The Sunflower

This painting hung in our house. It is a pretty good size maybe 36" x 24" and I seem to remember mom winning awards with it. Again it is just about the flower. I feel this predates the Poppies since the feel of this is much more rigid and not as loose as she got with the Poppies and even the Apples.

the sunflower

detail

Sig. of B. Capobianco makes me think this is an earlier oil

detail

(unfortunately the color is off )

detail

(unfortunately the color is off )

Poppies

Flowers. Mom would paint a lot of flowers. She'd take pictures of flowers and set up still-lifes of flowers. So let's conclude mom's oil period with two flower paintings. Both are interesting because they are both against white. The first is this odd little experimental gem. Poppies. She once more applied her heavy oil technique on this kind of lucite board. There is a nice looseness to the painting. A playful quality. Some flowers are more successful than others. It appears she was more learning here to paint in a loose way. Perhaps it was an assignment from her art class. In the end she did sign it. So she did find it a finished piece.

poppies 

detail

detail

detail

signature  of just Capobianco. So possibly an earlier oil in which she is learning or she just defaulted to signing it in her previous way. 

The Apple Tree

This unfinished oil painting, of what most definitely is the apple tree in the back yard of our house, could possibly be one of the last oils mom painted. It follows or proceeds the Apples, since she is still playing around with a more heavy impressionistic technique in applying the oils. The painting also feels abandoned as if mom's interest in watercolor was creeping into her art or she became fed up with oil.

That apple tree was huge. Much bigger than an apple tree should be. It was fun to climb but a pain in that my brother and I had to pick up the apples, which unfortunately tasted awful. It dominated the back yard and was a happy place for many a squirrel. We would count the nests in the upper parts of the tree as it always seemed to be a condominium for the local squirrel population.

The Apple Tree

detail

detail 

Folk Art Strawberry

This is also probably from the early to mid-70's although not as old as the similar folk art Harvest Basket she painted earlier. Mom loved going to craft fairs and antique shops. She loved Americana and the colonial era. We had a lot of pewter in the house and old glass jars. So it isn't a surprise that she would play around with folk art. Painted on wood, in acrylic. This painting hung around the house a lot.

folk art Strawberry

detail

detail

signature on back. 

Using only Barbara Capobianco makes believe this is from the early 70's before she added 'Sisko'

Apples circa mid 70's

 I think because my mom was in the kitchen all the time she tended to paint what was near at hand. So she would work on still-lifes of fruit and flowers through the years both in oil and then starting in 1977 watercolor. Below is another fruit in oil, I guess you can say from her later oil painting period. Her later oils she got looser, with heavy handling of oil. painting with palette knife and such. She was always experimenting. These apples are unfortunately not signed and not dated.

apples 

detail

Currier and Ives Master copy 1974

Another painting I remember moving about the house. A 1974 barn, this one inspired by or a master copy of a Currier and Ives painting.  It is a unique piece for my mom in it has a person in it and a lovely cow. It is a very pleasing, serene piece with nice accents and interest to it. 

Copy of Currier and Ives "Country Morning" 1974 oil on canvas

I did a search for "Country Morning" and this is the painting that popped up. Not sure if there is another painting mom copied or if she was inspired by this one and interpreted her own. Her painting is definitely not a "Copy of" this one. But none the less I always felt the Currier & Ives influence on the painting. 

Detail 

Rare sighting of a person in one of mom's paintings ( and a horse )

great cow and even some cool chickens 

details of tree branches

Chris noticed the tree : " I like this tree by the red building.  Is it really windy out, or just the weight of the snow on it, that is making it bend so much?"  Jim :  "I know it is a weird detail. Not sure what the heck is going on there. ( one of the many many questions I would love to ask mom about as I delve deeper into these paintings.)"

wonderfully dated and titled

Sangria

 Another still life,  titled "Sangria", oil on canvas panel dated 1975. This may have been done from a photo, the wall was certainly invented. Our basement in 1975 was pretty together as was much of the house, there were no walls in disrepair. The basement at this time was host to revolving birthday parties, pool games and playing. Although I prefer the more vibrant "Wine Bottle and Grapes" from two years earlier it is interesting to compare the two to see how her ability painting perspective has improved and she is more sure of herself, especially evident in the depiction of the bottles in each painting.

