GOING BIGGER AND GOING HOME
During the first half of 2024, my art focused primarily on landscapes of Maine, Chester County and the Susquehanna Valley. Wonderful areas all, but it’s good to be back. Berks County is not just home for me, it’s also one of my favorite places to paint. Three-quarters of this exhibit is Wyomissing, West Reading, the Schuylkill River and Oley Valley. The rest of the paintings are Midcoast Maine, which thanks to my sister- and brother-in-law, is also home for me for a couple weeks every year.
A number of the paintings in this exhibit are larger than usual, at least for me. With my plein air rig being geared for 9 x 12” panels, over the last five years I’d gotten in the habit of working around that size even when painting in the studio. I’ve been itching to paint bigger again, like I used to routinely. Also fueling that notion were some large antique frames that a friend gave me to restore.
I hope you enjoy seeing the show as much as I did creating it.
During the first half of 2024, my art focused primarily on landscapes of Maine, Chester County and the Susquehanna Valley. Wonderful areas all, but it’s good to be back. Berks County is not just home for me, it’s also one of my favorite places to paint. Three-quarters of this exhibit is Wyomissing, West Reading, the Schuylkill River and Oley Valley. The rest of the paintings are Midcoast Maine, which thanks to my sister- and brother-in-law, is also home for me for a couple weeks every year.
A number of the paintings in this exhibit are larger than usual, at least for me. With my plein air rig being geared for 9 x 12” panels, over the last five years I’d gotten in the habit of working around that size even when painting in the studio. I’ve been itching to paint bigger again, like I used to routinely. Also fueling that notion were some large antique frames that a friend gave me to restore.
I hope you enjoy seeing the show as much as I did creating it.
WYOMISSING & WEST READING
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Autumn Turn at Wyomissing Creek
Oil, 20 x 24”, $900 The sweeping arch of the creek, stone wall and road, all leading to a stand of majestic sycamores, make this bend on Old Wyomissing Road one of my favorite places in the park to paint. I’ve done it in all of the seasons, but this 20 x 24” of the autumn turn is by far my largest. |
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Morning Sun on the Faces Oil, 16 x 16”, $590 Oriented to the north, the front of Reading Public Museum spends most of its time in the shade. The exception is the summer, when the highlights and shadows from the morning sun allow park-goers to better appreciate the majestic lines of this beautiful building. |
Old Mill and Crepe Myrtle
Oil, 12 x 24”, $690
I took my good old time painting at the corner of Old Mill and Old Wyomissing roads to lay the foundation for this 12” x 24” oil. Followed by quite a few hours in the studio getting into the nuances of the property. Now the beautifully restored and maintained home of the Wyomissing Foundation, the mill dates back to the 1750s.
Oil, 12 x 24”, $690
I took my good old time painting at the corner of Old Mill and Old Wyomissing roads to lay the foundation for this 12” x 24” oil. Followed by quite a few hours in the studio getting into the nuances of the property. Now the beautifully restored and maintained home of the Wyomissing Foundation, the mill dates back to the 1750s.
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Old Mill and Golden Field
Oil, 9 X 12”, $390 The light of a sunny afternoon brings a symphony of color and texture to the west side of the Wyomissing Foundation building: dappled light on the old stone, deep greens and rich reds from the oak and Japanese maple, and the brilliant yellow flowers of the Jerusalem artichokes. To stay in tune with all that visual energy yet cleanly corral it, I modified a vintage frame with a matte black wood mat and gilded inner lip. |
Long Look at Highlands Hill
Oil, 9.25 x 24.25”, $490
I thought about it for years, and finally got the Highlands hill and the adjacent meadow, from the tree line along Cambridge to the barn on Old Wyomissing Road, all in one painting.
Oil, 9.25 x 24.25”, $490
I thought about it for years, and finally got the Highlands hill and the adjacent meadow, from the tree line along Cambridge to the barn on Old Wyomissing Road, all in one painting.
