This Saturday, the 18th, I will be in Boerne, TX all day (10 to 5) in the art show of the Boernefest. Kaz, I hope to see you. Anybody who is in the area, please come by. We will be on the square. More information at the Carriage House Gallery or Boerne Chamber of Commerce.
With this blog I am breaking a rule, namely not to put any art on the blog that is not finished. The portrait (in oil) that I am working on presently is a commissioned work that needs done in time to dry before a birthday at the end of the month. It takes priority over everything else. I am painting 6 hours a day. Consequently "Tess' World" has to wait.
"Tess' World" was started last year when I was listening to Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy. Under my hands the landscape quickly became as lonely and desolate as the hills Tess roams through, broken-hearted. The mesquite tree in the foreground grows in a playground in my neighborhood; its striking shape has fascinated me for a while. When I next took up the painting, I thought something was missing in the lower left corner, so I added my faithful companion on walks, our dog, Maya. I had the painting hanging in my studio for a couple of months not knowing what to do with it, was it finished or not? Finally it occurred to me I could ask my friend and art collector, Abbie. She told me right away the dog didn't fit with the landscape. In the "Finishing Paintings" class at Edward Povey's we reviewed the painting and came to the same conclusion and decided it needed some glazes as well. It still needs some little adjustment and one more glaze as soon as I have a quiet moment to give to it.
On a different but related note, I am reading "Get Real" by Rhonda Payne. Master Payne has trained our sons, Misha and Gerald, in Martial Arts and myself in self-defense. It is a thin book, a quick read, with an inspiring life story and some potentially life saving information in it. It can be obtained through Amazon. Master Payne teaches by example how "choosing better over bitter" can change a life. I couldn't help thinking about Edward Povey's Art of Change classes, where the same is taught.
Finally for my local friends and acquaintances Wally Workman in Austin is showing Carol Dawson's watercolors for one more week. I think they are a treat for lovers of plants and watercolor! Shirley would like them!
www.wallyworkmangallery.com
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| Carol Dawson' s poppy. |
