We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes.

                                                                      Ralph Waldo Emerson

 This recent painting perfectly captures the essence of Emerson's observation about simplicity.  One flower blooming in a pot accompanied by one perfectly shaped pear serves as a lovely reminder of the order of nature.  Even though the linen appears at first to be in disarray the overall composition of the pot, the pear, and the cloth is one of symmetry and clear design.  Even in the busiest of paintings, even in the seemingly chaos of an abstract work, simplicity must exist to bring harmony to the piece.  It may take a while to discern ~ it may not be evident at first glance, but it's there.  Trust me.    

To the beautiful belongs an endless variety.  It is seen not only in symmetry and elegance of form, in youth and health, but is often quite as fully apparent in decrepit old age.  It is found in the cottage of the peasant as well as the palace of kings.

                                              George Caleb Bingham

The needlework project displayed above is an example of blackwork embroidery.  Historically, this type of stitching was done on garments in England during the reign of Henry VIII.  The earliest forms of blackwork employed counted stitches that produced geometric patterns.  I enjoy stitching these pieces because they are visually very structured while conveying tremendous motion.  As an artist I struggle to bring "looseness" into my work.  Oftentimes, the simple addition of a few quick strokes will bring life to a painting.  Blackwork, however, reminds me of the beauty of symmetry.  Every painting must have an underlying organization in order to be successful.  Form, light, even texture within the painting has to conform to a degree of symmetry.  Sometimes, as in the case of blackwork, that perfect design is all that is needed ~ other times a bit of chaos is needed.  I guess that is why when royalty adorned their clothing with blackwork they capped their ensemble with a bejeweled crown! Yin and yang!  

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another.

          Anatole France

Well, I have gotten around to adding the final touches to this little painting of a lighthouse.  I decided to brighten the bushes right up against the lighthouse even though my source photo didn't show the sun shining so brightly on that particular spot.  I think it helps to make the lighthouse stand out even more from the dark bushes.  Yep, still working on those darks and lights!

Language has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone, and the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone.

               Paul Tillich

This is a much larger painting I have been working on still trying to control my darks and lights.  At first it was so dark you could barely see the produce.  I've lightened the background up quite a bit and lightened the produce up a little bit as well.  It is still not as dramatic as I would like but I am quite surprised at how loosely I have painted this one.  It is difficult for me not to grab those little brushes and make a lot of distinct lines.  Again, this one will sit for awhile to dry and then I will give it another session. Oh, I picked the quote above because painting can be such a solitary occupation ~ I like the idea of  "solitude" rather than "loneliness."

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

                              Matsuo Basho

Well, I added a second pot so the geraniums don't look like they are floating in air.  There is still some work left to be done on the fern to make it look looser and more airy.  I will have to let the undercoat dry for a few more days but hope to finish this one up soon.  Although I want to keep working on darks and lights I think this will be the last flowers I do for awhile.  My studio is starting to look like a florist shop ~ or worse yet a funeral parlor!

To say to the painter that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano.

                              James McNeill Whistler

Back to work tightening up some of the edges on this lighthouse ~ still need to work on some of the perspective and some of the blues in the sky.  There is a door to the lighthouse but I am contemplating leaving it out as I think too much detail on the lighthouse itself would detract from the sky ~ just thinking about it.

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.

                            Frances Bacon
 
The above quote just seemed perfect for this little painting ~ which is obviously still a work in progress.  In working to get the lighting to be as dramatic as I wanted I kept adding flowers.  When I finally took a few steps back from it I realized that all those flowers and that huge fern could never fit in that one little pot.  Now I am faced with adding another pot behind it for the bouquet which is going to throw the proportion of the table off.  Sometimes it's fun to just let the painting take over itself but sometimes it's not!  We'll see where this one goes.