This charcoal drawing is of one of Stephen Taylor's saws.  I sat in the yard of his shed to draw it over the course of several days.  He tells me people will think the bar is short, but it works well for him.  The drawing is 30" long.

Spring Beauty and Bloodroot

Hooray for woodland wildflowers! I have long associations with these flowers which have brought so much joy to me over many years. This is a watercolor I finished last week, but started while perched on a very steep hillside in the Smoky Mountains last spring. I feel very lucky to do work that requires spending hours outdoors in close observation of beauty, weather and light. The work comes with the musty sweet smell of leaf litter and the feel of breeze on skin and sun on clothing. Also enormous stiffness from balancing against the slope and keeping the work stable on my knees for some hours! Finishing this painting made me want to do some companion watercolors of more spring wildflowers. Today while out walking on the road I spotted Hepatica and Wake Robin growing above the ditches. Hoping to see lots more this weekend.

I will be having an Open Studio here in Lincoln VT if you want to come see this painting and others in person for yourself. It's part of Open Studio Weekend, May 28 and 29 from 10AM to 5PM both days. There will be yellow signs along the roads to direct you both to my place in Lincoln and to potter Judith Bryant's studio also in Lincoln. I am looking forward to having visitors!

This is an image of a watercolor I did this fall. It is of Larry and Mark Sherman on a job they had in Lincoln, Vermont a couple years ago. This scene was on a very cold day in March, as they watched the truck loading at the landing. Mount Abraham can be seen in the background.

Here are the five paintings I created for Art of Action, framed and ready to deliver, on my studio floor last weekend. Sunday the work was boxed and taken to the West Monitor Barn in Richmond, along with the work of the 9 other artists involved in the project. It was amazing to see all the work that had been made, together, for that afternoon. Next it will be broken into groups and sent around the state on tour. First up: Hand Motors in Manchester, starting September 4.

This has been a wonderfully rewarding project. I have loved showing my work at Addison County Field Days (thanks Chris Olson!), working with kids in schools and at the career center forestry program, talking with foresters, loggers and all the other concerned Vermonters who've spoken to me about our woods and the work I'm doing, and, as always, pushing paint around with a brush. Thanks Lyman and Janice.

Today I finished the last painting for my Art of Action work. Then I toned the 3 walnut frames that Dan Ober made for my paintings with Prussian blue, Alizarin crimson, a little burnt umber and a lot of stand oil in turpentine. They look wonderful.

Now I'm pulling together some images to exhibit in the forestry pavillion at the Addison County Field Days!! The fair starts tomorrow morning. It'll be a chance to share some of the ideas I've been working on about forestry in Vermont and what the future holds with a different audience in a different venue.

This past weekend I started the last of the five paintings I am doing for this commission project. It is a small oil, dear to my heart, and I am hoping it will come out as well as I can envision it in my head! When it is finished I will turn my attention to all the WRITING that still needs to happen for this project! Each painting will have text accompanying it to get at the issues I am trying to elucidate in this work. And there is an artists statement to write as well.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Brent Bjorkman of Th Vermont Folklife Center. He is documenting the process of creating all these paintings and photographs by the ten Art of Action Artists. It was a wonderful couple of hours spent reflecting and conversing about art, community our forest landscape and making meaning in our lives. Thank you Brent, for your kind and careful work.

Had an wonderful time participating in VT Family Forests Neighborwood Workshop on Saturday, July 11. 35-45 people were there: loggers, foresters, academics and forest landowners. Best practices for wood harvesting were discussed and observed, and there was expert information about burning wood for maximum benefit and minimum environmental cost. Also discussion about the capacity of the forest in our specific five town region to support wood heat/energy, considering available land and growth potential of the forest. These are critically important issues and there is likely disagreement about how much harvest our forest can sustainably support.

David Brynn, the director of Vermont Family Forests featured a presentation of the first four of five paintings I am creating for the Art of Action during the workshop. It was a special opportunity for me to show the paintings to a group of interested citizens, including some of the people who are IN the paintings! Also a special opportunity because the paintings will be split up soon, and likely not shown together more than once or twice before they are auctioned in summer 2010. My sincere thanks to David, and Vermont Family Forests.

Here are a couple photos of the group in an area being harvested by Bill Torrey. You can see him here explaining it all to us. Photos by Paul Forlenza.