For the third straight year, I intend to show some paintings at the Manchester Art in the Park, and I sure hope that for the first time, we get to show for both Saturday and Sunday. Last year and in 2008, we had deluges on Saturday and very soggy ground on Sunday. Both of those Saturdays had to be cancelled. Can it happen again? Yes, it can.

Hours are ten to five each day. No entry fee. The Park is Veterans Park, between the Superior Courthouse and Elm Street across from the Center of New Hampshire (Radisson Inn).

This year I am trying to act a little smarter maybe. I have made a list of 20 paintings to show, and 19 of them will feature trees and foliage. Experts advise displaying just one type of art at these shows. If an artist shows more than one style, people are confused about who that artist is. (Unless the artist is Picasso, in which case it doesn’t matter.) I decided to go with the foliage because I think my rendering of foliage may be my most distinctive quality.

The one exception is the Point Judith Lighthouse, which still gives me a thrill whenever I gaze at it. I have given it the best, the widest frame I have, hoping to knock your socks off–if you come visit me this weekend at the show.

At the top of this page is the quintessential foliage painting from my collection. It has suffered through five or six name changes since its creation. I painted it from a photograph I took in 2008 while ignoring the overlook part of a scenic overlook on the Kancamangus Highway. What caught my eye was the slight suggestion of a path beckoning me into the forest. I was barely on my feet after a hip replacement, which maybe had something to do with my being drawn to this opening. Weeks later, I was attending a series of Saturday workshops by Peter Granucci on “Fresh Greens”, and he asked us to paint something as homework that used a lot of different greens. This painting was my effort. So its first name was “Green into Green” in recognition of its status as a workshop assignment. Later, I tried to identify the time of year with “The Greening of the Forest in May”. Now I want to focus the viewer’s attention on that opening, so I have been trying “Opening” and “Forest Portal”. Suggestions are definitely welcome.

Another of the chosen 19 is “Homage to Cezanne”, my copy of Cezanne’s “The Bridge at Maincy”. I looked for an image of the original to share with you, and found two different versions–same composition but radically different coloring. That took me back a bit. If anyone out there has seen the original hanging in Paris’ Musee D’Orsay, let me know. Meanwhile, first is a version nothing like mine, then one a little closer to the print I was copying, followed by my own version, the “Homage”.