Sunday, May 17, 2020

New England Snow - Feb 1976

I remember this oil on canvas painting from around the house, not sure which room, maybe the kitchen or the hallway, still one of my favorites.  On the back it is titled "New England Snow" and nicely dated Feb 1976, so it predates the Concord Mill painting by a few months and may have been the one she did immediately before, possibly inspired by a snowy winter that year.  I liked the minimal use of color in this, really only red, with a little bit of green in the background, and yellow of the dead grass poking through the snow, a nice touch.  Even the sky is a light grey, no blues, as I remember those cold winter days growing up in New Jersey.  I like the different levels, the shed with the stone bottom, then the barn, and then up to the grain silo.  It provided an up/down feel as well as the front/back depth of the fence and the road that wraps around the barn.


New England Snow - Feb 1976

Dated and Titled 
Tree Detail - Mom loved her trees.  I like she put a few dead leaves on them.

Detail

Detail - Well worn area in front of the door.

Detail - Not sure the perspective of the road quite makes it around the barn, but the details are nice with the grasses, shadows and wheel ruts all intermixed.

Signature is only "Capobianco" similar to other paintings during this time period. Same color as the barn it nicely stands out against the snow.

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Great Smoky Mountains Tree - An Unfinished Masterpiece??

I don't ever remember this watercolor painting as a kid, only finding it as we were cleaning out our childhood home after Dad passed away.  I fell in love with it immediately.   It is neither dated, nor signed, nor named, but is one of few paintings that had with it the original photo from the magazine she was copying.  This was the most popular painting I put up in Mom's Facebook memorial.  The painting itself is hauntingly beautiful.  Only a few colors, the shades of greens, black and greys. She captured the misty morning gloom perfectly.  After comparing it to the original, I do believe it was unfinished though.  The top branches of the tree do not have the smaller branches coming off of them like the lower branches.   The two posts to either side of the tree do not have the fencing connecting them.  And, she didn't sign it.  Maybe a reflection of herself - an unfinished masterpiece....

Great Smoky Mountains Tree

Detail - Fence Post
Detail - Branches

Original Photo

Concord Mill 1976

I think this oil on canvas painting from June of 1976 was in our living room for many years. It was always one of my favorites.  I enjoyed the serenity of it.  I could almost imaging the water flowing and turning the wheel.  I really liked the contrast of the colors as well; from the different shades of green, to yellows, and browns and blues.

Concord Mill - June 1976





Dated and Titled

Tree Detail - notice the shading for the branches below the upper ones providing some depth.

Detail

Wheel and Fall detail. The most striking part of the painting, where you eye first goes.

Signature is only "Capobianco" similar to her 1974 "Country Morning"