New Waterford

This creek runs through the center of the Village of New Waterford. The fine snow was still falling while I painted this scene. I painted until the paint became too stiff to move and granules of ice acted like sand in the paint. I was almost finished anyway. Still, even though I had taken a photo, I returned to do a few finishing touches a couple days later. There were some lovely reflections in the water. I was about to put in when 20 or so ducks swam over and stirred up the water, obliterating the reflections. 12" X 16" oil painting $475

Chamberlin Creek

This scene is only a mile or so from us. I went there twice last week standing at the edge of the road to work on it. While I painted a small muskrat swam and splashed in the foreground area. 12" X 16" oil on canvas $350

Falls At Volant Mill

Met some friends one autumn afternoon to paint behind the Volant Mill. Color reflected in the water is always facinating. One can never quite record the glory of a scene in total. So I must look at the painting and decide which piece of shape and color can I use to make this cohesive. 12" X 16" oil on canvas $450

The Doctor's Horses

Worked a little more on this painting. There were a couple of things that did not look quite right. 11" X 14" Oil on canvas Board $400

View From Eckert Bridge

Went with my painter friend Jim to McConnells Mill State Park in Pennsylvania one afternoon this week. He found that the park is only 36 miles from where I live. I had been driving the long way.

Emma, Two and a half

This is a quick oil sketch I did of my grandniece. I was practicing for an upcoming art festival at the Y, where I did on the spot 9 X 12 oil sketches.

Fields Ripe For Harvest

Painted this this afternoon as a demo for my class. What a lovely day!

Fall in Jackson County

After wandering around the countryside looking for the perfect spot to paint, like maybe an Amish field of corn shocks, with hills in the background, we decided to stop somewhere before the day was gone. This was that somewhere.

Fall on Beaver Creek

My sister and I went to capture some of the Fall colors at Beaver Creek State Park last week. There is so much beauty one hardly knows where to begin painting.

Pumpkin, Gourds & Corn on Dresser

Spent last weekend with OPAS friends at Cantor's Cave 4-H camp, in a cozy A-Frame. Once we started painting we could not seem to stop. When night set in we painted this little Fall arrangement, then we did portraits of one another, finally winding down at the midnight hour.

Eggplant, Pineapple & Peppers

Began teaching classes in my new studio last week. This is the still life I set up to demonstrate and for them to work from.

Adirondack Color

There were more colors, three at least, but I chose these four. Never even considered how difficult it would be to draw these chairs. The shapes are not square. But the colors are so luscious to paint I had to get that drawing down.

                                                                           SOLD

Lakeside Shoreline

Painted on the Lake Erie shore. The large rock reminded me of one Monet painted in a much larger scale.


                                                          11" x 14"      Oil

Fields of Soy Bean

This is the view across the road from our home. The ripening soy bean plants blanket the rolling hills in warm color.

Mill Creek Park, Fellows Gardens

Painted one Saturday with Chris Leeper and others. This was a rather complex scene, but I like the textures and colors it inspired. 12" X 16" Oil painting SOLD

"Long's Old Farm"

This Farm was recently sold, then the old man died. When his wife was living the barn had been painted this shade of yellow, to match the yellow brick of their house. Then for many years after she died it was painted white. The new owners have given it a new coat of naples yellow!

"Scheel's Fields"

Scheel's rippening fields had such a wonderful glow in the late evening sun. Our home is just beyond the trees to the left.

Sunflower Patch.

The first evening I arrived at Lakeside I drove out route 53 looking for a place to paint. Could't waste much time looking because the sun would go down soon. It wasn't long til I spotted these sunflowers behind a small roadside stand. Sold

"Catawba Bay Peninsula"

A dear friend sent this deeply moving prayer in response to my sharing the painting below, which won Best of show this past week in the 2009 Ohio Plein Air Competition in Lakeside, Ohio.
Lord, Thank You for Nancy's gift and ability to capture Your handiwork on the canvas. Lord, as Nancy continues to let you perfect Your craft in her, help her to grow and become more and more like You. Lord, teach her and enable her to continue to put on canvas Your work in creation. Father, we give You the praise for her ability.. It is not hers, but Yours. Holy Spirit, continue to guide her hand in choice of subject, selection of color and in the strokes from her brush. Keep her humble, Lord, and may we increasingly see even more of Your creation through her eyes. In Jesus' name, amen.

Morning Sunlight

Another Lakeside painting. Had to work a bit more on the sky. I am now happy with the outcome.

Lakeside Hollyhocks

Painted during the Lakeside Plein Air paintout. The colors of the lake change with the the whims of sky and wind and temperature. It is facinating to study.
                            WEDDING GIFT

Cool Places Cows Know

This is a scene painted from Teagarden Road. I have seen these cows under these trees before and always wished I had time to paint them. This was the day. It was hot and humid, but they knew how to beat the heat.

Slippery Rock Creek

An artist friend paints exclusively at McConnell's Mill State Park in PA. To him it is a kind of Eden where he can feel the presence of God. Occasionally we meet to paint on the same day. These panels were painted one of those days. There had been torrents of rain The creek was higher than common with wonderfully muddy water rushing downstream. It is a healing experience to spend time in God's untouched creation.

