After removing a finished painting from the easel the other day I found this note hiding next to a well splattered photo of Herself…
Which made me take a closer look at what else is taped to my easel…
This one below is a bit obscured from a decade of wiping my brushes…”There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” from Leonard Cohen
And I love the extra notes reminding me to plant garlic in November and to do a painting of my spoon carving. Both of which I did.
And two favorite pics of our sweet second Berners, Gulliver, enjoying two spots she used to love on the Vineyard. She’s there at her post, by my side, watching me every day.
Just some of the things that inspire me… so what’s on your easel ?
After spending the better part of two days watching the slow train wreck of my studio computer and learning that they call the window that kept popping up… the BSOD which is short for Blue Screen of Death…I filled my teacup, went to the bathroom, charged up my phone and called India.
Simon and I got right to it and I was with him…swapping out memory cards and testing and retesting the slots…listening as the fan noises got worse each time…right up until the thing started to smoke. OK he says, I’ll put you on hold and speak to my supervisor. Tap tap tap… glad I took those earlier call precautions…on hold musak…then yep we are sending out a technician to replace the motherboard. My Dell extended warranty at work.
So I left the mess in the office and as I was closing the door behind me I saw this painting which I had finished a couple weeks ago…
It’s title is The Tinker and it’s headed out to Denver next month but it’s prescient composition made me laugh…all I needed for today’s tinkering was a screwdriver and a man 5000 miles away.
And yes, that is the number 3 !!! which perplexed so many of you. I’ll get you a better shot in a day or so. For now…I’m heading back to the easel and something that does not require electricity or motherboards…although I could use a few more memory cards if you know what I mean.
Zoe is now 2 and a half and is the sharpest crayon in the deck. She is also big enough to pull her own weight…as well as a wagon full of sticks…and Mima put her to work in the studio as my apprentice.
I had developed this painting up to the shadow stage and so Zoe mixed up some ultramarine violet and paynes grey … and got right down to it.
After a long day in the studio she retired to the log cabin to watch some flicks with Gran and Bear Bear…
and I somehow managed to finish the painting on my own…
but I do believe in giving credit where it is due…soooo…
if you look closely…there is a tiny little Z (she’s not got the hang of the umlaut yet) that will live forever on the signature of this painting. You made Mima proud you special little girl.
Yes, when the winter hibernation is in full swing, production inside the studio soars. But, at least in my case, this is primarily due to the fact that my garden is sleeping. When the sun shines…I would rather be digging in the dirt.
This morning the sun is brilliant. Air cleared out by last nights storm. Creek roaring at full throttle. And my watering buckets are full …
So I lifted the flap on my little greenhouse and gave the tenders a drink.
It does an artist’s heart good to see these beautiful greens in the month of January and, with the seed catalogues piling up, the big greenhouse will soon be ready for action…
OK, enough of that garden talk. Time to get back to the easel. But…there will be a tiny salad on my lunch table.
In the early days of January, in the deep midwinter studio, when I sit down with the piles of sketchbooks and sort throught the long lists of painting ideas… I feel unfettered. Before the filters of deadlines and salability and subjectable subject choices begin to weigh me down… I take chances. I choose challenges. I tease the muses who whisper, “keep it simple” and “No not THAT nightgown”.
I have spent the last few weeks wading in that most wonderful of seas…the sea of details. Frolicking with the tiniest brushes. Taking extra days to glaze down and bring back up entire areas of light only to glaze them back down again and slowly, slowly refine. I’ve taunted and tweaked compositions and twisted ribbons and fringes in the wind.
Here is a sneak peak of the first of these, The Mender…
It will appear in Denver in March at the Gallery 1261 Contemporary Realism Show. It’s companion, The Tinker, was finished last night and you will have to wait a bit for that pic but it shares a few elements with it’s Mender…a rug, a teacup, a pair of spectacles…and the number three.
Now, all the wheels of creativity turn to…the island. The trove of images which I’ve stored up from Martha’s Vineyard is indeed full of treasure. And before those afore mentioned weighty filters and deadlines begin to creep in…I will let only the carefree muses in from the cold. The ones who say, “Go for it” and “If not now, when”, and let them sit alongside while I turn the pages of this sketchbook…
It’s a bright sunny day here in the studio and I’m getting an early start but before I head to the easel here is a delightful video which I watched on my friend Peter’s Blog while sitting at the kitchen table pondering breakfast. Definitely worth the few minutes it takes to get lost among the cottages and the cupboards… ‘Tis a grand way to greet the day
and a good time to catch you up on the progress here in the studio…
It’s now been two months since my first knee replacement surgery and by all accounts things are moving along swimmingly. The first month was all about learning to walk again…
and the second month has been about taking a defibrilator to my mojo. Even though I was able to walk over to the studio by week three…the creative muses had decided to take a longer vacation and it was many more weeks before I had the energy to lift even the tiniest of brushes. But…thanks to my long suffering nurse and team of PT helpers… I’m back !
Before this saga began I had decided to get a painting started so that I would have all the setup work done and, post surgery, could just sit and paint. I had posted a facebook photo taken early one morning as I came to work in the studio…
and the muses must have been working on that website because the responses made it clear that I HAD to paint this. So with a few tweeks I I painted right up until the day before surgery and had a pretty good start…
And after sitting patiently on the easel for weeks, it was more than ready for my impatient attentions. The first few days were short controlled bursts of playing with puddles of paint but finally the spark returned and I put the finishing touches on this work in the very last hours of 2012 and it felt great.
And day one of the new year found me in the studio beginning again to fill requests from galleries for new work. My goal is to sharpen the focus of who I am as an artist and to lay back and enjoy the gift of being able to do what I love right up until the fat lady sings…or at least until she has finished her mending.
May all of you find your sparkles alive and well in this new year.
Gallery 1261 is about to open their Small Works show. It will be running from November 16th through December 31st…but I thought you might like a little preview…
A couple little sketches from the studio garden…
Green Bean Tea
Cadmium Harvest
And this one…Spent… which features Polly’s antique cigarettes and that ever faithful red pump…
I’ll be offline for a while…gotta go see a man about a new knee.
So, while I’m recovering…just talk amongst yourselves…and I’ll catch up with you just as soon as I’m able to manage the 50 ft. commute from log cabin to studio.
and the muses are calling…
calling me back to the studio…
the brushes are flirting with me as I walk by them from kitchen to office and back again… oh how the empty panels stacked up alongside the easel do tease.
I am listening, but there are a few more tasks to be swept away before I can return to my easel. Today, for instance, I have added some new prints to the website shop. Here’s a quick peek…
There are over 40 prints listed on the site now but if you have a particular favorite which you do not see there please contact me and I’ll let you know if it is available.
All hail the return of civilized weather. When that first waft of cool air hit my lungs I all but fell to weeping. The edges of my soul were beginning to get crispy and my eyes felt like thickly glazed donuts.
With the earlier sunsets and the thin carpet of leaves, the studio is poised for a hiatus. We are once again returning to Martha’s Vineyard for an autumn sabbatical and an opportunity to work among the gulls and the waves in person.
But I haven’t been idle in the last few weeks. My brushes have been flying in pursuit of some smaller panels but no less meaningful gestures. I will shortly be loading the car to bring up new works to fill spaces on the walls at the Granary Gallery…and will be sending a parcel of new paintings out to Denver, to Gallery 1261, for their upcoming small works show in November.
Meanwhile, I thought I’d give you dear readers a sneak peek. Here, for your perusal, are the latest musings from the studio… I hope you will enjoy them with a fresh mug of cider…or warm cup of tea.