Sangria, Oil 1975

comparison of earlier Wine Bottle and Grapes 1973 and Sangria 1975. 

Mom's technique and style has matured. It is looser and she has gotten more confident. 

detail of signature. 

Completely embracing her married name for now. 

Sangria detail ( back ) 

Nicely labeled ( thanks mom! ) I wonder if this was submitted to art shows and that is why it is well labeled.  

The Green Tree - circa 1973

Yet another little barn done in oil. This too seems older to me than the previous similar painting. Perhaps this is even 1972. It is defiantly in the era of the Covered Bridge. Unfortunately there was no date or signature on this one either. The Green Tree stands out and there is something oddly interesting about the painting's evenly balanced compositions. The dried corn or wheat on the right really destroy the sense of scale. That shape makes the tree and the house so much smaller then I believe mom intended it. 

The Green Tree

The Green Tree detail: Mom always seemed to have fun with these little flourishes and accents. 

The Green Tree detail :  odd little red barn

The Green Tree detail :  The Green Tree ( I titled it ) I really like this tree.  It is just so impressionistic and loose and well, green. 

The Covered Bridge - circa 1973

Mom loved her idealized New England settings. Barns, old 18th century houses, fishing boats and harbors and of course covered bridges. This early oil painting of a Covered Bridge was more then likely from a photograph. It was another painting that hung on the walls of our house. Making its way from the living room to the dining room to the back room. The painting,  unfortunately, is undated and not signed but it looks naive enough to be done during the same period of the New England Fishing Boat of the previous post. Perhaps it even predates The Boat and the posts prior. The perspective and the technique feel less sure then The Little Red Barn and even The Old Mill. 

The Covered Bridge 

The Covered Bridge detail: The painting seems kind of undone but obviously it wasn't since Mom hung it up in the house. I feel it has an Americana folksy quality to it.  

The Covered Bridge detail :  These trees leaves are the most interesting part of the painting. I feel like she loosened up here and had fun with the color. 

The Covered Bridge detail: Closer on the tree and this nice white accent. Again feels undone since she either forgot or never got to adding a reflection for the white dead tree. 

New England Fishing Boat - circa '73

Mom would paint several sea scenes through out painting career. She loved New England and the north eastern US, romanticized it really. She dreamed of living in a 18th century house and collected pewter and colonial things. Or she would gladly have lived on the coast of Maine and paint, very Andrew Wyeth or Winslow Homer of her.  Here she is continuing to develop her techniques in oil with a port scene, probably from a picture. There are many charming aspects to this painting.

New England Fishing Boat

Unfortunately the painting has suffered some damage on the left side. Although a bit naive, the painting has nice atmosphere and a lot of charm. The boat shown below obviously is the center of the painting and the main subject. It has a nice reflection setting it in the world.  I like the looseness of the style.

boat detail 

bird detail

The best things for me in this painting are the little details. These birds are wonderful as is this little boat in the distance.  The birds really feel confident and animated with just a few brush strokes. 

detail of birds 

seagulls detail 

These two little seagulls could easily be missed but they are just awesome, again a couple of brush stokes and they come across with charm and again a confidence that lacks somewhat in the rest of the painting. 

signature detail 

Here Mom has added the B. back. It seems she could be trying to figure out what here signature should be. 

Seascape - oil 1973

Another oil from 1973. A prolific year, Mom must have gotten into a routine with taking care of Lisa, Chris and I, that she found time to take painting classes and to paint. She really jumped into painting oils this year. Probably mom's first seascape, an area she would comeback to a few more times, it being her first it is somewhat developmental: the water having a more solid feel then liquid, except for the foam area (noted below) almost belongs in another painting. The sky is quite nice and you can see she is developing here.

"Seascape" oil on canvas board 1973

detail: this crashing wave lacks the power she develops in some later seascapes

detail:  the foamy surf is actually quite nice, I can feel and hear it. 

detail: signed Capobianco '73, establishing this painting in her early getting back into her painting 

detail: 1973 nicely dated