Musings…

It’s been a while since I sat down at the computer let alone taken the time to post a blog, but the last few days of intensive de-cluttering, yarn sorting and power-washing have taken a toll on the knees…so a few hours of catching up with the blog and the bills feels like a blessing right now.

I’ve been busy at the easel as well since our return from the summer MV show and have a collection of paintings ready to ship to Denver for Gallery 1261’s small works show in November and some new ones to send up to the Granary as well. I’ll be unveiling them soon but here’s a sneak preview of one whose title came to me as I awoke one morning, “The fragile delicacy of paper thin truths”…

Ah, the wistful days of late summer, when my creative and physical energy is at its lowest ebb and it’s still too hot to feel enthusiastic about planting the winter crops, and all of the easy, fun and inside chores have been crossed off the list and the already aching joints are staring at the yet-to-be-completed tasks like…

Finish laying the stones in the patio.
Clean and sort the entire garage.
Organize all the tools in the shed.
Finish the greenhouse and move all the garden books and tools inside.
Trim the trees and overgrown shrubbery back in both yards.
Fill the woodshed with firewood.
Prepare panels for the coming year’s paintings…which can’t be done until you go back to the “clean and sort the entire garage” entry .

So today I will rest and maybe I’ll regain the energy to cross off one of these tasks tomorrow…but they are calling for more 90 degree days this week…so…maybe not so much.

You all stay safe and cool out there…

 

Working in the studio kitchen…and a bit about packing…

Every inch of this studio is at this moment filled with framed paintings. Yesterday I finished the last of them and wrapped them up for travel as I went along. There has been a bumpy learning curve over the last decade as I tried several different ways of securing the paintings for long distance transport.

One memorable year, when I still had my old Toyota pickup, circa 1982, I decided to stack the framed paintings horizontally…one on top of the other…with sheets of matboard and cardboard in between. After the 12 hour drive to Martha’s Vineyard, in steamy summer heat, I was dismayed to discover that some of the cardboard sheets had wilted and sagged enough to touch the surface of the paintings and actually “etch” a faint series of lines into the varnish. A hectic and sweaty few hours ensued wherein I had to transport them to a garage large enough to lay them out and then unframe and revarnish. NOT something an artist wants to have to do the day before a big show !!!

But, as I said, memorable and lesson securely learned. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING ever touches the surfaces of the paintings again. Now think about that. When they are framed, the frames provide a measure of protection by standing proud above the surface of the panels. Some are deeper than others but all of them give a bit of room for air to circulate when a board is placed on top or between frames.

But remember the sagging ordeal. Even a rigid foamcore board can bow enough in the heat and humidity to touch the surface even when packed upright. So I have sheets of ultra thin plywood which are wrapped in cotton sheeting in the trailer. They provide a rigid barrier in between the largest of the paintings and will not warp under stress.

So I have evolved to the current packing method which involved cutting foamcore corners and wrapping clear plastic packing film around the frames only. The plastic can touch the frame but usually stretches tight and doesn’t but either way it won’t leave a mark and lots of air can circulate around it. This makes it easier to handle the frames as they go in and out of the trailer.

 

Pat’s coming over later to help me wrap the two largest ones but in the meantime here’s a look at the finished carved frame which I showed you in progress a few days ago…

And because I spent most of yesterday working in the studio kitchen…

today’s painting is of one corner of that very room…

#13 – Swept Away  18 x 26

Gay Head Lily

Here’s a fun one…

#12- Gay Head Lily  26 x 19

This is another that was inspired…insisted upon is more like it…by Ted.

He asked me three years ago if I had ever seen the Gay Head Lily and wasn’t satisfied with my answer so he took me on an adventure one afternoon over to a field out back of a friends house where they were blooming by the acre.

He found the perfect specimen…

And insisted on holding it so I could see all sides…

We chat once or twice a week, more when I’m on island, and every single time he has asked me if I have painted that lily yet. I was originally going to paint him holding it pretty much just as you see above. But it wasn’t working for me until I decided to turn it on its trompe l’oueille head. I wanted to tie it into the other paintings this year which feature those beach stones and you get the idea.

