Strawberry Super Moon Landscape Painting Practice

6.25.25 This is my review of the activities, insights and explorations that took place during the Strawberry Super Moon cycle, 5-27-25 to 6-26-25. I'm ending the month far more positive than I felt at the beginning, but also more stressed about when we will be able to start building our house. We are still waiting for our building permit from the town and it is unlikely it will arrive before next week, if then.

New Moon 5.28.25

Our new home site

On a rare dry day, this photo was taken standing on the spot where our house will be built, looking towards the road. Even though the land has been cleared, I could still feel it welcoming us, as if it knows our good intentions. While I am saddened by the disturbance to the soil that comes with building, I am also envisioning what a beautiful eco-system planning, care and attention will create here after the house is up. A new chapter is beginning for us and for it.

The new cycle threw us another curve as well when our oil tank sprung a leak. We weighed our options and decided to put in a new electric hot water heater and a new propane furnace. Hopefully, that will help us sell this home quickly. Of course, the whole replacement process took two to three weeks from estimates to installation, but we did get the water heater in right away for hot water and our air conditioning still worked, so we were comfortable through it all.

Full Moon

For the first half of this rainy lunar cycle, I printed out one of my photographs of the Falls near Pulaski, New York from last summer and started doing some samples of the rock formations and water flowing over them. It's hard to simplfy the natural world because there are so many beautiful details! But I am doing samples (almost!) daily. I stayed with this same photo reference for several weeks, varying tools and techniques. My intention was to try ways to capture the feeling of moving, splashing water with paint.

I love visiting this waterfall each summer when we go to our cottage near Bernhards Bay. The Falls have been developed into a state park now, safer than before but much less of a magical, secret place! This is the photo I used for reference for the slideshow of sketches below. I have kept at it, trying just about any material and tool I have that could communicate water rushing over the rocks and the rock formations themselves. I have a very hard time staying loose and abstract when I'm looking at a photograph and have a tendency to try and make the elements look real, but as a baby abstract landscape artist, that's A-OK!

WaterFall Sketches Slide Show

Loose waterfall sketch

Close up view of flowing water

Simplified waterfall sketch

Water flowing over waterfall sketch

Water flowing over rocks sketch

Water rushing over rocks, waterfall sketch

Water flowing over rocks, waterfall sketch

Water rushing over rocks, close up

Sketchbook simplification of waterfall

Full Strawberry Supermoon Slide Show

I stayed up to catch some photos of the June 11th Strawberry Super Moon rising in the front of the house towards the Southeast and then woke up again late at night and caught a few shots of it setting at the back of the house in the Southwest. However, with no cloud cover, the direct light from the moon refracted and distorted through my phone camera lens, so I had fun playing around in my editing software and creating some interesting colors for possible future paintings.

Strawberry Full Moon Rising

Strawberry Full Moon Rising

Strawberry Full Moon

Strawberry Full Moon

Strawberry Full Moon

Strawberry Full Moon

Third and Fourth Quarters

Seems like we had nothing but heavy rain and dark skies for most of June, but there were some sunny days, plus a short but intense heat wave. My native perennials continue to grow and flourish in my new meadow and pollinator garden. The hummingbird feeder is up and we have frequent visitors.

I have made many landscape sketches. For the final two quarters of the cycle, I worked with ink, charcoal, acrylics and pastels. I see potential in them and lots of ideas to continue to develop and improve.

Expressive Landscape Painting

Expressive Landscape Painting

Expressive Landscape painting

Expressive Landscape Painting

I also arranged for a wonderful adventure to celebrate the Summer Solstice. I went on a mushroom foraging with my friend Jeannie through Smugtown Mushrooms. A group of us were led through the woods by Smugtown's owner Olga Tzogas, who is a wealth of knowledge about plants and trees in addition to her expertise on fungi. We learned about and collected some mushrooms, then enjoyed a meal Olga prepared, spanatakopita made with foraged greens, a fresh greens salad plus she sauteed the mushrooms we had found on our walk so we could all enjoy them. Everything was delicious and the weather was beautiful, a perfect Solstice celebration.

New Moon, New Cycle Begins - June 25

There are numerous names for this moon, including Buck Moon, Salmon Moon, Berry Moon, Thunder Moon and Hay Moon. The Haudenosaunee, who once lived in harmony with this land where I live before they were driven out and the land was parceled and gifted to settlers, called this the Ripe Corn Moon, so I will call it that in honor of them.

I'll close with the Metta prayer as a blessing to us all and with hope that compassion and loving kindness will grow in the hearts of every human for ourselves as well as for each other.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be safe.

May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.

May all beings be free.

Blessings, my friends, may there be peace in our hearts and in our world,

Jeanne