The Old Marble Quarry

30 x 36 Oil on Linen

Vermont is famous for its marble. Not far from us there is an old quarry that is no longer being mined. There are some abandoned blocks of marble about and the pit has filled with water. It's now everyone's favorite swimming hole. On a hot summer afternoon it's the place to be. How could I not want to paint there? But how would I go about doing it? There's not much shade so I was reluctant to set up and do an oil sketch on the spot. I don't use photography because it limits the experience and my imagination, so that was no help. Finally I decided to draw and work out the color from memory. I went out in the cool of the morning to sketch the trees and the marble formations, then went home and started an oil sketch in my studio. Later that day I went back and did some quick drawings of the divers and bathers. Nobody stayed still for very long so I had only 10 or 20 seconds to capture each figure, my favorite is the figure in the center of the painting pulling off his red tee shirt. I filled a few pages and returned to my studio to work on the oil sketch again. I decided to limit the number of figures in this painting and focus instead on the grandeur of the scene. After the sketch was finished I quickly began a larger version while it was still fresh in my mind. Since then I've done several paintings of the scene...how could I not.....