Happy Mother's Day

LB and E   oil/canvas   24 x 18 x 1.5

LB is my daughter-in-law.  E is our new grandson.  As I see my own history being repeated, I am awed by the intensity of mother love.  I have learned so much from this beautiful young woman...she is confident, yet soft spoken.  Hard working yet always seems to have time.  States considerate opinions without bulldozing.  E is a lucky boy.  I am a lucky woman.

This painting was done from photos taken when E was just days old.  It practically painted itself.  My commitment to the work could only be outdone by my love.

Paint what you love.

Are you in or are you out?

Who Holds the Key?   watercolor/mixed on paper   9.5 x 14

Making something out of nothing is all about design.  Given:  a random bunch of keys and locks.  They were arranged in a circular fashion before me.  I used a sketch to help determine lights and darks, and to illuminate the focal area which is the large lock on the bottom left.  My challenge was to paint brass and steel convincingly, as well as to adhere to the value and rhythm plan of the sketch.  I also wanted to provide a hard, scratchy feel that opening locks seems to give.  Some specks of gold leaf were added to the lock on the right that was in danger of disappearing.  Although I might approach this problem differently given a second go-round, I am satisfied with the feel of the work.

Locks and keys provide a barrier.  In or Out.  Something precious.  Something to hoard?  Keeping out others.  Pretty profound for a small bunch of tooled metal scraps. 

Tanner Redux

Tanner   watercolor   12.5 x 9

Our painting class so enjoyed Tanner in the fall that we invited him to be our model again this spring for two weeks...the first familiarizing and drawing; the second painting.  I am always so amazed at the "multiple looks" that every person conveys.  In this case, it hit me like a brick.  As a high school senior, Tanner's look has changed and he has visibly matured in the past several months.  His haircut different...more sophisticated.  And he posed wearing a bright yellow raincoat...fodder for any visual artist.  My painting was begun from life and completed with the aid of a photograph taken during the session.  Two sessions are always tricky...the skew of the head was somewhat different in the photo.  After the session, Tanner provided his own personal responses to each work...and showed himself to be incredibly observant and sensitive.  Congratulations on your graduation, Tanner!!! 

Tanner is off to Columbus College of Art and Design in the fall.

Tools of the Trade

Tools of the Trade   Watercolor   8.25 x 11.5

Each painting session, I must come up with subject matter for the very first class where participating artists arrive with painting materials only.  I used fruit for many years.  I knew I had to come up with something else when artists began calling this the "apple lesson". This session, we used objects from our supplies.  As I am a student of design principles, these brushes became three distinct yet overlapping lines.  And what better to counter the geometric line that an organic circle?  The "background" paint was laid in spirally.  Not only does this help to soften these strong lines, but it also prevents the ends of the brushes from commanding as much attention as the brush ends.  No fancy set-ups.  No meticulously calculated lighting.  I love the challenge of creating a subject from what you have.

I also love creating a dinner with on-hand ingredients.  Making do.  I think it's a great way to live.

Pensees

Pensees   watercolor   10 x 6

Painting flowers is not for the timid.  I have often felt that they are the most difficult subject on the face of the earth.  Complexity and detail abound.  It has literally taken me years to understand (from time to time) how to take in all of this complexity and reduce it to a more understandable version of what is before me.  Pansies are tender and bendable.  They love cool and moisture.  Thus is the challenge for a painter like me who loves the bold and sculptural.  In earlier watercolor days, I like to ignore its boundaries and press it into an all-encompassing duty....making a watercolor painting that would stand up to the strength of a pastel, an oil.  But that was ignoring its finest quality which is also its limitation...the quiet, the sublime, the delicately layered.  This painting is small and achieves just what I had hoped...the nature of these tender flowers.

Pensees is a French word for thoughts...and for pansies.

Empty Nest

Empty Nest   Watercolor   10 x 10

is a term that usually refers to that stage of life when the children have gone their own ways and parents are left with a nest that that is quieter, less active and just different than it was in previous decades.  Yet, I would offer the notion that each nest, empty or full, is full of all kinds of possibility, all kinds of beauty.  Feathers, leaves and small bits of string remain.....even bits of dirt.  I guess it is up to each of us how we choose to feather our own nests...empty or full.

Purpose

Purpose   oil/canvas   24 x 18 x 4

My watering can has seen better days.  It has multiple dings and a leak that has been repaired with duct tape.  It was originally purchased at Rootstown Hardware, owned by my cousin, which has since gone out of business.  I love this can.   As I am not a plastic-person, I continue to use, appreciate and love this well worn can and will continue to do so until a worthy replacement can be found.  I shot some photos of the can last summer in a late-afternoon light while it was perched on the arm of a patio chair.  The painting began mise en scene (in a context) containing the chair, the plants, and  the brickwork along with the can.  When will I ever learn that this approach is just not who I am?  After a couple of passes, all supporting actors were sent home while I used the design approach to carry out my vision.  There is a patterned border on the left which was created by pushing a linoleum block into the fresh oil paint.  Lots of layering, mushing, pushing and pulling.  This work took many many months to resolve.  For me, minimizing the number of shapes in the work allows more power to each.  After all, my purpose was to elevate the stature of this much-loved and worn household object.

