Bumper Crop, from the 'Down Country Road' Series

I don't know what was more fun to paint here; the pumpkins, or the vines on the barn that were turning colors.

Union Square Fruit Cart

The trick here was to keep the focus on the main event (our street vendor and his cart) but convey a sense of 'bustle' without overpowering.
Like an overly adorned woman that glances back in the mirror before stepping out and realizes that she must shed the scarf and the earrings, an artist has to make some cuts in the details.

Small Town USA, From the 'Down Country Roads' Series

I've been focusing on smaller works for those perennial 'holiday' shows that focus on miniature paintings.
This is Livingston Manor, a quaint little town with a breathtaking backdrop of green mountains.

"Colors of Fall", 6x6" From my 'Down Country Roads' Series

As I was driving out on my last trip upstate (until Spring), I snapped this picture of my neighbor seeing her son off to school. 'Colors of Fall' was born.

From the 'Down Country Roads' Series; 'Country Auto Shop', 8 x 10 inches

You know you've been smitten with the rural life when you start to find old trucks paint-worthy. But in all seriousness, painting is about using the language of color to express the beauty in the most everyday objects. I was particularly drawn to the blue and orange of the man-made in this painting set against the backdrop of nature.

Country Fence 8 x 10"; From the 'Down Country Roads' Series

I immediately fell in love with the way this rustic, country fence, overgrown with wildflowers, receded and vanished.

From the series 'Down Country Roads'. I call it "The Thick of Summer".

It's scary how often I have made abrupt stops along the roads upstate. What's an artist to do when something catches your eye on a winding country road but pull over? This painting is the reward of one such detour.

From the series: DOWN COUNTRY ROADS; POND IN AUTUMN

As many of my friends, family, collectors and colleagues know, I've gone country! Well... at least for the summer that is. And even though I'm back in the city now, I'm still kind of obsessed with everything rural. This lovely old barn, with attendant 'machinery' lives just down the road from me in the Catskills.
I call it "Late Summer; Work to be Done".
Expect a few more autumn scenes of country back-roads before I return to my urban subject matter.