Buoys
Over the years, I have been inspired to paint a variety of buoys of the New England coast. I like the work-worn scratches, peeling paint and identifying numbers and letters that characterize the rough use and hard work of fishermen.
I like to zoom in on the buoys and focus on the variety of differences, all the while striving to focus on unity as they hang on shacks or are tumbled into colorful piles. I often get the feeling I’m working on a puzzle when I paint these, and the challenge of how light affects color is always present.
Maine Color, oil 16x16"
SOLD
I like to zoom in on an image and crop it up close, and that's just what I did with the photo of this large pile of buoys. When I came upon this scene in mid-coast Maine, I liked how the colorful buoys were all tumbled on top of each other in the beautiful, cobalt blue water.
Beach Shack Buoys
Beach Shack Buoys; 36x12” oil
SOLD
The long, narrow composition for this painting crops these colorful buoys in such a way that it gives a feeling of movement. The beach shack background color is an actual beach shack belonging to a local seafood restaurant (Ray’s Seafood) in Rye, NH. It is a wonderful cobalt-type blue that I love to see every time I go there and thought would make a great backdrop for this painting.
I decided to choose from my reference photos of buoys from NH and Maine and arrange them together into this composition. Doing this created some fun challenges for me, as I had to study the shape of every buoy and not only decide where every shadow would fall, but how neighboring colors would affect each shadow. I think one of my favorite parts of this painting is the color - not just the buoy colors, but the shadow colors.
Coastal Buoys, acrylic 16x12"
SOLD
I enjoyed working on this painting. While my eye is drawn to the different shapes and colors, I think my favorite part is how the sunlight creates patterns on the shed and illuminates the buoys.
Glass Floats and Maine Buoys, acrylic, 16x12"
SOLD
These colorful glass floats and buoys were so fun to paint. I loved the process of finding the depth and color in the shadows. I also like the contrast in this painting. The smooth, shiny buoys next to the work-worn buoys and the glowing glass floats make my eyes travel around this sun-soaked composition.
Kaleidoscope, oil, 16x20"
Available at Small Wonder Gallery
This buoy painting has been a challenge. I wanted to get up close and capture the peeling paint, scratches and range of bright and dull colors all tumbled together. The way the eye moves through the painting from lower left to upper right and back down through the reflections is contrasted with the angles of the buoys and their handles going from upper left to lower right. This creates a complete circle and reminds me of the kaleidoscopes we used to play with as kids.
Fishing Shack Buoys, oil, 16x20"
Available: contact artist
This buoy painting proved to be a challenge. The fading clapboards, along with the variety of weathered buoys and shadows took more time and problem solving than usual. For this composition, I snapped a reference photo of buoys hanging on a New England fishing shack. The original photo had a few nets hanging in back of and around the buoys, which I decided to leave out because it was too busy-looking. Taking the net out allowed me to showcase the shadows and sharp edges of the buoys. Then I looked through my other buoy reference photos and took out the ones I didn't like in the original photo and replaced them with other buoys from around the New England coast.
Like always, I like to study the chipped, fading paint, scratches and numbers of the buoys I paint. It's interesting to think about the years they have spent in the ocean, on boats or hanging in the sun, rain and weather on a fishing shack like this one.
Maine Buoys, acrylic, 9x12"
SOLD
My first painting of buoys- the color of the shack steals the show! The work-worn, scratched-up condition of these buoys takes a close second.