Tooting your own horn?

Tooter   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

is a questionable pastime, in my opinion.  Although we visual artists work, for the most part, by ourselves in a solitary endeavor, we really are engaged in a common goal, i.e. promoting the visual arts and one-or-a-kind works that elevate the buyer and sustain the artists as well.  It would be healthier for us, again in my opinion, to think of ourselves as members of a team.  One is not better than the other.  One is different than the other.  There is room for everyone.  Teams of musicians.  Teams of architects.  Teams of athletes.   I believe that hierarchical thinking is a thing of the past, gone the way of old boys' clubs and debutante balls.  Perhaps it is lateral thinking, our connectedness to others and the world around us, that will help us evolve into a world where each person commands respect.  No more us versus them.  Most of the tooting that goes on in my world is between artists themselves and is designed, I guess, for some to feel superior to others.  It just is not necessary.  We all experience successes.  We all experience failures.  I was reminded of this notion last week in a re-read of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield......excellent, excellent, excellent.  He speaks primarily to creative resistance to which we all succumb.  A slight bump in the creative road causes us to doubt ourselves and our abilities.  For Pressfield, "tooting" is in the amateur category...elevating those whose need to fit in surpasses the feelings of others.  One artist I know says that he has given out no less than 9 copies of this book to friends....well worth the read.

This particular beaten brass horn was stashed on the shelves at the art center.  My original idea included a blue background with tonal variations.  I guess I thought of the brass and shiny, light and gleaming.  Not so......rather....dark and tarnished.  So the background ended up light.  Scraffiti was added to energize the work.

Tooter.

Keep Those Hands Busy!

 

I am a fidgeter...real and imagined slight discomforts arise when I try to sit still for longer than, let's say, 10 minutes.  So, drawing while listening provides that needed nervous release during the long evenings of critique.  And, I must say, that doodling also allows for a more intense listening.  My mind doesn't have the opportunity to meander, as both brain parts are functioning.  These small portraits of artist friends were sketched this past week.  Oh so many good paintings were displayed!  So many ideas and so much beauty!  My favorites this time around were three powerful works that shared the element of simple shapes:  the wondrous dark 6 am clouds of Judith Carducci done in a narrow horizontal format (one of my favorites); an early morning patchwork Irish landscape by Ann Emmitt (small but packing a large punch); and the almost-abstract work of three warehouse garage doors by Dan Lindner, the color being pushed to the max.  Perhaps my adoration of these works arises from the fact that these were so very different than my own paintings.  Perhaps I just like them.  But what they all shared was a powerful simplicity.  And our critique leader Jack Lieberman peppered the evening with so much knowledge....knowledge that has accumulated from a lifetime of work and study.  We are a lucky bunch....support and constructive comments.  A perfect evening, methinks.

Finery

Finery   watercolor/gouache   26 x 18

Without a doubt, Easter is a day of finery.  People, as well as furry things, don their splendor as they emerge from winter hibernation.  Even the gold finches are on display as their feathers turn from yellow to yellower.  Brightness.  Light.  My quest in my work is that of the common human experience.  For this work, I used a family photograph from the 1950's.  My color inspiration was emerald green, which I might call viridian in the paint world.  A detailed sketch prefaced the work.  As the painting progressed, that bright green just seemed too out-of-place and subsequently morphed into softer, more muted hues in order to show off the pure, albeit sparse, used in the eggs and basket area.  The use of gouache softens and adds a milky quality to the pigment.  Pure white paper remains at the bottom and works its way up to the top, within the Easter bonnets.

I took this work to critique this past week.  We were to self-critique.  While on most paintings, I have areas of concern, on this one, I did not.  It progressed totally according to the plan.  One artist questioned the pure white at the bottom.  Another questioned the dark strokes between the feet in the sock area.  While I always consider the concerns of other artists, these two remarks were unfounded, I think.  The feet need a horizontal for the feet to be grounded, as well as to provide an entry for the movement of the whites.  The dark strokes in the sock area are not precise, to be sure.  But more precision here would, in my opinion, be out of sync with the broadly painted, and somewhat imprecisely rendered, shapes in the rest of the work.  Good comments.  But I will not heed them this time.

Happy Easter.  Enjoy your finery.

Scrabble King

Scrabble King   watercolor   13 x 10

Most of the watercolor portraits I have undertaken have been painted from life....from a model.  In our watercolor class, participating artists voted to attempt a portrait from a photo.  Of course, there are always pros and cons.  Painting from life offers up more in the way of interpretation and, for me, a much simpler way of seeing.  Painting from photos can get just too itty-bitty for me, as the work always progresses into finer and finer detail...towards the likeness offered by the photo itself.  The challenge in painting from a photo, for me, is to keep the work expressive and fresh, when re-painting passages is always an option.  Painting from life usually doesn't offer enough time for the portrait to be overworked.  I chose to paint mon mari, and snapped a photo just after he had triumphed in our winter-nightly game of Scrabble.

