So Where Were They Going?

This was one of those 'hop out of the car' moments for me. I was driving along the back side of the Carmel Mission and I found this pastoral setting, with a slight haze and sheep that were walking and grazing in the distance. It was surreal, peaceful. I pulled over, grabbed my camera and starting snapping away in the quiet morning sun. I don't know if this bucolic scene will ever be a painting, but I did find many moments of serenity.
Life is good.

African Orchids in progress?

This is my first in a series on African textiles and orchids. I have chosen oils and thought I would start out with a bang using a 36X36" canvas. That may have been my first mistake...

I do find it interesting and 'telling' that I am having a similar problem with this painting as I do in my other medium (watercolor). The colors are vivid. Too vivid! I see my challenge is truly to work on graying colors and  softening edges.

Many lessons learned here, the question I am having the past few days is whether to call this one and move on, or keep tweaking. At this point I am going to give this one more day of trying to gray down those spring green orchids. (For those of you who know me, I had a similar thought a few weeks ago with this same painting and I am still tweaking it). However, now I am antsy to move on to my next victim in oils!

Goal for the next painting in this series: Use perhaps only 6 colors (a warm and cool of each primary); and plan on finishing the painting within 3 sittings to keep it fresh.

Not Far From The Tree

I opened my studio door this morning to find this wonderful site! Did someone pluck her and place her  here? Did she fall from the tree last night? I have an apple tree right by my door and have been amazed at how it has produced apples throughout this season. This was my last remaining apple. I had left it on the tree on purpose. It seemed sad to pick all of the apples this fall. There weren't many as workers had constantly trampled and interrupted the poor tree this year rebuilding the house that is hugging this tree.

So many thoughts passed through my head as I picked it up. Some corny (uh, see the title of this blog), some revealing and some sad. What amazed me was how this dame weathered the storm this past year. She's gorgeous! I mean, look at her. She's perfectly, imperfectly rounded, seems to be in good physical shape (not a bad spot on her), she DOES show some age spots, but her color is good - even cheery! She even feels like she has some substance to her as I pluck her out of the wood chips. As I turn her over in my hands she also seems to have an innate sense of humor - look at her leaning into that joke she's about to tell.

Well, she is gracing the center of my painting desk at present. She looks like she belongs there. Right now I am remembering Tom Hanks in a movie talking to a soccer ball he named Norman....or was it Ralph?

Backgrounds, backlighting and "Calling it done"

As an artist I get asked 'What do you like to paint?" That question takes me off guard. Pretty much anything goes as to what draws me to a subject. This week's answer to this question is clearer. "I paint light!" It was the dramatic backlighting that drew me to this bunch of flowers at Renae's Bouquet in Santa Ynez (a favorite spot to pick up interesting flowers and inspiration). The question of how to translate that delicate peach color also came to mind - oh! and that gray/green foliage with the furry texture intrigued me. Hmmm. How will I get that effect?

Maybe it's not all about the light.

Here are the Dahlia's that captured my imagination. I have propped this on an easel in the corner of my studio for a day or so. What I have not done is capture the backlight. Perhaps my subject has gone another direction from where I started? An obvious solution is to drop in a mid toned to dark background around those flowers (risky at this point). That will illuminate the edges where the backlight effect is prominent. The question now? Do I call this finished or drop in a background wash?

The Day of the Dead

I have observed and read about this Hispanic type of Memorial Day for a few years now. It's usually celebrated on the 1st or 2nd day of November. The first time I was asked to enter an art show with this theme I was shocked to find many paintings of skeletons, painted in a festive manner.

Today I have spent reflective time in my studio drawing and painting something I feel worthy of entering into the Day of the Dead show here in Solvang. My theme started out reminiscent of Davinci's Vitruvian Man, but as I was drawing the skeleton with outstretched arms I felt as if some other person or soul was observing or present in the background - hence my rendition.

I couldn't help but think of deceased members of my own family as I painted this piece. It was a somber, but warm day in my studio.

Why did the Tarantula cross the road?

Well, it's been awhile. Thought I would start off with a recent story: 2 evenings ago I was driving down the road near my home here in Solvang, California. A gorgeous, slightly cool evening for this neck of the woods...and I mean woods! Our house is on a hilltop located in Santa Ynez Valley with coyotes, mountain lions (OK, I have never seen one, just heard stories), horses, wild chickens, and Max (my black lab friend who lives nearby).  As I was driving down our canyon road I saw something dark (the size of my fist) 20 feet in front of my car. I slowed down as I saw this 'thing' creeping along. I STOPPED when I saw what would be the largest spider I have seen in the states. I pulled over, hopped out and stood in the middle of the road dumbfounded as this Tarantula made it's 8-legged way across the road. Uh, where were it's eyes? I couldn't quite see them and I wanted to know just WHICH way was forward as I stood ready to make a quick dash.
Anyway, another car was rounding the curve and I put out my hand for them to stop. The driver looked down in front of her car, smiled, shook her head and pulled around the crazy lady and her new friend in the middle of the road.
To make this story shorter, my new friend ambled across the road and that was that. After a Google search I found that this area of California is hopping with Tarantulas. The ones we see crossing the road are males, not too aggressive, evening time is the prime time to view them, and (of course) it is mating season. So, I wonder if I took a pole how many people got the answer to my subject line before I even typed this?

Giving Back

Today was a day of gifts. I introduced 30 children to the basics of Chinese Calligraphy at the West Des Moines Library. One challenge was to give my demonstrations on a vertical surface. Now, that doesn't seem difficult until you think about standing on spotless carpet & painting with a large brush soaked in black ink. The staff may have been worried about the students spilling, but I was worried about ME spilling!

There were so many eager faces in the crowd. It warmed my heart to see all of those eager faces sitting there just waiting to learn.

The kids had fun and so did I!