Lighthouse from the Beach

The Point Robinson Lighthouse on Vashon as seen from the beach at low tide.  Strong light from a hazy day casts a shadow on the roof of the lighthouse, leaving just small patches of bright sunlight on the roof and on the driftwood.  This one will be at Plum Lodge Painters in the Vashon Island Studio Tour the first two weekends of December. 

Purple Sunset Ferry SOLD

I've been doing lots of ferry paintings lately and I get bored with painting them all blue sky and green hills, so I I go out of my way to find different colors.  What can I say? it's purple and gold.  This one is in my Etsy store: http://gretchenhancock.etsy.com

Pale Ferry Hazy Sun

A ferry on the Vashon Fauntleroy Southworth run.  Haze and late afternoon sun reduce the contrast in this view and make a substantial ferry seem soft and ephemeral. 

Boouquet of Dahlias SOLD

Summer is ending but the dahlias continue to bloom.  These luscious flowers are from a friend's garden.    Most of the flowers were in shadow in this set up; the light was in a small arc in the upper left hand corner of the painting.  To make this painting work I actually painted just a few petals; mostly I massed the values and suggest the colors. The very dark red flowers were like a black hole in the painting and I wound up lightening those flowers and limiting the amount of really dark paint.The fun was trying to make the whole bouquet read together as one thing with light and dark and volume.

Sun and Smoke Ferry Vashon

The Ferry Tillikum leaves the north end Vashon ferry dock.  Sunlight streams through smoke as the boat slowly pulls away from the dock.  Painted from photos I took from another ferry on the same run.  I just put this painting in the Heron's Nest Gallery on Vashon. 

Pink Ferry at Vashon

Late in the afternoon. the Issaquah pauses at the north end ferry dock on Vashon,  Evening sun peeks out from under clouds and casts a reddish glow on the ferry.  I just put this one in the Heron's Nest on Vashon.