The area of southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland where I grew up is home to a Maple Syrup industry. (Yes, there are sugar bushes in western Pennsylvania.) I found this old snag of a sugar maple somewhere between Granstville, MD and Springs, PA and really liked it's character -- beauty even in death.

Wolf Swamp

orig. 6"x12" acrylic on canvas paper

This is a recently completed small painting of Wolf Swamp, as seen near Interstate 68 not far from Grantsville, Maryland. I do a lot of autumn scenes and I think the reasons are: the air is more clear, the colors appear more vivid, and the colors are more varied. For those reasons an autumn scene is often more interesting to me.

Autumn Road

16x20 acrylic on board

Another long overdue painting. This one is an autumn scene along a dirt road near where I grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania. The area is higher in elevation, and not far from the highest elevation in Pennsylvania (3,213 ft). Consequently the forests in this area are similar to those in western New England -- a mixed hardwood forest. There are enough sugar maples to support a local maple syrup industry.