"The Glen", oil on linen canvas, 46x36 cm (18x14 in), 2011.

September is one of the most beautiful months of the year in New England. The air crisps giving us clear blue skies, the foliage holds green for just a few more weeks though spots of color can be sprinkled about, and the light is angled more. After a big storm, such as TS Irene which blew through recently, the weather that follows can be wonderful.

So it was this September that an artist who I greatly admire, who does amazing things with color, urged me to get outdoors again and paint the landscape. I had nothing to lose by being outside, and everything to gain as the color one absorbs in Nature gets into not only the painting at hand but creeps through the studio afterward, getting into the work going on inside as well. As an artist, you might say Nature infuses the blood with vigor and recalls certain colors not bethought for months or years. Like old friends, pale stone, earthy orange/rose and violet brown appear, along with many odd green and brown cousins to give the whole canvas clarity and light and freshness.

Yes, we had a picnic of color the other day, so I invite you to linger around this tree and stone wall for a bit and enjoy what I saw there.