Sunflowers7

The painting rises from the brushstrokes as a poem rises from the words. The meaning comes later.
Joan Miro


I'm not complaining about how long this painting is taking ~ I'm really not. There's just so much to see here and so many details to fuss over. There are a few places that I've barely begun to address and others that I've spent a lot of time on. I think it's really starting to pop now which is really fun to see. Slowly, slowly, brushstroke by brushstroke, it's coming to life. And, I'm enjoying it's company more and more.

White Tulilps 7

Rembrandt painted about 700 pictures ~ of these, 3,000 are in existence.
Wilhelm Bode

Today I spent quite a bit of time on the White Tulips ~ deepening the shadows, tightening up the edges, and painting the red apple and ribbon. I am still nervous with watercolor. Oils are just so much more forgiving. Last week when I organized my studio, I gessoed over a couple of old oil paintings that just weren't going anywhere. Maybe that's where Rembrandt's 2,300 paintings are ~ under the ones hanging in museums around the world. Anyway, that's not an option with a watercolor. Once something is put down, it's there for good. At times, I find the process tedious, at other times, it's almost like meditating.

On My Drawing Board

It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. they are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.
W. Somerset Maugham

Whenever I show my work to people inevitably I hear comments such as "Oh, how do you do that? I can't even draw a straight line." Or "you must have been born knowing how to draw." Or "I'd love to be able to draw but I just don't have any talent." Well, while I'm flattered that some people may think I have talent, it's my belief that everybody can draw. Maybe some can draw better than others ~ but everybody can draw. The problem is most people don't have the patience to do it. To get the basic proportions down for this new drawing of a sailor took me well over an hour. This is the critical part ~ getting the shape and form down on paper. There aren't that many lines involved. One has to spend the time carefully measuring distances and judging critically for correct placement Without this foundation the drawing won't be successful. But once done properly the rest of the drawing flows easily. Then it just becomes a matter of getting the right tones down to create depth. There's no secret to a good drawing ~ it just needs to be coddled.

On My Easel

Have a place for everything and keep the things somewheres else. That is not advice, it is merely custom.
Mark Twain

Since two of the five original projects I began for this blog are now finished, I have decided to start posting some of the other things I am working on. This is a small painting of a canal in Venice. I am (was) working from a photograph of an old etching. Last week I spent a couple of days cleaning out and organizing my studio ~ right down to sharpening every pencil. Today when I went to my source file the photograph I needed wasn't there. Oh well, since the etching was, of course, in black and white I was on my own for the color anyway. One of my art teachers told me that it's really important to get the basics on the canvas right off the bat so if you lose what you're working from it won't matter that much. I guess he read Mark Twain too.

The Backward Glance 6

When women go wrong, men go right after them.
Mae West


The above quote has little to do with the work I did today except maybe I think she's about to "go wrong." I started putting in the facial features and have decided to make it appear as if she's making eye contact with the viewer. As you stand looking at the painting the idea is to feel as if you are the one she's communicating with ~ you're the one that's in on the secret. To add to that feeling of mystery, I'm working on making the draperies even darker and heavier. I want the viewer to feel as if he's standing in the shadows having just arrived at the most awkward moment and yet unable to look away.

The painting of the bouquet is something I've been working off and on for awhile and have just finished. It's a small canvas ~ 8" x 10" ~ and was a nice change to work on when I would get tired of wrestling with the big canvas I'm using for The Backward Glance.

Sunflowers 6

In creating, the only hard thing's to begin; a grass -blade's no easier to make than an oak.
James Russell Lowell


I'm pretty sure there's a kazillion pedals in this painting and I'm happy with maybe two of them. That said, painting each one ~ teasing out its shape and form, giving it depth, mixing just the right color ~ brings me so much joy. Lowell's observation implies that a blade of grass is every bit as complicated and miraculous as an oak tree. He's got that right! I don't know how many more hours I will put into this painting ~ it's one of those that are really difficult to look at and say "Done!" ~ but, that's okay. The hard part's finished ~ I began it.

White Tulilps 6

Until I saw Chardin's painting, I never realized how much beauty lay around me in my parents' house, in the half-cleared table, in the corner of a tablecloth left awry, in the knife beside the empty oyster shell.
Marcel Proust

These pieces of fabric came out of my old quilting bin ~ the flowers are artificial bought at a craft store ~ and the vase is an old milk bottle we found in the attic of our old house in Baltimore. Nothing fancy or expensive here. But when I look at this painting, it reminds me of happy hours at my sewing machine, shopping trips with my sister, and the house where I raised my girls. To me it's one of the most beautiful paintings I've done so far even though there's still quite a bit left to do. That's what a piece of art should do ~ speak to your heart.