October has remained unusually warm so I’ve been able to get out to paint much longer than I anticipated. Right after I started in on this one the road scraper came by within inches of me, the driver grinning and gesturing to me that I wasn’t in his way. He returned several times during the morning, turning up a lot of dirt and dust. I feared that I would wind up with unwanted texture in the painting but surprisingly not. Anyway, I liked the shadows on the houses. And it’s such a pleasure to have all the fall color. The big tree has a major split in the trunk and higher up (not visible in the painting) is a supporting rod holding it together. When I was a child my father paid me a dime to memorize Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees.” Now I think it’s pretty sappy but I did remember some of it when I was painting this tree.
Morning Shadows oil on birch panel, 11 x 14 unframed, $375
