Tahlia’s Field

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This is a larger version of a view I painted last year. I do miss my Michigan fields. I’ll be showing this painting as well as some others at the Farmhouse Show in Middletown, NY this Saturday. Reception is 1-5:00. This should be a lovely group show, in a wonderful location. Plus it’s a gorgeous area for a hike before or after the reception…

Evening, Late Summer

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2014 was a great year for hay in Michigan. Good for the farmers, and good for me. My dad took me to see this view, thinking I would like it. Yup!

Bovina No. 3

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I learned something useful, completely by mistake, with this painting. I like to paint roads, and often the best view is from the middle of the road. So I take photos from the car. (Usually when I’m in the passenger seat.) But they’re blurry, which is annoying. So it was a happy accident that my camera was set to “video” here, and I shot several seconds before realizing it. Back on my computer, I made a cool discovery—I can pause that video anywhere I want and get exactly the view I want, in focus. Cool, eh? So now I take a lot of very boring videos.

Cows and Crows

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I am pretty sure that one of these tiny calves is the one that we saw a few weeks ago, moments after his birth. It seems odd that there are TWO calves this time of year, but there they are. It was one of those days with a bite to the air, but the sun still warm enough to make you happy. My favorite parts of this painting are the crows flying through.

Cows at Stone Barns

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I painted these cows this summer, but I’m so glad that I waited until now to post this painting, because now I get to tell you about what I saw this past Saturday. One of these cows (one of the black ones) gave birth just minutes before we happened by. First the little baby was just a black lump in the grass that his mama was licking, and then he struggled to his feet, stood for a few seconds, then fell. Each time he stayed up for a little longer. Very quickly he could take a few wobbly steps, and she started leading him a few feet at a time farther into the field, always staying very close, until he could really pretty much walk. It was amazing.

Bovina No. 2

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While in Bovina we took a bike ride along the Catskill Scenic Trail, a rail trail that runs across fields and small farms and between mountains in Delaware County. So beautiful. I also like that the trail is unpaved, which makes for a more interesting ride. Along the way we said hello to some pretty, long-horned cattle and steered clear of an especially fragrant billy goat.

Bovina No. 1

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Well, there’s a lot of glare on this photo; sorry about that. We spent a few days last week in the western Catskills, in a pretty perfect spot. This was our view! Farmland AND mountains—I couldn’t ask for anything more. There was a lovely pond on the property, where I took a very brief, VERY bracing morning swim. Nearby, the town of Bovina has only one store, but it’s just the right store—a general store where the owner, Bea, makes scrumptious sandwiches, and local people and cats gather for meals and conversation. I am definitely going back to this very special place.  

Summer at Rocky’s

This painting is not for sale, but you can win it! All you have to do is enter and run the Rocky’s 5K on October 25. Summer at Rocky’s will be the grand raffle prize the day of the race. This is a great race—well managed, beautiful, hilly but not too hilly… and it raises money for trail maintenance at the Rockefeller Preserve, one of the most beautiful places around. Every time I run there, I'm reminded what a treasure this place is.

Clouds Over Hemlock Hill

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Summer is here—green, green, green! Thank goodness the copper beech, smack dab in the middle of the field, contributes a little purple to the mix. There isn’t a lot of farmland in this area, so I really appreciate being able to wander about Hemlock Hill Farm. Plus, they sell amazing organic meat, including the best bacon I’ve tasted in a long time.

Sunset at Stone Barns

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OK, I know everyone but me is sick of the snow. But it’s so much more fun to paint than grass. This is one of my favorite places to run. We’ve had some lovely evening speed workouts here, coming to the top of the hill just in time to take in the last of the sunset before plunging back down into the dark woods.

Summer Storm Clouds

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I thought it was time for a little warmth. This was one of those hot summer days when the clouds roll over the sky, and the thunder rumbles, and the rain may or may not come down, and then suddenly it’s sunny again.

This is probably it for this week. I’ll be hanging my show at the Flat Iron Gallery tomorrow. If you’re free Sunday afternoon, come by and say hi! Reception is Sunday, March 2, 1-5:00.

Tahlia's Field

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I’m lucky to have a sister with a good eye for fields!

Summer Clouds

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Summer in Michigan—fields, wide-open space, big skies. A storm thinking about developing, but then deciding not to.

Maney's Pond

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I’ve been pausing along the dirt road to take in the view over this pond for as long as I can remember. It’s comforting knowing that the owner of the farm is the son of the man who owned it when I was little. And that home is just over the pond and across two fields, with a stop to say hello to the horses along the way.

Michigan Field

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Small farms make for the most beautiful land, I think. You get so many different colors in the fields, nice lines of trees and stones separating them, and pockets of woods to break things up. There’s a thriving organic dairy farm just to the west of this farm, and a sheep farm to the north, with lots of lovely fields and rolling hills in between.

The Bloom Farm

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This is another of my favorite Michigan views, looking north toward the Muskegon River valley. These fields are beautiful no matter the season or the weather. Long ago, I picked out my first, beloved kitten at the farm just down the road.