly has hitched a ride on a floating piece of sycamore bark. Here's the group...