The beard is the white paper which has been cherished and retained.  The hat and shirt have been kept simple.  I am pleased.

Nosegay

Nosegay   watercolor   8 x 8

Our class assignment was an arrangement of Spring flowers, harbinger of the warm and sunny weather on the horizon.  (Little did I know that winter would be hanging around for a few more weeks)  I picked up a dear little nosegay bouquet from Heinen's.  My first attempt was too bold, too aggressive...not appropriate for this tender subject matter.  The background blue was far too strong and overpowered the bouquet. As was the solidly painted orange wrapping paper.   Another attempt in my studio yielded a more satisfactory result.  Each bloom was painted separately, always a challenge for me.  The "destroy" passages were kept to a minimum and consisted mostly of some broad watery strokes designed to pull the paint outside of the bouquet and simply imply the orange paper that held it altogether.  I am more satisfied with the second attempt.  I think that a preparatory drawing would have saved the extra effort.  Note to myself:  when the subject is small and tender, the process must follow suit.  The soft notes are as important as the loud ones.

Simple Wicker Chair with Detail

Simple Wicker Chair with Detail   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

Why would I paint a chair?  A simple chair?  The two chair paintings that I have done in the past several months are, quite simply, objects of beauty to me.  They represent comfort, quality, a purity of spirit, and all the warmth that is "home".  While painting, I thought of all of the artisans whose work led up to my work:  the designer of the chair, the artisan who wove it, the designer of the fabric whose colors and patterning catch my eye.  These are the artists whose work contributed to this work...a collaboration of sorts.  And, I will confess that I had to pay close attention to the rhythm of the weaving in order to represent its qualities.

Wicker is complex.  Wicker is enduring.  Wicker is comfortable and light weight. 

A tribute, of sorts....to a simple chair.

One Green Gumdrop...

One Green Gumdrop   watercolor   12.5 x 9

Our class assignment was "a jar of ______".  The challenge was to render these sugary treats as they appeared behind class...as well as to describe the nature of the Ball jar.  Large background strokes of transparent watercolor were subsequently layered over with gouache...hopefully, just enough to let the color peek through and offer a bit of pastel opacity.  The polar opposites of opacity::transparency have been with me for years....I like to think that it offers the best of both worlds.  It has been said that transparency offers more of an entry, a participation, for the viewer....that which is to be.  And, conversely, opacity offering more of what is seen by the artist...that which is, that which is definite.  This is my response to the challenge.

And, as far as the green gumdrop.....why is it that our favorites are more often in short supply?

Longing...

Longing   watercolor   13.5 x 18

There are things and there are situations that fill me with a sense of longing.  Good longing.  A sense of the pure in this world.  One of those things is anything that is hand-carved....a one-of-a-kind object that represents someone else's longing and dedication.  Out subject for class was an architectural element.  I pulled this relief panel off the wall to take along.  I believe that it probably came from an old dresser.  When I stopped at the market on the way, I decided that these roses were the perfect companions for the work.  Hard:soft.  Geometric:organic.  Wood:plant matter.  The first step was to lightly indicate the carvings on the panel...the crevices, the shadows, the gullies.  The roses were painted at home over the week as they opened to a desirable place.  The final passes tied the entire work together....a bit of push and pull, to and fro.  The leaves and the darks were added at the end.  This is the opposite approach of my usual, which forbids me to enter the world of detail before the "big picture" is somewhat in place.  It was a refreshing departure, however.  And....an example of the particularities of each project...doing what will benefit the work itself....and staying out of familiar routines. 

Guest

Guest   oil/canvas   8 x 24 x .75

We had quite a few guests over the Christmas holiday....our sons from California, our son from Virginia, their lovely wives, our new grandson.....and....snow!  Those who live in San Francisco relish the opportunity to see snow...feel snow...and enjoy the feeling that this season provides.  This is, after all, the yard in which they grew up....running, hooping-it-up, raking, and gathering.  The mood was all-important here...the feeling that this scene emits.  Values in the mid-range help to tell the gauze-like story of the gray day.  Guests....

LOVE...

Love   oil/canvas board   8 x 8

Happy Valentine's Day!  Oh-so-many years ago, I painted roses, roses, and more roses while doing greeting card work for Papyrus....at that time Shurman Fine Papers.  Roses are complex.  And they are difficult.  I don't particularly favor them, but they are certainly appropriate for the season.  Actually, I thought that I had had my fill.  In painting them, I try to understand their construction and have found that painting individual leaves (at first) is the way to proceed.  This little ditty was painted as an exercise, a discipline.  Understanding their construction helps us to understand other kinds of folds and other kinds of complexity.

