Serene Solitude, November Marsh by Roxanne Steed

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen (Raymar Feather Lite)

"The smaller the boat, the more you use it." - Judy Benson

Hope there's more days like this before the cold sets in. Truly delightful to be outside painting in this! The marsh grasses are drying to their golden hued splendor, the cool mud flat shimmering before it...just enough to know that it is wet and damp, yet the tide is still low. The trees have started loosing their leaves....some without evening turning color. It's been an interesting autumn to say the least.

I've been spending some time catching up with varnishing and cataloging a lot of the paintings that I did this summer and into the beginning of fall. I guess I've felt like I'd rather keep up with painting while the weather is cooperating rather than miss out. But sooner or later, the business end of things needs to be tended to.

Another 'house-keeping' task I've started is checking on supplies to see what I need to order more of. I've been a fan of Raymar panels for years & years, but have recently tried their 'Feather Lite panels'- which are great! They are a bit thinner yet they are still the same strong panel, with a wonderful surface (I really love working on their oil primed panels). The big advantage is that it keeps your gear really light weight. So if you need to hike out to a great painting spot, you don't feel like you're "moving house" just to do it! No point in wearing yourself out hauling gear before you even break out the paints!

Now the quote I offer today is from a friend that I went kayaking with a couple times this summer. I was thinking of that today as I dragged my easel gear with me. It's my 2nd lightest set-up, but it does have a nice big paint mixing space. I set out with small painting panels today, as I didn't know how chilly it might be down by the water today. I found a bit of a sheltered spot on a nature trail there at Hammonasset and it was delightful.

This painting is available directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery, or contact me here.

Passing Showers by Roxanne Steed

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau really had it right. When I do get outside to the woods and fields, I really do find it exhilarating (and that I've got myself in the right place). And that's whether I'm painting, hiking, or even taking a short stroll. Lately I've been exploring some additional painting possibilities in our region.

This morning I did take a short trek over to nearby Barn Island, just over in Stonington. I could see that the sky was clearing in that direction, and thought that there would be some interesting cloud cover as the front blew over. It started sprinkling when I pulled out of the driveway, so I wasn't sure if I'd get to paint or just be rained on. But it was a nice heavy cloud cover with band of clearing sky near the horizon. I was really drawn to the way the bands of cloud light reflected into the marsh water pools. On gray days, everything is much closer in value range (and the color can sometimes seem so rich).

This painting can be purchased unframed directly from me at my DailyPainters.com gallery store, or contact me here.

Butterfly Song (Harkness Park) by Roxanne Steed

20"x20" oil on stretched canvas

"This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders." ~Sarah Orne Jewett

This quote describes the weather today so well. It did feel like just a touch of fall was in the air. A bit scary/suspicious if you ask me, as I'm not ready at all for summer to end. It feels like it just got here! This scene is back at Harkness Park, the joe-pye weeds in this field are so pretty. Butterflies love it, and are flitting along the blossom tops.

This painting is available directly from the artist in my DailyPainter.com gallery store.

North Cove, August Mid Morning by Roxanne Steed

16"x20" oil on linen mounted on archival board

"Summer is not so much a season as a melody, that tune of contentment we hum as the days begin to beautifully blur." -Sarah Ban Breathnach

I got back home from my travels Tuesday night & rose to a beautiful day for painting this Wednesday morning! Back down in Old Saybrook, our friend Diane shares her wonderful view with a group of us painters. I'm finding that completing these larger plein air works are a bit like physical exercise....the more fit you become, things start to get easier. It's no longer quite so intimidating looking at these larger canvases outdoors. (It's a totally different feeling working in the studio when your surroundings are more stable. The light is not changing, wind not blowing, no bugs, or sunburn, etc.). But there is indeed something wonderful about being out in the weather while painting....painting the 'experience of the day', whatever that may bring.

This painting may be purchased directly from my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

Remains Of The Day by Roxanne Steed

9"x12" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"People live for the dream in their hearts. And I have yet to know anyone who has not some secret dream, some hope, however dim, some storied wall to look at in the dusk, some painted window leading to the soul." ~Zane Grey

I'm down in Norfolk, VA this weekend, visiting with fellow artist Norma Wilson, and trading out some paintings at London Square Gallery. A few of us got together yesterday just to paint and catch up. Luckily I brought my laptop with photos of Barn Island, in Stonington (CT) that I've been wanting to paint. I love the abstract shapes within the marsh as dusk falls. The colors of the grasses change minute by minute until the sun finally sets...purple dusk turning to night fall, the sun giving its final light show before taking a bow below the horizon.

This painting can be purchased framed, directly from me, through my DailyPainters.com gallery store.

North Cove, Old Saybrook by Roxanne Steed

16"x20" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

"Do not tell fish stories where people know you; but particularly don't tell them where they know the fish." -Mark Twain


Another beautiful day here in New England! I was able to go back to Old Saybrook and finish the piece I started on last week down on the North Cove. My friend's yard overlooks the cove and all the boats moored out there are so beautiful.

