Old growth pine trees.

There have been lots of warm, sunny days in September and October for outdoor painting except on Thursdays when our group is scheduled to paint. On these particular days of the week, the weather could be very windy or rainy or both as one when a Nor'easter blew in.

At last, a few beautiful autumn days opened up for us painters.

Below is a painting of scrub pines growing in the grass covered undulating dunes of Salisbury Beach State Reservation. The multiple grouping of individuals although stunted in growth had pendulous-like arms reaching about in the sunny spaces. These boughs were tatted with hundreds of pine cones.  I did not paint the cones (how tedious would that be) only admired the decorative nature of the growths and the potential of another generation within the familial setting.

After the Nor'easter blew through for a few days, a bunch of us headed to Newburyport's Maudsley State Park to paint what was left of the area's autumn color.   After wandering about, I located a group of young fir trees back lit on a white-washed outbuilding.   Evergreen was the color I selected to paint on this fall day.

A few minutes after starting to paint, a park ranger came along to divert my attention to the mature stand of  Douglas firs to my left. Yes I said, I did notice the broken boughs littering the ground around me and one of the 100 plus foot elders leaning onto the others with its roots uplifted from the ground. Dangerous area, perhaps but I really like the Christmas tree lot for my painting subject matter, I said. The park ranger explained the small specimens were not for future holiday culling but to replace the old growth stand which have been toppling over one by one every year.