This is the “Caretaker’s Inn” at Weir Farm. This is where I am staying during my residency. I call it the “cottage.”
The Weir Farm, although originally owned by an artist (J. Aldon Weir), was also a working farm with apple trees and animals. This is the field across the street from my cottage. It is part of the farm.
This is just one area of the farm where this beautiful stone wall almost comes together. Apparently this is the original stone wall and it requires constant upkeep - like most of the grounds here. It takes three days for the gardeners to mow the park.
This is me working in the studio which includes the whole second floor of the cottage. I have plenty of tables and a nice, sturdy easel for working on. There are several windows that create a nice cross-draft when they are all opened. It has been pretty hot and muggy here - 80’s - until today.
I’m working in watercolors, pencil and gouache for this trip. This is my little work area with some studies I’ve done inspired by my surroundings and done from photos I have taken while here. Although Mr. Weir was a Plein Air artist, and many other artists from this area work that way, I am not. I prefer working from photos and playing around with different concepts based on what I see.
Here’s a close-up of the watercolors I have been working on. (sorry it’s not a better photo - I haven’t gotten the hang of white balance yet and I don’t have access to Photoshop). I also just started two large paintings which I haven’t photographed yet. I will show them soon.
