More Art and Life

I've been in an artist block for a while.  Blaming being busy or not being able to concentrate, but maybe the truth is that I have not made time for doing what I love. So, sometimes you just have to push yourself to do.  No excuses, just do.  I once said I thought that if God has given you a talent that you should not waste it.  That it might even be a sin if you waste a God given talent. I need to practice what I preach.

I got out the paintings that I had been belaboring over, and I set them out against a piece of furniture across the room where I could critique them.  Getting away from your work always helps.  My studio at the moment is a drawing table in my bedroom.  I always back up and look at my work as I paint.  Another funny thing that I do is squint at my subject matter and at the painting in progress.  I used to be near sighted, and never used glasses when I painted.  This I thought was an advantage.

After studying my paintings, I'll pick up the painting and be able to adjust a little something here and there and fix the painting. I do this with all my pieces.  The final touches that make a painting.  This also keeps me from over doing.  Knowing when to stop is an art.  A painting can go from nice to over done in an instant. This type of disaster still happens to me.

I paint from photographs.  I like using them as a guide not a bible.  Photographs are not true to life. If you copy a photo.  Your paintings will be off., surreal or photo realistic.  I use photos as a jumping off place.  I like my art to have atmosphere and feelings.

I begin with blocking out the darkest areas with a thin layer of color.  I'll then progress to medium shades and lastly to the thicker light highlights.  Off course this is the way that you are supposed to work with oils, and naturally I have had to learn the hard way.  I do not draw out my painting.  I only use brush work.  I approach it almost as if I am sculpting it.  The layers of paint forming a tapestry of colors a delight to my  eye and senses.

One time years ago a friend of mine looked at one of my paintings and said that the back ground on the still life that I was working on seem to have movement to it.  The atmosphere around us is not still.  Why should the atmosphere in a painting appear flat? A flash of light, a passing cloud, a breeze all cause motion.  Painting Plien Air, is difficult because you are constantly chasing after a fleeting moment only to have another flash before your eyes.  When I paint from my photos, I am able to take these flashing moments and compile them into an impression of the time.

I have studied nature and the world around me for great lengths of time.  Sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle, I have glazed upon clouds and mountains, fields and rivers, gaining a perception of the way things are, and how nature works.  I must learn to see what is really there.  If you really look you will see the orange glint off of the trees as the sun sets, the sparkle of flowing water and haze lying close to the shore line or shrouding the mountain top.  I remember being with my grandparents and hearing my mother's father say as we looked at sunset over snow, "The Heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament showeth His handiwork." I suppose that somehow I am trying to pay tribute to the beauty of our world and to the heavens.  I love nature.  When I could still walk I took great joy in walking up into the woods and hills, beaches and shores.  I loved the woods of Vermont and Virginia.  I have been privileged to have live in two of the most beautiful states. Also have been blessed to be able to have traveled across our country.

All about Lasting friendship

Most people are blessed, it has been said, if they can count their true friends on the fingers of one hand.  Lasting friendship is a true blessing.  I have friends that have lasted my life time.  As a child I was often confined to my bed with operations for Polio.  One friend in particular that I remember visiting was Polly.  She was born in Cuba, her father was a Scot who worked for a British Bank in the Islands.  Her grandmother and mine were friends.  When she visited Virginia she would occasionally visit me.  She moved back to the States in High School and we became good friends.  Today I consider her one of my best friends.

Another friend I grew up with was Boo we played together as little girls.  She was a year ahead of me in school so we grew apart.  After all who wants to hang around someone younger.  However we are still friends and will always love each other.  She sponsored me for  Pi Beta Phi in college.  She also put down someone for teasing me about the noise my crutches made when I walked.  True friends take up for each other. We still love each other even if we rarely see one another. 

Another enduring friendship occurred in College.  I met a girl in line for lunch at the cafeteria.  We started talking and I found out that she had gone to the same girl's school that I had gone to.  It was a very small school of about 65 girls.  So how did I miss her.  It turned out Ellen transferred the year I started.  She had come back to college after working a while in NYC.  We became good friends. She lives in Vermont now, I live in Virginia.  We visit often.  Even though we live far apart we love one another as sisters.

Another long term friend is Corliss.  We moved next door to each other 34 years ago.  We both had babies at home at the time.  My son Lewis was under a year.  We became fast friends.  The nice thing about true friends is that you do not have to be perfect.  Corliss has definite opinions and tires to help me by telling me what to do.  Long ago I learned to dish it back out to her.  We laugh and carry on and have a wonderful time together.

Polly, Corliss, and I always try to spend New Years Eve together.  You would think that we were a bunch of teens the way we carry on.  Mother, had been living with me and we had always been great friends.  She would join in on the fun.

When we were young and married our husbands were friends too.

I have been lucky enough to be able to make other friends too.  Some that I have not known as long, but are proving to be real friends.  I have known Ursula in passing for many years, but recently we have become much closer.  We both live in the little community of Kilmarnock, VA.  She is German, or rather Bavarian.  Her husband is a fine gentleman, who has almost totally lost his hearing.  His health is not real good, and she worries about him.  He is also somewhat forgetful.  We can sympathize with each other.  We are both artistic and creative by nature.  Her father was a sculptor and my father was a painter and ran a Gallery.  We are able to laugh together.

I see a repetitive theme here. Laughter, and being able to be yourself and have fun is so important in friendship.  Being there for one another is important too.  Everyone needs a support system.  I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many good friends. 

My newest friend is Christine another next door neighbor to become a wonderful friend.  She is older than I, but full of fun.  We do a lot together.    Jennifer, she is my daughter in law, Melissa's best friend.  I now know why.  She is great fun, and really cares for others.  Both my daughter in laws are my friends too.  I am so lucky that they are my friends.  I always wanted a daughter and now I have two.