Tag: Menemsha

The Paint Box

Posted on by heather

We are half way now dear readers and patrons. For the second half of this year’s Granary show let’s actually get ourselves up to that island of Martha’s Vineyard. Roll that car off of the ferry and make a quick stop at Net Result for some sushi to go. We are heading up island.

We are going to spend the rest of the show strolling along Basin Road heading down to the beach with some hidden views and familiar interiors and we will be there just in time to catch a moment in history as the old makes way for the new.

Let’s head down the hill and see what’s up first…

The Paint Box – 30 xx 20

This came from one of those serendipitous shifts in the atmosphere
that only happen when you are not looking.

I’m quite certain there will be some of you
reading these Painter’s Notes
after viewing The Paint Box
who will say…huh
I never noticed that house either.

Coming down the hill
into the little village of Menemsha
even if you obey the 15 mph speed limit
by the time you start the curve to the left
and the final descent to the stop sign
your mind is on one of two things
lobster
or chowder.

Well for me it’s three
because I’m getting ready to look to my left
to see if Jane’s light is on.

OK if you are a fisherman
you might be wondering about the wave heights
it won’t matter but you might be wondering.

And if you were Herself
you’d already have your hand on the swimming bag
and would be thinking about fried clams.

But you get the idea
that the focus on that last tenth of a mile
is on what lies beyond
not what sits to either side.

Last October,
after decades of Octobers
we were driving up out of the basin
and turning left at the stop sign
to go up the hill…
and BAM
there was a shaft of light
that shot right onto the corner of this house
which I had never seen before.

Knowing what I now know
about how quickly the light can come and go on this island
I turned right around.

Came back up the hill
threw the car as far off the road as I could
and walked up to investigate.

Click click click with the camera to record the moment
then some intense visual sketching for reference
and just like that the light was gone.

Came back home and reviewed the days scouting.

And there on the camera screen
was what I was too busy on site to see…
the dear little painted doorstep sign…
The Paint Box

Gotta love ’em
My Muses

Over and Under

Posted on by heather

All of the knots
over all of the years
the lobsterman’s hands remember.

All of the waves
the tides and the drifting
beat in the fisherman’s veins.

Setting the bait
and lunging the gaffe
the muscles can do when their sleeping.

But never a gale
‘er blew out at sea
could wither her salty remains.

Feeding Jane’s Crow

Posted on by heather

Oh Jane…

So this painting is one of those collaborations
in which I play only a very minor part.
I really had nothing to do with this one.

Early on in the pandemic
Pat and Jane made a pact.

They would call each other
to check in almost daily
for support during the isolation of lockdown
her on her island
and Pat in her log cabin
and to provide at least one good belly laugh between them.

That conversation has been ongoing ever since
and it is honestly the highlight of my day
to come home and hear the latest story from Jane.

I secretly think they each go out of their way
to make stuff up just for the chuckles
but I’m here to witness that we, none of us,
would have made it through without that connection.

So Jane has this crow
which she feeds.

She reports that it visits each day
and goes so far as to follow her on her daily walks
through downtown Menemsha
and apparently gives her what for
if she forgets to offer up the daily snack.

One day Pat comes over to the studio in tears…
well actually every day Pat comes over in tears
which are mostly from laughing
at Jane’s stories.

Apparently Jane had set out a bag
with some sort of crumbs
for her crow.

It was a stormy day
and the wind
or possibly the crow
had blown the bag onto her roof.

Pat sternly warned Jane not to jolly well climb up there after it.
This is something you must remember
as her friends know
to warn Jane not to do.

Then they got to giggling about how Pat
suggested Jane get a tiny little umbrella
for the storm soaked crow
and they both lost it
which is why the tearful laughter in the studio
and
as ever
those cheeky Muses were in the corner
listening.

It was the work of a moment
to find a teacup from Oversouth
and the delicate whalebone handled parasol
had been perched on the top of a picture frame
hanging on the wall of the log cabin dining room
ever since Mr. Morse handed it to me on our last island goodbye.

I stripped away all but the tidal current from the basin
and then just stood aside.

There is personal meaning to the bling.

But that’s
personal.

Sail on Lady Jane
and your little crow too.

More Prints Available…

Posted on by heather

How are you all doing on this fine summer afternoon.
It’s cool here inside the studio, but outside the zinnias are loving them some hot and steamy temps.

