Piers II

This is a second version of this image and is very similar to the first. This time, however, I kept the range of colors much closer. The first version had a lot of lavender-gray tones throughout and I have almost completely removed them. This relates to the color-on-color paintings I have been doing, although the color variations are not as subtle as in the fruit paintings. The view through this structure fascinates me and I am tempted to paint it yet again - maybe with exuberant colors that will change the narrative entirely.

That, however, is for another day. I am taking off for the Thanksgiving holiday and won't have any new posts until early December. To those of you who are reading this, I wish you a time of thanksgiving for all that we have and freedom from concerns about what we do not have.

Red Pear on Red

This is the last of color-on-color paintings for awhile - but I will be getting back to them after Thanksgiving. I am thinking about other ways of exploring this technique, especially in landscapes. I have some vague ideas but haven't pulled them into concrete form yet.

Currently I am working on some small cloud paintings to submit for a juried show - the first time I have tried that avenue and it will be interesting to see what comes of it. Sue Clancy, a fantastic and successful Norman artist, recommended a book by Caroll Michels, "How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist", which I have purchased and am reading/using as a reference. It is a great guide and I need to learn/apply these approaches if I want to be a professional artist. It sounds so strange to think of myself that way but I am working on it. The long hiatus I recently took from this blog - and from much painting - is part of that process. I think I have now made a big stride forward in this regard and so am being productive again. "It's all process" - I have said that so many times to so many people over the years, now I am saying it to myself!

Pomegranet

As I mentioned in my last post, painting red on red is more difficult for me but I do like the effect. It is also introducing me to new fruits I might not think about otherwise. I have never eaten a pomegranet so that will be a further exploration once I have finished with painting it. There is something so appealing about its shape - it makes me think of hungry baby birds in the nest.

Yesterday several of us met to talk about having an art event in the spring. It was interesting to discuss the many aspects such an undertaking involves and I suspect we will find there are things we have yet to consider. The upshot was that we see no negatives and are going to proceed. As we finalize plans, I will post more information on this blog as well as on the web site we develop.

After another hiatus, I am finally back to painting and am enthusiastic about it again. I want to do a series of six small cloudscapes and have one well underway already this morning. I feel like I need to get all of them started this week as the holiday season is defintely upon us and I will be traveling quite a bit during this time.

On an entirely different topic - a friend gave me two CDs of the Huun Huur Tu throat singers from Tuva in central Asia. They are truly amazing and listening to their voices and melodies elevates my spirits and my soul. You can google them to learn about their art and to order their music. Definitely well worth it!

Pumpkin

Once again it has been far too long since I blogged - and since I finished a painting, for that matter. I do have two large ones underway that I should finish next week. I have no more museum tours before Thanksgiving and that really frees up the necessary blocks of time.

I have also been active in learning more about arts organizations. Ten or so of us are meeting Sunday to discuss a joint open studio in April. Some of us have also been looking into the feasibility of creating a Norman Arts organization but there is much to consider and it all takes time. I find myself wanting to limit my activities, knowing that I could get all wrapped up in the process and do no painting at all. My limited production in recent weeks stands as testimony to that. However, it is all important and worthy of time and energy.

The holidays are upon us and I look forward to spending time with my family. This pumpkin painting certainly made my mouth water for Thankgiving's pumpkin pie! I am still enjoying painting color on color and have several more of these to post. The peachy red background for the peach and the orange for the pumpkin lent themselves to this way of painting. The others I have done are red on red and I find those much more difficult. However, the last two I did turned out well so that please me.

Until tomorrow!

A Peach of a Peach

I have to admit that I love this little painting. It was a happy accident that the fabric I had matched some of the colors in the peach so well. I wish it reproduced better so the subtle variations of color would be more obvious. I'm not sure what the shadows on the edges are about as they are not on the image that I uploaded.

One of the great things I have learned recently is that everything out there is a potential subject. It seems obvious but I was so focused on landscapes that I really didn't look at other possible ideas for paintings. Now I know that I don't have to go anywhere but to my studio to make a painting that challenges me and gives me genuine pleasure...and that is such a gift. Having said that, I am really ready to tackle another landscape and hope to get one well underway tomorrow.

Red on Red

Painting Grapes and Green Pears got me interested in working with a low contrast in color and value between the background and the subject. The almost purple red of the Delicious apple absorbed light except in the spots where it was reflecting directly the light source. The closest area of continuity was in the shadow where the dark red of the apple blends almost seamlessly into the red highlights in the background shadow. I enjoyed working with this idea and will be doing more such paintings.

Meanwhile, this has been a "paintless" week given an extremely busy schedule, some problems created by a worker at my house (yet to be resolved) and some cyclical health problems that came back with a roar. Giving tours to 4th graders at the art museum is a wonderful and meaningful activity that I will continue but it does eat into my time.

I did spend an afternoon at the State Capitol in OKC looking at Sue Clancy's show - a wonderful and delightful time. Sue is a talented and skilled artist, a very smart person with great humor and wonderfully pithy ways to interpret our daily language into images that tickle our fancy, sometimes provoking outright/outloud laughter while pricking our conscience. Her work reminds us of the joys in life and language while gently prodding us to pay attention and to speak out. You can see Sue's work on her web site at http://home.telepath.com/~artist/.

Today, I am cleaning house and will make time to get back into my studio to make something, anything to get me junp-started again before the coming week takes off in a flurry of activity.

Green Pears and Grapes

My first still life paintings had a background that was a contrasting color to the fruit. Richard Mckown suggested I try painting green pears against a green background. That was surprisingly difficult and fun at the same time. I am doing a few more of these small color-on-color paintings before moving on to larger formats. I love the way each painting gives you a new challenge or problem to solve. The process can never get old as long as we keep trying new things.

This is true in all aspects of life - getting stale is definitely not a goal - or even an option. I had a session with an energy worker this morning and she once again urged me to write my stories. Somehow this seems to be something beyond my abilities but once again I decided that I would use this blog to present in a coherent way those "musings" that I included in my url. Today, those thoughts are on energy - how it affects us and how we can have an effect on it. Given the current political season and all the smearing that is going on, I have been righteously indignant and angry quite a bit of the time. What I had forgotten was the reality that the energy created by my negative thoughts was feeding the very energies that were creating the negative thoughts in me. That energy cycle is real and it is much too easy to get caught up in it. So, I am now focusing on Obama and Biden and the positive benefits they will bring to the system. By focusing on those values, ideals and principles that have meaning to me, I will be contributing to the energy that is nurturing them and the good in all of us.

And this brings me back to painting - the energy I am feeling at any given time moves through me into the painting I am making. This is reminder to me - if I am unable to deal with some aspect of my work, I need to look inside me for the problem rather then trying to find it in the work itself. Lessons learned and relearned are the cycle of my life!