Dec 26 - Let it Snow! Blizzard and Fabricritter!

The blizzard of New Jersey is blowing great gobs of light snow, thickly layering the wonderful neighborhood of Ridgewood.   I have enjoyed the beauty and cold weather of this trip, taking the three dogs out for "walkies" before the storm moved in.  It's amazing how it has changed completely from the image of the creek (below) on my morning walk to the early evening image further down.  With three dogs behind me waiting, expectations of me shoveling a place for the them to get out and do their "thing" this evening, it was quite a difference.  It is still coming down, and my last shoveling moved over a foot of snow off the patio.  I just looked and all that was for naught, as the cleared place for short legs has completely been obliterated.

I love snow.  Always have.  Since I don't have the regular schedule of working five days a week, I can enjoy it for what it is, and even get out and DO stuff in it with my good health.

Now let's look at the Carousel Horse.  I've started to add the fabric swatches, choosing values and colors to fill the spaces behind the central horse.  I've used matt medium (acrylic "glue") to hold down the fabric, and it works GREAT!  It's a lot like making a crazy quilt, but without all the stitching.

Where did these fabrics come from?  My aunt was a quilter, and when she passed, she left a 16 x 20 room with floor to ceiling bolts of cotton quilting cloth.  Amazing.  I took what I loved, and then added a lot of upholstery fabric swatches to the supplies.  I still have several boxes of fabric swatches and "fat quarters" from my aunt's inventory.

Brrr... stay warm!!

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Dec 30 - Day Off to Recooperate...

The canvas (12 x 9 acrylic) is covered now with the basic hues that will dominate the finished painting, and I'm stepping back to let it dry so I can continue to lay in the layers of detail to follow. If this were done in oils, I'd continue to proceed, yet handle my brush at a different angle to keep from lifting up the under layer into the new hues and values going on top. With acrylics, that's not an issue (more non-thinking painting!). This painting is going to hold to the complementary blue/orange grays in the final stages, so no surprises coming there. Where you will find surprises, is in edges, value changes and shapes!

I'm back in California now, over my jet lag, and it is cloudy and cool. Much warmer than New Jersey, but I still have had a fire going for most of the day while sorting out mail, shipping DVD orders and planning my work on the finish of the "Misty, Overcast and Difficult Light Subjects" DVD. Not much more to go, and then the final editing on that one. Good thing I didn't have "real" deadline for it--I'd never have made it. Deadlines only control those who need them.

The New Year is approaching, and I have several ways I can celebrate it, one of which is to stay centered in my path and gather strength from my friends while staying home by the fire. Or I could go get a tattoo and go out and make a fool of myself in several social situations....Hmmmm, well I am an artist!

Interesting, though... I don't have any resolutions to make and break, because I am greeting each day with my own honest living, in the choices I make (didn't gain any pounds over the holiday!), and in where I want to spend my money and time. I value my family and friends over all, and will continue to let them know how important they are--YOU are--to me. Let's hope for a bright 2010 full of opportunities and good choices. Even if we have to realign our paths, I hope that the new path will be just as exciting.

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Dec 28 - Starting the Saddle River View in Acrylics

After yesterday's dog walk along the edge of the Saddle River (in Bergen County, New Jersey), I came back with a need to paint the "feel" of what I experienced. So here's the start of a 12 x 9 acrylic (I will take larger canvases in the future!) and the complementary colors of blue and orange are already in place. "Orange?" you ask. Yes, burnt umber is a dark orange, and that's why the autumn and winter woods are so delightful in color when combined with any water that reflects the sky. The grayed oranges of the leaves and forest floor is a complement to the blues.

The day was gorgeous and sunny, and the light was coming through the leafless woods creating traceries of shadow, so I went off the path into the browns and grays to take this source material of the river in the afternoon light (below). I chose the vertical format for the painting, because as with pastoral views being so calming, I wanted the longer plane of the canvas' vertical to offset and balance that tranquility with some strength and power. (Besides, these verticals have more opportunities for placement on the walls of collectors' homes.)

Here's the source material:
Tomorrow the painting continues! But first, this afternoon I get on a plane with my sister and Sparky, and we fly for over six hours back to California, where instead of the high 30s, it is in the high 60s. I do enjoy this cold weather, though, having been raised on the East Coast. Yet my garden is calling to me, and coming back as a first class passenger for this long flight will be a nice cap to a wonderful vacation.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
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Dec 27 - Finished the Three Pears

Here they are, the trio of pears in acrylic finished, 6 x 12 inches. I've finished putting the rest of the warms on them and cleaned up and detailed out the stems, background and surfaces.
After seeing the work of Gustav Klimt in the Met, I'm really realizing that loosening up is a good thing, and so the paintings are starting to come across with the strength of energized brushwork instead of tight details. I'm pleased with the new direction.

Available, $295, and scheduled for the Women Artists of the West online show this January, when I get a better photograph of it.

Off and running today--I took the dogs on a long walk along the Saddle River watershed, and came home with visual experiences that are going to come to light in the days ahead. I have already blocked in a new work from today's visuals, which I'll share tomorrow. Ah, tomorrow! I pack and fly back to California, coming in late, and will see the sunrise on Tuesday in the hills of Two Trees. Back to the dogs, cats, goats and horses who have been idle and well fed while I've been here. Back to routines and yardwork, the big studio and painting with my friends.

This trip has been wonderful, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to revisit the eastern hardwood forests, extended and near family and New York City. I hope I can return someday, and without too much time in between. Nice news is that Sparky and I are flying back first class. Nice!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.