October 2018

Green Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Green Canigou is the painting I started working on just before the short television segment.  The foreground was the most difficult part of this painting.

Rosie, graphite, 8x10"

Rosie was a commission I was going to do just in graphite, but I could not bring myself not to include some color into it.

Blue Sky Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Mosaic Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Blue Sky Canigou and Mosaic Canigou were started in the SAAC Gallery at Stone Oak, where they looked tiny because of all the big canvases and the size of the room. They are color studies. I so liked the colors and glass or mineral quality of the first impasto brushstrokes of Mosaic Canigou,  that I decided to treat the rest of the mountain as grout. 

The following paintings date from my time as a student of Edwards Povey. I did not show them much. I am needing more room in my studio and so they are for sale. 

Portrait was done from a photograph taken by Edward of a dear friend who died of cancer. I thought she was beautiful and enjoyed working from a photo of such high quality. At the same time, I felt for her and her family because of her untimely passing. 

Portrait, oil, 11x14"

Inspired by Mary was interesting. We first analyzed several paintings by Mary Cassatt including a mother in bed with her baby and a tea party. Then we were introduced to a scene set up in the studio consisting of a bed with a mannequin "asleep" under the covers, a doll, a black hat and coat, old photos on the wall, a coffee pot on the nightstand, clothes on the bed and a tea set. There were a lot of us around the bed painting the scene, only a few got to paint the head of the mannequin and the doll. From my angle they were unfortunately invisible, but I enjoyed painting the rest especially the tea set and the warm and cold light on the drapery on the headboard and the red blanket on the bed. 

  

Inspired by Mary, oil on canvas board, 12x16"

The Green Line, la Ligne Verte, is a copy of Matisse's painting, done from a photograph. We had just seen a Matisse exhibit, where I had been studying his fauve works.

Copy of Matisse's La Ligne Verte, oil, 12x16"

 

January 2018

I started taking lessons in oil painting using a palette knife with Jim McDonald. I have had two lessons so far and what is interesting to me is that Jim paints landscapes from memory. It is very relaxing to me to learn to create art in a very different way. Jim has a zen way of approaching painting. I look forward to my lesson each month as a treat.

My first attempt turned out a little dark. I consider that I painted it by myself. Jim did show me how he works on another canvas and he gave me advice along the way. I made the decisions, however, and did the painting. My favorite part is the green sky. (I remember that Edward Povey once advised me to paint a sky green and at the time, I just could not bring myself to do it. It is a few years later and I can see the benefit.) I believe, there is something more I can do on this and I will keep you posted...

Coming into View

The second attempt is a painting where we took turns painting, discussing what was happening along the way. It was fun!
Now, I am usually not comfortable with anybody working in my painting. Somehow this was a cooperative project from the beginning with each of us coming up with what we could to help bring this landscape into the world.

Morning Mist

May 2013

Welcome to all of you I met through Fiesta last month. The weather was just right, comfortable and not too hot (except for Wednesday when it was cold and rainy). It was truly a good show and your stopping by and taking the time to see my work made it so.

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

Carol Dawson' s poppy.