Measure Twice, Cut Once...

Blueberries and Lilacs   watercolor   9.75 x 14

O.K.  I have to keep repeating this mantra.  Preparation is a key ingredient to the success of a painting.  But I don't think that I am unlike most artists who want to jump ahead to the fun stuff, the painting.  Impulsiveness.  At the Mentor watercolor workshop, we spent the first hour drawing our still life set-ups.  My goals were the following:  to familiarize myself with the subject matter; to understand the underlying rhythms of dark and light values that lead the eye through the painting; and to be able to merge similarly valued shapes for the sake of simplification.  And yet, I wanted to retain the enthusiasm for the painting.  (I didn't want to spend it all on the drawing.)  I believe the preparation paid off.  I used the drawing as a road map to guide my painting and used the actual objects for color and detail references.  I think it made for a better painting, at least one that eliminated meandering, making all strokes more crucial and significant.

Let this be a lesson to me, to us.

Blue....

Blue   charcoal/pastel   14.5 x 10

is forever connected in my mind to N.Y.P.D. Blue.  A cop show with no equal.  I guess the notion of justice is so appealing...especially these days with the lay-offs of these much needed public workers, and the line between right and wrong frazzled and wavering.  Double standards.  Monied payoffs.  The shrinking of the middle class.  Manipulation and trickery for a dollar.  So when our artwalk model showed up, a retired policeman, all of my cop-thoughts came into play.  Our model took great care with his appearance...a stingy-brim hat (which was new to me), a striped 40's styled tie and an earring.  Along the Frank Sinatra-lines.  Terrific.  Three hours never passed so quickly.  Thank you, Al.

Justice has been served.  "Blue" is my response.

There is simply no substitute...

Bundled (Mo)   Watercolor   14 x 10

for drawing from life.  It is in this life situation that we are able to understand the forms, the roundness, the hills and valleys of the human face.  And, when practicing, the best way is to use pencils or charcoal....values will teach these subtleties more easily without the added complications of color.  I have seen seasoned artists freeze up when faced with portrait-drawing.  It is here that small errors in scale and measurement show up.  And, when we freeze up, we tend to see the human face as we did when we were children....two eyes, a nose and a mouth....and perhaps a  couple of ears and some hair.  Getting the eyes "just right" will help, but is not the true foundation of drawing the human head.  In actuality, the simple planes of the head tell the true story.  It is indeed an overwhelming task.  It is easy to practice on yourself in the mirror....perhaps limiting yourself to just one quadrant of the face.  That success will urge you onward.  My friend Mo does a self-portrait each day, both to improve her skills and to understand herself maneuvering through life.  Her set-up is stationary in her bathroom.  Her drawings are done in an old copy of The Gulag Archipelago.....one page a day.  Whatever medium spins her fan at a given moment.  What a wonderful way to learn.  Let that be a lesson to us.

Themes...

Dappled 2   oil on canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

I believe that it is the path of the serious artist to paint those things, those ideas, that are important to her...those remnants that when left behind, will help to decipher the life of said artist.  I did not set about painting with any themes in mind., but I did follow my interest and paid attention to my intuition.  After several years, I realized  that one of my interests is "things dappled", things wabi-sabi, those things of pied beauty.  I am certain that what lies beneath this whole spotted and imperfect notion, is a distrust of black and white thinking as well as a personal dislike for the purebred, the pedigreed.

Thus, one of my themes is "things dappled".  I hope to continue all this vein for some time to come. "Dappled" and "Dappled 2" have been included in the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve annual May exhibition.

Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him."
— Gerard Manley Hopkins (The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins)

P.S. I was a little freckle-faced girl.

Drawing as Finished Art...

Power Tie   charcoal/pastel   17 x 8.75

Drawings are useful as painting preparation and help to resolve design problems early on.  But drawings are also quite powerful as finished art.  Without the complexity of color issues, they are able to get to the point quite quickly.  I also enjoy the play of the charcoal across the paper which certainly is easier than with paint!  Drawings are value-driven.  "Power Tie" was drawn from a model.  Because I saw the major shapes as light, I tried to used the darks to rhythmically move the eye throughout the drawing.  Thanks to my friend Ann who always has a plethora of pastel sticks on hand, I added the red of the tie at the very end.

Fine or Chunky?...

Silverplate Pot   watercolor/charcoal   9.5 x 10

Discovering yourself in your art is very exciting.  It defines who we are personally and helps us celebrate our own uniqueness, oneness.  I love all things chunky - salsa, spaghetti sauce, applesauce, jewelry and orange juice with pulp.  Mugs, not teacups.  I prefer large brushes and chunks of charcoal...never pencils.  The first week of watercolor class is always a bit problematic in that no one is really prepared for an assignment.  I asked each artist to grab something in the well-stocked trove of still life objects at the art center.  I grabbed a tarnished silver plate teapot.  I don't question my motivations....I just go with my first inclination.  It was indeed a challenge with all of that tarnished goldeny-violety-blacky reflectiveness....and some dents as well.  It was only when I finished the work at home that my self-definition revived itself.  The beauty of this pot was in the embossing on the handle and on the spout.  But when I picked up a small paintbrush, I felt disappointment...a "why bother" kind of feeling.  It was just short of revolting.  I always want to finish off a class project using only watercolor because, after all, it is a watercolor class.  But I had to be true to myself.  The pot was finished with chunky charcoal lines which pleased me greatly.  The overall feel is always more important than the detail to me.