It was fun to paint but not as much fun as the phone call telling him it was finally finished. We’ll see you in less than a week now Ted…the show opening is on his 96th birthday. Now that’s sorta fun.

 

Calling all in free….

We hooked up the trailer early and headed up to the photographers’…John Corcoran, my digital magician. Check out his website for some amazing examples of his work.

He and Pat always have a yuck yuck…even while helping me to load massive paintings into the trailer…

It’s the middle of the afternoon now and all the paintings are safely home in the studio and together for the first time in months. I mean ALL the paintings…and ALL the frames. There is barely enough room for me to walk let alone frame but that’s what needs to be done so I’m winging it. They say the effects of this kind of a heat wave are cumulative and I have been feeling it today but we are among the lucky ones who have power and cool air inside.

So a break here to chill down and let you see today’s addition to the Granary Show lineup…

#9 – Skillet Apple Pie   24 x 29.5

Yes, another in the apple series paintings…and this year’s Recipe Series entry. You can read more including the original recipe in the Painter’s Notes.
No more goofing off for me…it’s back to the framing.

Toodles

It’s frame delivery day…

And here are my two delightfully strong, confident, and cheery framers…Julie (she’s in the truck) and Laura (she’s in the flip flops). They, along with John (he had to stay and run the shop), are the leaders in the team Artworks who are responsible for cutting, joining and now delivering all the frames for my paintings.

Many many years ago I had the pleasure of working with them at one of the satelite frame shops. It turned out to be the tail end of my framing career and the beginning of theirs. It’s all become one big family and I am so proud of the extremely high level of quality and service that they provide their customer…and moi !

Their willingness to load the big truck and deliver these frames is a huge time saver for me and in this heat…whew it may have saved me from a trip to the ER !!! Thanks again ladies.

And here we go…

The studio is full of frames and the next stage of production begins. The apprentice is banished to the kitchen lest her prodigious tail send the stacks a’ flyin’ and I’ve got my work cut out for me to keep my own tail in line.

But before I get to work… today’s painting.

#8 – Camera Obscura  24 x 36

A companion piece of sorts to yesterday’s Trinity, this has a wilder side and makes me think a little bit of the photographer David Fokos’ writer wife Barbarella who is one of the few people I know who might actually know where this bird has flown off to.

Here’s a link to the Painter’s Notes…LINK

Keep cool kids.

Well let’s see…

I believe we are up to number six now.

Spending this insanely hot day sitting at the computer compiling and updating all the Painter’s Notes. This kind of repetative is a challenge for my semi-dyslexic self but you do not hear me whining about having to do it at the computer…in the office…in the air-conditioned studio !

So, today’s divertisement for all you folks out there finding creative ways to beat the heat…

#6 – The Herald  28″ x 40″

 

This was, is, part of the laundry series that I worked on for last year’s show. If you look closely you will see the little clothespin basket which I did a smaller study of in The Windwalker…

the feather is just a hint that this little songstress was once sitting on the roof and singing.

Stay frosty out there…

Censorship

I was going to continue with the Apple Series for the unveiling of today’s painting but …there’s an outrageous assault on artistic expression raging on Facebook as I write so I’m switching gears a bit.

Last night John O’Hern posted this photo on Facebook which is the announcement for his latest Re-Presenting the Nude show at Evoke Gallery in Santa Fe.Re-Presenting the Nude ll

