And Also Seen!

Along Highland Rd near Ooms, these beauties were willing to chat it up along by the fence.

And Also Seen!

Thursday: Snow, Wind and Clouds

After a howling windy night and a mixed-precip morning, I went to do a little cloud-chasing, taking the southern route home over county 28.

That landed me close enough to Ooms, so I sat there awhile and did a sketch before starting home.

Thursday: Snow, Wind and Clouds

Ah HA! The Job of the Artist

I started reading “No Time to Spare” by Ursula K. LeGuin and what a read it is. A blurb on the back by New York Times Book Reviewer Melissa Febos promised “The pages sparkle with lines that make a reader glance up, searching for an available ear with which to share them.”

And so dear reader, since the cats sprawled nearby look confused by my fist pump just now, this share is for you! (emphasis mine) Ursula writes about that question writers are asked: what does it mean? She encourages readers to seek out reviews and other analysts of writings if they can’t decide for themselves.

It’s a job I do as a reviewer, and I enjoy it. But my job as a fiction writer is to write fiction, not to review it. Art isn’t explanation. Art is what an artist does, not what an artist explains. (Or so it seems to me, which is why I have a problem with the kind of modern museum art that involves reading what the artist says about a work in order to find out why one should look at it or “how to experience” it.)

I’m on page 42 of this slender volume and this just stopped me in my tracks.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Meanwhile, today was a gray rainy day, not for painting, but I managed to buy some new socks. I also managed to go into an art supply store and leave without anything. I got an EZ-pass thing for my car after finding out from a co-worker that you can buy them at drug stores and grocery stores. Well, you buy it but they put all the money as a credit on the pass so it’s all good. Did some wash, did some reading, watched a favorite movie.

Yesterday I tried again on the scene I’d painted two days ago. Trying to figure out if it’s the change of paper (at least in part), paints getting rehydrated (they are now), me being rusty (yes and yes) but anyway here’s what happened. No explanations LOL per Ursula. Done from photos I’d taken of each scene.

Ah HA! The Job of the Artist

A Warm Bright Day

Rumor had it that today would be unseasonable warm and that was correct. Can’t complain about sitting outside in near 50F sunshine, painting and listening to the canadian geese trying to lord it over each other.

These were on the new paper, the first two on the turner 140 weight and the last, started to let number two dry and flatten a bit, was on the leonardo 300 weight.

Am currently reinstalling scanner software because unless I included a bright background these scanned in technicolor. I finally gave up and used ImageCapture which had its own weirdness but at least the color was better. Geesh. I would have been excited to have painted the scanned versions!

A Warm Bright Day

The Sun! The Sun!

I literally ran out of the house this morning when the sun appeared and found a scene to paint, even before starting to sip coffee! That is how sun-deprived we’re all feeling about now.

This one I did at home. I’m trying some new paper by Hahnemühle. The last two are 300lb Cezanne paper (cold press) which is quite a bit stiffer than the 140 I generally use. The first was 140 but a different type that is only sized internally – it’s their Turner line. It’s quite a different experience from the Arches that I have been using from the start. I bought full sheets of both to try and the Turner is smaller (20×26″) than most sheets (22×30″) which confused the heck out of me but I worked out the math to cut it up. Another good use for the mat cutter! This paper came via Acuity Paper in Indiana.

And in case you wondered – was that Mary Beth out there at the side of Old Post Rd? Here’s how you can tell:

The Sun! The Sun!

Third of February – Blue Sky

I was being good and staying home sorting stuff for trash night when suddenly the world turned bright and shiny. The first photo was taken this morning when it was still pretty grey, of a shrub of bright red berries I admire often.

I did these while sitting in the car – just a hair too cool to sit outside for long. I realized though that the main problem with this – the lighting inside is too dark. Will have to dress warmer I guess!

Third of February – Blue Sky

Words to Ponder

Thanks to James Gurney for these words from a fine poet.

…May your inner eye
See through the surfaces
And glean the real presence
Of everything that meets you

May your soul beautify
The desire of your eyes
That you might glimpse
The infinity that hides
In the simple sights
That seem worn
To your usual eyes.

John O’Donohue, from “For The Senses”

You might ask, where the heck have you been? Well I’ve been writing and editing. So many words. Found an ending, found a prologue and an epilogue. On re-reading found a semi-baddy was still lying. LYING – she’s still lying about what happened, I shouted at the rest until they figured it out and brought her to a deserved justice.

It’s grey and cold and winter’s not kind to painters that like to be outside, but I find writing makes it hard to do visual things and so I’ve been quiet and writing. I did get out one day mid-January to try out a new tripod and throw some paint around on a pale evening.

Also grateful to have celebrated Mom’s 90th birthday with family. A good time was had by all!

Now, bring it on February!

Words to Ponder