Restoration

Many people ask me why I like coming to the lake even in the winter. They say it’s too quiet, nothing is happening… Exactly!, I say. It’s this quiet and stillness I crave. It helps me rest and reset. Each year in the winter our lake drops the water level 10 feet. It allows us a chance to clean up and repair our docks and walls. As we are about to start a new year, we start to think of New Year’s resolutions. I challenge you to find a quiet spot and reflect on what needs cleaning up or repair in your life. What can you do to restore your soul? I have recently added 4 paintings that are from this time of reflection. They will be on display with others from my gallery at the Galleria in Columbus , Ga in January. I hope you will stop by if you are in the area. Feel free to find your resolve in one of these… “On the Banks”, “Winter Blues”, “Morning Glow”, and “Patterns”.

Falling for Fall

Fall is visually “crunchy” today. The colors here really haven’t started but ohhh the TEXTURE! Todays walk required lots of pauses. There’s a quote that ends the Art History for All podcast that I love. “ Look closely, you never know what you might see”. Enjoy your fall day!

Memories in a photograph

Growing up in New York meant going to visit my grandparents at camp in the Adirondacks during the summer. What a place for a kid to discover nature! The camp had the main house and a sleeping cabin over the garage. You followed the path down to the lake. Fished off the dock. Took the canoe out to go camping. Took the motor boat out to go up river. Fed chipmunks peanuts out of your hand. My grandfather had made a trapeze for the chipmunks to get peanuts from…it was great fun to watch! There was a path we made through the woods with little labeled signs for made up places. It was here in the Adirondacks that my love of art started. My grandmother taught me to crochet and sew. My aunt who was an art teacher, brought art projects for us to do together.

I found the slides my grandfather took (hundreds of them) and have picked several that I will make into paintings this summer. Keep looking for new additions in the gallery. Can you smell the evergreens? Hear your paddle cut the water? Sit still enough for the chipmunks to get the peanut in your hand?

Slowing Down

I almost missed it. I grabbed a panel to begin prepping it with gesso. The grain pattern caught my eye. I took a moment to look… the composition was in the grain. The waves of water, clouds breezing by, light flickering in the trees across the way. The grain of the wood was making a picture.

I grabbed the clear gesso instead. I let the patterns show through the transparent washes of spring green and lilac. Layers of deep teal dance across the water.
Brian Rutenburg in his book “Clear Seeing Place” said “Art is the intensification of slowness”.

Glad I slowed down.

”Spring Dance” was added to the gallery this month. Come take a long look.

Ribbons of Patterns

I am constantly amazed at how nature repeats itself. I see the same patterns being expressed in my camellias as I have found in the lake water. These ripples created a flow, a rhythm. The flower petals are doing the same.

I think I will experiment creating these patterns with actual ribbons this month. I enjoyed the collage experience last month. Using different materials keeps my creativity fresh. Not everything ends up a finished work. But it is all part of the process. One idea leads to another. Kind of like water ripples. One drop can then change the pattern of flow.

Beauty in the Fade

This summer our hydrangeas burst with vibrant blues and purples. I used their intense colors and textures in several paintings. But as the blossoms began to fade, that was when inspiration really hit me!

The vibrant colors turned to muted green, blues and purples. As petals died, they turned a transparent paper like texture with lacy veins. The transformative beauty was much stronger to me than even vibrant summer colors.

I began experimenting painting the colors using watercolors. I added the lacy patterns and lines using a gold colored pencil. But that wasn’t enough. I got some rice paper that had natural fibers pressed into it. I began cutting out the lacy patterns. I wanted it to have the transparent effect of the dead petals. I experimented with sewing gold thread and finally added the gold ink.

Did you know that it is an ancient Chinese tradition to fix broken pottery with gold? Don’t miss the beauty that can still show, even when life gets broken and fades. See the beauty in death and healing.

This is what inspired “Beauty in the Fade”. Go check it out in the gallery. Go take a second look at nature right now as we are in winter. There is beauty in the fade.