Trickles

Trickles   oil/canvas   30 x 24x 1.5

My partner grew up in the East.  His childhood vacations were taken to the Jersey shore.  At the beginning of our marriage, we, too, vacationed in Jersey...it was all so exciting with the mix of ocean, sand, sun and the boardwalk with its carnival atmosphere, aimed at entertaining the little ones with shiny toys of all kinds.  As our family grew, our vacations moved to North Carolina where the sand was whiter, the ocean warmer and cleaner and the environment less populous.  The bottom line:  we were a beach family.  

This painting was referenced from a small square black and white photograph.  This is my mother-in-law, E, and my husband, also E.  I painted this for my partner's 75th birthday.  The work was done on top of a less successful highly textured painting  which provided just the right amount of challenge and chaos for me.  It happened easily and I am so very happy.

Trickles of the tide.  Trickles of water between rocks.  Trickles of memory.

Sand + Water

S and K   oil on canvas   30 x 40 x 1.4

 Spending a week at the shore with dear ones alters one's perspective!  Beach life is indeed a bit of altered reality.  People play with reckless abandon...sand filters into your swimwear, your hair and your ears.  Castles are created and then abandoned to the tide....creativity and energy and time spent with the realization that nothing built is permanent.  Waves surfed send you speedily to the shore.  Heavier waves send you tumbling as you recognize the greater, much greater, power of the sea.  Marine life is appreciated without being caged.  Imperfect shells are collected as treasures.  Momentary sunsets grace our lives.  It mirrors a wabi sabi existence:  

Nothing lasts

Nothing is finished

Nothing is perfect

Wow....heavy duty.  I am hoping that this notion filters into me and into my forthcoming work.

The Beach

is a place of ultimate relaxation for most...where schedules, compulsions and vanities melt away.  Such a vacation was ours to be had this year.  And, in the small square of condos where we stayed, I viewed at least three people taking up brushes, paints and sketchpads in search of the creativity that such freedom provides.  And, while making art is my profession, I don't aim my sites all that high at the beach.  Sand is everywhere, making its way into paint wells and brushes and eyes.  The light is all-too-pervasive, offering little in the way of contrast.  Values are skewed....when extreme light becomes the norm.  And the subject matter becomes a bit too sweet.

But what the beach does provide is the sense of playful painting, of painting without consequences.  I usually bring only a watercolor block and some pan colors, all in a small format.

These are my more successful results from this year's bunch.  There were others...not so successful.

But who cares?  I am on vacation.

Drip Castles

S and K   oil/canvas   30 x 40 x 1.5

Some beach scenes are archetypal...they are repeated time and time again and hold a sweet place in our memory banks.  This painting was done many many years after my son and dear friend patiently dripped oodles of sand ribbons into piles of magic.  I think that these castles require patience as well as deferred gratification as compared to those using molds.  The sand::water ratio must be just right.  I spent some sweet hours recently recreating a castle of my own.  As it dried, the sparkling grains stimulate a sense of wonder.  Further drying creates small holes almost uniformly throughout, adding to their mystique.

I think that many life lessons are inherent in their creation.  Cook yourself up a bit of magic...try one.

S and K

S and K   oil/canvas   30 x 40 x 1.5

Some images become iconic to me...those scenes that repeat themselves throughout one's life so much that they become embedded in our memory banks.  I am lucky to have so many beautiful ones.  The boys in the photo that inspired this work are now adults...both almost 30 and one to be married within the month.  The bodies have been replaced by other children but the same scene was repeated at this year's beach vacation...the castle builders now Jaidyn and Logan, children of our niece Katie.  In this case, the image becomes more than a singular painting...the work represents, to me, the impact of important familial traditions.  In my work to come, I hope to visit other such scenes/memories...they are the stuff of impact...that which makes my life worthwhile.

In the canvas, the figures were sketched in different positions than the reference photo provided.  I wanted the two figures to work as one in their singular endeavor.  The forms became pretzel-like, in a singular shape that includes the somewhat tangled arms and legs.  The figure on the right became slightly larger to create more interest.  The drip castle is indeed the tie that binds, but has become less consequential...a supporting prop.

and it's a hot one

Infusion   watercolor/gouache   19 x 27

It promises to be a hot one here in northeast Ohio today. This week is my friend Jo's birthday. The hot weather brings back memories of her family and ours at the beach in North Carolina....so many beach summers that they all meld into an all-encompassing beach memory. We each have three sons. It took so much preparation that we actually needed that vacation to rest from preparing FOR the vacation. As we sat in our little beach chairs, the swirling waves sucked out all worries and anxieties.....we became one with the ocean. We liked becoming "flotsam". We became tea bags that were infused into the great water. Jo is a coppery beach person and she wears the most luxurious (in my mind) gauzy summer dresses.....and always flip flops. Her beach casual was queen-like. My mind is filled with the roar of the ocean and my skin feels salty even as I write this tribute. Happy birthday, dear Jo.