Kempton farm

"Old barn in Spring" by Hilary J England
8" x 10" oil on canvas, 2014

I decided to post my painting today from Kempton, as I went out and scoured the countryside for interesting sites to paint.  This one barn, in the full Spring sunlight, just looked incredible the way the sun beat down on it, literally making it a beacon of blues and purples...it was awesome. It stood by itself, with one lonesome cow in the field...it was definitely an oddity.

So, that is it for today, I will post more tomorrow.  I am feeling really under the weather, and I don't know why I feel so incredibly fatigued today, but I do, and this was the most I could muster, much to my disappointment.  I had a whole day of activities lined up, but by the time I got home, I could just fling myself into my easy chair outside, and catch a breather.  I don't know...hopefully my "get up and go" will get up and come back tomorrow....

Enjoy!

Hawk Mountain

Woman and vista, South lookout
Hawk Mountain, April 2014

I went up to Hawk Mountain and took a series of photos and did some painting, as it was absolutely wonderful up there.  This photo here I took of a woman relaxing at the edge of the precipice, just for scale.  She was gracious to sit for me.

Vulture circling the Valley, North lookout
Hawk Mountain, 2014

Here is one of a turkey vulture circling the Valley.  You can see the bird right above the innermost boulder on the bottom left.  It was a truly magnificent Spring day, with the warms and cools of the clear day really bursting forth!

Hiking up on the mountain really clears my mind.  I initially went up there just to sit quietly on the South lookout, but the weather was so fine, I decided to hike up to the North lookout as well, and I wasn't disappointed. No, no great or wonderful bird sightings, but the views were absolutely breathtaking and majestic from the bright, clear sky, that you could just see for miles.  That view never disappoints, even on a cloudy day.

Near the hall of the Mountain King
 Hawk Mountain, 2014

I did take many photos, and got a painting and some sketches in.  I did rue hiking to the North lookout with my gear, but for some reason, hiking up is never as bad as hiking down for me, as I'm always afraid of just tumbling down the mountain, and it's kind of hard to fall "up" haha.  At least for me it is...

So, I will post my painting from the mountain tomorrow, but today, time to head down to the canal and enjoy the rest of the day!!

Wishful thinking

"Wishful thinking" by Hilary J England, oil on canvas, 8" x 10" 2014

 

 

 

This is not the painting I did today, it was from the other night, in the snowy night, in my studio, and I was thoroughly disgusted with the weather and life in general, so I began to dream of where I wanted to be, and that's when I painted that little painting.  I also trashed most of my studio in the hunt for Titanium white, because I have tubes of it, and not being able to find one was the final straw and I just snapped.

Today was a lovely day, and I trekked out to Tuscarora, where I found a nice little patch of air to paint in, and initially it felt wonderful...but after a few hours, the clouds came, and the wind came, and it was almost like an April Fool's joke on me, after I became chilled, I decided enough was enough, and that was that.  I still can't shake the depression of this Winter off...the angst is really entrenched.  I feel deeply frustrated at what I don't know, but it's there, and I can't pinpoint it, can't assuage it, can dissuade it, can't shake loose of it, and I'm angry and tired about it.  Maybe it's everything in general, or maybe something more, but at this point, I don't really care much, because I've dealt with this monster my entire life, and I will move through it. Another day or so with the sun on my face and a nice soft breeze through my hair, and I will begin to thaw....

So, enjoy my little fantasy painting.  Tomorrow I will post the one from Tuscarora...after I get motivated to photo it...