The Schoolhouse

This is a small painting I did near Middlefield Ohio while painting with a friend. We had painted somewhere else in the morning and decided to paint one more in the evening light. Maybe because I already had colors mixed on my pallet and of course the light was perfect the painting flowed together easier than usual. It is currently in the 27th Youngstown YWCA Women's juried Artist Show and ebay art auction. Finally this painting won an award in the show.                                                    9" X 12"         oil painting        SOLD

"Pond Lilies"

One of the ponds at the Holden Arboratum. Some of us stayed and painted in the afternoon. When I first left with this I thought it did not quite work, but the more I look at it the more I like it, so I finally have decided to display it for sale. Want to do a pond series, a creek series and a "hills" series among other things.
                                                                               SOLD

Wild & Domesticated Bloom Together

The Iris and Dame Rocket flower blooming at the same time compliment one another so wonderfully I wanted to capture them in a painting. 12" X 16" stretched canvas   SOLD

Barn on Church-hill Road

This past weekend I participated in the Cuyahogua Valley Plein Air Competion. This painting placed first. While painting at the side of the road a Mennonite woman stopped and said that this was their barn, they rented the place. Someone saw me painting along another road and suggested that I might like to paint a barn on Church-hill road. I lost his # and don't know if this is the barn he had in mind, but it is a winner.

Yosemite, Afternoon Mist

This past Fourth Month my sister and I visited two second cousins in Medpines near Yosemite. I was anxious to set up my easel someplace in the park. We drove through the valley and hiked to some upper falls. Finally we settled on this view as the mist rose in the background. We could have spent the summer there!

Emma's Sitting

This is our precious grandniece Emma, at 21 months. She did not mind sitting in the chair for me, but, sitting still is not something her mind comprends at this time. No problem, I just drew her in motion.

Milrock Road 2

This scene and surrounding land was the Hawkins homesteaded propery, beginning around the 1800's. My grandfather was born on a house on a hill to the right. My father was born in a house over a couple of hills to the left, a place called Peace Valley. SOLD

Winter Storm

Painted midwinter from the view out my new studio windows. The carpenter still had his table saw in the room so I used it as an easel. This was probably the worst storm of the year and I sat warm and cozy with a clear view of the elements. What a blessing from God to be so protected.

Hilltop Horseplay

Painted this from a churchyard looking toward Teagarden Road. Animals don't stand still for long so a few brush strokes have to describe them. It helped that these two stayed on the hill long enough for me to capture them in paint.

Crossroad at Route # 558

This painting was done looking east while standing on the grassy corner just south of our home. It was in last year's Springfield Gallery Plein Air Show and this years Youngstown YWCA juried Show.
                                                                                 SOLD

Sycamore In Summer

This really was painting in the heat of the summer. The wonder of it is that when sitting beside a stream in the green shade of a park, painting a study of a sycamore against the many shades of green, the summer heat is just part of the mix that keeps me in a state of mellowness.
This painting was in last years Annual Hoyt Regional Juried Art Exhibition

Enon Vallery

Driving up, down and around the hills in this area of Eastern Pennsylvania I found a sheep farm , which I spent two different days trying to capture the essence of. The second evening, a little more than an hour before dark still not happy with that painting, I packed up my easel and drove about a half mile up the road. This scene caught my eye, I parked quickly set up my easel and using the same pallet of paint, created this small painting, quiting only when it was too dark to see color. This painting has been accepted into the upcoming 36th annual Hoyt Regional Juried Art Exhibition. SOLD

Bay View

Ohio Plein Air Painters converge in the small village of Marblehead on Lake Erie at least once a year. I have joined them the last three years to paint in the summer sun around the lake. We paint furiously, share stimulating art talk and have wet paint sales downtown or in the Lakeside Chataqua community. This small painting is one of my favorites done in that setting.

Rocky Shoreline

This is my favorite of those I painted at Lakeside Chautaqua on Lake Erie last summer. The painting was on exibit at the Butler Institute of American Art this year along with the Mennonite Farm Garden painting. My plan is to return to Lakeside this summer to paint again.

Gallery Links

http://ohiopleinairsociety.com/member_pages/Hawkins/hawkins.htm
http://www.ohiopleinairsociety.com/
http://www.artscuttlebutt.com/Impressionist

Killbuck Marsh

Painted a few miles south of Wooster at an OPAS paint-out. The sky threatened rain, but held off (except for a few sprinkles), until afternoon. I worked intensely to cover the canvas and capture the changing light and shadow in the time we had before the group gathered at 1:30 to eat and critique.


                         11" x 14"    Oil          $250

County Road

Painted at the Pine Tree Barn Paintout. I stood on the road to paint this, thankfully there wasn't much traffic. Two young conservative Quaker Friends, Pricilla and Susanna came along with their little lap easels. I was surprised they had no impatience at staying in one place for several hours. They were as caught up in the right brain activity of recording nature as I.

Brandywine Falls

Falls near Peninsula, Ohio. Painted looking down from the boardwalk. There was barely enough room for people to squeeze past my easel. I had some fear that my brushes would fall through the cracks and lost in the canyon below. All the challenges faded as my senses were filled with the colors of shadows and sunlight on the moving water and the ages old rocks washed by the elements.

Red Iron Bridge

They were still working on the bridge last summer after a flood washed out the underpinnings. My friend Jim went painting with me. We liked the way the sun shone on the sycamore and the red iron. The problem was construction underneath was not so pretty. This is how I worked out my composition, no water under this bridge, but sun dappled sycamore tree in front and deep shadow areas behind.