Summer Pasture

 

Summer Pasture

6 in. x 9 in., pastel on sanded paper

$225 matted and framed under glass to 9" x 12"

A simple tutorial piece, reminiscent of old farmland in New Hampshire, particularly along the rivers and seacoast where the hills roll gently and the standing copse of trees in the summer pastures provide shade to livestock.

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Hot Cross Buns

 

Hot Cross Buns

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on masonite panel

$180 framed 

A Lenten still life, painted during that season of devotion and meditation.  And yes, I make  Hot Cross Buns from scratch using my own recipe every Good Friday.

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Bradley Lake Road, Andover

 

Bradley Lake Road, Andover

5 in. x 7 in., acrylic on canvas

$85 unframed

This view will greet you on the way back from dunking your feet in Bradley Lake.  Views of Ragged Mountain peek up over the farm and the near hills.  A peaceful, out-of-the-way spot, with few people and a gentle, olden times feel.

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Ali's Daisy

 

Ali's Daisy

12 in. round, fluid acrylic on circular stretched canvas

$200 unframed (no frame necessary)

This piece is from an Ali Kay workshop I tried just for fun, using fluid acrylics.  I experimented on a round canvas, which I enjoyed very much!  This piece is quite a bit different from my usual style, which uses heavy body acrylics and tends to be tighter and closer to realism.  However, the fluid acrylics lend themselves to a looser brush stroke and I like the way this seems to splash off the surface of the canvas.

 

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Hendrick's

Hendrick's

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$100 unframed (no frame necessary)

While painting with my grandson (who was 10 at the time and wanted to paint a dragon), I fiddled around my daughter-in-law's kitchen for a couple of things to set up for a still life.  This little bottle of Hendrick's and a lonely lemon were just the thing.

  

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Cockermouth River at Sculptured Rocks

Cockermouth River at Sculptured Rocks

11 in. x 14 in., acrylic on cradled board

$325 unframed (no frame necessary)

A few years back, we took a hike up to Sculptured Rocks, a natural area up in Groton, New Hampshire. Sculptured Rocks gets its name because the water has carved interesting softened curves and holes out of the stones and boulders in and along the Cockermouth River.  Mostly shady and lined with hiking trails and a few walking bridges, there are several spots where you can sit by the water or soak your feet in the cold current.  I climbed down to a large, flat rock in the river to take the reference photo for this painting looking upstream.  

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Lobster for Three

Lobster for Three

11 in. x 14 in., acrylic on cradled board

$325 unframed (no frame necessary)

This jolly lobster trio has been painted with softer, fluid acrylics, and was just plain fun to paint.  This is a bit of a looser style, one that I've been enjoying working with the flowy, fluid acrylics on a smooth surface. It makes for juicier, washier brushstrokes, which have been interesting to experiment with.  This is classic New England, and nothing says New England like lobsters, whether you eat them or not (I sure won't!) But I sure loved painting them, and I hope you like it!

Photo reference courtesy Kindel Media

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Herodias

 

Herodias

11 in. x 14 in., acrylic on cradled board

$325 unframed (no frame necessary)

After painting this great blue heron, I found out that the scientific name for them is Ardea Herodias.  I thought Herodias would be a fitting name for this piece, since the historical Herodias was the cold-blooded initiator of the murder of John the Baptist.  She waited for the right moment to put her daughter up to asking for his head on a platter in front of a room full of her step-father's partying friends.  In order to avoid embarrassing himself, he granted the request.  Great blue herons are patient and lethal hunters; they will stand as still and unnoticed as possible, watching and waiting for their prey to swim confidently closer and closer until they can impale them with their long, sharp beaks and swallow them whole. This painting was done as an exercise to assist an aspiring art student in learning to paint.  I hope you like it.

