Gone fishin' !!

 

 

That's what a lot of those 19^th/early 20^th century artists did in the Adirondacks, and at this midway point in the Empty Frame series, I'm beginning to get a feel for who the fishing buddies were.   The title image above is "The Angler," a painting of the artist Roswell Morse Shurtleff by his eminence Winslow Homer  – the god of 19^th century American painting.  The two were also painting and fishing pals with Homer Dodge Martin who we've met before.  (But who among us will ever remember these triple-barrelled names?!?)

 

Shurtleff was quite a handsome guy – and as his luck would have it, he provoked a convergence as I considered my next experiments. 

 

My friend L remembered that I'd once talked about my handmade charcoal, "curated" at our coastal cabin from almost anything the Curator could put his hands on – twigs from different varieties of trees and shrubs, charred over an outdoor fire in ingenious interlocking tin cans.  I still have an abundant supply, of which this is just half. (Maple, willow, alder, thimbleberry, grape)

 

Then, a book recommended by my friend M became available at the library:-- "Women Street Artists: 24 Contemporary Graffiti and Mural Artists from around the World" by Alessandra Mattanza.

 

 

The book's cover shows an enormous painting on the wall of a building – oh, what a temptation it was to paint something BIG on my disintegrating back fence that is destined for imminent replacement. 

 

Sanity set in, and I decided instead to do an oversized portrait of Shurtleff, using maple and willow charcoal.  In the blissful cool of one morning a few weeks ago, I set up outdoors against the fence – with no worries about inhaling the charcoal dust or having it mess things up as it fell to the ground.  Here's an early stage, the drawing on an odd-shaped canvas, about 36" high by 24" wide.

 

 

And here's the finished portrait:  "Framed:  Roswell Morse Shurtleff." 

 

He's actually pretty content with himself and the environment  He's been camping outside ever since, under the shelter of the porch overhang – even through two nights of rare showers.

 

Next up:-- From Shurtleff's many evocative paintings of eastern landscapes, I've chosen his "Early Autumn."

 

I thought I might twin this with a photo I took at Belcarra Park.

 

 

These woods along one of Belcarra's trails are unusually open – without the more common undergrowth of the West Coast rainforests.  I worked first with charcoal and then decided I needed a touch of colour, and it was time to crack into my old supply of gouache.

 

Thanks to the National Gallery, UK:--

"Gouache is a French term used to describe a type of watercolour paint. The word is derived from the Italian guazzo which literally means a watering place."

A rather nice resonance with this watery environment!  And here's the final version, "Summer Woods – Belcarra" – Empty Frame series, copyright 2023.

 

 

It's fascinating to me that whether at their easels or at streamside, these 19^th – early 20^th century guys might be wearing hats, "dress shirts," vests, even their ingenious bow-type ties.  Dressed for success at the fishing hole!