Stories on a Hill

Late light in August. This one took a couple of evenings but I knew the weather was going to hold so I took advantage by setting up on a spot on Helen Hill two afternoons in a row.

A friend of mine feels this work is holding a story in it. I thought about that comment after and realized he was correct.

Last Light on Town Hall 20x16 Calendar Pic for August 2014

 The first night I was there was very quiet on the street. I was able to lay in angles, make decisions about where this view was going and coming from. I blocked in color found my darks, worked that strange angle of looking down the hill that in the painting that wants to be nearly parallel to the edge. Believe what your eye tells you. Listen to the painting.

The second evening there was chatter. Across the street from where I had set up, a family was on their front porch. The woman was feeding dinner to her children. The man was painting trim on the porch. A male friend was visiting commiserating on his troubled love life. The kids needed to finish dinner. At some point the friend left. Like the old tv cop stories, "There's a million stories in the naked city." Not that Saranac Lake is a city. Population of 5000 just does not come close. In the spirit of the evening though, while developing the late sun hitting the wedding cake clock tower, the atmosphere of the day is infused with the story on the porch, heard but not seen, in the air. 

"Last Light on Town Hall" is hanging at the Adirondack Artists' Guild in Saranac Lake.