Harvest Chair

Harvest Chair   watercolor   20 x 13

combines all of my seemingly necessary elements to portray both the beauty and the mystery of the approach of autumn and, subsequently, winter.  I feel the change of seasons in every bone, the rhythms of which are so necessary to my well-being.  The items:  my antique turquoise green chair, chippy with old paint and covered in decals; a vine wreath formed from our own vines and, of course, pumpkins, whose shape, color and flavor so appeal to me.  The problematic crux in such a work is to suggest the encroaching darkness by eliminating the lighter, fun-filled colors of a summer work.  I was desirous of an entwining dark and light pattern that seems almost unachievable.

I am somewhat satisfied.

Heavy Frost.. recording seasonal changes

Heavy Frost   watercolor   3.5 x 17

marks a passage for those of us who live in a geographical area marked by seasonal changes.  Rhythms change and, along with them, changes in what we wear, what we eat and how we spend our time.  This very small watercolor records that change from my view of our back yard where I drink my morning java.  Endings.  Beginnings.  Preparations for the December holidays....plans to spend precious time with family members who visit from afar; lots of baking; lots of plans; and the bringing in of greens to satisfy our needs for it when the environment is lain dormant for a while.  Small painting.  Big idea.

Paint it Forward..

Pine Cone Pair 2   oil/canvas board   8 x 8

of course, is a play on the phrase "pay it forward".  To me, it implies works of good faith, done for the joy of it, with no expectation other than the happiness it gives or provides.  And, so, pine cones.  My sister in law recently asked me if I paint seasonally.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  My regimes, my thoughts and my soul seem to be enveloped by the weather, the scene, the feel around me.  I simply could not paint a summer landscape while surrounded by snow.  Right after the holidays, I had a difficult time returning to the large unresolved work in my studio.  And so, I thought that I would spend some time doing smaller pine cone paintings, 8 x 8, the idea seeded by a find of wonderful wood frames hanging from chains.  These little paintings seemed to go on forever, as I was in love with the paint-on-top-of-paint thing that was going on and the surface texture that emerged.  Although I did have pine cones in front of me, I pretended that they were enveloped by and topped with snow.  And now, with the first warm rays of spring penetrating the glass, I am, at long last, finished with these four small works.  And, I believe, I have had quite enough of pine cones for a while.

Seeing...

Sun Queen   oil/canvas   20 x 16 x .5

the smaller things around us is such a pleasure.  A bit of quiet time allows these heretofore background scenes to permeate our consciousness.  These days our children live elsewhere and, for the first time ever, (temporarily, anyways) there are no pets in our home.  The bird feeders outside have been full of activity all summer along.  We are attentive to the comings, the goings and the rhythms of the bird world.  Goldfinches are perched at the tops of the sunflower stalks where they enjoy pulling out the seeds.  Enthusiasm gone wild.  Terrific.  The ebb and flow of the seasons.  A delight to behold.

Bunch of Daffodils...

Daffodil Bunch   watercolor   18 x 10.5

Nothing signals spring to me more than daffodils....luscious horns of bright yellow to warm our hearts!  I have painted daffodils every spring for more years than I can remember...in vases, lying down, tied with string, in the flower bed, blush background, brown background, turquoise background.....they are always difficult to paint and always a thrill.  We are in the process of naturalizing our front yard for many reasons, the most important being to block off increasing noise from the county road out front.  I planted a variety of 50 just last fall and most have come up.  This year the Granville Garden Club is using one of my daffodil paintings on their advertising materials.....again, a thrill.

Granville, Ohio 65th Annual Garden Club Daffodil Show and Sale featuring over 300 varieties of these pest and deer-resistant bulbs!

When:  Saturday, April 17, 1-7 pm; Sunday, April 18, 11-6 pm

Where:  College Town House, 334 East Broadway, Granville, Ohio 43203

Contact:  Call 740.522.6914 or granvillegardenclub@gmail.com  for further information

              

              

Spring Equinox...