All That Glistens....stepping out of the regional

All That Glistens   oil/burlap/canvas/gold leaf   24 x 18 x 1.5

The bad news is that none of our children lives close by...so we don/t get to share time together on a weekly basis.  The good news is that we get to view art in galleries in major cities that are so very different than the regional art that we participate in  and view on a regular basis.  In this case...San Francisco.  Our last visit was comprised of a half a dozen galleries located in the downtown area.  The work yielded no surprises...it was all abstract, very very large and very very impersonal.  Designed to be impersonal.  The only commanding figurative works were in a series of photographic works taken of circus performers from Eastern Europe, I think.  While representational painters are often accused of working in a technique-driven box, abstractionists seem to work in another sort of box- line murmurations, squiggles and patches of bland hues ad nauseum.  My humble opinion, of course.  What I came away with, however, was the wonderful notion of possibility - simply anything goes!  I was inspired by patches of blue and white resembling a flow blue plate; fearlessness in the use of color; and, yes, works on burlap!  Carrying within them the knowledge of hard-won possibilities, these California works represented a great freedom to me.  I came away with new eyes.

"All That Glistens" is my post-holiday foray into a different world...one outside of my unusual regional recipe.

Big Snow...painting scenes from the neighborhood

Big Snow   Watercolor   20.5 x 13.5

Home is full of soul.  Home is visceral...you feel "home" in your gut.  In order to establish a commitment to any artwork, I must feel an emotional connection.  After all, an artist spends countless hours, as well as blood, sweat and tears, bringing the work to a grand finale.  I am not one who can just plop myself in front of a scene and work away.  It has been known to happen, but it is rare.  This barn scene, done after a huge snow storm, is a scene less than a mile from my home, and one that I pass every time I go anywhere at all.  It is not pristine.  I did remove the road from in front of the scene, but the dirty snow is there.   It is real. It is viewed from the shopping plaza across the street.   I kept the "sparkling whites" toward the rooftop of the barn....it seems an ascension to me.  Just as I felt it in my gut.

Tethys - a figurative drawing turned mixed media

Tethys   mixed media drawing on paper   29.5 x 16

"Tethys" started out its life as a vine charcoal drawing on watercolor paper done as a demonstration for a local art group.  My friend Trudy, who is also a synchronized swimmer(!), agreed to pose in her regalia:  a hot pink bathing suit, fingerless gloves, sparkly beach ball and an amazing crown-of-a-cap.  At the end of the evening, I had a nice drawing, but it certainly didn't do justice to the vibrancy of what the model had offered.  As I worked, I became excited about the possibilities of yet-to-be and decided to offer a bit about the progression to the artists who were kind enough to sit through the drawing.

Once back the easel, my first step was to use Opera Pink watercolor to paint in the costume.  Templates were cut from tracing paper and the background tiles were then printed onto the paper with foot pressure from a block I had on hand.  The designed tiles at the pool's edge were printed with a precut block from my collection.  I just love the bits and pieces of charcoal work that are left behind where the block didn't quite make a perfect connection with the paper.  To me, these are the happiest of unplanned accidents....almost up there with Christmas morning. I was pleased but then felt the need to use a large wash brush to "smoosh" some edges and make some of the tile-work more subtle.  The paper was quite wet at this point so I allowed it to dry overnight.

My excitement about applying the gold leaf just couldn't wait!  I don't get too nit-picky here with the small shapes, as I sometimes appreciate the imperfect ones a bit more.  Here is where I encountered a big surprise!  The printed tiles were still tacky and latched onto the leaf behind the cap in a rectangular shape....I had originally planned only on some small pieces within the cap area.  There was no fighting it.........it would not come off.  And so the shape behind the cap came to be....an accident but not unappreciated.

In order to subordinate the facial features, some watercolor washes were added....blue.  Blue was added to the leg area which remained as a two-dimensional flat uni-shape.  I simply loved it that way.  Chinese white was brushed onto the skin areas.  Some of the charcoal work had to be refreshed at this point.  I resisted the urge to correct mome of the shapes that had become quite imperfect, as I was afraid of destroying the overall feel, which I so enjoyed.  My husband says it is a bit Klimt-ish.  I agree.

This work definitely took me on a side-trip and provided more unexpected joy than what I ever imagined.  Thank you, Trudy!

January Nude...a study in pastel

January Nude   pastel/paper   19.75 x 8

Our club's first model session of the new year was last Wednesday night.  Although I have stayed away from these sessions for a while, I definitely needed a jump start in the creative department after the long holiday hiatus.  And nudes are usually not my favorite.  Although there is much to be learned about the human body, I find them full of void, and not quite as interesting.  I came prepared with a nice slice of watercolor paper and some pastels from my Yarka sauce collection.  The model provided a wonderful classic pose and extreme concentration.  My thrill comes from the playing with the hard and soft edges....deciding which shapes to sublimate.  With white paper and light warms, I realized that it would be the darks that would lead the eye around the figure.  Originally, the darks were stroky, wild and black.  At home, I softened the darks with a greenish-gray that seemed, to me, more appropriate to the softness of the skin, the pose.  Broken dark reddish-brown line-work was added at the end to play off of the greens.

My friend Greg had a different problem to solve.  He was working on a gray toned paper.  In his case, it was the lights that did the leading.

One pose.  Many possibilities. 

Winter Red - painting a Cardinal

Winter Red   watercolor   19 x 12.5

Note to myself:  the brilliant reds and the subtle hues of birds are delightfully perceived in the winter.  Backgrounds with light values are good.

The Birch Brothers...

