Tag: realism

Hello Strangers…and some new work

Posted on by heather • 1 Comment on Hello Strangers…and some new work

Has it really been over two months since we last visited ?
Well how’ve ya been ?
I hope well and that you are still being safe out there.
Please tell me you’ve been vaccinated.
I hope you are enjoying the benefits of some time with old friends and new adventures.

We are taking baby steps as we navigate the brave new world.
Visits outside with the fully jabbed and picking bunches of beautiful flowers growing in the gardens.

INside however the pace has been anything but slow and cautious.
With all three galleries back open and eager for new work the brushes have been flying.
Though we are not, once again due to the pandemic, traveling north to Martha’s Vineyard, the Granary Gallery is going on with the show so the paintings had to make a run for it.

The best part of last year’s painting delivery nightmare was meeting our driver Nathan and this year he once again has came to our rescue and all the paintings for this year’s show are safe and snug in a studio in Western MA awaiting the second leg of their journey when the gallery van will pick them up and tote them to the island. We are jealous that they will feel those ocean breezes but thrilled to have made an enduring friendship with Nathan, his wife Thanh and their new pup Ali.

Here’s a snap of Ali listening to Pat’s stories…and her heart.

And here she is riding shotgun on the painting delivery.

But before we begin the annual rollout of all those Granary pieces I’m pleased to share two NEW paintings which are, as I write, winging their way out to Denver.

Gallery 1261 is having a Small Works show which opens on August 14, and the New Paintings may arrive in time for them to take to the LA Art Fair this summer.

Without further ado I give you…
Onion Moon Rising – 12 x 13

https://heatherneill.com/portfolio/onion-moon-rising/

And…

The first pea never makes it out of the garden – 12 x 14

https://heatherneill.com/portfolio/the-first-pea-never-makes-it-out-of-the-garden/

You seasoned patrons and friends will by now have checked out the new website features and be able to swiftly navigate to the Portfolio section and down to the Painter’s Notes to read the backstory on these little teacup mysteries.

While you do that I’m going to get back to work editing the images of the next batch of paintings which my camera managed to capture before they were framed and packaged for their road trip.

May your summer be full of rose sniffs and your kitchen filled with zucchini.

Love and green tomatoes from the studio, Heather

Welcome to the NEW Website

Posted on by heather

Here on this beautiful May Day with all the promises of the season of Spring…
The studio is roaring to life along with the lilacs

and the snow peas

and the greenhouse full of seedlings ready to spread their wings.

We Welcome the light and the warmth and we welcome YOU to the New Website.

To help you navigate some of the new features we’ve created a short Video Tour so roll the top down and take her for a spin and enjoy the freshening breezes…

The Great Potato Planting of ’21

Posted on by heather

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Margaret Atwood

And yesterday I did.

We aim for St. Pat’s Day as Potato Planting day. . .
but every day around here is Pat’s day
and today most especially as it is Herself’s BIRTHDAY !!!

And since this is a journal entry about the garden
this photo of the Eggplant Whisperer is most appropriate to celebrate her new found gardening prowess…

Well on their way to a parmesaned casserole near her soon.

Meanwhile in the studio nursery, we had around 50 lbs of seed potatoes chitting out for the last week. They arrived from The Maine Potato Lady the week before, and every available square inch of the studio was lined with boxes and dedicated lamps to aid in their preparation for planting.

Then out to the wheelbarrow they came . . .

Box the First.
Raking back Ruth

Next step was to rake back the matte of hay which had been snug and cozy under a heavy blanket of snow in the Ruth Stout Bed all winter. Exposing the rich organic matter underneath I am beginning to realize the work that our soil bound friends have been doing. . . or is that chewing . . . for the last few years. All that organic matter is building a substrate of nutrient rich medium for the veg and makes for easy planting.

Rake it back.
Toss on the spuds
Round the corner and up the back leg.

Then cover ’em back up with fresh hay.

And that’s job done.

Turning around you can get a peak of the RS annex which was added last fall.

The ground underneath that section, which only 5 months ago was the grass you see to the left in this pic, is still in transition. Covered with cardboard, a few inches of mulched leaves, and then a foot of loose hay. . .the grasses and weeds beneath are a muddy slick and, judging by past experience, will be for some time. So, the plan is for straw bales to provide some growing area this season and then the decomposing bales can be strewn in the fall to add another layer of goodness. By next year this section should be plantable.