Reference photo courtesy @diego.madrigal.cr

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Backyard Bandit

Backyard Bandit

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on Masonite

$180, framed

This well-fed little guy visited my workplace during a summer evening shift a few years ago and I'll admit to feeding him... pretzels.  He loved them.  I raided a coworker's stash for the salty little snacks, leaned out the office window, and he snatched them from my fingers.  This little painting, done quick and loose, captures the fleeting 7 or 8 minutes he hung out with us!

 

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Well Hello, Leon - SOLD

Well Hello, Leon

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on cradled board

$180 unframed (framing not necessary) ~ SOLD!

Leon and his companion Huey were the resident Percheron draft horses in the pasture adjacent to the former Twiggs Gallery in Boscawen, NH, belong to the Sanborns.  The poetry group I belong to that originated at Twiggs are the Percheron Poets, named after them.  One weekend day at a gallery event, I snapped an up close and personal picture of Leon as he gazed at me curiously over the fence.  In a recent private art coaching exercise, a friend and I used my reference to paint portraits of Leon.  As you can see, he's quite paintable!

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Pink House Requiem

 

Pink House Requiem

8 in. x 10 in., acrylic on panel

Not Yet Priced

This was how The Pink House looked on her final Saturday, standing out by the marsh, on the second weekend in March 2025, a parting portrait for this 100-year-old lady.  She was unceremonially torn down by the Parker River Wildlife Refuge three days later, on a foggy Tuesday morning, after refusing several offers to take her away, rehab her, or as trade for other land.  Shame on you, Parker River Wildlife Refuge management.

Marshmallow Fluff

Marshmallow Fluff

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on panel

NFS

Sometimes you gotta paint something for yourself, you know?  I really love retro food labels, and the New England made Marshmallow Fluff is iconic for really never changing up their label art very much.  Nothing else looks like this label, and it's instantly recognizable.  One of the things I really love about painting retro food art like this is that it gives me the opportunity to really study the forms, colors and lines in the designs that we so often take for granted.  This one is going to hang in the house.

Spring Thaw at Portland Head Light

 

Spring Thaw at Portland Head Light

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on panel

$200 framed 

Being probably the most photographed place on the eastern seaboard, and only 2 hours from my home, it's an easy hole-in-one to paint PHL any time I'm feeling like I just want to create a piece of classic New England.  I've painted and sold this lighthouse a few times over, and feel like I know all its details by heart.  This view was painted from some reference photos we took when we were there in March a while back.  As chilly as it was, the cold blue of the ocean and stark white of the lighthouse looked warmer with the orange and red scrub and grasses matted from the recently melted snow cover.

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True Friends

True Friends

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$130 unframed (no frame necessary)

This is a painting I recently completed using a great reference photo from @sedwickstudio.  I In this piece, the concern that the three whole pears seem to have for their cloven counterpart is quite lovely and wholesome to observe. I nearly titled it "The Widow," but that was a little too heartbreaking, and I'd rather leave the reason for the concern up to the personal interpretation of the viewer, and ultimately, the buyer who connects with it. 

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Mount Washington from North Conway

Mount Washington from North Conway

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$130 unframed (no frame necessary)

A March trip up NH Route 16 led to a few snapshots from the car as we rolled through North Conway.  Imposing Mount Washington sits resolute along the straightaway in town, making all the buildings, cars and telephone poles feel like a miniature village.  

 

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Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher

Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher

***WINNER: BEST IN SHOW- SAA Gallery February 2025 Theme Show: All Heart***

11 in. x 14 in., acrylic on cradled panel

$400 unframed (no frame necessary)

This was a piece I painted for a February art show called, "All Heart" for the Seacoast Artist Association in Exeter, NH.  What a challenge this painting was!  There were times I was unsure if I was going to able to successfully render these puckered, shiny, mylar balloons convincingly.  It required careful flexing of the "paint what you see and not what you think is there" muscle.  The balloons, being metallic, curved, and reflective, meant that the colors and shapes over the surfaces of the balloons just didn't seem to make sense for about 80% of the painting experience.  It wasn't until I started in on the lightest shades and the brightest highlights that quite suddenly, the nonsensical forms made sense... and they became shiny red mylar heart balloons.  It was really magical!