Cracked   watercolor   9 x 13.5

The arrival of the Equinox brings many changes to our lives.  For most of us, these changes are welcome.  I confess to being a winter-lover as I seem to have more quiet creative time that I need.  Spring brings along yard work and changes in rhythm.  I am sure that I will benefit from this shift and new opportunities will present themselves.  Ah, yes, and the Easter dinner.  Eggs and more eggs.  Last evening while putting away the groceries, I tried to cram just one too many eggs into the egg holder....definitely my m.o.  The mess that resulted took even more time to clean up than the time it would have taken for me to be careful.  Again, my m.o.  "Cracked" sums up the experience.  Please tell me that it doesn't just happen to me.

Off I go to make red beet eggs....our Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.

That Apple Time of Year...

Varietal   watercolor   17.5 x 13

The meaning of the word "pagan" has changed over the years. Currently, it has negative religious undertones having to do with one's beliefs, or not. Originally it had more to do with the notion of peasant, rural, of the earth, a following of the natural rhythms of the seasons. The unknowing. Perhaps the illiterate. Intuition. I enjoy painting with the seasons. What excites me personally is affected by the weather, the amount of light and dark, the temperature and the holidays. This is apple season....every year I am quite astonished at the number of new varieties available! Always some never heard of before. I can hear the crunching and smell the sweetness. Apple fritters. Apple Dumplings. Apple Pie. I guess the heart and stomach are definitely related. "Varietal" was painted in the autumn. I studied calligraphy for many years....repetitious line work with lots of rules. Very precise. These days I like to spin off of those rigid letter forms to make my own varieties. In this case, I used them as a design element, some creative line work, to list some of the varieties of apples that can be had. Not meant to be read. Just enjoyed visually.

As you sow............

Three Daffodils   watercolor   11.5 x 21

Everyone has heard about the positive relationship between sowing and reaping. I like to think of it as an introduction to the notion of possibility. Possibilities make my spirit soar. Sometimes the ideas are totally un-doable, sometimes just a particle to latch onto, and very often discarded after lots of effort has revealed a negative time spent/positive result ratio. Flower gardening is in the last of these for me....I don't really enjoy tending to them, planting them, or even painting them. But, from time to time, I do it anyways. Daffodils are the exception. I LOVE THEM. This weekend I plan to plant more bulbs in our front yard which we are naturalizing in a minimal attempt to keep civilization at bay. Maybe it has to do with that planting and sowing thing, the wait, the possibility, the looking forward to. Maybe it is the bright yellow color that symbolizes sunshine. Maybe it is the memory of treating myself to a fistful at the market when buying them is such a luxury item. Whatever. I paint daffodils yearly and seem to have run the gamut as far as color choices and compositions. "Three Daffodils" was painted in watercolor and restricted in size....I wanted to "paint for the frame", always a bad idea, as I had found a lovely powder-blue shabby frame that was the seed for this year's daffodil painting. Although it did work out after lots of juggling, it is cropped a bit more than I would like. Having boundaries from the get-go of the process is unnatural. Having flowers in a vase is unnatural, as well, to me. Come April, I will be thinking again of painting them.

Spring Equinox

Easter Basket   watercolor   12 x 9.5

Seasonal flow is reflected in my work, and probably in the work of most artists. I am stimulated by what I see around me and how I feel. We are lucky here in Northeast Ohio as we are treated to a veritable smorgasbord of weather and temperature conditions, each sliding into the next without too many drastic changes. A new season brings a new way of feeling, dressing, traveling and cooking. Plus, the seasonal changes allow for a multitude of still life subjects. I cannot conceive of painting a summer scene in the winter....it just won't happen. For me, any unrealized seasonal paintings will simply have to be put off until the next year. I enjoy the flow of it all. For our last painting session in my Kent Community Education class, we painted Easter baskets. We had all manner of exciting elements, as participants enthusiastically contributed from their collections. I like the light going through the jelly beans.....makes them more magical. The foil wrappings on chocolates are so beautiful to me....the folds as well as the patterns. Our back yard this time of year is usually foggy in the early morning....our children spent many Easter mornings searching for eggs in the fog in their pajamas. This memory triggered the memory of a wonderful watercolor artist Catherine Anderson  whose mystical watercolor landscapes are achieved by multiple subtle washes of color. Her work gives me that "Easter feeling".