Figuratively Speaking - A Bit of Sunshine

8"x8" acrylic

I painted this on a gloomy February day.  Our weather has been above normal for the last couple of weeks, meaning rain instead of snow and slippery ice.  This is my least favorite weather of all.  Give me cold temperatures and loads of snow and I am happy even on a cloudy day.  I am not sure if it was the weather, or recuperation from my grandchildren visiting, or general malaize, but I didn't get out of bed until noon yesterday and never got dressed. I binge watched comedies on Netflix.  When I finally got up and did some chores I realized I felt a lot better moving than moping around.  That really isn't like me, I usually am .  I was totally unmotivated and indulgent.  Today the sun came out and even though I still feel tired, I had a productive day.  In general I think the best medicine is exercise and painting.  The thing is, you have to be willing to push through the doldrums and get moving to understand the benefits.  So to help me out, I painted a cheerful sunflower.  Sometimes, faking it until you make it is the best solution.  Go Figure!

figuratively Speaking - Geraniums on the Window Sill

11"x14" acrylic

I had a busy day yesterday, running from one event to another to make sure I arrived on time.  I miss judged and ended up getting to the potluck an hour early.  It was at a gallery, so I just helped set things up and waited to see others come in.  It gave me a different perspective.  Since I had been waiting, I was ready to welcome those who came in, introduce them to new people, get the conversation started....then before the event was in full swing, I had to leave for a different commitment.  I was so focused on time that I forgot to eat (isn't that the point of a pot luck?).  I went to a concert of a classical oboist.  That was new for me.  He was a young man who along with his piano accompaniment (another talented young man) wooed us into an inspired but relaxed state with the melodic singing of his instrument.  Then we dashed home to catch the fourth quarter of the Patriots game.  That was a shift I wasn't ready for.  We were hungry, cold (the theater was cold) and the game was anxiety producing.  I ate while watching...eating too fast....eating too much...putting food into a nervous stomach.  Bad plan!  It is not unlike painting sometimes.  Feeling rushed and doing too much without thinking it through can lead to a disaster.  I am trying to slow down and make more careful decisions.  Sometimes though, after having raced through to a mess, I can regroup and pull it off...very much like the fourth quarter of the football game.  It is a good thing the Super Bowl is in 2 weeks and it will all be over and I can release myself from this crazy obsession.  Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Spring Bouquet

11"x14" oil on canvas, $350

OK so this is not a figure...lets see if I can make a connection, because of course, that is what it is all about.  There is a quote in the Bible that speaks about not worrying, just asking, that goes something like this....the flowers in the field don't work and yet King Solomon wasn't dressed this good.  So, if we make the assumption that God dressed the flowers and he takes care of our needs too...that sort of associated flowers with the figure of a person.  I may be stretching this one a bit, but there is an importance in making the connection and it does seem to be the point of almost everything.  My paintings have little meaning without the connection...without someone who is moved by them.  I get something out of it too, in the making of it.  I feel meditative, which is good for my soul.  I feel struggle, concentration, problem solving, and discovery which is all good for my brain.  I feel the "zone" which is good for tapping into that creative power bigger than all of us put together.  However, without the connection to others, there is no purpose in finishing them.  When they are successful, it taps something in many and gives them joy.  That is enough for me ultimately.....but of course....in the short term, it is also my livelihood and I did put a price on it....so I guess I also want to sell it.  Oh well, so much for lofty ideals....Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Wild Flowers

oil 6"x6" $75

Wild and exciting, these mums are close to being out of control. A bouquet haphazardly placed in a ball jar grabs the attention of anyone who walks in the room.  They make me smile.  They remind me of my kids.  My son came to visit this weekend with his beautiful daughters.  We had so much fun.  They are free range kids who are sweet and interesting and smart and excited to be alive.  Their father is wild, crazy, fun, sensitive, smart and really good looking.  He is also clever and talented.  He recently went through a tough time, but he pulled it together and sorted the inside and out.  He makes me smile when he walks into the room.  He is interested in so many things and is skilled in a multitude of areas, but is always thirsty to learn new things.  His latest passions include playing the guitar and specializing in plumbing repair to work on his home which was built in 1899 as the town library.  He was not an easy child to raise, but when I see what an awesome and dedicated father he is, I feel so proud of him.  He is like the crazy patterns of these mums, a bit unpredictable, but oh, so beautiful. I would like him evn if he weren't my son! A mother's love....go figure.

