Day 3 of 30 in 30

Switching themes, I decided to do a Cape Cod Tidal Flat scene. I intend to make a bigger version of  this sketch.We'll see how that comes out. This is a scene looking east from Rock Harbor in Orleans. Many of the beaches along this stretch have a low tide that goes forever.

Day 2 of 30 in 30

There are a few things I decided to do in this challenge. First, I thought I would follow several themes. I am going to do boats, beaches, vehicles, maybe birds, and buildings. All themes subject to change. I'll try to do a bunch of the same theme but will probably bounce around. The other thing is I will spend  up to two hours for the painting. I want to paint quickly and want to get out an do other things. Golf tomorrow and there are tons of striped bass in the Cape Cod Canal.
Here is my quick attempt at my friends' boat near Waquoit Bay.

Maybe another boat tomorrow or I may switch themes... Who knows.

30 Paintings in 30 Days

I've decided to participate in a challenge put out by Leslie Saeta to do 30 new paintings in 30 days. So, along with my friends Kim, Joe, Kathy and Joanne, we will try to meet the goal of a painting a day for the month of September. The rules are pretty loose and accommodating in case we get behind for a day or two. September is a busy month with beachin', fishin', jeepin' and now "artin'", so I will need some discipline to meet this goal.
Here is my first entry for Day One.

I took a photo of this boat coming in with a load of crabs while I was fishing on the canal the other morning. Caught 3 stripers and kept one for dinner (released the others) but that's another story.

2015 Pan Mass Challenge

I am in training for my 3rd PMC, this year in memory of our friend, Mike Noble, who passed away from pancreatic cancer last august. The PMC is a two day, 165 mile bike ride from Wellesley to Provincetown to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute. Scroll down to see last year's "wrap-up".
Thanks so much to all who have supported me. If you can help out, please click here . This will take you to my "Donate" page directly.
I'll update this post from time to time as the event gets closer.

Two Man Show at Palette Gallery

I'm pleased to announce that I will be part of a two man show at the Palette Fine Art Gallery, 4 Merchant Square in Sandwich (next to Cafe Chew). A reception will be on Saturday, June 13 from 5pm on. Palette Fine Art gallery was awarded the silver medal by Cape Cod Life in their "Best Of..." edition for 2015 as the number two art gallery on the Upper Cape.

The name of the show is Reflections. I will be teamed up with abstract photographer, John Whitmarsh, so it should be  interesting.

If you are on the cape or in the neighborhood, please stop by. Pass this on to your friends.

Also, look for my interview in the 2015 edition of Cape Cod Art magazine which comes out in early June.

Here are a couple of works that will be for sale at the show.

Lizzy's Barn

Sconset Village

Foxboro Art Association Spring Member Show

Congratulations to Ann Gorbet for Best in Show and Kathy Hutchinson for her ribbons in Pastel. I was pleased to receive a Second Place ribbon in the Oil category for my painting, Low Tide.

Congrats to all the other entries in the show. It runs through March at the Boyden Library in Foxboro. Check it out.

PMC 2014 Wrap-up

Just when you thought you had received your last email from me, here comes another one wrapping up another successful Pan Mass Challenge, thanks to your generosity.

 The 2 day ride from Wellesley to Provincetown started out rather uneventfully. Even though there was a forecast of a 100% chance of rain, none of us bothered to bring rain gear. How bad could it be. That would come back to haunt us as the day turned into the worst weather day in the 35 history of the PMC. The first 40 miles or so weren't bad, just some sprinkles, but we did lose one of team members along the way. Tom "blew out" his knee after the first water stop and limped another 20 miles to the next stop before he had to drop out.
It was after the second stop (lunch stop at 10am) that it started to rain. In a way it was kind of fun feeling like a kid again plowing through puddles and getting soaking wet. Even getting splattered from the rooster tail from the wheel in front of me seemed like a unique experience. But that didn't last long as the cold breeze picked up and whistled through our wet clothing. By the time we reached the Mass Maritime Academy to end day one, our teeth were chattering and our knees were knocking. I said to myself, "this is it. I'm not doing this again."

