A couple of weeks ago my wife and I did a week of house and dog sitting in north central New Jersey, Basking Ridge to be specific. My sister in law lives there and I was well aware of what a picturesque area this is and was happy to have a few days there to paint. Not 5 minutes from where we were staying is the lovely small town of Liberty Corner. It seemed to me that a fair chunk of Liberty Corner is made up of a beautiful farm called English Farm. I am thankful to the folks at the farm for giving me permission to park my car and wander around looking for subjects to paint.
The first day I was there saw abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. I set up my rig in a beautiful meadow and painted their beautiful barn. Upon returning home I worked up the original 8 X 10 to a more refined 11 X 14 which I call "English Farm". This image can be viewed on the "Available Paintings" page of this website.
Day two was a different story. Cloudy with a constant threat of drizzle...and cold! The kind of cold my old friend and fishing buddy Dave Pabst used to refer as "butt numbing" cold. But there is nothing like the colors of autumn to distract the on site painter from less than comfortable conditions. I was strongly attracted to the bright orange leaves of the round maple surrounded by an infinite variety of grays. And, I must confess, I am a sucker for cows. I could spend hours just watching them move and graze, move and graze. When I was near to completion the farmer took a moment to walk over and check on my progress. The cows, who were some distance away, immediately recognized him and wandered over to see what all the commotion was. I took a great picture of one of the black Angus while he views my painting with what I feared was an overly critical eye! This painting is available from Gallery North in Setauket, NY. Contact the folks at Gallery North at 631 751 2676 to add this piece to your collection.