Go Figure - Ruthie's Bouquet

12"x12" oil SOLD

It is tax time.  There are numerous things which make me cringe when I have to do them and taxes hold an honorable place on that list, along with dental appointments and making travel arrangements.  But, somehow, those things are not nearly as imposing after the fact as they are in the anticipation.  Yesterday it was plane tickets and today taxes.  However, it is hard for me to jump into painting when I have days like this.  I fiddle around a bit painting, and then occupy myself with tasks like framing, or preparing painting panels, cleaning the studio or I do the laundry.  It is all part of my resistance behaviors and I am reading a great book about this, "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield.  I highly recommend it.  This was a painting that I did over a number of days.  I thought about it a lot.  Considered the composition, the colors, the values, the textures and patterns.  It is not my usual way of working, but I have been needing a shake-up and this represented part of that process.  It was satifsfying.  I framed it today and will mail it out this weekend.  Tomorrow, I am going to be all about painting.  I may create a flop or surprise myself and have a success.  That is part of the fun of all of this, not knowing if the inspiration and technique will cooperate for me.  It gets me out to the studio and that's what really matters....go figure.

Laundry Day

8"x10" oil Not for Sale

I felt like painting laundry drying and found this photo I had been given at a Dreama Tolle Perry workshop, but had never painted.  I switched around some of the items in the photo and played with color.  Dreama has a direct approach, starting with transparent colors and then frosting them with opaques.  It gives her paintings a fresh look with very clean color.  I actually did this in two settings, focusing on the darks first and then adding the lights.  It is not my usual working method but I am trying out different things right now.  Since I used her photo for reference, I am not selling this.

There is a bit of a glare on the photo.  Don't you just love the colors of fall?  I snapped a photo of these mums and pumpkins at the Champlain Orchards when I went apple picking with my neighbor, her 4 year old son, and her mother from Romania.  I might also say for the record that they are the best neighbors ever and we are all excited about the soon to arrive addition to their family.  I painted this loose and it has a a bit of a jigsaw puzzle look that I like.

Easy Breezy

6"x6" oil

Today was a good day.  I didn't get everything done I would have wanted, but I came close enough and had a good time.  However, in the process of having a full day, my painting time was relegated to the dark hours.  As a result, I chose something I considered to be easy to paint.  I think, in part, feeling like it was going to be easy helped it to be so.  Anyway, I like a lot of things about this painting like the colors (complements) the texture and the breezy happiness it exudes.

Midday Break

6"x6" oil  Click to Bid

I started this painting totally different than my usual procedure.  I sketched it in in colored pencil and painted on top of that.  I like the results, but it was a lot of effort for a painting that is not significantly better than what I have been doing.  I feel like the drawing did not keep me from keeping it loose which can happen.  What really caught my attention with this image is the crossing lines and lovely design.  I didn't wanted to reproduce the flowers in detail but give an impression of what they look like in a glance. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted the background sky to look...but I like how it looks now.

Poppies

6"x6" oil

I have been traveling for a couple of weeks.  Now I am home and back to painting, so I warmed up with these little poppies.  It is hard to jump back in with confidence, but that is what is necessary.  I made a fun discovery when I got back.  I had not scraped my palette before I left and was getting ready to do that.  I cover my paints with little cups called "Paint Savers."  A while ago I had glued pieces of felt to the inside of them and applied a drop of clove oil to keep the paints soft between sessions.  When I took off the covers after about 2 1/2 weeks of them sitting, the paint was still fresh...not even glooey.  It is important not to mix clove oil with the paint, or even get it on the paint brush, because it will not allow the paint to dry on the canvas or panels, but the fumes will keep the paint soft for at least 2 1/2 weeks...so that is cool!  I don't expect to have any issues with the painting drying, but time will tell.  Also it is important not to use silicone or a

glue gun to adhere them because the clove oil will basically melt the glue, but I used Elmer's wood glue and that worked fine.

Summer Time

8"x8" oil Not For Sale

This is from a photo taken by Dreama Tolle Perry.  She gave those of us who were in her online class, Dream Love Paint, permission to paint from it.  Her painting passion is lovely vingettes with window boxes, flowers, shutters or her cat, Eddie.  She encourages others to paint their passion.  I can be pretty much all over the place in my interests, but mostly I like to paint little people.  I like figurative work in general, but especially children and most specifically my grandkids or children of friends.  I love the work of Karin Jurick who is able to capture people in the most relaxed postures imaginable.  Her work is inspiring, and I am hoping to continue developing my style and subject matter to a level that is different than where I am at today.  Doing daily paintings and studying, learning from others, and from past masters is a good way to grow.

