Mixed Bouquet

A work of art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament.
Emile Zola

My critic brought me a huge bouquet of flowers the other day ~ the inspiration for this painting. While I usually labor over each stroke I thought I would attempt a more impressionistic style this time. This initial painting certainly went much faster than starting with a detailed drawing. There's still much to be done here but I am enjoying the process very much ~ it's a nice alternative to the current work I'm doing in the Sunflowers. These flowers look nothing like the flowers sitting on my kitchen counter. As a matter of fact, I didn't even bring the bouquet into the studio. I just painted the beauty of the gift of them that was in my mind's eye. They made me happy.

Hats

Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess.
Edna Woolman Chase

While I may agree with the above statement, it's my opinion that certain fashion trends do lead to a greater presence of style. Take hats, for example. Hats always make one more stylish, or more mysterious, or more sexy, or more sophisticated, or more demure. How sad that they are no longer part of our everyday attire. I've, therefore, decided to do a series of drawings of hats from the 1920's just because I wish I had a closet full of them.

Simplicity

Most of us think ourselves as standing wearily and helplessly at the center of a circle bristling with tasks, burdens, problems, annoyances, and responsibilities which are rushing in upon us. At every moment we have a dozen different things to do, a dozen problems to solve, a dozen strains to endure. We see ourselves as overdriven, overburdened, overtired. This is a common mental picture and it is totally false. No one of us, however crowded his life, has such an existence. What is the true picture of your life? Imagine that there is an hour glass on your desk. Connecting the bowl at the top with the bowl at the bottom is a tube so thin that only one grain of sand can pass through it at a time. That is the true picture of your life, even on a super busy day. The crowded hours come to you always one moment at a time. That is the only way they can come. The day may bring many tasks, many problems, strains, but invariably they come in a single file. You want to gain emotional poise? Remember the hourglass, the grains of sand dropping one by one.
James Gordon Gilkey

At the beginning of the yoga classes I take, we are always reminded to live in the moment ~ to be aware of our breath. In other words, to keep it simple. That's what I try to do in some of my paintings. It's not that I'm tired of the sunflowers ~ really. This painting has been sitting in the corner of my studio for quite a while now ~ almost finished ~ and today just seemed like a good day to slow down and appreciate the simplicity and beauty of one small sugar bowl.

The Backward Glance 6

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard Shaw


The above quote by George Bernard Shaw captures exactly the message I want this painting to convey. The man is obviously totally unaware that the woman's mind and heart are somewhere else. You can read it in his stance ~ this guy has got bigger fish to fry than to bother with her. And you can also read her dilemma in her stance. She's wrestling ~ should I stay or go?

Today I added more shadows to the clothing and drapes, tightened up some edges and worked a little more on her face. Next time I'll give more depth to the sky and more texture to the wall. And then there's that pesky floor!

An Italian Villa

No house should ever be on a hill, or on anything. It should be of the hill. Hill and house should live together, each the happier for the other.
Frank Lloyd Wright

I think Mr. Wright would have been very happy with how the architect worked with the builder in placing this house within nature. We were walking on the path on the left hand side of the painting when we turned the corner and saw this beautiful, old home. Anyway, I posted about this painting back in the end of April. The original house is stucco and actually resembles more of the right hand side of the painting. Even though it's a beautiful building I thought it needed a little more interest so I made the left side appear more rough. I had intended to come back and do the same to the right side but have decided that I like the contrast. Wonder who lives there.

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.