Year: 2022

New Potatoes

Posted on by heather

This is one of the rare paintings I’ve done
which qualifies for two categories.
It’s both a candidate for the Recipe Series and for the Garden Graces Series.

There have been several incarnations of initial sketches for this one over the years.
The final composition actually was spot on as a blend of them all.

My hope was to be able to grow the leeks as well as the potatoes
and strut with garden cred pride.
Alas, the Allium Leaf Miner flew into my yard a few years ago
and declared war on anything I tried to grow in the allium family.

Garlic, onions, leeks…poof.

With an organic approach there was not much in my arsenal that worked to eradicate them until …
the netting.
I’m talking serious dedicated covering.

Since garlic is planted in the fall
I leave it alone until February
then secure the netting over the entire bed.
This year’s attempt handled the snow and hail
and held up all the way to the scape harvest in May.

I had two large beds planted in garlic
and I’m that chuffed to report that 100% of those bulbs
are now seasoning in the greenhouse.

With that success behind me I am ready to tackle leeks…
next year
when all the construction is finished
and the puppy who loves to dig is under control
and I can devote time to careful planting and tending.

The Ruth Stout garden is transitioning into basically a giant potato bed.
They love the rich soil that the repeated dressing of hay mulch is building.
This year’s drought arrested their development some
but I was pleased to see that there were enough new potatoes
to make the traditional summer batch of Vichyssoise.

The easter egg hunt feel of harvesting potatoes
by  simply pulling back the blanket of hay
is so satisfying
that I am on my second batch of soup
and August has just begun.

The pitcher was a funny twist the Muses threw at me.
Back when I was imaging one of the first incarnations of this composition
I wanted to represent the cream somehow
and saw one of those cow vessels and thought it would be perfect.

So late one night I surfed through Ebay and found this one
and clicked right away.
Probably paid top dollar and then some because I am an impatient auction bidder.

When it arrived
it was much bigger than I thought.
I was going for some demure cream pitcher size
but, as I say,
the Muses had other plans.
I was going to fool them and shrink it down
with some sharp pencils
and artistic license.

But when it came time to arrange the still life on my kitchen table
with the new apprentice offering suggestions
for where to place each of those spuds…
(I removed the puppy teeth marks in the actual painting)

…well
I actually did like the statement that the large format cow was making.
They seem to have gotten the balance just right
again.

PS-
Maggie wants me to tell you
that she helped tie the chives in a bundle.
(show off)

PPS –
AND… I’m suppose to tell you that the little felt heart was her contribution.
I actually was wandering the studio
looking for something that might,
if ever so loosely,
represent the chicken broth.

In the process of that Herself brought me the tiny heart
and asked what it was from.
This was the second one we found so I knew.

Maggie got a little puppy puzzle house complete with baby chicks at easter.
Yes, I know, and I’ve gotten plenty of slack for it
but it has become her favorite game…so there.

Here is a photo of the last of the fully intact chicks
and you’ll see where that precious little heart came from.

Our precious little Muse in training.

Reach for the Stars

Posted on by heather

Those nights were restless after the flood.
Unable to climb the rickety stairs in the studio
I was sleeping on a tiny lumpy daybed
in a corner crammed with some of the things we had rescued
and after long stress filled days
it was a welcome and safe harbor.

In the quiet dark I wrote long winded passages to my friend Beth
unburdening some of the days’ burdens
and her gift of listening was its own blessed harbor of safety.

Somewhere deep into those nights
as I lay awake looking out the picture window
the sky had cleared and the world had grown dark enough
that I realized I could see the stars
from my bed.

Back in the cave like dark of the log cabin
I had once surprised Herself
by painting glow in the dark stars on our bedroom ceiling
it was the closest we got to the real thing
and those stars are probably still glowing at night over there.

Here now, on that starry studio night,
I was overwhelmed with magic
C.S. Lewis’s …Surprised by Joy …kind of magic
a profound and fierce wave of it.

I can’t remember if I sat up right then
or if it was later at dawn
but I wrote to Beth
and wrote
and wrote.

It was the exact moment when everything shifted
again
but this time toward the light
and the idea for a new studio came to me in one complete flash.

Sketchbooks are never far from my hands
and I dug out the sweet jewel of a ruler
which has heretofore been only a prop
but one of my most treasured objects
with its delicate markings
and sleek leather case
softened by HN Lockhart’s
hours of work…
I wrote “Reach for the Stars” on the paper…
and let the Muses take the wheel.

Now I’ve painted my share of houses
inside and out and on my easel
with both big and tiny brushes
and I know my way around building things
but it soon became clear I’m not an architect

but Beth knows a guy
her Michael.