The squash tower in the distance straddles those bales and two extra ones on the other side. Last year this method proved successful so we’ll try again.

The skinnier Pea Tower to the left got a boost of some compost added to the two rows on either side. Something for the Peas to ease into before having to contend with the hay.

Today’s rain is sealing the deal and gives the gardeners a chance to rest up.

So here’s to the wonders of the burgeoning Spring. . .

And celebrating the most wonderful Pat Lackey. . .

Happy Birthday My Love,

The Tempest

Posted on by heather

It is late here in the studio.
Dark and stormy.
Outside
and Inside
our country.

We are in the throes
Ross and I
of rebuilding my website.

My job
is to load all of the paintings
up on to the site.

Every
single
one.

This major review
is forcing me
to take a long
deep dive
into my past.

Both creatively
and historically.

I just came upon this painting
and paused.

Prescient
as in 2017
we were fully engaged
in the tempest.

Not knowing
where the storm
would throw our boat.

As the seas were building.

Tonight
there is a light
on the horizon.

But the monsters
have been unleashed.

Be safe dear ones.
And hold on tight.

These were the words
I chose for the original
Painter’s Notes…

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door !”

From Emma Lazarus…
The New Colossus…
on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty

Tea with the Prophet

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Tea with The Prophet  –  16 x 20

In a year of fundamental and existential shifts
one of the most profoundly traumatic and transformative
was the untimely passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In a year when not a day went by without weeping that day,
we heard the news, was truly the nadir among all the trials and sorrows.
A test from the Stoic Gods at war with the Muses.

Tribute upon tribute recorded her legacy as a “Prophet of Justice”.
That was a fine place to begin.

The hand painted teacup is among my finest
Her two gilded handles…the scales
The stalwart facade of the wooden bench
flanked by a single marble column…on the left
Iron clad lace trimming a plain muslin cloth
and the beaded stars heavenly hung in dissent
and wisps of whimsy trailing notes of the sublime

Dearest Prophet…may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Tempest in a Teacup

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Tempest in a Teacup  – 12 x 13  Available at the Granary Gallery

Shivering here in the studio
the winter winds are swirling about
and a storm is brewing just over the horizon…

in a teacup ?

There is nothing that makes me happier than a monster snow storm in the forecast.
So, as  I prepare to batten down the hatches for the Nor’easter predicted to hit us soon..
I’ve created a tiny video for you to get a closer look at this temped tossed teacup…stay safe and SHOVELS UP !!!

All those damned Teaspoons

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All those damned Teaspoons  –  18 x 26  Available at the Granary Gallery

I have Pete Seeger to thank for this one…and for his lifetime of advocacy and good trouble.

The aging hippie that I am was raised on ’60’s folk music
It runs through my veins and wallows around in my soul
While my fingers can still strum it plays out on my guitar

The aging artist that I am is informed by those chords
And accompanies those rhythms tapping brushes on teacups

Among the many tributes to Pete upon his passing to that big sing along in the sky
were many references to his activism. Lending his powerful musical voice to social, political and environmental justice inspired many a generation.

But this particular parable…inspired my Muses…

Parable of the Teaspoon Brigade

Imagine that there’s a big seesaw. At one end of it is a basket half full of rocks. That end is on the ground.

At the other end is a basket one-quarter full of sand. And a bunch of us with teaspoons, we’re trying to put sand in that end.

A lot of people laugh at us, they say

“Oh, don’t you see, it’s leaking out as fast as you’re putting it in.”

Well, we say, “It’s leaking out, but we’re getting more people with teaspoons all the time. One of these days, you’re gonna see that whole basket with sand so full that this seesaw is going to go zoooom-up in the other direction.”

And people will say, “Gee, how did it happen so quickly?”

Us and our damned little teaspoons.  

I don’t remember where I lifted this from but it has been carried over from one sketchbook to another and another for years until…

the Muses decided it was time
the silver topped stick was Ted’s
the well worn cane came by way of my great grandfather
the teaspoons sat in Jane’s shop
the teacups from my shelves…
the magic
the determination
the hope and the joy…
that’s all Pete…
will you grab a teaspoon
and join us ?

Feathered Harvest

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Feathered Harvest  –  18 x 24  Available at the Granary Gallery

As we walk softly into these longest nights of the season
my heart skips lightly back
to the remembered warmth
of a late summer day
when there were just enough
ripened green beans
to make a supper’s serving
for two.