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The arrival of the new year makes me think about time: the passage of time and how things change and evolve over time. Just yesterday I thought about this as I finished a new pastel, "Marsh on Mt. Desert." I regard this as a good example of how pictorial ideas change and evolve. It began some time ago with a productive trip to Mt. Desert and Acadia (among my favorite places in Maine), where I loaded up on sketches, memories and photographic reference materials. A number of paintings have already resulted from that trip, but a few weeks ago I realized that there were a lot more ideas for paintings lurking in those "archives." I began with a watercolor, "Pond on Mt. Desert" (14"X20"), and this allowed me to reacquaint myself with a specific place, a marshy area next to a pond.

The finished painting sat in my studio a few days, and I began to think that it would be interesting to focus in on a part of that scene and to reconsider the composition, i.e., how to arrange the parts of the scene, as well as what to include and what to leave out. "Mt. Desert Marsh," a 'value' (black and white) study in charcoal was the result, and it was useful in helping me think about the essentials of the scene.

This led me to do another watercolor I called "Reflections, Mt. Desert" (16X20). I liked the way that the "story" in this picture put more emphasis on the water in the foreground and the fascinating complexities of the reflections of the sky and an evergreen, its presence here known only by implication of its reflection.

Then, a few days later I switched gears and did a small pastel "study" (only 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches) of somewhat the same motif: "Reflections, Marsh on Mt. Desert." In this instance I decided to include a bit more of the marsh off to the left as well as the background, but keeping the main focus on the reflections on the water.

More time passed (had to get some paintings framed, which is one of my least favorite tasks). Then, just a few days ago, on the last day of 2017, having really gotten to know this subject I began yet another painting, again in pastel: "Marsh on Mt. Desert" (16X20). I finished it just yesterday - the first painting of this new year! I wouldn't be surprised if there were still other ideas about this place that could lead to yet more paintings. Stay tuned! I'll be showing all of these pictures in a solo show that is scheduled for next May, and I'll send out information about that in due course.