When it came time for my sketches
to meet with his expertise
I ceremonially handed Michael that ruler
and said…”design me a studio around this”.

He did.

And today
as I write
there are big machines
moving mountains of dirt and stone
pipes being laid
walls going up
and that new studio is being built.

I’ve made a point over the years
of telling my most authentic truth
through my artwork.

Breadcrumbs along the way.

This painting is one such marker.

That is the original sketch
the very ruler
with my hands in motion.

When I sat down at the easel to bring it to life
it was April and the lilacs were in full bloom.

Today August has begun and,
while there have been many other hands moving to get us to this day,
I want to give special thanks here to Beth and Michael
who were there at the beginning
listening
to my story about the stars.

Her New Morning View

Posted on by heather

Her New Morning View – 18 x 20

Next month we will celebrate Mother Nature’s great flooding shove.

Celebrate ?

Well heck yeah.
We are still here…
together
our tiny family
just a bit wigglier and furrier
making the best of
turning the old studio
into our new living space
and now the summer is in full swing
and we are sitting on the back porch
in our old lady rocking chairs
watching big machines
move heaven…
and lots and lots of earth
in the service of
building us a new studio
with extra space
and light…
lots and lots of light.

This painting was the first one up on the easel
after we had shifted the old studio around enough for me to begin again.
It was early last winter
and we were discovering the pleasure
of eating breakfast together in the sunrise studio kitchen before I got to work.
Herself was enjoying watching how the early rays of light
stream across the snowy yard and wake up that magnificent stone barn.
And we were beginning
to move on
from survival mode
to the counting of our blessings.

Granary Gallery 2022 Show

Posted on by heather • 1 Comment on Granary Gallery 2022 Show

And here we go…

The first of the New Paintings for this year’s Granary Gallery show is ready for the reveal…

Hands down the happiest part of our lives right now is Maggie. She’s an amazingly fun addition to our tiny family and she certainly keeps we two old ladies on our toes and in our cups with laughter and life.

The Painter’s Notes tell the story behind the friendship between dog and sparrow and Maggie always has a favorite stick nearby. Part Tigger, part mountain goat, her joyous and helpful spirit is my constant shadow and her youthful exuberant spirit is tamed by Herself’s calming nightly massages. So it is only fitting that the first painting up on the blog should be this bright light of a companion. She sets the tone for our brighter horizons.

My New Muse – 24 x 18

This is our Maggie.

The happiest
wiggliest
friendliest
most curious
most lovable
thing in our lives.

Seven wonderful months old as I write this today…
she was two months younger
when we sat together
early one morning
in the studio kitchen
watching out the door
to see what would become of our day.

What was that ?

We both turned our heads
towards a flicker of white.

Well Maggie was the first to see it.

What caught my attention
was that she kept turning
from me
to the porch
back to me
until finally I got up to go see
what it was
that she could see.

Just beyond the porch
perched on the wire statue
of Beatrice…
who used to watch over us
on the log cabin porch…
was this little sparrow.

And,
as you can see,
in her beak
was the craziest white and wild feather
almost twice the size of the bird.

I was almost
as excited
as Maggie was.

And with her persistence
I snapped a pic
just so I could remember
the proportion
of bird to feather
and feather to bird.

Then I gave her a big pat
on that tiny furry white head
and nodded a thank you
to the chorus of Muses
watching from behind my shoulder
as they gave their new apprentice
a proud and raucous
round of applause.

That’ll do pup.
That’ll do.

Good Fortune

Posted on by heather

Well now…

Here we are with half a year flown by…
The solstice has come and gone
The daisies are in their second bloom
Herself is up swimming at her lake
Maggie is happily chomping on a new bone
A batch of new paintings lean in between piles of boxes and bags
And the Granary Gallery Show is almost here !

It has been a wild and crazy ride since last year’s flood.
As Billy Collins would say…A freaky blast…which is my new favorite way of looking at the world.

With the help of some dear friends and short controlled bursts of “freakishly” hard work
we have new paintings and exciting prospects on the horizon.

Last month, in a moment of particular exhaustion
after a day of navigating roadblocks
and jumping through hoops that kept rolling on through
I opened that dinner’s proverbial fortune cookie
and read this…

Whoever put that into the tiny folded cookie
could never have known how prescient the sentiment was
or how much we needed to hear it at that very moment.

So I taped it up on the easel
in order to keep the focus
in the midst of the chaos
on
the CHILL.

Soon, very very soon dear patrons and followers
I will be able to reveal both the new paintings
and that new big project
which is indeed coming our way.

Stay tuned for the Annual Granary Gallery Show Rollout.

The opening is August 14

Until we meet again…
smell a rose for us
take a walk on the beach
throw your dog a bone
and stay safe out there.

H