Rainy Period

                                                                                           (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

We have been experiencing a rainy period that seems unlike any other. It has been dark and wet nearly all of May. I don't even know if our solar panels are producing any energy this month. Today, would be the exception.

On the other hand, it has become incredibly green and lush, like a tropical rain forest. I paint watercolors outside when I can. To match the colors I see out in nature requires a saturation of colors I have never before had to achieve.

This is a local field between periods of rain. There is a coolness in the colors and temperature which is quite distinct. The longest days of the year are about one month away.

Watercolor sketch

                                                                                   (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

Recently, I bought a used book, Starting with Watercolour, by Rowland Hilder (1905-1993) at the Toadstool Bookstore in Keene, NH. Hilder was an English landscape artist and book illustrator, known as the Turner of his generation. As in J.M.W. Turner, considered by many, to be the best-loved English, romantic artist.

While reading this book and coming upon his discussion on his palette, he mentions one particular pigment combination: burnt sienna and phthalo green.  He mentions how this combination provides a deep, rich green the color of summer foliage.

So I gave it a go as the British might say and started introducing it into my watercolor practice. I find it is quite lovely, particularly when used against a backdrop of warm colors such as yellow or orange. 

When I look at the photograph of the above watercolor, I feel the temperature of a summer day, which I find to be quite powerful.

 

Brattleboro Common

                                                                                           (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

It was wet and rainy this afternoon, but I still got outside and painted in the elements. After lunch I painted three watercolors, all on different papers, and this was the largest (9" x 12") one. 

This was painted on a Kilimanjaro 140lb CP watercolor block. I have limited experience with this paper but learned I could lift pigment readily with a paper towel as drops of rain fell on the paper while I painted.

This was the first real plein air I have done in a while, and was determined to plunge in regardless of the outcome. Today, I became aware of how verdant the landscape truly is.

Fitchburg, MA

 

                                                                                    (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro

Recently I accompanied my wife on a visit to a dental appointment in Fitchburg, MA. It was only a few weeks ago at most and this what the landscape looked like adjacent to a nearby hospital. 

The landscape has changed dramatically since then. It has become green, lush and full of growth.

This watercolor is of an area nearby to where my wife and I parked. We took a hike through the woods of a nearby parkland that at the time looked drab and lifeless. 

Since that visit the landscape has pretty much skipped over spring and ascended into summer.

What to do?

                                                                                           (C) 2025 Dale DiMauro
 

What to do? 

This landscape was painted a while ago. It is of a local field as spring was beginning to unfold with the lengthening day and increased warmth. I experienced this scene on a hike as I came out of the woods and into the sunlight of the field.

I love the saturation of color and blending of pigments.  However, it needs some finishing touches. What I did of this painting was done in one sitting. However, the photograph on which this watercolor was based has not been located in a while. Yet, I would like to move on and paint another watercolor on this watercolor block.

Really just the edge of the hills or woods needs to be finalized. Simply just staining the white of the paper is all that might be needed. 

What would you do?

Of Light & Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor

                                                                                                   Winslow Homer
  

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, is putting together a major exhibition this fall, of watercolors by Winslow Homer. The show is titled: Of Light & Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor, running from November 2, 2025 - January 19, 2026.

The Museum of Fine Arts has the largest collection of Homer watercolors in the world, many not having been exhibited in nearly half a century.

The exhibit is accompanied by a forthcoming book from MFA Publications, which I am more than eager to acquire.

I took this photograph of one of Winslow Homer's best loved watercolors, Blue Boat (1892), from a book I have featuring his work. It's my favorite book on Homer and was published by Yale University Press for the National Gallery of Art to accompany a traveling exhibition (1995-1996) at the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).