I was reminded of who am am.

Feelings...

Awakening   watercolor   19 x 9.5

are entwined within my every brushstroke.  Tension shows.  Neurotic behavior reveals itself.  Confidence uplifts and frees.  For me, painting and feelings are inseparable.  Painting is, quite frankly, where my inner world resides.  It is rare to commune with an individual whose ego does not get in the way of the communion.  I have never enjoyed painting landscapes that much.  Part of the reason, I'm sure, has to do with a reality-based color palette that is all over the wheel, and whose disparate nature fragments the power of the work.  But artists in my classes enjoy the painting of the outdoor scape.  And so I deal with it.  For me, a limited palette is a must.  Colors were pushed.  The blue-violet of the sky was brought down to the middle ground.  And the grass green was pushed up into the sky.  The large tree was not solidified.  My response to an early spring landscape:  before the first mowing.

Whether inspiration is based on what one sees or on ideas, the artist's job is to react emotionally to what inspires him.  Be less demanding of the source of your inspiration and give more guts to the representation of your visions and ideas. 

Alex Powers

Baaaa.....d to the bone...

Reverence   oil on canvas   30 x 40 x .75

This month I have been painting a sheep.  Yes, a sheep.  Massive.  A gentle giant.  Painting animals makes me feel serene and complete.  It helps me to understand just where we fit into the grand scheme....that we are a small part of the world in which we live.  My goals were to render the wool in a general way and to merge the sheep shape into the surrounding ground.  The gestalt.  The overall sheep feel.  I felt reverence as I painted.  Respect.  Admiration.

The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all.  This puts one in accord with nature in her manner of operation......John Cage

One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things.  He moves in marmony with the present moment always knowing the truth of just what to do......Lao Tzu (Tao de Ching)

Workshop Work...

Fedora and Stripes   charcoal/paper   20.5 x 13

It has taken me quite a while to accept the fact that my workshop work is not usually my best.  Not only is it difficult to focus clearly in a workshop setting, the concerns of having enough coffee and the volume level of music tend to disrupt and get in the way.  My top concern is that the participants have a successful experience.  As a result, my own workshop drawings are often discarded.  The work of the participants must be the priority and, I must say, I have been so greatly pleased in this regard.  The fact that what I am trying to communicate visually is getting through to participants is unbelievably rewarding!  And, the fact that my own work seems to be sub-par during this same time period is disappointing but no longer a surprise.  As I culled through the work from the expressive drawing human figure work, I decided that one drawing was worth some extra work.  It was on good paper.  "Fedora and Stripes" is the finished drawing.  Thanks to Leta for being such a great model.

Handed-ness Matters...

Paint Dancer Detail

no....not left or right.  I am referring to how we strike or caress the painting surface with our tools.  I believe that those of us with heavy hands need to learn how to caress the surface in appropriate passages.  And, likewise, those of us with a more timid approach, must learn to bravely become heavy handed and bolder when the work requires it.  I guess it seems similar to learning to play the piano....or any instrument for that matter.  Fortissimo.  Pianissimo.  Over the years I have found that, in general, it is more beneficial for me to lighten up my touch.  ( I am a natural heavy-hander).  A lighter touch provides more glide.  An energy that allows for more curve, more swerve.  When I recently experimented with gold leafing, I was so very surprised at the light touch required, with a soft brush using circular movement, to actually adhere the leaf to the adhesive.  (In my mind, there was a burnishing, a pounding effect....wrong)  A light touch allows for more free play and more movement.  To and fro.  Ebb and flow.  Push and pull.   All good.

The King Midas Touch...

Gerbera   watercolor/mixed on paper   9.5 x 12.5

Gold has a history of desirability, representing wealth and status.  As we define ourselves as artists, we gradually sort through what is us and what is not.  For the most part, I have rejected this notion of gold-status.  I do not like gold jewelry....or gold frames.  I much prefer the weathered look of worn materials of an everyday nature...flaking paint, rusted iron and speckled stained materials.  Me.  Years ago, however, when studying calligraphy, I often admired the gold leafing on ages-old manuscripts and holy books.  The reflective quality was beyond compare, even after hundreds of years.  In my art cabinet is a kit containing all the things needed in order to gold leaf.  It sat unused for so many years....simply because I did not want to read the lengthy instruction manual.  I am a doer...not a reader.  A few weeks ago a painting of a gerbera daisy just seemed lackluster, for want of a better word.  I pulled out the kit and read the instructions.  Yes, read.  It really wasn't so difficult.  I loved the addition of this material onto the painting.

Never say never.

Eggs..

Chinoiserie Eggs  watercolor   12.5 x 9

are always a challenge to paint....white, elliptical and fairly reflective.  I usually try to put eggs into a composition with patterning in order to highlight, by contrast, these qualities.  "Chinoiserie Eggs" came into being fairly easily and, I have to say, I enjoyed the rendering of the blue design.  As always, the most difficult part became the opaque darks surrounding the pot itself.  Selective light washes were painted over most of the egg surfaces in order to really eliminate the "too much white stuff" quality that undermines so many watercolors.  Dirty water washes are often a great addition, I find, as the pigments swimming around in the wash water make for harmonious neutral glazes.

Making egg salad from the set up is just gravy.

How to paint water...