Photo reference courtesy Alesia Talkachova @_aleia_t

 

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Oranges and Cranberries

 

Oranges and Cranberries

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$130 unframed (no frame necessary)

Another #foodpaintchallenge reference from @dennispfeil.art and it was an excellent challenge with a lot of subtle value changes and a variety of muted and saturated colors.  The lighting was also interesting; achieving the transparency of the orange slices and the glowing penumbra around the shadows took some time to puzzle out and get right.  This one didn't flow "straight off the brush," but it sure built some muscle, and I'm happy with the results.  I hope you like it, too!

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Nor'easter - SOLD

Nor'easter

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$130 unframed ~ SOLD! (somebody liked this!)

A simple nocturne painting of a familiar winter sight up here in New England.  For those of you from away, a nor'easter is a snowstorm that backs in on top of New England, spinning counter-clockwise and bringing tons of moisture from off the coast. Nor'easters are usually responsible for dumping higher snow totals than other storms onto us here in the northeast. Roads are covered quicker than the plows can keep up, trees sag under the weight of the snow, and all you can see in the illuminated pillars of streetlights is swirling snow coming down hard and fast.  Just like this.

 

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Sweets and Shine

 

Sweets and Shine

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

This painting was so much fun it wasn't really even fair. Painter Teddi Parker sometimes posts a reference photo she invites others to paint from with her, and with the holidays approaching, this held just the right amount of challenge to intrigue me for a few short painting sessions. The soft shine in the glass ornaments were an absolute joy to recreate on the canvas. Merry Christmas!

Reference photo for this piece courtesy Teddi Parker Instagram: @teddiparkerart

Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine

 

Cherry Tomatoes On the Vine

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$100 unframed (no frame needed)

I enjoyed this dynamic still life using the reference from Instagram's #foodpaintchallenge by Dennis Pfeil.  I pushed the color of the backdrop toward a cool green-blue so I could get a nice complementary sizzle from the red-orange cherry tomatoes.  This increases the perceived intensity of color interplay, which I like very much, and seems effective here.  A particular favorite area for me was pulling the half-dried, curled and gnarled tomato leaves on each little tomato. With all the roundness of the fruit, it felt good to lay in some sharp corners and angles in the dark green vine and leaf tendrils.  I hope you like it!

Reference photo for this piece courtesy Dennis Pfeil, Instagram: @dennispfeil.art

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One-Pie Squash (Study)

One-Pie Squash (Study)

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

NFS (Small study for a planned larger painting)

This is indeed, as a friend put it, my childhood in a painting.  Or certainly part of it.  One-Pie began in New England, in the area called Winslows Falls in Waldoboro, Maine as Medomak Canning Company.  They became One-Pie Canning Company and used to pack their squash and pumpkin from their facility in West Paris, Maine. Alas, some outfit in Illinois (Illinois... really???) now cooks and packs their pumpkin (unsure about the squash... and YES, squash pie is DIFFERENT than pumpkin) but it's still distributed from West Paris, Maine. At least that's something. If you're a New Englander, it's One-Pie, baby.

This little study is a first-run before committing to a larger, more precise painting. 

 

Simplicity

 

Simplicity

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$100 unframed (no frame needed)

This was a fun little still life with clean lines, distinct shapes and complementary colors. Simplicity seemed to best describe the feel of this one.  This could be a simple lunch on a linen napkin to go with a bit of sharp cheddar.  Or perhaps if I'd added a paring knife, this could be a test specimen of a old heirloom apple variety from a successful orchard graft, sliced and ready to be sampled.  Whatever memory or feeling this one gives to you, simplicity feels right.