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Springing
Oil, 9 x 12”, $390 A spectacular but short-lived sign of spring in Wyomissing Park is the flowering crabapple tree near the Highlands parking lot. It blooms like a giant cotton ball for about a week, usually around April 20. |
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Trudy’s Garden from the Bridge
Oil, 9 x 12, $390 Joining “In Nature’s Studio” at Reading Museum Park on July 21, 2024, I parked myself on a bridge for two hours to take in the mix of colors, textures and shadows along the creek side of Trudy’s Garden, liking the way the shadow from the bridge railing fell on the water and stone wall. |
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Back at the Paper Mill
Oil, 9 x 12”, $490 Cacoosing Creek behind the paper mill of Papermill Road. This was painted mostly en plein air on a gorgeous April day, the spring hatch of wood ticks notwithstanding. The mill is much the same, but the shore line has changed since I first painted this 5 years ago. That piece was awarded Best in Show at the 2019 Scenes of the Schuylkill. |
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Summer by the Spring House
Oil, 8 x 13.75, $390 This is my sixth painting of the iconic Springhouse in the middle of Wyomissing Park. My earlier paintings focused more on the structure itself at different times of the year, while this one puts it more in the context of the surrounding landscape. |
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Back to the Bench Oil, 6 x 8, $150 The iconic sitting bench at the top of the Highlands hill. |
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Cool Stretch
Oil, 6 x 8, $150 A colorful downstream stretch of Wyomissing Creek in the Reading Museum Arboretum. |
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Midday Sun
Oil, 6 x 8, $150 Soft light on the winter grass between the creek and the old stone home near the park barn. |
THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER
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Down at Horseshoe Bend Oil, 8 x 12” Study, $390 Oil, 24 x 30”, $1800 Hike up the south side Neversink Mountain from Klapperthal Road (next to Forest Lawn Cemetery) and you’ll find an overlook with sprawling view of the Schuylkill River and beyond. Across the trail there, on the high side, is another outcrop that affords a slightly better view of the river and much of the NW quadrant of Berks County. I referenced photos from both vantages to do the 8 x 12” vertical study of a big river bend on a small panel. To upsize it I decided to go horizontal to capture the majesty of the greater view. |
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Up from Horseshoe Bend
Oil, 8 x 12” Study, $390 Oil, 19 x 23”, $1200 In August, my plein pal Karen Weber and I paddled 15 miles down the Schuylkill, from Kelly’s Lock to the Exeter landing. My main goal was to get river-level photos that captured the majesty of Neversink Mountain, a view I haven’t seen from the trails in the area. I was not disappointed. This is the reciprocal view of “Down at Horseshoe Bend”, the small rock outcrop visible on the slope being where I got the inspiration for that one. The large version, which is in an antique frame, closely follows the 8 x 12" version I did first as a study. |
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Down a Lazy River Oil, 9 x 12” $390 A calm, quiet stretch of the Schuylkill east of Reading, all enjoyed on my August paddle. |
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Neversink from the River Trail Oil, 9 x 12”, $390 This 9 x 12” was a study for a 12 x 16” oil painting that I did live at the 2023 gala fundraiser for the Reading Public Library. The winning bid for the latter was $1000. |
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River Walk Oil, 9 x 12 $390 A stretch of the Schuylkill River Trail a long mile upriver from the Exeter parking lot off Gibraltar Road. |
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Penn Street Bridge Oil, 11 x 14”, $390 This was painted en plein air soon after renovations to the bridge were completed. |
THE OLEY VALLEY
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Oley Essence Oil, 9 x 12”, $390 Painted mostly en plein air on the first day of winter, 2023, this farm and feel seemed to exemplify the rich heritage and quiet beauty found throughout the Oley Valley. |
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Turn at the Walnut Trees Oil, 9 x 12”, $390 This is a quiet little curve near Mine Lane in the middle of the valley, not to be confused with Mine Road in Oley’s eastern hills. |
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Holding the Line
Oil, 7.5 x 14”, $390 The title refers to line of walnut trees along Kauffman Road, the Revolutionary War cannon in the front yard, and the spirit of the property owner Duane Petersheim in the face of some daunting personal challenges. We were also holding onto our easels that day as we painted in 20 mph winds. |
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The Old Stable
Oley, 11 x 14”, $390 Fisher Farm is probably the best-known farm stand in the Oley Valley, and certainly one of the oldest. Still family-run, the fine folks there let us poke around the property. They tell us that the stone stable is the oldest building on the farm, dating back to the mid-1700s. |
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Lewis Looking at You Oil, 6 x 8”, $190 This isn’t Oley, but Lewis, a past resident bovine at the Rodale Institute Farm in nearby Kutztown, bullied his way into my show. |
MIDCOAST MAINE
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Acadian Grotto
Oil, 24 x 36”, $1800 Oil, 8 x 12” Study, $390 In Acadia National Park is a small, easily missed spot called Little Hunters Beach. The dark edge of this cove seemed packed with mystery, majesty and a cry for a palette that echoed the Hudson River School. Pleased with my 8 x 12” study, I decided to go for full sized classic grandeur, and in keeping with the feel, restored an antique frame. Also available in a maple floating frame if preferred. |
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Southern Island Light Oil, 30 x 30", $1500 While sailing out of Tenants Harbor I grabbed a few photos of Southern Island Light, which has been owned by the Wyeths since the 1970s. Jamie still summers there. In our private collection since 2021, this is the first time this painting has been shown locally. |
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Rockland Harbor
Oil, 9 x 12, $390 Water Hole, Samoset Resort Oil, 8 x 12”, $390 Both of these paintings were done the same day from base of the mile-long Rockland Breakwater. |
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Hanging Around Holiday Beach
Oil, 9 x 12, $390 Red House with Gnarly Stump Oil, 8 x 10”, $290 Surrounded by private property, parking is a challenge for visiting Holiday Beach. I was fortunate to meet one of the homeowners who also has a home in Pennsylvania, and who was kind enough to invite me to paint her charming red house as well as the beach there. |
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