Tiverton Flowers

Wild Flowers
Tiverton, Rhode Island
17 July 1999
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
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This painting was made the day after I taught a private workshop on a friend's property in Tiverton, Rhode Island. I had missed my friend's wedding and sending a proper gift. I was so delighted with the results of this painting that I gave it to her and her husband for my long overdue gift. It is one of my favorites.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Walden Pond

Walden Pond
Concord, Massachusetts
29 June 1997
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
US$ 195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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I can say without question that my favorite thing about living in the Boston area was driving out Route 2 to Concord, parking the car off Walden Street, grabbing my towel, padding down the road to the beach at Walden Pond and swimming across to the far shore and back.

I'm a swimmer since a very early age and I can definitely say that there is nothing in the world like swimming across this pond, inhaling the deeply fragrant woods and listening to the commuter train rattle past on occasion. Upon reaching the center of the pond, I'd roll around, enjoying the feeling of space and depth. Any fatigue at the end was mitigated by the sense of accomplishing the very long lap.

This view is from just off the main beach which is usually where I parked my towel. I painted it after one very long lap.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Week's Pond

Weeks Pond
Belmont, Massachusetts
25 June 1997
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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In June, I spent some time back at Anchor East in Watertown which lies directly next to the comfortable and sedately charming town of Belmont.

Whenever I was in or near Belmont and had the time, I would park off Pleasant Street, walk up Somerset then cut off down an unmarked path to Week's Pond. I have no idea how I first found my way there. I probably just risked the cut through the woods. Week's Pond is part of the Mass Audubon Society's Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary though separated from the main acreage by private properties.

I've never learned the history of Week's Pond but would guess that it was part of a private property donated to the Mass Audubon Society at some point. It's quite hidden away, home to many, many bullfrogs and species of plants that may have been planted in the 1920's or 30's, definitely before 1940. There's a little island in the center of the pond where I would not be surprised to find fairies in residence.

During high season, you can not only see the ripples through the water made by vibrations of frog songs, you can feel them right through your own internal organs.

Week's Pond is a little bit of land, not a very long walk from the road, through the paths, around the pond and back again, but at any time of year, it's a magical place.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Sunny Field

Tamworth, New Hampshire. A beautiful spot on earth where you can see the heavens clearly and really understand the snow. On the Chinook Trail, with Mount Chocorua almost always in view, it was beautiful and the nature was inspiring but honestly, for me, it was like living in the middle of Robby Robertson's song "The Rumour".

Moving in with a roommate is like playing Russian Roulet. But I did get a song out of it.

I had one friend in Tamworth. Actually, he lived in Wonalancet. An ex-Marine and ex-hunter, he took care of Quinn, attending to some feline medical issues while I was out of town on tour but swore me to secrecy because he didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about him. To think he was a softy.

We

Victim

Victim
Tamworth, New Hampshire
8 June 1997
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
4 x 6", archival mat & backing to 8 x 10"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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Just after painting the violets shown in last week's post, there was a familiar flurry of chaos in the house. One of the cats had captured yet another chipmunk for tortuous play. I managed to rescue quite a few of these feline playthings but alas, this one was doomed, but immortalized!

A companion piece for Quinn, a percentage of the proceeds from this painting will go to HSUS, The Humane Society of the United States.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Violets

Violets
Tamworth, New Hampshire
8 June 1997
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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Surrounded by nature, almost always within sight of Mount Chocorua, I fell in love with Tamworth, New Hampshire where the heavens shone clear at night. Unfortunately, the living situation there turned out to be impossible and it was just as well that I worked on tour during most of that time. I traveled for what I thought would have been the snow season but returned in March just in time for several feet. On April 1st, I left Boston as a few flakes were falling and arrived in Tamworth, driving 2 mph up the Chinook Trail in full white out conditions. I was never so relieved to pull into a garage. I learned to love the snow and even discovered an untapped passion for shoveling!

Spring came very late and, when the violets finally popped up, I put a few aside after weeding for this painting.

The song I wrote that winter (with a nod to P.B. Shelley and Conrad Aiken) captures an essence of my Tamworth experience.

