tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30447780936674098652024-03-19T00:38:30.413-04:00Color Sweet ToothColor Sweet Tooth - Paintings, drawings and thoughts in bright colors.
No cookies or ads are used in this blog.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.comBlogger842125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-78818977537079369232018-07-18T22:09:00.001-04:002018-07-18T22:09:46.382-04:00Studio CrowsHere's a photo of part of my studio floor this last weekend. Several pieces in progress, two with jack rabbits. Click images for a closer look.
I forgot to get a good shot of the large white crow in the foreground of that photo. That was stage 1 of a piece that's yammering at me when I'm not working on it. Below is stage 2. Stage 3 starts color - hopefully Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-84154723783173653502018-07-08T21:30:00.001-04:002018-07-08T21:30:34.849-04:00Sketching Day in Danville and YanceyvilleThe weather was miraculously cool and breezy this weekend. Yesterday I spent time getting this jack rabbit drawn the way I wanted, and I meant to start painting it today, but it seemed stupid to spend this kind of weather indoors. So I packed up sketching supplies and a folding chair and headed north.
I recalled that I loved the area by the river in Danville, VA, and there was a Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-67103433331182350772018-06-22T19:19:00.003-04:002018-06-22T19:19:39.425-04:00Four Current Projects - Bears, Mobiles, Wild RideIn recent weeks I've walked in familiar and unfamiliar places in my studio. Here are four recent works (or works in progress).
First, there is this commission for a family theater and poker friend, inspired by Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, a watercolor I did years ago. I'm happy with this result and it's renewed my energy for watercolor painting.
Apparently not done Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-91072907865726819452018-05-28T11:21:00.003-04:002018-05-28T11:21:48.397-04:00Spirit AnimalWhat does it mean when your spirit animal is a creature that went extinct hundreds of millions of years ago? Trilobites have been an obsession of mine since second grade, when I first learned of them. I hunted their fossils many afternoons of my childhood, even though I only found one or two poor specimens. I was never discouraged by that - the hunt was its own reward. I Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-86419657356032958262018-05-10T22:33:00.002-04:002018-05-10T22:33:23.832-04:00Owls - Pastel 254Last fall I was taking the long way home (old NC 10 between Durham and Hillsborough) when a large owl glided across the road, landed on the embankment, and turned it's head to look right into my eyes. The face was as disturbing and odd as the Great Grey Owl, but they don't live anywhere near North Carolina. It had concentric dark rings around it's eyes and a flat round face with the Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-19592802870157540712018-04-05T23:15:00.000-04:002018-04-05T23:15:12.051-04:00Tap Dancing Bowl of Ice CreamWhen I began tap dancing lessons, about three months ago, I felt as well equipped for it as a bowl of ice cream. Well maybe a little better equipped - I did own a brand new pair of tap shoes, bought the week before class.
I could not hear rhythm correctly (up beat? down beat?), couldn't keep count, couldn't move my feet in time with the beat I couldn't hear right, couldn't follow Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-54739096939367404442018-04-03T23:03:00.001-04:002018-04-03T23:03:52.123-04:00The Fountain of Youth?I think it's time to blow the dust off the door to Color Sweet Tooth, and open back up.
I feel a strong urge to go back to the era of blog posts, and longer, thoughtful contributions to the online world. Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook are like a continuous diet of popcorn. I'm wanting something more substantial. And I feel that the major Internet Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-43622238055891276712016-03-23T20:34:00.002-04:002016-03-23T20:34:37.015-04:00Pastel 145 - Landscape with Falls
There have been a few of these landscapes full of waterfalls.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-38281064370162020072016-03-02T20:05:00.000-05:002016-03-02T20:05:15.256-05:00Pastel 144
Since my last posting (several months ago) I've completed over two dozen pastels, but I couldn't get them photographed properly. I need sunlight, so it is an outdoor thing, and the weekends when I might have photographed them either it rained, was too windy, or the sun was too low in the sky. Last weekend I finally got to catch up, even though sporadic breezes still interfered Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-21154927259136682582015-12-29T20:04:00.000-05:002015-12-29T20:04:11.858-05:00Pastel 142 - Extinction of the White Rhino
Is anyone else confused and angry that the white rhino now only lives in captivity? This was another unplanned piece, the subject emerging from the depths of the lines on the paper and other depths, as well. The cut-off horns, overalls, and upright posture ("Four legs good, two legs better!") all speak to the forced domestication and the reason for the extinction. The smoke Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-79699571440299156412015-12-19T17:58:00.001-05:002015-12-21T20:50:45.187-05:00Pastel 137 - Cousins
This came right after the owl.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-41183989201995844562015-12-04T19:21:00.002-05:002015-12-04T19:21:37.770-05:00Pastel 136 - Owl
This pastel initially emerged with another set of eyes in the lower inside corners of the large eyes. I found them impossibly distracting and they made the face disturbing in a way I did not intend - so they are "painted" over with the pastels. This guy is weird enough without four eyes.