The Birch Brothers   Watercolor   20.25 x 13


Scraps of brightly colored wrapping paper and bits of ribbon.  Strings of lights rewound.  Cookie tins emptying.  Early morning warmth from burning hearth.  Errant pine needles here and there.  Memories.  Quiet.  Quiet.  Quiet.

Back to the studio.

Paint Brushes...not guns...creation::destruction

Paintbrush(Labor Series)   watercolor   8.5 x 14

Last evening we watched a program dealing with gun control that featured a cream-cheesy family from Utah doing target practice with their young children....all the while claiming that gun-owners are misunderstood.  The final shot of their family was at the dinner table eating venison that had been procured by the hunter-father.  Quite frankly, I have to question parents who choose target-practice as a shared activity.  I have to wonder just how much violence could be stopped if these same parents immersed their children in acts of creation, rather than destruction....music, theatre, visual arts, reading.  Creativity saves lives.

You can't talk peace and have a gun......Francis Magalona

West meets East...calligraphy...

Last evening at our local art club we were treated to a wonderful presentation on Chinese painting presented by Mina Huang and Manna Huang.  Mina provided a power point presentation on the evolution of the characters showing different styles and varieties common during particular dynasties.  The characters we see today have been around for 1700 years!  Then Manna, who is classically trained, demonstrated the actual painting process.  For me, two amazing things stood out:  first of all, the economy of stroke-making (every stroke counts...and none will be covered over) and secondly, the ease and care taken to mix the ink/water solution properly and load the brush.  It was simply superb!  And each of these artists has carried over their talents to accommodate our Western way of painting.

Many years ago, I practiced using the brush this way to form our western alphabet.  I can remember putting my young boys into the tub to play, while I sat nearby practicing the push and pull of the brush to and from the paper surface.

Let's hear it for stroke-making!

Quiet...a watercolor of pinecones

Quiet Conversation   Watercolor   9 x 13

is a wonderful way to spend time...with my dear ones and by myself.  Quiet allows the creative brain to work its wonders.  Quiet provides focus and a sense of calm.  The dormancy during the dark months morphs into the energy of what-is-to-be.  While I do welcome a festivus or two, and certainly relish the bright lights, I absolutely relish the quiet season and its opportunity for self-definition. 

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.

Live..a musician in mixed media

Live   Mixed/Paper   19.5 x 24

is the second result from an experiment using different materials and a very poorly-lit photograph of one of my favorite musicians taken during a live concert.  I was looking for a vague overall-feel with a great merging and graying of shapes.  (The first one didn't work out at all).  I used vine charcoal, water and a bit of watercolor on a large sheet of heavy watercolor paper.  I worked watercolor-style, from light to dark and tried to stay light-handed.  The shapes were difficult to understand in the darkness of the reference, so I had the job of interpretation.  I ended up with a very hazy gray picture with great mood but no punch.  Something needed to be done............the magenta gouache was added flatly at the end.

"Live" is a difficult and exciting way to perform...and to paint as well.

Two-Point Perspective...a drawing of a rocking chair

Rocking Chair...a sketch

I believe that a fair understanding of two-point perspective is necessary in order for drawings and paintings to be convincing.  Sure, we can copy photographs to the "T", but, sooner or later, errors will result, usually after that fixable point is reached, and the work will be forever marred.  (been there...done that) I did lead a complete class on two-point perspective a few years back at the art center, but the participants did their work with drudgery.  However, we all ended up with a better understanding of the rules.  To be honest, it was dry, dry, dry.  Our current drawing class tackled a chair.  The chair on the podium when we arrived was a 1950's style chair with simple planes and cushions.  But the class decided they would like to try this rocker which, to them, was far more charming.  Gads!  And much more difficult!  By visualizing each side of the chair as a flat plane, and by continual measuring and eyeballing plumb lines, a fair understanding is possible.  Even the slats that made up the back were affected by this convergence....similar to railroad tracks and fences that wind away from the viewer.  To top it off, the chair was on a high stand, which made the bottom of the chair visible.  Add to that the softening of edges for the three-dimensional result to be plausible.  Trust me, it was quite a work-out!

I guarantee that chairs will never look the same again!

A Freath of Bresh Air...drawing a portrait from life...Tanner Dionne

Tanner...a sketch

is how I would describe our young model Tanner.  (I had a friend in high school who would interchange consonants on word phrases....it was playful and fun....a sort of word game....after all....who doesn't love flutter-bies?) Tanner posed for our drawing class.  An interesting-looking free spirited art student, a senior in high school.  After the sessions we proceeded to comment on our work for the evening.  Tanner's comments were so fresh and elegant that I handed over the critique to him.  He was astute, complementary, and had that beginner's zen eye.  A marvelous experience.  Thank you, Tanner.

Simple...yet complex...