Narrow Bridge   oil/canvas  36 x 24 x 1.5

is a concern for most artists as water reflects what surrounds it for the most part.  Frozen water.  Moving water.  Stagnant water.  Each creates its own problems to solve.  Here in America we don't often worry about a source for water.  Solidarites International is one organization making an effort to provide clean water for folks around the world.  Artist Clement Beauvais has illustrated this need on a vimeo film clip by drawing with water and dropping in ink on the surface.  Fellow artist Tom Auld has forwarded this clip to me....he was intrigued by the drop-in of pigment....one of the beautiful qualities of a water medium.  The film is both beautiful and haunting.

Matt Damon and Gary White have founded water.org here in this country.  Donations are accepted to help to provide enough clean water for a year for an individual.  It is estimated that 3.6 million people, including 1.5 million children under the age of 5, die each year from consuming water that is undrinkable.

Let water be the link for solving this global problem.  Donate.  Paint water.

Emily Dickinson wrote....I dwell in Possibilty--

I dwell in Possibility--
A fairer House than Prose--
More numerous of Windows--
Superior--for Doors--
Of Chambers as the Cedars--
Impregnable of Eye--
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky--
Of Visitors--the fairest--
For Occupation--This--
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise-- 

Oh, the possibilities.  Members of the Women's Art League in Akron spent Saturday morning creating pear possibilities.  This slide show shows but a few.  Juicy.  New.  Individual.

Life and Art...

Fourteen   pastel/paper   23.5 x 17

I become elated when art intertwines with everyday life and becomes a bit disengaged from the elite sector.  That is one of the reasons why I love street art so much.  And, let's face it, artists spring from that part of life that is all about the essential, the important, the work that creates, often counter to the destructiveness that surrounds us daily.  And all without regard to pesos.  (of course, pesos do help) Art elevates.  Art enchants.  Art saves.  And so I am particularly delighted to have my work shown at Clip Art Salon and Gallery over the next several months.  Owner Denise Pepe has shown local artists for years in her salon.  She has given many artists a great start, myself included.

Clip Art Salon and Gallery
1165 E. Tallmadge Avenue
Akron, Ohio 44310

Stop by for a color or a cut.  Stop by to become elevated.

Discipline is Freedom...

One in Every Crowd   oil/canvas   8 x 24 x .75

said Garth Fagan, the Tony award-winning choreographer of "The Lion King".  "Study the rules before you break them".  Quotes of this nature abound.  Probably because they are so true.  When you study your craft so very much that its nuances become part of your nature, it is then that you can begin to play....true play from which creativity springs forth.  Yes.

A few weeks ago, the program at my local art club was about breaking the rules.  I was unable to attend that evening.  Sometimes, in breaking the rules, we are more able to completely say what it is that is felt.  "One in Every Crowd" is a case in point.  A painting about chicks, sweet chicks.  And also a painting about following the crowd, or not.  I chose to paint my independent chick a different color and to put him facing a different direction than the others.  These changes made the painting more interesting to me, and also made the painting more interesting and challenging to paint.

Alice...

Applause   watercolor   9.25 x 13.25

(of the Wonderland tale) would love stepping into Heavenly Cupcakes in Kent!  Pink and Green everywhere.  Antiques.  Bold stripey wallpaper.  Games.  Tables.  Sparklies.  and now.....cupcake paintings.  Artists in both of my classes have contributed to this wonderful exhibit of cupcake art:  Sheri Linzey of Kent; Norma Ott of Cuyahoga Falls; Jackie Roberts of Sagamore Hills; Carol Weigand of Rootstown; Delores Zink of Kent; and myself.

Check it out.  And, btw, Alice said to bring your sweet tooth along.

Change of Pace...

Country Eggs   oil on canvas   6 x 6 x 1.5

Changing my painting pacing keeps me interested.  Some days are large oil painting days....they take quite a while to resolve.  On watercolor days, I often work on more than one, switching back and forth while trying to time the drying times.  And, when I become overwhelmed with problem solving, I paint small oils on small canvasses, just painting as I see things.  Simple.  Uncomplicated.  Refreshing.  Often, these small works are driven by color harmony and color experimentation.

Country Eggs....change of pace.

Swoon

is defined by dictionary.com as "to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy".  What a marvelous word!  Swoon is also one of my favorite street artists.  She studied painting at Pratt.  Her subjects are street people.  Most often she does wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts.  I love her style as well as her subject matter.  Sometimes her figures are a combination of great design and draftspersonship combined with decorative elements which make me swoon.  I noticed her work in "Exit Through the Gift Shop".  She is also represented in Graffiti World:  Street Art from Five Continents.

What a surprise to receive one of her images yesterday in my mail.  My son photographed this work on Grand Street in Brooklyn and sent it to me from his phone.

Technology.

Swoon.

Pear Possibilities...

La Poire 3   watercolor and gold leaf

Early next month, I will again be presenting a program called "A Pear is a Pear is a Pear".  It is a fun and playful session that involves process rather than product.  During the workshop we consider such things as:  edges (soft vs. hard); texture; color temperature (warm vs. cool); line and mass; and color (neutral vs. pure).

The slide show shows some the fine small pear paintings that were made that during our Thursday watercolor class.  The pressure was off....we were loose and free.  After all, it was only play-time....right?

Bling...

