Umbrella

Umbrella   oil/canvas   36 x 48

 I really have no idea why some glimpses of life are more appealing than others.  This scene appeared as I walked around a nearby allotment. This kind couple agreed to let me photograph them, although the small girl seemed to be perturbed by my request.  As per my usual, it is the visual that suggests contemplation...and spurred thoughts of umbrellas and their purposes.  I think that we all agree that umbrellas perform the function of protecting us from the elements.  It creates a bit of a boundary... the inside::outside feeling also provided by clothing, cars, homes and fences.  

And so each of us finds our comfort zone in the interior::exterior polar opposition.  

Do you know where your umbrella is?

In Memoriam: Judith B. Carducci

Turnabout - Carducci   watercolor/gouache   13 x 20

Although I have seen her only minimally over the past several years, Judy was a constant throughout a major portion of my life.  We met through our local arts group The Akron Society of Artists.  It was there that we participated in life drawing, critiques, and hosted exhibitions.  Her medium of choice was pastel.  Mine:  watercolor and oil paint.  One very  hot summer, three of us painted from models one evening a week in the upstairs garret room of The Italian American center in Akron.  Judy, Jack Liberman and I comprised our little group.  While we did not always agree artistically, I believe that we had so much in common...mainly a great love and respect for the human face and figure.

This particular portrait of Judy was done in 1999 as a group demonstration for 

The Hudson Society of Artists.  As Judy lived in Hudson, she was a ready volunteer.  Reference photos were shot and the painting was finished later on in my studio.  The painting was exhibited in Watercolor Ohio 2000 sponsored by The Ohio Watercolor Society and was purchased for their permanent collection.

I believe that each artist's personal aesthetic is comprised of all she has viewed and experienced and loved.   So....Judy was and is and will be a part of my work...forever.

Judith B. Carducci.  She was 86.

Jack Liberman  2004

Judy Carducci 2004