Why do I prefer to paint from life rather than from photographs ?

 

It is the play of light which inspires me, whether in the studio seeing how the soft north light models the form of a line or the strong edges, and color on an autumn day when the wind is north east. It is the muffled shapes in an incoming fog where edges are lost and the painting is all tones. What also inspires me in nature is the strange abstractions  in the patterns of light and dark that occur at certain moments in the day.

 

There are certain sites I return to again and again,(Fenway Park, the channel in Menemsha), where changing light and seasons present new challenges.

 

Painting from nature is never boring.  There are endless surprises and endless variations on a theme.