So Young Worries   watercolor/mixed with gold leaf   15.5 x 10

current slang for shiny things, is a distraction.  Shiny things attract crows as well.  I was inspired by Picasso's "Woman With a Crow" done in watercolor, pastel and charcoal in 1904 and owned by The Toledo Museum of Art.  I love everything about it...its simplicity, the soft caress of the woman's hand, the colors, the elongated fingers.  Some pictures just move us....who knows why?  Maybe it stirs up something in the memory.  Perhaps it indicates a place we would like to inhabit artistically or emotionally.  I painted "So Young Worries" d'apres Picasso.  My work is done also in watercolor, pastel and charcoal.  The gold coin is gold leaf applied.  I guess I feel that we are too often distracted by bling and all it represents.  It really keeps us from knowing ourselves.  To have or to be.

Yardsticks...

Pot of Potatoes   watercolor on paper   13 x 17

are good for measuring things, even measuring finished work, but lose their function when trying to measure the quality of our work.  One day at the end of class, one of the artists asked me if I thought his work had improved over the past couple of years.  Wow...talk about a loaded question.  I hate to respond with another question, but I think that improvement can only be judged from within.  With some paintings, I felt that I really hit the mark.  Others, not so much.  I have sold many paintings that were not among my favorites.  I am happier with my work than I was a decade ago....does that count?  It seems that my earlier work garnered more awards....but I may be wrong.  I am doing riskier things these days...solving more difficult problems....I feel that my work is now really mine.  But how would others measure it?  I don't know.  Sometimes I really love a painting that has not even gotten a second glance by others.  I guess improvement is in the eye of beholder.

"Pot of Potatoes" is the aforementioned work.

Life is just a bowl of....

Eat Your Broccoli   watercolor   13.25 x 6.5

let's see...we had spools of thread, bok choi, fruit and my own response, broccoli.  In this case I was working on an unusually shaped scrap of paper.  I wanted the darks and lights to play against each other to create drama.  And....I had the green/violet combo in my brain.  The tops of each floret are a kind of bluish-whitish-greenish.  Millions of little pieces.  The goal:  to indicate broccoli without too much detail.

"Eat Your Broccoli" is my response.

Winter-ful...painting snow...

Blue Hen Falls   watercolor   11 x 11

This has certainly been a winterful winter....after weeks of slightly warming temperatures and chilling rain, we are back into the grips....the trees and ground are covered with the fluffy white stuff.  Last chance to paint a winter landscape.  Painting snow in the spring seems, well, just wrong, like looking at a Christmas wreath in March.

"Blue Hen Falls" is the result.  About half of it was painted during class.  I was terrified to complete this in the studio at a separate session....worried that I would be unable to continue the earlier color palette, the earlier soft rhythm.  I guess the muse was with me on this one.  I am pleased.

Literature...

What Have We Done With Us?   oil/canvas   24 x 30 x .75

(that which one chooses to read) and life experience are inextricably related.  Life experience, then is inextricably related with what one chooses to paint.  I am a fan of the work of Louise Erdrich.  I found Love Medicine and Plague of Doves to be both haunting and a bit disturbing.  When I was in elementary school, our class assignment was to question our relatives about our heritage.  In a super-moment (one that remains strongly engrained in the conscious), I asked my grandfather where our ancestors came from.  He replied that my grandmother was a "wild injun".  My grandmother gave him a mean glance and then went about her chores....she was a woman of few words.  I thought it was a joke, even though she really did look Native American.  In years to come, I did find out that her own mother was the child of such a "bi-racial" relationship.  The details are quite sketchy but researched to a degree by a cousin.  I have no desire to undertake the task of genealogy.  But the interest is there.  That my tolerance of cold, that my extremely slow metabolism and my love of silence could be a product of genetic coding.  When Twelve Eagles posed, I undertook the project with enthusiasm.  Indian art runs the gamut from being a bit scientific (as specimens from The New World) to a bit too sweet as in "cute little Indian girl".  But as I worked, I realized that even though Twelve Eagles is authentic, she came off as a beautiful woman in a costume, as defined by my narrow middle-class-America-Ohio-to-be-specific cultural dictionary.

"What Have We Done With Us?" was painted of a sketch of Twelve Eagles.  I see myself in her.

Nuances....the stuff that others don't notice

become apparent to anyone who creatively undertakes a given task more than once.  Cake-baking.  Fire-building.  Plant-watering.  Whatever.  I have never trusted the opinion of anyone who deems any undertaking to be a cinch.....that indicates to me an unawareness of nuance.

Take materials, for example.  I usually follow the plan of:  the larger the work, the larger the tools, the need to stand.   And so it follows with smaller.  For our Wednesday evening model, I decided to sit instead of stand at the easel.  And so it followed that I would use a small piece of paper and a small charcoal pencil.  I usually use vine charcoal for drawing which mushes easily...sometimes too much.  The pencil was harder.  Even though I used my blending stump, the lines are still visible.  That can work to advantage, or disadvantage, of course, depending on the goals.  I used the less-bumpy side of the paper so that there would be more merging of the medium.

Sometimes it takes years to understand all of the hidden nuances hidden in art materials.  And to work with them to advantage.  Utilizing our own strengths as well as our limitations, including our materials, can improve our work.

The inner unconscious world...