Simple Chair with Detail   oil/canvas   60 x 20 x 1.5

is how I would describe this chair that I love so much.  It was purchased many years ago (actually another as well) at an antiques store in Ravenna.  Who knows why something catches one's eye and becomes the object of affection?  It has so many of the qualities that I enjoy:  layered and chippy paint, a simple design and complex floral patterns decoupaged on top.  Attempts to "antique" it are apparent, yet actually fall short these days, as age and wear have actually "antiqued" it.  It is rarely used to sit on.  More like to stand on to water plants and to reach top-shelf items.  Maybe to install a new curtain rod.  At any rate, it fits into my love of the polar opposites:  simple...yet complex.  It really is more valuable than this tribute.  It delights my eye.

Yellow Rising...combining realistic painting with patterning

Yellow Rising   watercolor   27.5 x 15

is the painting that resulted from our watercolor class challenge of architectural detail.  I do love houses...especially old ones.  In this case, I chose a view of a home just up the street, featuring only the part of that home that I enjoyed the most...the windows.  Painting objects in their entirety along with their surrounds (i.e. gardens, walkways, backgrounds) is not nearly as appealing to me.  For me, more forms in the work diminish the power of each and every form.  This approach reflects my current aesthetic of simplicity.  On a whim, I chose to embellish the work with with a detail from a salvaged piece that hangs in our home with, I believe, a carving that would have appeared in a home of about the same age.  I began with a sketch that guided the movement around the page and followed it closely during the painting process.  I am satisfied....

....for the moment.

A Rare Treat...enjoying the music of The Speedbumps...Cellist

Cellist   pastel/paper   20.5 x 13

is, for me, witnessing, experiencing, seeing and listening to something completely novel...a journey into the new and different.  We become so accustomed to the usual these days where our brains are constantly bombarded with stimulation.  It takes a lot to stand out.  We have always enjoyed the music of the Speedbumps, a local band with a new sound.  The symphony, not so much.  Although symphonic selections are quite lovely, I always re-experience childhood piano lessons...the same...again and again.  Hybrids have captured my interest...in vehicles, foods, in visual art and in music.  Combining the staid with the new provides a certain-something that captures my interest.  Mixed media.  Cafe au lait.  A partially destroyed painting providing a new path to resolution.  And so it was when the Speedbumps joined forces with the Canton Symphony this past Friday evening.  We were stimulated, excited, blown away.  A Prius of an experience.

Line:Mass...a self-portrait

The Devil in Disguise

There are really two distinct approaches to drawing:  line and mass, and I believe that, for each of us, one excites more than the other.  Line involves line-making, all kinds, in order to build the surfaces and to define the subject.  Lines can be overlaid; hatched and cross-hatched.  Line drawings can run the gamut from simple to complex.  Lines are strong and resilient. Lines are produced from the the drawing tool, the pencil, from its stylus end.  Mass, on the other hand, results from often using the sides of the tool, with lots of mushing around.  Blending stumps are used, as are erasers.  The end result is, in my opinion, softer and more painterly.  I am definitely a mass-person.  However, as in most aspects of my life, I am a hybrid.  I like to use the power of the line to add a bit of punch (I like to think of it as punctuation) to a softer mass drawing.

The Devil in Disguise was drawn while looking in a mirror.  I am very satisfied in its ability to convey what I wanted:  that the mask is indeed separate from the head and that is presence has squished my eyes into an uncomfortable position.  I am also satisfied with the mass and mark-making, a good combination, I think, of the two approaches.

Blue Pumpkin... celebrating the unusual

Blue Pumpkin with Japanese Lanterns   oil/canvas  20 x 16 x 1.5

reveals my fascination with the unusual, the different.  Sure, I like orange pumpkins.  Who doesn't?  But a blue pumpkin challenges our "pumpkin notion" and, perhaps, in this color shift, enables us to see this grand harbinger of autumn in a new way.  Paring the heaviness of the gourd with the light, papery Japanese lanterns and the berries was a good thing, I think.  This year my husband brought home a white pumpkin for our buffet.  Different is good.  Different excites.

Mini Pumpkins...observing the to's and fro's of light

were the subject of our very first drawing class.  They provide drawing material before the class survey is taken whereupon we decide which direction our class will take for the next 10 weeks.  These small gourds are greatly segmented and lightly textured, providing a tool to study the light and shadow that defines form, the rise and fall of light that creates a powerful 3-dimensional drawing.  Granted, the most valuable light for the artist, and the form, comes from a single light source at either 10:00 or 2:00 in relation to the object.  This positioning sets the scene for the most favorable pattern of light/shadow for description.  In this case, the art room lighting comes from directly above, from the ceiling, where there there are banks of fluorescent lighting shining down from above.  Such is the case in most classrooms and art centers.  We use what we have.  We then understand that the lightest lights will be on the tops of all of the forms...and, likewise, the darkest darks on the bottoms.  The biggest challenge is trying to rid ourselves of the simplistic pumpkin drawing that our six-year-old brains have memorized, where the indentations become much too solid, and shapes much too rigid.  We have to be able to "feel" the shapes, and "feel" the individual segments.  And yet, these very segments must become supporting actors to the grand gesture of the gourd itself.  Tall order.  Simple Object.  The simple mini pumpkin provides a most complex lesson for those who wish to commune with it.

By the way, the class voted on studying the human figure for the majority of class time.  Hopefully, the pumpkin lesson will translate well.

