Figuratively Speaking - Meditation in Analogous Warm

I made a snowman today!  Actually that is not completely true.  I made a base for a snowman.  The snow wasn't as packable as it needed to be so I made the bottom layer then spritzed it with water so it will be really hard and ready for the next part.  I felt like a six year old, which was actually a good thing!  We are getting another snow storm on Wednesday.  I can't wait.  I have not been able to get out and enjoy the last few winters and I think I am making up for lost time.  Anyway, I painted today's little figurine with analogous colors of red, orange and yellow.  Analogous colors are ones that are next to each other on the color wheel.  These are warm, which probably is because I was acting like a six year old today and frolicking in the snow....a fire in the fireplace and painting with warm colors....just the ticket!  Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - A Snowy Day

We drove to the far north (2 hours away) this morning and the thought crossed my mind that there were a lot of cars on the road this Saturday morning and where could all these people be racing to on a Saturday morning when it was -6 degrees and the high would only reach +4.  I could only partially answer my own question.  We were on our way to our granddaughter's sixth birthday party.  A very good excuse, I would say to myself, for leaving our cozy home and fire to drive 2 hours each way.  The thing about getting out and driving is that it inevitably changes your perspective.  I know that Vermont is beautiful but today seeing it with the snow laden pine trees and the brilliant white peaks catching the morning light I just felt so renewed and blessed even as I looked at the frigid temperature displayed one the dashboard.  It was like seeing it for the first time.  I am normally not fond of chaotic kids birthday parties, but this one was a lot of fun.  The kids were really well behaved and the star of the party handled all the attention with grace and generosity.  There wasn't any squealing until the last few minutes which was particularly surprising as there were a lot of six year old girls there chasing each other around the house.  On the way home it started to snow and the sun got very hazy and almost orange casting warmth over the snow and emphasizing the blue shadows.  It warmed my heart and reminded me that my spirit needed that kind of warmth to go along with the mittens, scarf, boots, leg warmers and down jacket.  Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - The View From My Studio

My first memory....stop me if I have already told this story....my first memory is a blur of moving colors.  Somehow that makes sense for a future artist.  I knew for a long time that this was my first memory, but I couldn't make any sense of it until I was an adult and was skiing.  I suddenly realized that the memory was tied to a real experience, that being the first time I went sledding.  If you have no point of reference for an experience, and no words to describe it, it sticks with you as a sensory image.  I think I will paint that memory...the way I remember it, as a blur of colors...Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Irish Walk

I learned some new words today.  I hope I can get to use them in a Scrabble game someday.  My sister-in-law is a world class Scrabble player.  There is no hope in beating her as she has memorized the entire Scrabble dictionary, but the game with her is always fun.  My friend Jean Paulsen is also an avid player and when I have the opportunity, my daughter, the genius and beautiful Ruthann, is fun to play games with.  We have been known to fall into uncontrollable giggles bordering on hysterics.  That doesn't happen often as she lives in the northwest and I in the northeast.  Her winters resemble the image above.  My winters are snowy and brrrrrrr.  So, my new words are fridgiculous and frigorific which is the weather we are experiencing now.  I am hoping this is the coldest blast of the winter, but it probably won't be. Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Waffles with Dad

It has been snowing.  The winter looks good so far.  The ski resorts are open and rocking.  Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters are spending money at the waffle cabin. Kids are out sledding.  The plowmen/women are making money.  Everyone who has gotten snowshoes for Christmas is getting to use them.  Those who are housebound for whatever reason are saying to themselves,"it's ok, it is too cold to be out so I'm glad to stay home by the fire."  It is going to get really cold, really soon, too.  We will have the opportunity to test our mettle and also the effectiveness of all those wool and high tech clothing we have collected.  It is invigorating and when the temps get above 20 degrees again we will feel like it is perfect!  If it sounds like I am an eternal optimist, well, it is because I am!  Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Illusion

The colors are much more lovely in person.  The reds and purples have pretty much disappeared from this photo.  It is an oil painting 3"x8"...about the size of a large bookmark.  I titled it "Illusion."  I don't know why, but it seemed appropriate.  Everything outside my doors is a bit of an illusion today.  It is white with a bit of grays.  The white is swirling and dropping, sliding and blowing.  We are immersed in a classic spring nor'easter and they have labeled it a blizzard.  It is definitely dicey on the roads and the birds don't seem too pleased by it.  There is a lot of powdery stuff on the ground and my ski friends are drinking toasts to it already.  This weekend will be divine for them although plenty will be complaining about another storm coming in then.  I have no opinion as I will be in the south with comparatively balmy temperatures.  I hope the kids have a blast, that the winter recreationalists are thrilled, that everyone is safe and the disgruntled are too preoccupied to complain.  I will be enjoying a comfortable stroll on quiet streets.  That is, if I can make it to the airport in the morning, which is questionable at this point.  Go figure!

