december... glitter trumps paint

field trip

I took my twelve year old daughter to DC for the weekend. We spent a morning at the Phillips Collection, revisiting some of my old favorites from my graduate school days. I will never forget the first time I saw all these pieces for the first time in real life. It was magical. The thing that struck me most this time seeing all the artwork was the way the rooms were hung. Not by particular artist or year, but by some other element which enabled the pieces to work together as if in conversation with each other. Especially beautiful was a room in the old wing where the light filtered through a scrim silhouetting branches from a tree outside. The light perfectly mimicked the light in this little Degas.

Where to see more this month in Maine

I have a few small prints at Aarhus Gallery for their holiday "Extravaganza" show in Belfast Maine, and there are two paintings hosted by Maine Art Scene's first online exhibit-that's something new and different.

take home message

We must give birth to our images, for they are the future waiting to be born.

- Rilke

Read at a beautiful performance last night of poetry song dance and art created by two friends, Kathryn and Kristi.

all set

fall comes early, 11x14", oil on panel

All ten pieces are dry and ready to hang. If you happen to be in Camden, Maine this month, stop into Zoot to see my latest pieces! There is plenty more happening in our little town in October-Camden International Film Festival, Harbor Arts, Pop Tech, and of course, absolutely beautiful fall weather-(that event is free!)

watching paint dry

when the bough breaks, 14x14" oil on panel

This is the last piece I finished for a small exhibit at a local cafe this month-it is another recycled painting. I like the history of the surface when working on old used supports. It is funny what you hang on to and what you discard once you start over. I think there is a life lesson in there somewhere...

still blue

watch over me, 14x14" oil on panel

resurrection

giving new life to an old surface

glass

isn't it beautiful?

more info at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

where was I?

living, breathing, working, here all along...

back from its photo shoot

two panels @ 18x10"

painting the town

8x 10 oil on panel

This is a one day painting I did for a paint the town fundraiser benefiting the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland.

early august

monhegan

We traded main land rain for island rain this weekend.  I haven't been out to Monhegan Island since I was a girl, and while it is hard to remember my time there, I do know that I have been trying to get back there for most of my adult life.  It is remote, untamed and mysterious in a way.  We walked most of the island's 17 miles of trails in the mist and rain and brief glimpses of sun.  We encountered many plein-air painters along the way.   Its hard not to feel pressure to join the history of all the artists who have sought the island's beauty for inspiration.  I brought my watercolors and did this sketch of the garden where we stayed.

the boys went fishing

My husband and son were up in New Brunswick last week at a fishing camp.  They didn't come home with any salmon, but they did take a few good photos.  I like this one of the water, it looks like a paint by numbers picture to me.

naomi's cards

I have known Naomi since we worked together at a bakery in Saratoga Springs when we were barely 20 years old.  We have kept in touch off and on throughout the years.  Naomi always remembers my birthday and above are a few of the cards that she makes and has sent me. 

  

acrylic/oil on panel 10x10"

The card I received last month had the note, " I am glad you are still painting, add a dab of purple for me", so I did.  Well, it is a pinkish purple.  

could it be?

A break in the rain,

and three finished paintings!

Summer moves along...

June's workspace

I am trying some different things.  One is to draw directly on my paintings from botanical sources.   I draw in sketch books from nature, but not so much in my painted work, so this is a change.  I still want to maintain a layered effect of my work and not paint a straight forward branch for example, so I began thinking about alternative ways to alter the surface beneath the drawing.

I am experimenting with some old metal plates I found from my printing days.  I have painted with copper salts to change the surface.  Then I thought that would be neat to have that type of surface as an under layer to my paintings, so I tried painting the support with metalic paint and got this.  

Now I am painting over the surface with oils.  You can see the undercoat of 'bronze' paint, brushed with copper salts and the blue oil line drawing on top in this detail.

spread the word

 http://www.whodoesshethinksheis.net/ 

peas and paintings in progress

This is the time of year when I feel most productive and also most distracted.  When I am in my studio I think of being in the garden.  And when I am in the garden I think of being in the studio.  Luckily they are right next to each other so I can easily go back and forth.  Unfortunately I track mud into the studio and get paint on the gardening tools. 

two of three panels still in progress

any guesses?

I think these vein like lines are gorgeous and the color so intense while hidden within the pulpy shrunken pod.  It is nutmeg!  (courtesy of my Mom's friend who brought it back from Jamaica).  The red and gold covering is the mace, also a spice, and beneath there is a thin shell which cracks off and you are left with the nutmeg for grating.  Beautiful.

in the pink

gelatin print on mulberry paper

some smaller ideas on wood

some small ideas on paper

nursery update

we returned home from vacation to find the eggs had hatched!

a fine line

In early spring on my walks I notice that the silhouettes of trees and shrubs are sharpest against the clear blue sky.  The tips of the branches are beginning to swell with life.  Leaves and blossoms are soon to arrive.  I am drawn to the trees' complexity that is visible while they are still barren.  Each branch takes its own distinctive course through space.  These are details from some panels I have been working on.  I am building layers of line as if looking through a web of forest.  It is a quiet meditation to paint in such a slow methodical way.   

I'm a mom too

4x6"

My son made this the other day, I think it's pretty cool.  The origami birds are about as big as my thumb nail.

Easter Eggs

We've been watching a pair of busy birds, maybe purple finches (??) construct this nest on our front porch over the past two weeks.  It is built on the top of a Christmas wreath (that I had neglected to take down and now I can't for obvious reasons).  Today it is Easter, and when I peeked into the nest this morning four little pale blue eggs had been laid.   They look just like the speckled malted milk candies I've eaten too much of this morning.

thinking BIG

carving the floors

Anna Hepler,  Andrea Sulzer  and students from Bowdoin College collaborate in carving and printing on a really large scale.  More views and videos of the project here.

good little soldiers

Here they are, all standing at attention, the first signs of spring in the yard.

This is why my back hurts-and also why I skipped a day in the studio.  The mercury rose past 40 degrees, even reaching 50 in the late afternoon.  SO,  out came the rake and I cleaned out last fall's muddy leaves from the big perennial bed behind the house.  It doesn't look like much now, but there promises to be loads of color in the coming weeks.   Stay tuned.

 

the dog watched

altered states

detail of proof

I have been back to the print shop, and was introduced to Pronto Plates- a polyester lithograph plate. It is a process which I know nothing about.  SO back to square one.  My first few proofs were so-so.  I ended up using them as foundations for drawings with gouache, gesso, ink, transfers and the rest of the materials on my worktable.  Here's one I am working on-it's about 12x18".

reworked proof, maybe still in progress