River Walk Series

The "River Walk Series" or sometimes "Night River" paintings were painted while living in Staunton, VA. I and my partner Clare had moved the small town of Staunton, VA in 2019. While living there I realized I missed the hamlet of Halcottsville more than I imagined I would. These paintings are an Ode to the Hamlet of Halcottsville, NY. They mainly, in a visual sense, refer to and resulted from the many walks I took at night after sundown along Lake Wawaka and the East Branch river which ran in front of our house and my studio. The scenery was beautiful there at any time of the day but I relished the walks at all hours and especially at dusk, night and dawn when no one else was around and it was so quiet. It was so dark you could see the Milky Way. I could go out at dusk and it would be pitch black by the time I came back to the house. But no matter how dark it was you could still make out shapes of things however close the range of tones. I likened the close values to an Ad Reinhardt painting which you had to sit in front of for a long period of time to see the separate shapes and tones emerge. I also liked to get up very early when the birds began to chirp. In the morning mist the shapes were filled with possibilities. They were the same shapes and objects to be seen during the bright sunlight but were more instilled with possibilities. I think that is what drew me to the nightly and early morning river walks. That is the feeling of possibiliies.