Here’s another painting from our trip to Franconia. It’s a 200-yr. old iron smelting furnace on the Gale River that went out of business around 1865. It was not far from our motel and I liked having a completely different subject. Plus–I thought I’d found a perfect secluded spot on the bank of the river among some trees. Having people come up while I’m painting drives me crazy. I know some painters enjoy it but I hate breaking my concentration and especially hate anybody seeing the early stages of what I’m working on. Anyway, I thought I’d be left completely alone but my spot turned out to be just off a walking trail. Many people stopped and wanted to take my picture and a picture of the painting. I sound like a misanthrope. They were all extremely pleasant people but I just don’t understand why anybody would want to photograph a stranger working on a painting. The stones are not really as blue in the painting as they appear in the photograph of it. What I really liked about the scene was the shadow on the side of the furnace.
Iron Furnace oil on masonite 12 x 16 $200 unframed
