an arting life
This morning, the sunrise flashed some spectacular colors… but only briefly. Fortunately, I was poised by my window with my palette and brushes in hand. Though snow is still on the ground, the colors of spring are emerging! This oil sketch took about 10 minutes. The vivid colors were visible for even less time, and…
As I’m writing this, this part of NH is under a blanket of pristine, white snow. It’s “winter wonderland” time again! Initially, I looked at the mostly white landscape and thought, “Okay, not painting this morning.” However, the longer I looked at it, the more I saw the subtle colors in the sky, the snow,…
The sun is back! When I woke up this morning, the skies and the weather map looked like the sunrise would be dismal. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to paint en plein air. (Of course, I had a Plan B ready.) Instead, the clouds broke and the sun came through the clouds, at least…
Among the many things I love about being an artist is the joy I take in colors. Whether they’re the vibrant shades of spring and autumn, or the subtle greys of winter and the sizzling whites of summer… I love color! This morning, the skies were heavy with rain. The colors were similar to yesterday’s…
There was no actual sunrise this morning. Not that I could see, anyway. I wondered if my neighbor, Lesley, was thinking, “There’s no way she’s painting a sunrise this morning.” But… I did! Okay, I’m calling it a “snowrise” because it’s not sunny at all. The could cover is heavy, and as soon as I…
My White Mountains painting is still in progress. Every time I work on it, it energizes me. However, I’m not sure if yesterday’s changes will be evident in these photos. The differences are subtle. However, those small changes are making a big difference in the emotional content of the painting. At left is how the…
Yesterday, I started painting sunrises again. They’re simply oil sketches… nothing formal or fancy. Yesterday’s is on the left, and described in more detail at A New Morning. Generally, I grab whatever smallish, blank canvas is nearby. Today, as yesterday, that’s a 10″ x 14″ canvas board. Technically, these paintings aren’t quite en plein air…
Yesterday, I found a quotation that made me feel much better: “I’m in a foul mood as I’m making stupid mistakes… This morning I lost beyond repair a painting with which I had been happy, having done about twenty sessions on it; it had to be thoroughly scraped away… what a rage I was in!”…
This painting has a quirky history. It began when a commission wasn’t going well. When the commissioned painting was completed, a lot of paint remained on my palette. Most of it was blue. So, I took another in-progress painting off the wall – one that needed a lot more blue – and I worked on…
I re-learned a valuable artistic lesson this week. It’s about energy and the creative process, when I’m not working in flow. This is a difficult time for me. My mother – who is ordinarily very strong and healthy – is in the hospital. I’m continuing to work as much as I can, but some days…
Last night, I was re-reading Finding Your Visual Voice. It’s a book that steadily inspires me. The opening line of the book is, “Artists paint to discover the truth.” That really resonates with my views. There is a truth — an essence — in everything. It’s that essence that inspires the artist; something in what…
I love this little guy, and he’s only partly finished. He’s created from a single sock. The stripes are woven into this cotton sock; they’re not just printed on the fabric. That can make a big difference when designing a sock doll… though I’ll admit that the printed-on designs offer more creative inspiration, at times!…