Stem to Stem...painting a group gesture of pumpkins

Stem to Stem   oil/canvas   20 x 10 x 1.5

is the result of a visit to a local farm....Dussel's...that really does it up for Halloween.  Pumpkins!  I love all-things-pumpkin...bread, cookies, truffles and pie.  Oh, yes, also the ale.  I love their look, their shape and their thick skin.  But I especially love them for their role as a harbinger to my favorite season.

"Stem to Stem" can be seen in person at Hudson Fine Art and Framing in picturesque Hudson, Ohio.

Seedless...mixing it up

Seedless   Watercolor/Mixed on paper   7 x 10

is my response to our first project in watercolor class.  That first week presents time limitations due to our discussions of materials and goals, so I usually bring some sort of subject along (usually some kind of produce) which gets our brushes wet, our minds realigned and our preferences stated.  One of our quests is self-definition which allows us to think about just which design principles provide us with a thrill.  Each artist is thrilled in his or her own way.  By prioritizing those principles a bit, we are more clearly able to focus on the kind of work we choose to do, the language we wish to speak, the ways in which our paintings become our own.  A unique translation, so to speak.  My own thrills involve a bit of "messing up" and some layering that allows for both transparency and opacity to work their magic.   After painting quite a while, making some of the individual grapes both solid and well-defined, I turned to printers ink which was rolled onto a plate and pressed onto the background.  Ah, yes.  It's me.

Organic Curves...sketches of my feline friend Sophia

are everywhere!  Such is nature.  There are no straight lines in the human body.  The only straight lines describe the man-made.  The yin and the yang.  In calligraphy, the S-curve is one of the most difficult to master, it seems to me, as it involves a release of control.  On our recent trip to San Francisco, we apartment-sat our son's place.  Two amazing felines filled our days with delight and warmth.  Sophia is a lap cat to the max.  On two separate occasions I studied her form...the first a circular sleeping pose and the second a study of the way the hair grew on her haunches.  Muscles, fur, the soft pads on the paws....all delightfully organic.  I became totally absorbed in the drawing of each of these small sketches....each took about an hour.

Two hours well spent.

Reunion...inspired by vintage photos

Reunion   oil on canvas   40 x 30 x .5

is my entry in The Akron Art Prize competition.  As artists, we are quite familiar with competitive exhibition, along with its inherent subjectivity.  While I love to have my work included in any exhibition, and certainly do enjoy receiving a nod from the juror, I am in complete agreement with Robert Genn when he says:

One's art needs to be personally elevated and seen as its own reward.

Competitiveness seems to be flourishing in our current culture with "VOTE FOR ME" television shows and best-of-lists that pepper every community from burgers to spas.  The last time I tried to fill one out, I had so little knowledge of most of the businesses that my vote was not eligible.  We prefer the simpler life of cooking and spa-ing(yeah, right) at home.  This voting rage appears to be a boon for all venues, however, as the participation of the public seems to multiply both enthusiasm and involvement.  "The Voice" has been an amplifier for the music industry.  OK.  Good.  Great.
My own problem stems from the "VOTE FOR ME"-thing that is so very foreign and repellent to my being.  My mother had to push me out of the door to sell Girl Scout Cookies.  And I guarantee that my parents didn't sell any in my support.  I have even received "VOTE FOR ME" emails from other artists who have neglected to check their e-mailing lists for other participating artists which seems a bit insensitive.  Quite frankly, I am a bit like Harry Chapin's Mr. Tanner.....who did not know how well he sang...it just made him whole.

So....vote for me...or not....as I have quite happy to be among the 135 entries in this exhibit!

Meet the Watermelons...some vintage watermelon lovers

                                                                                        

Madame Watermelon   oil on canvas   24 x 8 x 1.5

                     

Monsieur Watermelon   oil on canvas   24 x 8 x 1.5

The Crayola Girls..jazzing up some vintage photos

The Crayola Girls   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.25

A year ago, six months ago even, I would never have guessed I would be using cad yellow deep as a major color shape in a painting.  But...I do pay attention to what catches my eye visually, those little glances that give me a minor thrill.  And, in this case, it was a magazine cover that sparked the excitement.  Originally I had planned to give each of the skirts a different patterned treatment.  But the simplicity of the skirt forms won me over and I decided to wait a while on that decision.  Another prospect was to paint a dark horizontal behind the shoulder blades in order to bring up the hands resting on the middle girl's shoulders.  That, too, was considered and sent to the possibilities file.  A month later, I was still happy with the simplicity of the work.  As every artist knows, changing just one thing in a work sets up a domino effect of changes that must be made in order to make the work consistent, appropriate and balanced.  And so, this is my final answer.  "The Crayola Girls" can be seen at Hudson Fine Art and Framing.   

P.S. My Grandma Daisy is the sister on the right.

