Santa Barbara Harbor I

It's been awhile, but I'm still here! I've been traveling and painting, getting ready to hang a show in California. I've got several plein air paintings that are about finished; this is one of them. I should have stopped working on this a few hours ago! I know I'm finished because I'm making more mistakes than progress. My goal: to keep these plein air paintings fresh. Not overwork them. My mantra this past week: Progress and not perfection. 

"Off With Their Heads!"

I've been painting a lot lately. Pushing limits. Ruining painting after painting. I'm to the place in my career that 'nice' paintings are common. These paintings are colorful but not saying anything new.  So I'm trying to act on every 'what if?' that comes into my head.  Below is a watercolor of an antique Turkish vase and a New Guinea shield. I enjoyed their colors and texture and wanted to give these a try. The finished watercolor needed more of something, not sure what. So I lifted through stencils, stamped into Asian paper and collaged a few pieces of this in areas here and there. This is a bit busy in my opinion, but I'm glad I've tried these things. I will let this sit on my easel overnight and perhaps this will continue on it's journey tomorrow.

This brings me to this thought: Golfers go out on the golf course day after day and practice their swing, putting, etc. They're not expecting anything in return. Just practicing. Why am I expecting to bring home great paintings day after day? Why not feel good about showing up in my studio and painting?

"I am not a technician when I paint. I barely pay attention to the technical aspects of the process. I am absorbed in what is happening on the paper, always working on the edge of disaster. My only concern is to pursue the image in my mind's eye. I believe that is the force behind every good painting."

        Joseph Zbukvic

Snow Day in Iowa!

A view to my studio this morning. Shadow chose to stay in the house. Smart kitty!

Oh Christmas Tree

Have you ever seen (or imagined) a single, illuminated tree in a dark forest? I did once. It haunted me. This is my attempt at reproducing this feeling of warmth, sadness, love and comfort.

Practicing Bamboo

Art can be solitary, but I find that's a necessity if I want to dive deep into my soul to find my voice. By lunchtime I was amused (after a morning of practicing bamboo) as I had a forest literally growing under my feet.

Bamboo looks easy enough, but I find that it's simplicity makes it one of the hardest subjects to paint! There's no covering up mistakes, and since water & ink have their own voice I can only show up with brush in hand, breath & stay present to what happens on the paper.
This afternoon will be making branches and leaves. Today's goal is to come up with one design that's acceptable. I'll let you know if the water & ink have other plans.

A Morning Ritual

Below is a poem that came across my computer this morning. It touched my soul. This came from a site that I follow and enjoy (Heron Dance Art Studio). Rod is an artist and writer who lives seclusively in the wild, while reading great poets, writing, meditating and painting. 

I find these words valuable as I try to clear my thoughts and heart before entering my art place. A cleansing of sorts- getting rid of those negative gremlins that can dwell in my mind. 

Washing at dawn:

Rinse away dreams.

Protect the gods within,

And clarify the inner spirit.

Purification starts all practice. First comes cleansing of the body--not to deny the body, but so that it is refined. Once cleaned, it can help us sense the divine.

Rinsing away drams is a way of saying that we must not only dispel the illusions and anxieties of our sleeping moments but those of our waking ones as well. All life is a dream, not because it isn't there, but because we all project different meanings upon it. We must cleanse away this habit.

-Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao, Daily Meditations

It's That Time Of Year Again

I found these beauties at a local farmer's market. I learned to enjoy the taste and texture of persimmons a year ago. They remind me that Christmas is around the corner. Anyway, love the colors in this fruit and enjoyed painting this a lot.