The next day was a new day. We started at 5:30 am by riding over the Bourne Bridge and along the Cape Cod Canal through Sandwich. Judy was the only person on the side of the road as we biked past the town hall. But after struggling over 6 miles of hills we had an emotional uplift when we were greeted by our inspirational team leader, Mike Noble. Mike and the family came out to meet us at about 6:30 and gave us just what we needed to forget about the long hours of training rides and the cold of the previous day.

 The final 65 miles were a breeze. Some of those miles we rode together and at other times we split up but we always regrouped at the water stops. The purple, pipe cleaner mohawks on our helmets made it fairly easy to find each other. After chowing down on PB and J, PB and banana and PB and celery, we left the last water stop together. We split up a bit on the hills of Truro then formed a train to ride the last 10 miles in P-town as a group. With the younger generation setting the pace and leading the group, I just sat back and let them draft me to the finish line. We all felt stronger at the finish than at the start. I said to myself, "I can't wait to do this again next year".

This year's fund raising was unbelievable thanks, again, to your generosity. So, you'll be hearing from me again next year when I hope I can count on you again. Mike and the rest of our team certainly appreciates all you have done to help find a cure for this dreaded disease.

Until then,

Tony

Changing Seasons on Cape Cod

A couple of paintings I've done lately give a pretty good idea of the changing seasons here on Cape Cod. The first one shows us trying to catch a couple of the last stripers that make their way along Sandy Neck on their way south. This was late October. The chances of catching anything were slim but it was a beautiful day and made for a fun painting. This one is done entirely in acrylic. I started with an acrylic under painting and  was going to continue with oil, but liked the feel of the acrylic, so I just continued...

The next painting is one I did after the first storm of the new year. As soon as the snow stopped and the sun started to pop out we took a ride around Sandwich and this spot on the corner of Jarvis and 6A looked might pretty. I switched back to oils for this painting.

At the end of Jarvis is the salt marsh near Town Neck beach. I took some nice photos there too so I hope to have a few more Cape winter scenes.

Cape Cod Scenery

One extra benefit of training for the PMC on the Cape was exploring different areas of the Cape. I took a detour down Wing Neck rd one day and came across a beautiful light house right at the end of the point. I took a few photos and came up with this version, below. It is on a gallery wrap canvas.

 Wing Neck Light

12x16

$225

This light house is now a private residence and can be rented. The original light house burned down and this one was rebuilt with the light house detached from the main house in the late 1800's.  It is pretty stunning when the light hits it right.

Also, there are plenty of interesting sites in Sandwich. Here is my version of the Old Grist Mill on Shawme Pond. It is still functioning and they give interesting tours of the mill showing it in  action.

Sandwich Grist Mill

12x16

$225

Finally, here is my take of the boardwalk across the estuary leading to Town Neck Beach. This is one of the iconic sites of Sandwich and is very popular with kids at high tide and kayakers all the time. 

Sandwich Boardwalk

20x40

$400

Please contact me if you are interested in these or any other pieces.

Busy month of December

This month I will be participating in 2 shows as well as displaying my artwork at my "home" gallery in Sandwich.

 First, I will have 3 paintings from our Paris sejour on display for the Small Works Show at the Gallery 9 in Norwood. Click on the link for details. There is a reception on Friday the 6th from 6-8. There will be a lot of great art work at very reasonable prices. The work will be on display for the month of December.







Next, I have a number of large and small paintings on display at the Studio Brush and Gallery in Sandwich where I am one of the Co-op artists. Our show for December is called the Merchant Square Holiday Celebration. We will have an opening on Saturday the 7th from 1-5. This is a very eclectic gallery with a working studio. The gallery is located on 6A next to Cafe Chew and the Sandwich P.O. We have a wide variety of oil paintings, pastels, acrylics, giclees, photography and jewelry all priced to sell. Stop by for the opening or any time during the month. I'll be manning the gallery on Sundays and Mondays through December.



Lastly, my painting group, the Neponset Valley Artists (NVA) is having a showing of winter related art work at the Walpole Public library for the month of December. The walls of the main meeting room are adorned with a wide assortment of winter and holiday related themes. Please stop by to check it out.