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...