Bartlett Pear   watercolor and thread on paper   5 x 8

the one we're not directly in contact with or in control of - that's the one I try and privilege.
                                                                                                 Charlotte Rampling, actress

Here here.  I was privileged to lead a program Monday eve on "A Pear is a Pear is a Pear" at the Medina Art League.  Due to time limitations, we created 8 small paintings, very quickly painted, with the pear as our subject.  Oh, the possibilities!
     1. vanilla....blah, blah, blah.  The pear painted as seen using local color.
     2. daring do.  We worked on this one throughout the session beginning with unlikely colors
          and strokes....how dare we?
     3. feeling edgy.  Manipulating hard and soft edges to tell different stories
     4. the thermostat....some artists worked on warm dominant paintings, and the others cool
     5. curly or straight?  some artists worked on texture within the pear form, and others texture in
         the background
     6. the feng shui way...bringing the outside (the form) in and inside out
     7. towing the line....adding a straight line to the organic pear form to offer strength
     8. color power...utilizing both pure hues and neutrals

My goal was to illustrate the possibilities inherent in the design principles and to help artists to prioritize what key ingredients please them in order to make their art more personal.  It was a rousing session with so many great little beginnings! (especially those of a 3rd grade art teacher)

Rum raisin, anyone?

Portraits...

Delores in Fendi   watercolor   11 x 8.25

are an amazing opportunity to commune with another individual in a very personal way....an intimacy beyond measure.  A silent wordless relationship.  For me, a portrait painted in love is the only way to travel.  I am inspired by real people with real humanity and a real soulfulness.  When presented with whiny uninspiring models or those in costume, I am at a bit of a loss, as a boundary has been laid which I am unable or unwilling to penetrate.  Portrait painting for me is so undeniably connected to my brain.  Painting Delores was such a work of love.  She is a perpetual student who is 86 years young.  We have been painting together for many years.  The muse seems to guide me in these joyful endeavors.  The work was started from a classroom situation where she was painting someone else, so the simple shapes changed a bit from time to time as her head rotated both from up to down and from left to right as she dipped into paint.  Once the groundwork was laid I was committed and finished as best I could.

A tribute to my friend and colleague Delores.  I am pleased.

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.

Heavenly...

(Applause)   watercolor   9.25 x 13.25  

is an understatement.  These cupcakes surpass anything I have ever tried.  Our class assignment:  bakery in reds, pinks, chocolates and whites to celebrate the love day.  I stopped in to Heavenly Cupcakes to buy a few support materials.  I couldn't believe the buzz, the activity!  These really are heavenly....buy, then paint, then buy again.

And the oscar goes to....all three.

Really.

The Pinecone...

Lone Cone   Watercolor   7 x 7

is simple, yet complex....like many organic things.  And I believe that it presents a most interesting drawing and painting problem.  The ins-outs, the tos and the fros, of light falling on it can teach us so much about the way light affects form.  In our watercolor class, we undertook this problem, knowing that the values need to be upped  to the light end of the scale.  While cones don't really have white on each tip, we understand that to be easily read visually, these changes would keep the cone sublime, without becoming a dark brown blob.  Carol's work is indeed sublime....this is her second effort at this gentle cone.  The gentle washes on each side help the cone to recede and to read in a three-dimensional way.  It has volume.  Her first attempt became too dark too quickly.  She corrected and reworked.  Her efforts were rewarded.  My own version is more drenched in color.

We're Painting the Roses Red....

Confection   watercolor   8 x 5.5

sang the cards in "Alice in Wonderland".  I am singing it too...."Confection" is my response to our valentine challenge.  I guess I am somewhat satisfied with the work.  I took it as far as it would go.  Years ago while working in the greeting card industry, I painted more roses that I ever would want in a lifetime.  They are difficult, not only in their curling twisting forms, but in that deep red color which does not reflect light very well.  Actually, not at all with the overhead lighting at the art center.  Beginning painters often over-paint the rose, in an attempt to achieve that rich redness.  Permanent rose, Rose Madder and Opera Pink are all pink-oriented.  Alizarin tends toward brown.  But, once again, I dipped into it in order to achieve a darkness which the other hues could not provide.  I left a white which was gradually washed over in the final stages.

My regret with this work is its scale.  Too many things on the paper for its size.  I was using a odd-sized leftover.  Painting freely with one or two forms in the composition works.  Too many forms inhibit that freedom.

Note to myself:  on Valentine paintings, stay out of the Alizarin.  And, oh yeah, bring a bigger sheet of paper.

Homage...

Bundled   watercolor   14 x 10

is pronounced o-maj'  in French.  My friend Tom painted an homage to Dean Mitchell after viewing his exhibition in Canton.  My homage today is to my friend Mo.  She has studied with me for years.  She is an open-minded and fair individual.  She treats everyone with kindness.  She is enthusiastic.  We are both perpetual students.  And....she lives an artful and considerate life in every way.  Her portrait of me is just wonderful.  Simply rendered.  Texture has been liberally suggested.  Energetic.  And, as it seems to me, she only represented the good parts....of course, my hair and mouth were covered.  (definitely a good thing)

Mo was not at class last week.  Her wonderful dog Farina, who is also a member of our class, suffered an accident at a dog park and had to have surgery on Monday.  Farina's leg was dislocated as she leaped to get away from some other large dogs.  And the very sad thing is that not one individual stepped up to help her, or to acknowledge their part in the accident.  I would have to say that this is anti-Mo behavior.

Which is exactly why I like her so much.

Impure?...

