Painting wild places...

There's a special place in the northern Adirondacks that I love to paint. It's unusual for me, because it is a farm, not wilderness. It is the former property of artist Rockwell Kent, who lived and farmed there in the mid 1900's. Named "Asgaard Farm" (Home of the Gods) it has got to be one of the most beautiful locations in the region and many paintings of it can be found in the Rockwell Kent Collection at SUNY Plattsburgh.  Turns out I too have a Rockwell Kent collection - of my own paintings. 

They are roughly in order, from newest to oldest, and one is a painting of Rockwell Kent's studio, set back in the woods. I stood at different locations when I painted and have tried to not paint the same painting more than once. Some are a wider view, some closer, morning light (on the mountains) or afternoon light (behind the mountains). These are all plein air painting in different sizes. They range in size from 10x30 to 9x12 and were completed over a span of close to 25 years!

One thing that has always troubled me is the lengthy row of planted maple trees that line the driveway to the property. They are all close to the same size and look like lollipop trees most of the time. They also tend to take away from the majesty of the view itself - so I"m learning to minimize them visually.  

What I love about this view is how the mountains, the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, dwarf the manmade structures of the farm. I'll not make any other comments - enjoy the tour of Asgaard Farm.