Within minutes of his posting… facebook removed the image from his page. Yes, that’s right…censored. A few of us were able to repost it on our FB pages and the Evoke Gallery responded by posting the individual images of the paintings up on their website starting last night. I just got word from John that the Evoke Gallery has now been blocked from posting for 24 hrs.
Below is John’s posted response to the initial censoring on his page…
It amazes me that an organization like Facebook, begun by people of obvious intelligence and sophistication, should hire creatures who have only recently slithered onto the shore to control its department of censorship. I’m grateful for the many “Likes” and good wishes posted in support of the artists in my exhibition “Re-presenting the Nude II” before the announcement (with pictures!) was removed… from my profile page. The Roman poet Juvenal wrote in his Satires: “Quis Custodiet ipsos custodies?” (“Who will guard the guards themselves?”) It’s a question that is as true today as it was then. Who knows what Neanderthal censors might have ordered their artist kin to scrape off the wall? When more secure people occupied the ranks of those directing our society, the historian Henry Steele Commager wrote: “Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” More chillingly, the African American scholar Henry Louis Gates wrote: “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” I’ll give the last word to someone who knew the subject well, the buxom bombshell Mae West, who said: “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.” May all Facebook-censored artists do so as well. (And the curators.)
The original reason I signed up for Facebook was to keep track of the fast paced thoughts and lives of our grandchildren. It has become a valuable resource for connecting me to friends, family, and ideas and is an integral part in promoting my artwork and keeping in touch with patrons and introducing me to new artists and their work. Frankly I’m shocked that their “censors” have decided that any of these artistic representations of the human figure are too risky for us to lay eyes upon…when they so freely allow the children to post obscene and offensive language defining the explicit parts and usage of those parts of that same human figure.

So… my response to the environment of repression, discrimination and censorship in this year of political discord… is this…

#3 – The Tea Party   24 x 36

Notes from the Sky Chair…

This is sorta fun…writing a blog about the garden… IN the garden.

Last weeks steamy hot summer days drove me deep inside the air-conditioned studio and forced me to focus back on my day job. Which is a good thing because the Granary Gallery show deadline is looming large and there is much work to be done and time for one, maybe two, dare I hope for three more paintings to fly off the easel.

But yesterday was so beautifully cool and clear that I gave up most of it to the garden. This time of year I am doing a lot of selective viewing. Only half of the beds have been weeded and there are a few of the vegetable beds left to be planted. The Greenhouse is a-l-m-o-s-t finished, the shed has still not been organized, the piles on the porch have grown a bearded patina from the pollen purging of six different species of hardwoods and there are maple trees growing in the gutters.

But from the sky chair…all I can see are the roses, and the herb bed which is thriving. And I can smell the wonderful hay which Pat hauled from the neighboring farm which is now snuggly mulching the veggies.

And the birds…oh the birds. This chair swings at the low end of the yard and I’m far enough away from the feeders to not be a bother so it is a perfect place to watch. This morning they are anticipating the storms on the horizon and busy picking out the last of the Service Berries and the sunflower seeds I put out yesterday.

At the end of the perfect yesterday, and I mean the very end because we didn’t sit down to supper until almost 10pm AFTER we cleaned out those gutters, we had the once a year treat of grilled garlic scopes. With some clams and a beet salad thrown in it was a magnificent feast.

This morning it is cool and cloudy and time to put the cucumbers in their cage. Just one of the experiments in small bed growing that I’m trying this year.

The broccoli is coming along but as this is the first time I’ve grown in I’m not sure just when to harvest. Suggestions ?

The potato bags are finally beginning to flower.

And if these beauties are blooming…

then it must be June.

There’s no stopping this garden now…but the raindrops are threatening the well-being of the electronics…so I am headed inside to the easel…for now.

Birthday Flowers

5 April 09

A spectacular spring morning …

It’s my birthday and I thought I’d show you the bouquet that the gardens have offered up…

And there’s also a look at the newest addition to the studio garden…

Last week we took great advantage of the gift of Jon’s visit and used his muscles and brawn and creative stonework to help extend the very first bed we planted here. He and my nurse forbade me from lifting …anything…so all you can see of me in these shots is my shadow.

We’re going to take a picnic up to the lake in a bit …and the local ice cream shack opens today…and then some mussels, asparagus and a pinot grigiot to top off the day…

may your day be as bright and full of spring flowers… HN