Fallow   watercolor/mixed   25.75 x 11

It seems that there are purists in almost every detail of habitation these days. All cotton.  Strictly organic.  And transparent watercolor.  I'm afraid that I am a mutt.  Mixing it up in every way possible...especially if that seems to be the way to achieve what I am after.  "Fallow" started off as a watercolor for our class challenge of a vertical landscape.  After simplifying and reestablishing countless times, I introduced gouache....then watercolor pencils....then pastel...more watercolor....then a Lyra watersoluable grafit-kreide.  This work is about as far away from my usual as can be.  And, yet, the feel of this work is exactly the image inhabiting my brain ever since that Sunday walk down my road, the day that I needed to procure an image for the upcoming class.  Feel.  Important.

Yet, I feel a bit of guilt that I was unable to resolve the problem with pure watercolor.  Oh well.  I might just drown my sorrows with a slice of  smoked Gouda....or possibly Velveeta.

LOVE Day...

Chocolate Cupcake   watercolor   7 x 5

is here.  Our small festive celebrations punctuate our lives with little spurts of joy.  It seems that we, in our culture, are appreciating the visual quality of food as never before.  We are lucky to enjoy a standard of living that allows for this.  As we fill our homes with art...meaningful art...let's not forget to include the beauty of food....it is a huge part of our lives and provides us with a venue for artful living, no matter what our daily endeavors.

Oh yes....a cupcake with no calories!

Critiques...

Winter Nap   Charcoal/Pastel   28 x 18

are a regular event at our club here in Akron.  Last week, I took in a drawing done shortly before Christmas as a demonstration.  I really do like it.  I was successful in the "feel" of the work which was a winter nap.  It was a cold day and we were approaching the holiday season.  Once home, I quickly framed and put it on the wall.  Now, in January, I knew that it was time to reconsider the work.  Several artists pointed out the model's right arm and hand which, in its darkness and weight, commanded too much attention.  I agree.  OK.  Yet, on the other hand, I knew that the dark and weight were there to balance the right side of the drawing.  Judy Carducci made a great suggestion which was to remove a particular mark on that arm, leaving it more open to merge with the toned paper beneath.  The next day I tackled the project.  Because I had sprayed the work with fixative, the mark would not budge.  (I guess it's good to know that the stuff works)  The green pastel on the work had been put on first under the charcoal.  It had never occurred to me to reintroduce it.  Duh.  Putting in a passage or two lessened the power of that arm and, to me, solidified the whole.  Thank you to Judy, to Tom Campbell  and to JoAnn for your comments and suggestions.  In addition, friends Kim Moore and Tom Mullins suggested that this drawing would benefit from a floater frame....where no mat would be used.  Terrific idea.

No matter whether a work is quickly done or takes weeks, the consideration process goes on for quite a while.  At least for me.  A bit of separation from the work helps one to see things more clearly.

Isn't that Mary?...

Mary Sanders...a sketch

Every now and then I browse through the small drawings that have been uploaded onto my computer.  I came across a drawing of the back of Mary Sanders' head.  Yes, it has to be her.  You know, the Yupo guru?  I have come to realize that more and more, likeness has a whole lot to do with the simple geometric shapes that make up a face, a head, an arm, a body.  We recognize our friends from the back.  We even recognize them from very far away as they approach.  When we take the time to "nail" these simple shapes, we are rewarded.  This also explains my dislike for "the portraits of a thousand wrinkles", as if the aging of the face tells the story.  Simple shapes rule.

Of course it's her.  Why I'd recognize her anywhere.

It's all in the shape of the hairdo....not the individual hairs.

Texture...

Christmas Chaos   Watercolor on Yupo   8 x 8

is inherent when painting on Yupo.  I like texture in small doses but prefer it when played against the calm of a flatly painted area.  Right now I am picturing a greeting card that featured an elderly man dressed in stripes, checks and patterns of all kinds.  The greeting is "don't drink and dress".  Very funny.  Too many textures seem agitating.  Stories can get lost in texture.  I have come to believe that simple forms work out well on Yupo.  To the right are examples of our holiday still life paintings on Yupo.

Between the Cracks...

Peony Row   Watercolor on Yupo   11 x 15

As we were using Yupo in class, I recalled just one other time, many years previously, that I had used the stuff.  The memory was crisp....sitting the warm sun on my patio and tackling the peony row there....on Yupo.  I remember the frustration of the meandering paint, the frustration of not being able to layer.  These days I am, hopefully, more accepting of such challenges.  After some looking, I came upon that older work "Peony Row".  At the time, I was still taking the best work to a professional to be photographed and, apparently, I didn't feel that my peony painting was worthy.  Pulling it out, after all these years helped me to see that it was better than I had thought.

One quick swipe of a wet brush on Yupo takes the stroke back to the white surface...well, almost.  I found that I really did appreciate the colorful residue left behind on these strokes.  Very sublime.

Putting away questionable paintings is a good trick.  Several years later, I am able to make a better judgement regarding its success.  Sometimes, I am quite aware that the painting really does suck.  And, surprisingly, sometimes the work is better than the image of it that dwells in my subconscious.  That was the case here.  A work that had fallen between the cracks has redeemed itself to me.  Let's not be too hasty to judge.

How DOES he do that?...