Exercise 7 Not For Sale

12"x12" oil Not For Sale

This was the final piece in the Dreama Tolle Perry online class.  It was a lot of fun to paint and I am happy with the results.  The five things I am taking away from this course are the following:  1)  Wipe the brush off after almost every brush stroke to keep it clean and not contaminating the clean colors 2) make sure to put my mind and painting environment in the right state to focus on the painting 3)  work steady but don't rush and don't let distractions creep in 4)  Make sure the first layer of paint is darker than you know the final painting will be  5)  set up my palette the same every time and keep it clean.  These are things I had been exposed to and inconsistently practiced, but they really sunk in with this class.  The great thing is that I will have access to the videos for the rest of the year to refresh my mind and also maybe pick up 5 more things.

Exercise 6 Not For Sale

8"x10"  oil Not For Sale

This was fun to paint.  Dreama's colors are so bright and joyful and she chooses images to paint that highlight those beautiful hues.  I really struggle making straight lines though.  I think I need to either avoid them or take a drafting class.  It is a good thing that I do a limited number of architectural subjects!

Exercise 5 Not For Sale

12"x12" oil Not For Sale

This was exercise 5 from the online course Dream Love Paint with Dreams Tolle Perry.  Whenever I go to a workshop I always intend to learn 5 new things.  I limit myself because I know that is all I can really focus on and put into practice consciously.  I don't feel like I need to write everything down because I will probably not look back at my notes even though I have every good intention to do just that.  I have taken several workshops with Dreama but I keep returning because it not only positively influences my work, but because it positively influences my life. I have taken some really wonderful workshops but if I didn't identify those 5 things I would put into practice, I didn't grow as much as I should.  I will tell you the 5 things in the next few posts.

Blue Chair

8"x10" oil NFS

These are the things I like about this painting:  the vibrant colors, the suggestion of the subject without losing the abstract qualities of the brushwork.  the gray/lavender in the background, and finally, how much fun it was to paint it.  It is the fourth week painting for DreamLovePaint. Oh, I also like where my signature is!

A Few of My Favorite Things

5"x8" oil

I set up this still life with lovely flowers in my favorite twisted purple glass vase, a lavender candle, a book, my journal, and a CD and my favorite tea cup.  I went into Mr. Twitters, a local shop that is a fabulous plant nursery, antique shop, and gift shop.  I saw this iridescent tea cup as part of a brass candle holder and fell in love with it.  The shop owner graciously took it apart and sold me the tea cup at a really low price.  It is lavender/blue on the outside and orangy-gold on the inside.  I painted it for myself, which I rarely do.

Sunflower in Blue Jar

8"x8" oil  NFS

This painting is from week 3 of the online painting class I am taking from Dreama Tolle Perry.  She paints vibrant transparent colors in values deeper than the final product, and then layers opaques over them.  If you can manage to keep your brush really clean, the final result is quite lovely with intense colors that "sing."  It is really a fun process and lends itself well to little still life paintings like this, or lovely French doorways, arches and lots of flowers.  I am attempting to apply it to figurative work and have had mixed success which I will share later this week.

Hello Kitty

6"x6" oil 

Thank you Jennifer Sanchez for the photo reference for this painting.  Although I am very allergic to cats, I really do like them a lot.  They can be haute and irresistibly adorable all at once.

Loosley Geraniums

5"x7" oil on archival paper

This painting came from a challenge the art group I am in decided to do.  We voted on a group of photos and the geraniums were the winner (I didn't vote for geraniums).  So I decided to do it abstractly, experiment with shapes and tools and to do it on a surface I have been wondering about, archival watercolor paper.  I prepped the front of the paper with acrylic medium and later decided to do the back side too, then painted with oils on it.  I love the results.  I used a variety of mixed reds that don't show their subtle differences so well in the photo I took, but it is rich and fun. 

Autumn Crossroads

7"x7" oil

This was a challenge for our art group for this month.  We are having a meeting later this month and will share our results.  It is from the center of the crossroads in Chittendon, VT.  Like so many Vermont towns, it is a lovely community made up of crossroads and various  roads winding through the mountains.  One of the coolest PK-8 community schools is located here.  It is an old school built in 1933 that has been added to in an architecturally consistent way, maintaining its charm.  It has a fabulous playground that has a premier view of the surrounding mountains.  I think the kids must adore playing in this environment.