I had been wanting to work on larger pieces on location. I usually work on this size in the comfort of my studio. But I did want to see what I could bring to the effort by being on location. I got the canvas covered last week, with everything blocked in & indicated in placement (in particular the boats and the clouds, which continue to move all the time). Once I indicate the direction of light hitting the boats, that's the crucial point for me. (***And I strongly suggest to artists just starting out, to lay out a lot of paint!)

This week I came back for the finish, which actually doesn't take that long once the "bones" (or foundation) of the painting are carefully set.

This painting may be purchased directly from me, at my DailyPainters.com gallery store

Incoming Front Over Ledge Light, sold!!! by Roxanne Steed

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots."

-Frank Howard Clark

Tuesday morning I went out in hopes of painting before the rains came. I was certainly lucky as I got just what I was after! Interesting cloud shapes and color filled the sky over the Wetlands Overlook at Waterford Beach. Looking out toward the Long Island Sound, I could see Ledge Light in the distance, where just the day before everything was enveloped in a very thick fog.


I had mentioned in a previous post about keeping your plein air gear light for travel. This is whether you're flying to a far destination, or just hiking in to your local park. It's all too easy to try stuffing 'just one more thing' into your bag/backpack. If you've got to carry that any distance, you'll be tired & regretting it before you even set up to paint. Over the years I've tried just about everything out there on the market until I finally came upon this combination. An 8x10 Open Box M easel/palette screws right onto a simple camera tripod (not a heavy one either, just a very basic one (got it for under $20 years ago). I have a little sack attached to the legs for laying rocks in for weight if it's a bit windy. If you're trying to paint in a gale, well, suffer the consequences...wind is just about the worst problem to deal with when painting outdoors. Keeping it simple is still the best idea. If you're determined to 'gut-it-out' in wind, you could detach the small box from the easel & hold it.

Other supplies that fit into this pack are an 8"x10" Raymar wet panel box, it holds 3 panels, but for most nearby outings I just take 2 panels. I bring 2 different palette knives, a couple bulldog clips to hold my trash bag onto the set-up, Kleenex, paper towels, a small container of wet-wipes/baby-wipes (yes they are GREAT for getting paint off your skin). In summer I bring a small bug-spray. I try to remember a water bottle, & a camera, but I've left home without them & it's been fine. For paints, I take a warm & cool of each primary, plus white. If you're working with a palette knife, you don't need any medium, solvents, and clean-up is so much simpler. The little rolling back-pack I found at Wal-Mart ($35 if I remember correctly), allowing you to roll it if you're in an area with sidewalks or hoist it up on your back if you have to hike into an area. This has been the most versatile set-up I've used over the years, and of course, may get tweaked over time as all things seem to. And of course, there's no "one WAY" to rig your set-up, what-ever works for YOU is the key thing! Hope it helps you if you're looking to lighten your load and get out to paint more often!

For purchase information, click here.

Foggy Day Wetlands, Spring Thaw by Roxanne Steed

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

-Henry Van Dyke


Early Monday morning I went down to the shoreline to the wetlands overlook at Waterford Beach, here in CT. I think this is the first outdoor painting I've done this year. A heavy fog had rolled in over night and mist filled the air, it was actually quite beautiful! And it felt GREAT to be back outside painting again! Contact me here, for purchase information.


**A tip for painters- if you are going to paint outdoors in heavy mist (or possible light rain), you will want to make sure you are working on an oil primed surface. I learned this from a friend in Ireland several years ago while painting out in a light misty/rain. He was painting on an acrylic primed canvas and it began absorbing water and resisted the oil paint like a batik. This was certainly not the look he was after, and was so disappointed. I was painting next to him, and using an oil primed linen mounted on panel (from Raymar) the water beaded up & I was able to push it away with the paint brush/knife. I've since seen this a few times and was glad I had brought along the oil primed panels! AND, it's a great idea to keep your gear light, just in the chance that the weather gets worse and you have to pack up pronto to head for dryer, safer ground.

If you're in Norfolk, VA at the end of the month, I have begun framing new works to take to London Square Gallery; where I'll be doing a demonstration of my palette knife work on Saturday, April 30th. If you're in town, I'd love to have you stop in to visit!

Gray Day At The Shoreline

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul."
- Victor Hugo


I took some time out to go paint outside today. One of my Twitter artist friends, Jackie White, here in CT invited me to meet up with her over at Harkness Park (my favorite place). It was very overcast most of the day, which is actually quite pretty down by Goshen Cove, looking across the beach. The treeline & tall steeple silhouette is such a nice view. I love how the curve of the beach and grasses lead right in to the steeple view. This one is called, "Gray Day At The Shoreline" and is an 8"x10" on Belgian linen mounted on archival board.

I'm currently working on some commission sketches, another project that looks like it will be a fun painting!

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