Reference photo for this piece courtesy Sarah Sedwick, Instagram: @sedwickstudio

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Provision

Provision

8 in. x 10 in., acrylic and gold metallic on Masonite panel

Prints of this piece are available at my online print shop:

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/shawne/

(Original not yet priced)

In 1 Kings 17:1-6, Elijah delivers his prophetic word to King Ahab of a multi-year drought on the land in response to his propagation of idolatry and wickedness.  God tells him to go to a desolate ravine by a brook whose Hebrew name, Kerith, means "cut off." Not only was Israel being cut off from God's blessing, but Elijah would be cut off, so to speak, from being found. God was protecting him, hiding him there beside a fresh water source, telling him He would supply his need for sustenance by sending ravens to bring him bread and meat, not once, but twice daily.  Jewish law classifies ravens as ritually unclean, unsuitable to eat, being scavengers, whose diet consists largely of carrion: dead things. Everything about them smacked of death: if you saw a cluster of ravens circling, you'd be right to think something dead or dying was nearby. Ravens usually feed right where they find their meat, and regurgitate their carrion meals from their own mouths at the nest to feed their young. They don't tend to bring whole pieces of fresh meat anywhere. Yet, God called on them to nourish Elijah with fresh meat and bread.  Daily.  Without fail.  We're not even told for how long.  But it would be for a good while.

And they did.  

And where did they get the bread? Daily bread?

The same God who provided daily manna to His people in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt reprised His provisional performance through unclean death-birds to provide for Elijah after sending him to bring a message of not peace, but a sword, to Israel.  

Like Elijah's provision-carrying ravens, the raven in this piece, Provision, carries also. Here, rather than physical food, it's carrying a thorny branch, a symbol of Jesus Christ. Christ, who is our spiritual food, our daily bread, was torn for us on the cross, tortured with the accursed thorns and willingly embraced the death we deserve. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 says that "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." And in Galatians 3:6, we are told plainly that, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'" In doing so, He became like the raven, an unclean thing.  He who was life became death for us; He who was clean became unclean for our sake to provide for us the Bread of Life, Himself, so that we may have life. 

We might read 1 Kings 17: 1-6 and see the lesson of God providing for the bodily needs of Elijah, and by extension, us, through unlikely and often less-than-holy sources (and certainly, that'll preach, as they say). But look more closely at this supernaturalist painting, at this Old Testament story, and let it preach deeper.  See the hiding of the life of Elijah in a desolate place of death, see that which is reckoned as unclean being his constant companion, accomplishing his deliverance, supplying his total sustenance, his daily bread. His provision.

 

Lemons on Blue

Lemons on Blue

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

$100 unframed (no frame needed)

Another little still life painted from a #foodpaintchallenge prompt from Instagram.  This was a fun little exercise in citrus peel texture and light moving through the translucent fruit flesh of the lemons.  To be honest, it makes me feel like a cocktail is in order!

 

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Violet Eventide at Wells

Violet Eventide at Wells

7 in. x 14 in., acrylic on canvas

$250 unframed

I have spent so much time at Wells Beach, enjoying the waves and sunshine, but some of the most magical hours have been in the time when the sun is setting or has just gone down. The skies and the surface of the ocean are changing color rapidly, darkening to violets, sapphires and deep teals.  When a burst of the last reflected light breaks through the percolating cloud cover, or the moon rises, there are silver reflections dancing in the sky and the water and across the beach. This painting tries to capture this window of waning evening light.

 

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Haze Over Harpswell

Haze Over Harpswell

8 in. x 10 in., acrylic on masonite panel

$200 framed

A friend visited friends in Harpswell, Maine in August and took in a concert at the bandstand down by the water.  He captured a photo of the hazy afternoon sky, made more intense by wildfire smoke in the atmosphere from Canada. I enjoyed teasing out subtle color and value shifts in the sky and water, quite a feat with acrylic paint, which tends to dry quickly and resist tonal blending.  I used no slow-drying medium to extend the workable window of the acrylic with this painting; instead I mixed my tones beforehand, used a soft brush and worked quickly across the sky.  This piece is quite soft, serious and peaceful in person.  I hope you like it.