The Drawing of the 10,000 Things...small drawing of a crushed Coke can

Coke can sketch

class ended last week.  Our goal was simple:  to draw as many small objects as possible.  And, by doing that, to be able to transfer our lessons learned to the understanding of drawing other things....or anything at all.  The problems we faced were:

* drawing things within transparent packaging or glass, and the resultant distortions

* considering 2 point perspective and the importance of eye level

* the importance of drawing what we see versus what we "think" we see....a carryover from our   L-brained " 6-year-old way of knowing" which is often in error

* holding off on the drawing of detail in order to first consider larger forms

* how to best represent various materials and their inherent qualities:  cloth (light vs. heavy); straw, plastic, iron, glass, cotton, etc.

* gestures...even toothbrushes have them

* forms spiraling and forms symmetrical

* line versus mass

* surface variation and texture

* and ellipses, ellipses, ellipses

The small slide show features the three favorite drawings by each artist.  I think we did a wonderful job!

Rockamelon....summer delight

Rockamelon   oil on canvas   8 x 16 x 1.5

Summer's lease hath all too short a date.

                                                                                             William Shakespeare

  
Aficionados of August revel in relinquishment.  When it's one hundred degrees in the shade, it's too hot to be anything but receptive and reflective.  Let a seasonally sanctioned sojourn of slow joys refill the authentic reservoir of creative energy.  This month on the Simple Abundance path we commit to discovering, acknowledging, appreciating, owning, and honoring our authentic gifts, transforming no only our own lives, but the lives of those we love.

                                                                                                        Sara Ban Breathnach

                                                                                                        Simple Abundance

Watermelons are fun.  They have fun colors, fun textures and funny shapes.  Biting into an ice cold slice is definitely one of my summer pleasures.  "Rockamelon" is my tribute to this simple, yet luxurious, fruit.

Sara Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy is a constant source of reference for me.  It's simple message of spirituality has gotten me through the worst of times.  And it's always there on the shelf during the best of times.

Picket Fence...the American Dream

Picket Fence   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x .75

is a notion that has been around a long while...the desire to own a safe and happy place of one's own...a place to be and a place for family.  The woman in this painting is my maternal great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Pitchford Black Kannard.  The reference photo shows her in front of a log cabin home with, yes indeed, a picket fence out front.  The children in the photo are not relatives....they are her children with her second husband.  My great-great-grandfather (her first husband) Adam Black did not return from the Civil War. She was pregnant when he went off to war.  The picket fence dream hasn't changed much.  The notion of what constitutes that dream has changed drastically however.  The average American home was 983 square feet in 1950, the year of my birth.  In 2004, that average had climbed to 2,349 square feet, an increase of 140%.  Since then we have seen the advent of garage mahals, Hummer houses, starter castles and McMansions.  It appears that we have become greedier and greedier, moving from a "being" mode to a "having" mode.  Even Don Draper in the popular series "Madmen" cannot understand his wife's serious emotional problems since he has provided her and their children with just about everything a person could want.  Being.  Having.  A continuum along which we must all declare a point.  Erich Fromm's book The Essential Fromm:  Life Between Having and Being is a good place to start.

Hydrangea Bloom...the first fresh stroke

Hydrangea Bloom   oil/wood panel   9 x 9 x 1

I love the blooms that spring from hydrangea  plants!  This was my first time painting on a gessoed wood panel and found it to be much like painting with watercolor on hot press paper.  Strokes are much more hard-edged...crisper...not bad...not good...just different.  I had a difficult time finding a place to put the bloom for painting.  I settled on putting it in a water glass right beside the painting on the easel stand.  The first session revealed lots of negative space where the blooms had not yet reached maturity.  The following day the blooms had opened further...much more beautiful...but lacking the artistic aesthetic of having the background show through those spaces.  I chose to keep painting from my day #1 memory.  My goal was to load up the brush to mimic the direction and stroke of each petal and allowed myself very little diddling around.  For me, for flowers, the first fresh stroke is the best.  Ah....experience.

I am not a painter of flowers...but....

Knock Out   oil/canvas   12 x 9 x 1.5

every summer I manage to complete a couple of florals.  I don't believe that any subject matter is quite as complex...they teach the artist about convex/concave; slight variations on the warm/cool temperature gauge; and prioritization supreme.  One of the reasons why florals do not call to me is indeed those very complex forms....with that kind of detail, things must be rendered pretty true-to-life in order to be understandable.  Painting them is an exercise that stretches me and takes me out of my comfort zone.  My preference for larger simpler forms allows for a more creative and expressive use of paint.  OK.  My own like-to-dislike scale of bouquets  would be:  random bouquet without container laying on a surface; followed by monochromatic simple blooms in a clear simple vase.  The scenarios continue downhill from here:  multi-colored bouquets; patterned vases that demand attention; and classical bouquets that appear to have been sprayed with hair spray.  That being said, this bouquet of knockout roses caught my eye.  Knockouts are a recent addition to the rose family....they are easy to grow, disease and deer resistant; heat tolerant; and have a generous bloom cycle.  AND THEY HAVE SIMPLE BLOOMS.

"Knockout" was painted a couple of weeks ago, after my exposure to these glorious blooms.  Will I grow them?  Probably not.  Will I paint them?  Just did.

Flowers are cheerful.  That plop of color would be welcome on any wall.