Poppie-popping time

The old town of Telluride is known for its interesting homes, many of which were old mining shacks but which have become million dollar palaces. Location, location, location.

The poppies attracted me to this site, a half block from where we stayed, and I spent many happy hours at the easel.

The Town with a View

Telluride boasts a lovely park - Town Park - which sits at the back of the valley in a box canyon. Water from snow melt runs down the mountains which ring the canyon and into the River that runs through the park. The city hosts a Plein Air festival attracting painters from around the country.

Telluride - July 4th, 2008

As the season of lights draws nigh, I am reminded of the other season of light - as in fireworks!!!
This is a painting I did of the Telluride 4th of July parade this year. It is a fantastic old-fashioned with a twist parade in one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.A.
Wishing everyone a very happy Holiday! Celebrate!

Brooklyn Bridge in Process

"And we have seen night lifted in thine arms" is a line from Hart Crane's poem about the Brooklyn Brige. My hubby and I walked the bridge on our last visit to NYC and I must say it is wondrous. I did two quick sketches as we crossed the bridge looking back at lower Manhattan and am currently working on a small painting. Here is a very rough start but at least a start.

Let It Snow!

Here is the little bench in the snow, painted quickly one day last winter from my bedroom window.

Seasonal Opposition

The cold has announced winter's coming and Dec. 21 is the official arrival date. So I have posted my spring painting of the wild hycathinths that appear four months from now - when Spring oficially returns to Ky. Call it seasonal opposition disorder if you like - I like to 'think through' the seasons and anticipate what's on the horizon. In Kentucky we have four very well-defined seasons, each of which I enjoy. Tomorrow I will post a small painting of the bench (hiding here) in the winter snow. Season's greetings!

Likeness

Yesterday, I presented the finished work to my friend. She was delighted with this portrait and just could not get over how I had captured the 'likeness.' "It looks just like her!" she said. Getting a good likeness is important in portrait painting and that involves capturing not only the look but also the spirit of the person. As I posted earlier, I painted this from a photograph for my friend but I have also met her sister at her wonderful restaurant in Seattle, Le Pichet. As providence would have it, her sister(my subject) will visit for Christmas. I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when she sees this.

Christmas in a Chandelier

Decorating the house is my favorite part of Christmas. This year I had the idea to put colored lights in my chandelier just for fun. I used the clear lights but I think the opaque ones may look really good too. Hearkens to the Christmas night child in me when, sitting in the backseat of my parents 1952 red Buick with all my sibs piled around me, we returned home late after feasting at my uncle's and the colors of the Christmas lights twinkled in the silent night.

Sunday in Kentucky

Kentucky is known for many things including Lincoln's birthplace, its fine bourbons(and The Bourbon Trail), horse racing, etc. Another famous place in Kentucky is near Bardstown and is called Gethsemani. It is a Trappist Monastery and was made well-known around the world by one humble but thoroughly modern monk named Thomas Merton. (It is also famous for its wonderful cheeses, candies, and fruitcakes - visit www.gethsemanifarms.org). Merton lived in a small house on the grounds and wrote many fine books. He was a true contemplative and spiritual guide. He believed the earth was given to us that we might find "meaning. order, truth, salvation" and great joy in the beauty of the world around us, especially its light.

Composition

A good composition is everything!

This simple pastel of a chair and a pot of flowers works because the chair occupies the paper plane thoroughly. I created this one sunny afternoon in 2004 when we were vacationing in Ouray, Colorado.

The chair and the pot of flowers sat by their lonesomes. I needed a subject and so combined them. Drawing the negative spaces defined by the legs and shadows of the yellow metal chair helped me re-construct the chair. I wanted the chair to touch all sides of the paper creating a firm foundation for the pot of blue.

Looking at the spaces a thing makes rather than the thing itself is a great trick for bringing an object to life.

The Queen of Seattle

Here is a portrait fresh off the easel. This was pure fun and done quickly - and better than that - it worked! I painted from a treasured photo of a friend. Her sister is a restarateur in Seatttle and here she is with some of the ingredients for one of her feasts and flowers for the table.

Fresh Paint

I have been painting for over ten years with varying degrees of earnestness and varying degrees of success. Here is a painting that I did for my sister's sale last year that I did quickly but liked then and still like now.

My sister has been "after me" to start a blog as she has been happpily blogging for almost one year and thinks it has changed her life for the better. Not only are we sisters who share the art gene and many other shares too numerous to mention now, we each seek a persona that frees us from the many roles we play on life's stage(including that of sisters) while allowing us to maintain that stage of life(new bricks, new boards, and of course fresh paint) upon which we strut. More later...