Still Life with Jug and Poppies   watercolor   4 x 6

Dean Mitchell, I mean.  Painting small, I mean.  Returning to the studio after the holidays is always difficult.  I understand the supposed ripeness of the dormancy period.  But facing the white canvas or the white paper is scary....more so after being away for a while.  I found that my strokes were too heavy, too deliberate.  My sleight of hand had also been on holiday.  After perusing the Dean Mitchell book of exhibition paintings loaned by a friend, I was inspired by some of the miniature works and decided to paint a small still life.  As a painter who relishes large spaces and big brushes, this was truly a challenge.  Smaller brushes.  Less freedom.  Being concise is a virtue when painting small.

"Still Life with Jug and Poppies" is 4 x 6.  I am happy with it.  But I am ready to get big again.

Dean Mitchell:  Space, People and Places is on exhibit at the Canton Museum of Art through March 6.

New Pen...

Ivy Drive Seth...sketch done with Pilot Precise V7 Rolling Pen in Blue

I would guess that many art-supply addicts can also be seen in the dark alleys of office supply stores to get their fixes of adrenaline.  Years ago, and I mean years ago, I read an article about an artist who worked in travel journals with a Pilot Precise V7 Rolling Pen in blue ink.  These pens have a needlepoint somewhat like those nasty technical pens that always seem to be clogged. This  pen makes beautiful rolling and seamless lines.....AND it also responds to a water wash to soften and delight.  I immediately bought the pens and there they sat, in my desk drawer, as a reminder of things to be.  In the first days of the new year, we helped our son switch apartments in Charlottesville....lots of moving and cleaning.  Lucky for me, I glanced at those unopened pens before the trip and vowed to give them a try during our down-time.  Yes-in-deedy-di.  I am definitely not a line-driven artist, but the washy substance gives me a thrill.  I am afraid that I did not spend too much time on the drawings themselves, as I was so excited about the wash.  Experiments.  More tools in the creativity arsenal. 

Added to my small pouch of sketching supplies to be found in my bag:

1-Pilot V7 rolling pen in blue
1-small watercolor brush
1-folded paper towel for drying and blotting.

Life is good.

In the still...

Rick reading The Tree by John Fowler...s sketch

of the morning during our wonderful family holiday, I found some time to sketch and sip my morning java at the same time.  What a wonderful way to greet the day!  During these holidays, my studio is tidied and shut down....no large projects underway.  When I get itchy to draw, I contemplate family members before me, loving their contours, loving their similarities and differences.....loving them.  Some sketches are quick.  I ask no one to pose.  My goal is to grab what I am given.  In this sketch my Rick is reading a book which was a gift.  The light is behind him.  It is dim.  It is early.  The fire roars.

Drawing...

hand drawn Christmas card

In our DRAWING class we have a tradition before the holiday season...  we have a DRAWING to select names for a hand-drawn greeting card to be sent to the recipient.  Very exciting...a bit of a Secret Santa thing that allows for more drawing practice at the same time it excites the recipient to be the owner of an original drawing.  Yes!  I drew Lisa's name.  As time was short, I chose to work on my card during the ornament/greens lesson in class.  I brought in some vintage ornaments that had some patterns on them for a bit of a challenge.   I used a Strathmore card with a red deckled edge and masked off borders with artist's tape in order to have clean and smudge-free edges.  I began with a few marks with a red pastel in order to tie into that red border.  I worked the drawing in a fairly dark pencil.  At the end-of-class-critique, most artists felt that I needed more darks.  So, at home, I used some of my darkest leads to create a rhythm that would connect the elements.  I sprayed the card with fixative and sent it on its way, addressing it in pencil to tie into the drawing.

Contrast...

hand drawn Christmas card

A week ago in our Thursday drawing class, we brought in glass Christmas balls and greenery to set up for a still life.  Our goal was to contrast the hard, shiny and highly reflective balls with the textured greens of the season.  We all seemed to have a difficult time with contrasting values, as the greens and the balls were somewhat the same.  The overhead banks of fluorescent lights did not provide the bright sparkling highlights that we had hoped for.  In almost every case, the artists had to rework the drawings at home, adding deeper darks in order to make the drawings more easily read.  Concepcion chose two nearly-transparent hand-blown bulbs that were a gift.  The stems are visible through them.  She added a wrapped package and some fine rhythmic pine needles.  The varying forms make the drawing quite interesting.  The glass balls are very finely drawn.  The composition is quite strong.  Very successful....we all agreed.

Dussel Farm...

Dussel Farm in February   watercolor   8.25 x 23.25

Is a local farm that we frequent for sweet corn, pumpkins and the like.  My children passed it on the school bus each day.  The Dussel children were classmates.  There aren't so many farms like it anymore.  It is monumental to me.  "Dussel Farm in February" was painted at the end of last winter from reference photos shot across the street.  I like the horizontal format as it implies the unending lay of the land.

Leave that stroke alone!...

Julie   conte crayon on paper   17.5 x 10

Yes, my brain tells me this repeatedly!  Demonstrations offer the opportunity to draw from life and to relish what has been given to you.  Julie sank into the comfy chair and eventually became one with that chair as she relaxed.  The excitement was there for me....the notion of a winter nap.  At the end of the session, I was quite satisfied with the overall feel of the work but felt that there were several issues that still needed to be resolved.  At home, I worked a bit...maybe a half hour, but understood the danger of "fixing"...where areas do become neater, tidier, but at what cost?  .....at reducing the energy of the work.  Ask me how I learned this lesson.  Ask anyone who has ever worked in watercolor.  Sometimes I look around at model sessions and classes and see well-versed artists repeatedly stroking (licking) areas again and again to no avail.....trying to get it "right".  It takes a long while to learn to trust yourself...to trust what you see...to realize that every stroke is valid, that every stroke, every mark, every squiggle is valid.  Trust......yeah, I get it now....hopefully it will stick.