 

Reference photo courtesy David Denis.  Follow his photography on Instagram: @near.sight.ed and find prints of his work on INPRNT.com

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Summertime in Exeter

 

Summertime in Exeter

6 in. x 6 in., acrylic on cradled wood panel

$150 unframed (no frame necessary)

On a trip to the Seacoast Artists Association this summer to drop off some art, I took a few snapshots up Water Street after our "let's get an ice cream at Stillwell's" ritual across the street.  I love the way the street through downtown curves down and around and up through the bustling little center of Exeter.  This piece was painted specifically for the "Keeping in Local" theme show at the SAA this fall.

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Goodness

Goodness

8 in. x 8 in., acrylic on cradled wood panel

$180 unframed

These figs in a pottery bowl were painted from a wonderful photo from Instagram's @foodpaintchallenge.  If you've never enjoyed fresh figs, I can tell you that you are indeed missing something uniquely wonderful. I hope you forget you ever met "the Newton" and simply enjoy soft dried or fresh figs in season.  They truly are a symbol of God's goodness.

 

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Poppies!

Poppies!

5 in. x 7 in., Soft pastel on sanded paper

$150 matted and framed under glass

I grew a miniature thicket of bright, orange-red poppies in the lamp post garden.  This soft pastel sketch takes the grassroots view of these papery, hot scarlet beauties against the blue of the sky, the light filtering subtly through the thin, rippled petals.  The thick application of the brightest highlights feel rich and delicious on the sanded paper, setting off areas of warm and cool colors in this prim little portrait of these delicate flowers.

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Happy Heliopsis

Happy Heliopsis

5 in. x 7 in., Soft pastel on sanded paper

$150 matted and framed under glass

I broke out the pastels once the perennial garden achieved "full swing" status.  Swaying Heliopsis happily waves over the heads of almost all my other flowers, bobbing up and down in the breeze on multitudinous stiff stems.  This little sketch captures the crowd of bright golden blooms with creamy thick strokes of the lightest creamy yellows on the petals, and cool, restful aqua highlights among the constantly undulating sea of deep green foliage.  

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French Breakfast Radishes

French Breakfast Radishes

8 in. x 10 in., acrylic on canvas

$190 unframed

To be honest, they tasted like any other radish.  I was excited; the seed catalog said they were prolific and mild.  I found their germination rate to be average and their flavor to be just like any other common garden radish.  And for sure, they were crunchy and peppery like, well, radishes are, and a gorgeous reddish pink with white bottoms.  But the NAME!  I'm not impressed with much but this was a fabulous feat of marketing genius.  When it came time to buy a packet of $3.95 seeds and the choice was between Scarlet Globe (yeah, I can SEE that), or French Breakfast... how could anyone resist?  The radishes in the painting above grew in my garden and were delicious, and deserved a portrait.  I hope you like it.

 

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Mount Cardigan Alpenglow

Mount Cardigan Alpenglow

8 in. x 10 in., acrylic on canvas

$230 framed

Prescott Hill Road in Grafton, NH, just up from Robinson's Corner and opposite Kinsman Highway, is where my people are buried.  My Morrill family ancestors lie awaiting the resurrection in the cemetery there in the back corner under moss and clover.  If you drive straight up the hill beyond them and get to the crest, the skies open up beyond the trees and a farmhouse field along the side of the road, and you can see this incredible view of Mount Cardigan over in Orange. It's a view you just can't get down on Rte. 4 through Canaan. No, the ridge across the way in humble and backwoods Grafton is the most glorious view of Cardigan you'll find, I guarantee.  Here, the mountain is spread fully across your line of vision reclining west, as the setting sun sheds pink light across the sky, bathing Cardigan's rocky, bald head in the fading light.

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