Day 30 Slate- Alpine Skier

17"x14" acrylic on slate

Day 30!!  I made it!

Day 26 slate - Let It Snow

14"x11" acrylic on slate

I have shifted my efforts to cleaning my studio which desperately needs it, cobwebs and all!  I constantly seem to be accumulating and it is hard to decide what I really should get rid of.  Eventually I get around to using everything, but is it just a distraction to make jewelry or carve stone or do ceramics when I am trying to be an oil painter?  Questions I do ask myself.

Day 25 Slate - Skiing III

14" x11" acrylic on slate 

This has a glare on the upper right, but it kind of emphasizes that it is a bright day and this guy is  skiing Ovation at Killington, whose slogan is Tame the Beast.  It is a 45 degree slope.

Day 24 Slate - Skiing II

14" x 11" acrylic on slate 

Another skier on slate.  The last week of the 30 day challenge is always the hardest for me because I am ready to move on to a different project.  However, I am having fun with these skiers.

Day 23 slate - Skier I

14"x11" acrylic on slate 

I wish I was skiing, but am not yet able to venture that direction as I can barely walk around the grocery store!  However, there is always next year!

Day 21 Slate-Mail

14"x11" acrylic

I love the simplicity of this.

Day 20 Slate - Cardinal

11"x14" acrylic on slate 

It is a beautiful sunny, but chilly day in the Northeast.  I am hoping to accomplish a lot today.  As I wind down in this 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, I will be returning to oil painting on panels.  I have enjoyed doing this challenge and painting on slate.

Day 16 Slate - Tufted Titmouse

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Another frequent flier that has layovers at my bird feeder.

Day 14 Slate - Mourning Doves

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Mourning doves have such an interesting shape with their round little heads and plump bodies.  The dots on their wings remind me of Lady Bugs.  In England Lady Bugs are called Lady Birds, but I think Mourning Doves could comfortably embrace that monicker.

Day 13 - nuthatches

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Onward and upward with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.  I have been painting the birds I see outside my window, like these interesting nuthatches, painted slightly more blue than they appear in R.L. (real life) so that they contrast with the gray background slate.

day 10 Slate a walk in the woods11"x14

11"x14" acrylic on slate SOLD

This is a little different.  Firstly, it is a remembered landscape, meaning that I took a drive with my sister-in-law on a back road and decided to study a spot and later paint it from memory.  Two ladies in black with red mittens caught my attention.  To get the feel for a deep forest I dribbled black paint onto the slate first, blowing it around and dripping it until I thought it resembled trees.  Then I painted in the background, path, people and underbrush.  I am experimenting, trying to find the best subject and techniques to use on the slate.  I think I am beginning to come up with a plan that pleases me.  The next few I do will be quite different, so stay tuned in!

Day 9 Slate -

11"x14' acrylic on slate

How fun...pulling the little one on a sled and then coming home to hot chocolate and the promise of mom-time while the babe sleeps.  But, alas too tired to think, mom falls asleep in the chair by the fire and wakes just in time to start dinner.

Day 5 Slate 11"x14" - Skiing

11"x14" acrylic on slate

I live in ski country so inevitably all local artists end up doing at least a few ski paintings.  Like any other subject, it helps if you actually ski and have an idea of how people use their bodies, even if it isn't the "correct" posture or ski position.  I am a very mediocre skier, but I know how much fun it is to get out on the slopes with incredible vistas and just glide down the mountain as fast as you safely can (I am very slow).  It will be fun to see if these are popular at the gallery on the mountain.  People like to take a piece of the local scene home with them.  I hope some take home a skier painted on slate.

Day 4 Slate - X-Country Skiing

11x14"  Acrylic on slate

This is inspired by a photo posted by Penny Kipley from a Cross Country Ski day, I believe in Colorado.  I painted it on slate, as I am doing this entire month for the 30 in 30 challenge sponsored by Leslie Saeta.  I loved the original photo which told a story and had all the lovely elements of value contrast between the snow and trees, and the zooming distance implied by the trail.  I, of course, used it as inspiration and then did what I thought was necessary to make it a fun painting.  Photography and painting are two different art forms and need to be respected as such.  Thank you Penny!