Quick Painting/Slow Painting

Tomato Tango   oil/canvas   8 x 8 x 1

I believe that, with a little planning, a good painting can result from a short session or several longer sessions that last months.  Goals need to be adjusted.  The open house at Cuyahoga Valley Art Center is a festive affair....lots of friendly people, great conversations, chatting with colleagues, sampling tasty hors d'oeuvres and very little focus.  It's the nature of the gathering.  And, so, I came armed with a small 6 x 6  canvas that was pre-toned in violet.  My attention was diverted every few minutes so each stroke had to count.  "Tomato Tango" is the result.  A bit wildly painted.  I'm afraid that, given another session, I may have been tempted to fine tune it a bit.  And I'm not sure that would have been a good thing.  My standards seem to be different from what they used to be.  Perhaps I am just happier with who I am.

Bounty

Tomato Tango   oil/canvas   8 x 8 x 1

My life is inextricably bound up with the seasons. Time of year determines what I will be painting, what I will be wearing, how I will be feeling and what I will be doing. There is a constant hum in our kitchen right now....the oven dehydrator is working full-tilt to preserve all of the tomatoes that ripened within a week's time. Funny how that is..............we wait and wait and wait..........and then the ripe goodness inundates our menus and our lives all at once. I always look forward to autumn and its quiet. More quality time in the studio. Less to do in the yard, After the tomatoes will come paprika peppers, then parsley, then thyme, then chives. I love following the rhythms of the seasons. Goodness emerges from each. Georgia O'Keefe once said that visiting the East inundated her senses with green.....and she got bored with so much green. Time to put away the greens. Time to squeeze out tubes of earth tones....raw sienna, raw umber, the burnt counterparts of each; yellow ochre and perhaps some violet. I am ready.