Captains, Cranes, Boats and a Bridge

Sometimes you have a perfect day.

That happened last week when I set up to paint in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

I've been having a great time painting this winter.  For the past 8 weeks I've been in Portsmouth, New Hampshire painting subjects that I've never painted before...

...man made objects, buildings, machines, ships, bridges, metal, industrial things....dark,  gritty, heavy, non-cozy, non-pastoral stuff.   

Not really what you'd call friendly, or human-sized, it's the substance of big industry. 

I'm painting this industrial landscape with fellow painter Barbara Carr who is just as interested in this new subject as I am. 

We pick a general location every week then scout around to see what has shown up. Portsmouth is a busy seaport, the setting changes all the time.

 Right now the well-known and well-used Memorial Bridge, an aging drawbridge, is being removed so a new one can be built in the same location.  

    

Unusual looking tug boats have appeared to move the barges and cranes for the workers as they dismantle the bridge.

Its a big deal. Hundreds of people love this bridge. It's the only one you can walk across to get to Kittery, Maine. Everyone comes by to see the "de-construction".  

We were lucky to find a quiet corner.  

Barbara wasted no time locating her spot and setting up.

I sketched in my design.

It wasn't easy. Not only did the barges move around while we were painting...

...but the reason they were moved soon became apparent. A huge ship needed to get up the river, and one barge was in the way.

It looked like a tight fit getting through the channel.

 The ship was so big that the tugs had to keep the barges and cranes in place as it passed.

All kinds of frameworks are being put in place to dismantle the remaining sides of the bridge.

A visit from Captain Leo Smith of the tugboat "Miss Stacy" made our day! How often does the captain of your subject visit you? 

Then as if that wasn't enough... the next group of experts to arrive were from the barges. Emmanuel Jefferson(on right) is the operator of the monster red crane I was painting ! 

These ironworkers usually work in the Chesapeake Bay region and wanted to see what these northern artists were painting. 

Heck ! The pressure was on. Get those painting done. Back to work!

Its a real party scene down by the bridge. People pour in all day, looking, chatting, taking pictures and watching everything the workers do.

Jeff Weaver stopped by after finishing a painting he started the day before when the crowds were so thick he couldn't even find a place nearby to park. 

We kept painting until sunset. 

The scene on the river keeps changing. Tugs, cranes and barges move around.



 When they stopped work for the day the two tugs tied up on the barge anchored in the middle of the river. They were all lit up. It looked like a small industrial island.

The Point of Graves

Sometimes when you go out to paint there is so much subject matter to choose from...

....that you can't decide where to start.
2 Boats Sketch 8x12 ink, watercolor

This was one of those days.

My friend Barbara and I met in Portsmouth, NH to paint. After looking around in a couple of different locations ...
2 Sketches, ink, watercolor

 ...we finally decided to stop at the corner of Peirce Island Road and Mechanic Street across from an 1600's burial ground named The Point of Graves.

From this spot we could paint boats, houses, streets, the skyline or the park !  You could just turn your head and the view was completely different. 

Clock Chimneys Sketch, 6x8 ink, watercolor 

Portsmouth has so much to offer... 

 ...a working harbor with large and small boats... 

...great architecture, a variety of old houses, large and small ... 

Old Neighborhood Sketch, 6x8 ink watercolor

...and fine vistas of rooftops in the Strawberry Banke neighborhood. 

It's a busy port with the hustle and bustle of oil tankers coming and going.

While we were painting the largest amount of joggers we'd ever seen in a 3 hour period scampered by. 

Barbara and I sketched a variety of subjects before we set up to paint. 

We were lucky.  It was a warm day with no wind blowing off on the ocean. 

As it is no longer peak tourist season, we could park and paint where ever we wanted. 

Small furry friends watched the activity from above.

 The muted colors on this overcast November day were typical for New England. 

Everything along the water had a silvery blue-violet tint to it.

Every now and then cloud holes would appear out over the ocean and sunshine would break through. 

At high tide the tugs were busy fetching and guiding huge oil tankers into berths up the river. 

I looked toward the river, painting the park and the drawbridge beyond it.  Barbara painted an old interesting house on the other side of the street.

In this neighborhood the streets are small and narrow with uneven brick sidewalks.

One of the docks is slowly disintegrating into the channel. 

 Small lobster boats travel under the Peirce Island bridge to the docks on the Island.

It is almost the winter solstice. The sun sets early, shortly after 4 pm.

The old dock buildings looked mysterious in the soft light.

The moon rose above the roof tops.

Lights started to glow in the windows of houses all over the neighborhood.

There are so many lights in a large town. When they come on at dusk the landscape is all lit up.

The "Puddledock" neighborhood has all kinds of little gleaming lights.  Christmas trees twinkled in some of the house windows. I'm coming back to paint nocturnes in this neighborhood!

PAINT EAT SLEEP