To Draw is to Feel...

Bob...a sketch

It is no secret that my feelings are completely evident in my work....Words have become nearly superfluous to me...good listeners are rare.  True communication through words is nearly impossible to me.  The paper, the canvas....now they allow me to express myself completely and unconditionally.  Bob is a feeling artist as well.  In the past several years Bob has put his heart on paper.  To call his work nostalgic would be a misnomer.  His work celebrates the momentous parts of his life....those things worth keeping, worth expressing.  Bob's drawing of baby shoes on a toned piece of paper drew admiration from the other artists in our class.  The shoes are tenderly drawn.

Very often artists consider the background to be a separate entity from the subject matter....and we are often sucked into rendering the table, the chair, the curtain....just because they are there.  Bob's very slight horizontal strokes solve the problem of weight....the necessity of having the shoes rest on something so that they do not appear to float.  Those few strokes are worth the price of admission to me.  So much power in such a simple drawing!

Feetured Artists..

my feet...a sketch

On Thursday last the artists in drawing class drew our own feet!  Believe me, there were lots of complaints!  .....of having feet like Bilbo Baggins and Fred Flintstone....feet so dexterous that they can pick up objects from the floor....one artist too shy and cold to reveal anything at all...and my own high-arched complaint of never feeling quite grounded.  All in all, it was very wonderful.  We noticed tendons.  We noticed negative space.  Each and every drawing is animated and demonstrates a lively interaction between the two feet.  I thought of creating a matching game with posted faces and feet drawings.....that would have involved far too much work and, perhaps, a bit too much exposure.  Instead, we have a slide show of feet!

Enjoy our feet.  Enjoy our drawings.  Ah.....the thrill of da feet.

It's Hoppin'!...

Winter Nap   charcoal/pastel   28 x 18

Sugar.  Caffeine.  Diet Coke.  Love them all.  But in this case I am talking about downtown Akron.  It is supremely satisfying to see your city in the process of waking up to the creative arts.  This coming Saturday, December 4, is the monthly artwalk and things are hopping at Summit Artspace and in many downtown venues.  We are painting in the ASA Studio on the 3rd floor starting at 5 pm.  On Sunday, December 5, I will be doing a figure drawing demonstration, also on the 3rd floor, starting at 1 pm.  Oh, the possibilities.  I am excited and have already purchased a wonderful piece of paper.  (yes, it's the little things)  Julie DiSiena will be my model.  I cannot promise success......but I can promise a heartfelt searching. 

Shopping provides a momentary buzz.  Making art is lasting.  Consider giving a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork.  Support local artists.  Have a cup of coffee to ward off the chill.  Enjoy the buzz.

Sinus Headache...

Heavy Frost   watercolor   3.5 x 17

Yes I do have one.  Last week we were coatless.  This week a dusting of snow.  Those changes that affect our beings are in some way momentous.  Noteworthy.

Last week's assignment was a painting of a late November landscape.  Come class day, I still had no reference as the holiday weekend had usurped my energy.  I awoke to a heavy frost, the headache, and decided to paint the view that I see as I sip my morning java.  And, I decided to paint small, really small....something I rarely do.  One glance into my studio currently reveals 6 unfinished paintings and, with the holidays abreast, I didn't want to add to that number.  An hour or so before class, I thrifted a small, small horizontal frame.....perfect!  I painting sitting down...with small brushes....barely touching the surface....and.....a light-hearted attitude.

I am truly happy with the result.  The finished work is 3.5 x 17".  Very very small.  This extreme exercise was good for me in many ways.  Learning to play the softer notes.

And, I guess we should have put up the outdoor lights last week.

Winter Red...Cardinals at the feeder

Winter Red   watercolor   19 x 12.5

The first dusting of snow greeted us this morning.  Coffee.  Cardinals at the feeder.  Life is good.

There is a frenzy about the holiday season...

Filling In   watercolor   10 x 10

that has nothing at all to do with shopping or cookie-baking.  It has to do with a cleansing of our environment....both Rick and I become obsessed with pounding in those errant nails that we have lived with the entire year, ridding the shower curtain of that mildew smell and checking out the size of the dust bunnies behind the refrigerator.  I used to think it was because his parents came to visit.  Now I think of it more as a creating of more negative space in which to dwell in peace.  AND SO CAME THE CLEANING OF THE STUDIO.   For years I had been meaning to paint the antique jelly cupboard that houses my supplies.  The brown wood was depressing.  The paint job took several days, as I chose to do it in three colors (but of course!) and the cupboard is happier.  I am happier.  Then the cupboard led to cleaning out the files......there are always surprises involved.  For the most part, I find that earlier work is better than I remember....almost fresher when I knew less, perhaps relied more on instinct.  "Filling In" is such a work.  When our model did not show up one evening, a newcomer instantly declared her willingness to shed clothing and fill in.  None of us knew much about this girl.  She had no art supplies and painted with eye makeup on paper.  At the end of the session her husband came into the studio to pick her up. I never knew her name.  We never saw her again.  It was a bit of a Santa Claus experience and I was the benefactor.  I have always loved this painting and was surprised, in my reorganization, at its honesty.