I went around and picked a bucket of flowers for Herself to arrange the other day and spotted some swallowtail caterpillars chomping their way through the carrot patch.

It reminded me of this painting, The Reverie…

Which got me thinking about how I’ve been meaning to update the Print section with a few more paintings.
So, taking advantage of the air-conditioned office, I have just added 9 new ones to the page.

They kind of randomly populate the PRINTS page when I load them so I’ll let you see them here for review and for fun.
I’m still battling the learning curve of the new Gutenberg editing program and I can’t…as yet…figure out how to hyperlink each of the images below. But they do all appear on the Prints page so you can find the info there if you’ve a mind.

Stay safe and cool out there and watch for those butterflies.

https://heatherneill.com/prints/studio-prints


The Morning Bell – Painter’s Notes

Posted on by heather

Morning again here in the studio.

Before today’s Painter’s Notes I want to give you a heads up…

There are just four more days until the Granary Gallery Show opens…
Though, as you well know by now, there will not be an “Opening Reception”…
the gallery is very much OPEN and the staff are doing an amazing job and going out of their way to make a safe and welcoming environment for people to get in touch with art.

Herself and I have created a video aptly titled…”Wish We Were There” …by way of letting our island community know we are there with them…at least in spirit. The gallery sent me a list of questions and Pat agreed to read them to me on camera and you can expect some frivolity ensued.

I’ll be posting that video here on the blog on Sunday Morning… we hope you’ll pour a cup of tea and join us for that short studio visit.

So…4 days and counting…

That leaves three paintings to go…and today…

we go back to Menemsha.
I’ve spent so many hours on this dock that this painting almost painted itself.

The Morning Bell  –   24 x 30

One of my enduring memories of that most special
week we got to spend “living” in Menemsha
up there on Crick Hill
was wakening to the early morning
sounds of the harbor.

When the wind is right
you can hear the bouy bells
playing a rhythmic bass line
and the gulls picking out the melody

Before the charter engines
crank up you can still make out
the water lapping against the bigger boats
some ropes and chains a’ rattlin’
against the mighty masts
and…

If you’re really early enough…
the putt putt putter of Louie’s
trawler making her way out
for the first cast of the day.

So…
even though this particular painting
is righteously full
of the colors
that bring the harbor to life
for most artists

What I hear…
is just as evocative
as what you see.

Storm Study – Painter’s Notes

Posted on by heather

It’s an early start for me in the studio this morning…

but I want to take you to the end of another day…

last October…when the wind was raging

and the clouds were heavy and dark

and the sea was gathering it all in

Storm Study – 12 x 20

We kept chasing this sunset.
After we watched it move in
and over the Vanderhoop House
up on the hill
we thought it was spent.

Wanting to make our last night…last
we took the Moshup Trail
where the wind picked back up
and blew a sand devil across the road.

I turned around and the clouds
were on fire…so…
I parked at this trailhead
and taking one step out of the car
was blown back into my seat.

Undaunted..
I managed to make it half way up this dune
before my weak knees gave out
but not before I caught a glimpse
of what the sea had to say…

Right before
everything in the world
changed.

Aquinnah Sunset

Posted on by heather

This is the next painting in order of the way we spent our last night on the Vineyard last October…after Derby’s Wake we drove on up to Aquinnah to see if there was a sunset there…

Aquinnah Sunset – 20 x 30

Anyone who has spent time
on the island of Martha’s Vineyard
will know how dramatically
the quality of light
can change
in the blink of an eye.

Last year,
in what now seems like
emotional light years away,
we extended our annual fall visit
letting the island and our friends there
hold us a little longer
and a little closer
because we needed to be held.

On our last night
when up-island was as quiet as I’ve ever seen it
we sat in the car in Menemsha
saying our goodbyes to the harbor
we alone were there as the heavy clouds
were obscuring any promised sunset.

We decided to make the loop
out to Aquinnah
and as we came upon the lighthouse
and rounded the bend
the winds howled
and the heavens parted
for waves of color to break through.

Looking back…
From where we all are now…
I can seen how powerfully looming a harbinger
the raging…
and then clearing…
of that Nor’easter was.

We thought our world
had shifted something mighty back then…

And then…
the reckoning.