Esopus Creek Silver Bullet:  My husband, Ed, prides himself on the underwater photographs he frequently takes of trout that he’s caught. Frequently, I’ve utilized these photos for paintings, as they make interesting subject matter. I know enough about trout to distinguish a brook from a brown from a rainbow. And I know that Ed often affectionately refers to wild Esopus Creek rainbows as “silver bullets,” but I didn’t fully understand his lack of underwater photographs of these fish. The vast majority of his underwater photos are of brook and brown trout, and I’ve now learned that wild rainbows won’t remain still long enough for him to capture a digital image. Well, he finally convinced me to do a watercolor of a large Esopus rainbow lying in the gravel next to a prized bamboo rod, just before the fish’s release. To complete this task, I purchased silver watercolor paint—a new color for me to try. Shadows add to the composition of the painting. I submitted the Esopus Creek Silver Bullet to a local juried art show titled “Fresh Air,” and it was accepted.  It also appeared on the July 2022 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Esopus Creek Silver Bullet (NFC):

 

Mother’s Pool winter:  Often when we travel from Phoenicia to Mount Tremper my husband will utilize Old Route 28/Plank Road along his Esopus Creek.  And, just as often when we pass Mother’s Pool, he’ll point it out to me saying, “That’s a famous Esopus Creek pool, but I rarely ever catch a fish there.”

Recently he asked me to paint a watercolor of Mother’s Pool, as it lay asleep in winter.  Given the wintery landscape, I was able to do this painting without using white gouache, but instead left areas of the watercolor paper untouched representing snow.  In addition, the sky was kept dull, with a hint of a glow, for a more wintery appearance.  Maybe someday my husband will catch a trout there, while thinking of this painting.

This watercolor appeared in the January 2023 issue of the Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Mother's Pool winter (NFS):

 Wittenberg:  Recently I was asked to do a watercolor of the former home of Ken and Kathy Baum, very dear friends of ours.  As Oliver Wendell Holmes noted, "Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave but not our hearts."  This special place is nestled in the Catskills, in the shadows of Roundtop Mountain and not from from Kenneth Wilson State Park.

Wittenberg (SOLD): 

Traver Hollow:  Noted angling/author Nick Lyons once wrote about favorite small waters he loved to fish, something along the lines of, "... you know them like the freckles on the back of your hand."  Well my husband loves to wander Traver Hollow, a small Ashokan Reservoir tributary that drains a mountain hollow.  Though its wild trout typically run small, its in this environ he's able to re-center himself while searching for all those freckles.

Autumn Traver Hollow (SOLD):

By the way, a discerning eye might find a couple heart-shaped images within this landscape, symbolic of the angler's affection of this hollow.

Eagleville Covered Bridge:  Is there any structure that’s a more iconic symbol of New England, and the northeast, than a covered bridge?  Recently our oldest son purchased a house along the Battenkill, a few minutes from the New York/Vermont border.  Like his father, Rob is a flyfisher, now feverishly working to make his newly acquired house the home of his dreams.  The Battenkill--- a noted trout stream, home to the likes of Lee Wulff, John Atherton, Lew Oatman, and many others--- borders his property. 

Also within easy walking distance of his place is the Eagleville Covered Bridge, which crosses the Battenkill in Eagleville, NY Washington County.  This covered bridge was originally built in 1858 by Ephraim W. Clapp and is included in the National Register of Historic Places.  I painted two watercolors as house warming gifts for Rob as it gives me great pleasure painting for someone I love.

The top watercolor appeared in the November 2022 issue of the Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Eagleville Covered Bridge (NFS):

Covered bridge (NFS):

Neversink River:  There are very few places that my husband enjoys more, as he whiles away time, than flyfishing the upper Neversink.

As I’ve acknowledged before, many of my paintings are done from photographs my husband takes while fishing or hiking.  Recently he shared a photo with me of a meadow of wild flowers, captured along the West Branch of the Neversink in a section known as Jones Flat at Wintoon.  What caught my eye first was the light on the “S” shape of the river.  I didn’t change much, except perhaps adding a few more purple flowers endeavoring to make the foreground a lovely feature of this painting.

This watercolor was utilized in the September 2022 issue of the Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Meadow waters – Jones Flat (NFS):

Autumn on the upper Neversink's twin sister, the East Branch.

Autumn East Branch Neversink:

 

Homes:  As the axiom goes, "there's no place like home."  I painted the top watercolor for my sister-in-law, the other two were self-inspired after viewing various YouTube art videos.

Home (SOLD):

Farm house:

Below, perhaps is a scene stolen from the lyrics of John Denver's ballad, "Take me home, country roads..."

Country road: