The odd-looking boat seen on the Connecticut River last summer is actually a floating studio that Hadley artist Lewis Bryden uses to paint river scenes at all times of day, in all kinds of weather. For the past 15 years or  so, Bryden has been painting local scenes, including views of the river based on sketches and small canvases he did in his 14-foot fishing boat. Last year the artist bought an old, 25-foot pontoon houseboat and had it refitted with a new motor and navigation lights. Now he can do large paintings from start to finish right on location. The 30-year-old houseboat, nicknamed the "Float des Artistes," has a cabin 8 feet wide by 20 feet long containing painting racks and shelves of art supplies. Two easels stand in the corner and a portable lantern hangs on the wall, enabling the painter to work in the early morning or late sunset.
Lewis Bryden's paintings are showcased with those of the country's greatest landscape painters in the books Paintings of New England and The Artist and the American Landscape. Bryden lives in Hadley, Massachusetts.
APRIL - MAY 2006
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