White Resevoir

This basin was once filled with water for the city of Holyoke. Now it lies empty now as the birches start to encroach on the small stream that remains.

Sunflowers are always such a draw for me. The size and brilliance make it impossibe for me not to grab a picture. This one found it's home on our compost pile. I thought the back and stem were almost as interesting as the front.

Late October Splendar

We've been so fortunate to have beautiful days with spectacular colors. So often we go about our business and forget to look and it only lasts a very short time.

Rocky Neck Ocean View

In the early morning the sun just sparkled off the water and lit up the rocks on the shore. A breeze swept the clouds along softening the bright blue of the sky. The coolness of the September day kept the 'people' crowds at bay and we just had to share the shore with a few curious Canadian geese that were eyeing my colorful pastels with way too much interest.

Rocky Point Marsh

A week in Essex and Old Saybrook painting with twenty other artists. My idea of a great vacation. Totally exhaused at the end and very inspired.

Mary Montague Knightsville Dam Basin

A foggy morning before the heat arrived. The trees are starting to color around the edges with copper and gold. A time to savor summer before it speeds away.

Mary Montague Chester Birch

I just couldn't resist the sparkling white of this birch against a deep blue summer sIt's what plein air is all about. A moment where nature draws you in and you try to fit, in some minute way.

Upper Leeds Resevoir

When I heard that this resevoir, that I had driven by for most of my adult life, was going to be drained, I knew that I had to find the time to capture it's beauty with my pastels. I love change but this view is something that I'll miss.

Moonstone Beach

We found this deserted beach at Trustom Pond Wildlife Preserve. The waves were rolling in that morning and the breeze was sure cold. Still it was a great place to paint with no a sole in sight.

Naragansett Marsh

Catching the laziness of a coastal marsh on a late afternoon in May.

Mary Montague Wyben Farm

A cool, early spring morning in the Wyben area of Westfield. The long shadows caught my attention.

Mary Montague Hydrangeas

I do love hydrangeas, especially the real blue ones. Reminds me of the Cape and summer and vacations. I planted a couple in my garden out by the fence and painted this last summer. Can you tell I'm ready for summer?

Mary Montague Waiting for Summer

It seemed like spring last week but with these cold, rainy

days I'm wishing for some sun again so I can go play in my gardens and feel the warmth of the earth. This painting of a drainage ditch in the lower meadow was done late last summer on a hot and clear sky kind of day.

Old Ice House

I saw this ice house before I found the old truck hidden behind the overgrown roses. The aging of the glass in the door caught my eye with it's blue green hues. It reminded me of an old medicine bottle one might find in a dump near a farm.

Mary Montague Residents of Northwest Road

Residents of Northwest road
14x18 original pastel
Just a few miles up the road from where I live in Westhampton is a beaver pond that goes through years of being full of water and then the beavers get too ambitious and the road floods so measures are taken and the pond is drained. I caught this when the pond was full and the beavers were working. I love catching reflections in the water of aged trees and spent reeds.
Price for original or giclee prints on request

Mary Montague Yesterday's Memory

Yesterday's Memory
9x12 original pastel or giclee print

I’m fascinated by old trucks that are left along the side of the road to rest until they are hauled off to be reclaimed into scrap or just rust into the ground. Having grown up on a farm I remember these vehicles that were kept for “parts” or just never were moved from where they were last parked. I love to paint the fenders dusted with rust and think of what these trucks did in their heydays. How important were they then and now they are forgotten with weeds and roses growing through the grill and mice living in the seat cushions.
Prices for original or giclee prints on request

Mary Montague Bubba and the Girls

Bubba and the Girls
18x24 pastel or giclee print

No I didn’t name him. My 4 year old grandson did. He doesn’t yet realize that there have been several Bubbas in his life time. I caught this Bubba one morning while I walking down from the upper field and there he was with “his girls”, with his male attitude. The light was wonderful and they held their pose until I could take some digital photos and catch a sketch to remember them by.
Prices for original pastel or giclee prints on request

Mary Montague Forgotten Worker

Forgotten Worker

9x12 original pastal or giclee print

I came upon this truck while hiking to find a plein air painting at the Becket Quarry. First I painted the pond left by the excavation of the stone but this image kept calling me, so one snowy winter morning I just had to put it down on paper. It seemed to flow like I was still there in the cool woods on that summer morning.
Prices for original pastel and giclee prints on request