This song is featured on my Ephemera album and can be purchased through cdbaby.com or downloaded through

West Wind

West Wind sang September night
accompanied by the leaves in flight
stirred the birches with a solemn rub
teased the clouds across the moon above

Caught me in its fragrant air
stung my eyes, played with my hair
brought the first frost of the year
Winter is near
Winter is near

I listened to the lyrics of the song
the words were clear and the meaning strong
In darkness they declared the mighty rule
no thing would dare to fight

The garden could not disobey
the warm air, the birds flew away
the hunters killed all that remained
The weather changed
The weather changed

Silent snow descends and comforts the cold, hard ground
Secret snow encircles me with an oath unbound

A fist of gust against my face
pushed me into the saddest place
across the freezing season line
and there a voice roared through my mind

“Take me in like I am your breath
Like I am your lover, like I am your death
I will instruct and you will learn
The lessons are hard but worthy to earn

I will teach you to stand alone
How to walk tall with a strong backbone
How to greet your enemy on the road
How to heal your weakness and atone”

Silent snow descends and comforts the cold, hard ground
Secret snow encircles me with an oath unbound

I built a snow girl in the wilderness
I formed and smoothed the icy mess
Up to my knees in a creamy drift
I stood alone in the flaky mist

And I stood alone in my little life
and all I could see was white on white
and all I could hear was the singing wind
bitter cold but my closest friend

Silent snow descends and comforts the cold, hard ground
Secret snow encircles me with an oath unbound

Spring shall come again
Spring shall come again

©1997 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) (STIM)
All Rights Reserved

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Quinn

Quinn
Tamworth, New Hampshire
6 May 1997
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
4 x 6", archival mat & backing to 8 x 10"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
Email me to purchase

If you've been following this story from the beginning, you'll know that I lost my beloved cat, Willi while I was on tour in Europe. He wandered into the New Hampshire woods one dark and stormy night, never to be seen again. When I finally returned, I immediately papered the White Mountains with Lost Cat fliers. A woman who had found a stray resembling Willi’s photograph called and invited me over to see the cat. He wasn’t Willi but he was exceptional. I brought him home, named him Quinn and discovered that, like Willi, he played a mean game of fetch and retrieve. In this portrait, I captured Quinn with a superball, his favorite fetch toy.

Quinn became my walking partner while we were together. At first, he could only accompany me a short distance into the woods or up the mountainside. But after some conditioning, he built up his cardiovascular system and was soon by my side for good long walks.

A portion of the sale of this painting and the prints of this painting will be donated to Save Our Strays, a marvelous no-kill rescue organization in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.

Anchor East

Anchor East
Watertown, Massachusetts
26 December 1996
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat & backing to 10 x 8"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
Email me to purchase

The rest of my European tour was interesting but cold. From the edge of the Mediterranean, I moved up to the icy peaks of Switzerland. I think that my favorite gig was in Thun where I played at the very hip Club Mokka. On stage with me, amongst other intriguing items, was a large 1950's television set with a flying saucer floating inside the cabinet. I thought this was rather exciting because I'd written The Roswell Incident the previous summer and it served as a good visual aid to help set up the song.

After my last gig at the Rattlesnake Saloon in Munich, I was finally through. One day, I'll have to write about the places I've played. Each one was a story in itself. Anyway, I was driven, no, rocketed up the autobahn to the airport where I began my long journey home. Ah, but if only it were home. In fact, it was a rented room in someone else's house. If you've been reading since the beginnings of this tale, you'll remember that all was not well on the home front. At the end of the days it took to get back, between the bus stop and the house itself, I was informed that my initial upset at losing the second of my cats (the first had disappeared just before I left) was unwarranted because it was, after all, just a cat, and that it would probably be best if I looked for another place to live. I had only actually been in the house for six weeks before leaving for Europe and it was now just before Christmas.

So, for Christmas, I went down to Watertown, just outside of Boston, where I was graciously hosted by my friends Mark and Kit at Anchor East, Mark's musical home. Of course, I showed them the paintings I'd made and one afternoon, Kit asked if she could watch me paint. I don't think that I'd ever made an entire painting with someone watching over my shoulder but I was game and set myself up by the piano in the living room (where Mark hosted many wonderful house concerts by many wonderful musicians), and got to work. By the time I finished, it was almost dark and I could barely see the painting.

Three years later, I lived in this house for half a year. I recorded my Christmas album Out Under the Sky at the bottom of these stairs. The acoustics were marvelous and I recorded late at night when it was quiet and city noise was least likely to interfere. There was a Japanese student living up the street while I was there. She was studying English in Cambridge and we'd pass on the street regularly and promise to make dinner together and finally did. After dinner, I played her a little of the album and she said "I have heard this music! In my dreams!" I didn't realize that the whole neighborhood could hear me recording — which is just as well. I'm glad we didn't hear any complaints!

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.