This was the first pastel I completed after our October vacation, so nearly 6 weeks ago. &Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-37131174041276475092015-11-22T13:49:00.002-05:002015-11-22T13:49:46.485-05:00Pastel 134 - Across the Barbed Wire
Many hikes we take in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC present tantalizing views on the other side of barbed wire. The feeling that something is just out of reach adds longing and magic. Grass is greener. More Great Spangled Fritillaries.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-65426102723774066662015-11-12T21:13:00.000-05:002015-11-12T21:13:28.688-05:00Pastel 133 - Mt Desert Island, Acadia, Maine
This was quite intentional, though placement of things was left to my hand to figure out on it's own (I watched and stayed out of the way). What I recall most, from wading in the low tide off Acadia National Park, is the water breaking low between the rocks, the green bladdered sea weeds, the dungeness crabs, the distant sky, and the white dog winkles lying between so many beautifully Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-27825535998574953932015-11-09T20:29:00.000-05:002015-11-09T20:29:01.333-05:00Pastel 132 - Jellybean the Tiger
My dearest told me about Jellybean, the white tiger, passing away recently. The story of how he got his name and the sweet pictures of this large animal stuck with me, I guess. I had drawn much of this piece, and had selected this color scheme for the cat before I realized it was my feelings about Jellybean (named for the tiny pink pads on his paws when he was small).
Read aboutSteve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-13351085711276611652015-11-08T14:58:00.002-05:002015-11-08T14:58:35.816-05:00Pastel 129 - Autumn in the Mountains
This is what a late afternoon wander in the Blue Ridge mountains in autumn feels like to me.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-7353881988546980392015-11-02T21:08:00.001-05:002015-11-02T21:08:57.161-05:00Pastel 128 - "MY Sheep"It's been over a month since I posted - a measure of how crazy our lives have been in October. The first two weeks, however, were a vacation in the mountain, unplugged from electronic distractions. We soak up autumn in multiple hikes/walks per day, and I try to kick my art to a new spot. I got somewhere different this year, so that I can suddenly use the spontaneity of the Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-76927173505707535102015-09-29T21:03:00.000-04:002015-09-29T21:03:11.528-04:00Pastel 122 - Abstract with Fish
Fish seem to show up.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-77997619007084964082015-09-22T22:17:00.002-04:002015-09-22T22:17:53.485-04:00Pastels 119 and 120 - Drawing Like a Child
These happened together in one afternoon. I was letting go and trying to think and imagine more like a child. I'm not able to reach it - I still know too much and I'm still guided too much by reason and ideas. When some (few) artists achieve this later in life, I am impressed and delighted.
Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-89569203295478980262015-09-14T23:17:00.000-04:002015-09-14T23:17:24.033-04:00Pastel 118 - Moon and Mountain FieldsFrom the first time I really listened I have been powerfully moved by the words to Simon and Garfunkel's "America." The vivid way it captures the changing moods of two people on a long bus trip, and the introverted confession of the final verse, stir me deeply. The music supports those words in ways I never tire of hearing. Particularly the very quiet section behind this: "Toss me a cigaretteSteve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-50569839325815818552015-08-30T21:44:00.001-04:002015-08-30T21:44:43.216-04:00Painting - Something NewI started two acrylic paintings on paper. This is the least bizarre of the two (the other involves coyotes). My lifelong love and observation of trees is showing in this one. This was done much the way the pastels are - the painting is "found" in a series of pen lines, pulled to the surface with Sharpies, and then (unlike the pastels) I moved in with acrylic paint. This isSteve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-12104258715831310532015-08-26T21:58:00.001-04:002015-08-26T21:58:31.464-04:00Pastel 121 - Out of Order - Boston 2Second Boston Pastel - this one is in the North End. This was done in a single two hour standing session in the garage on Sunday afternoon. It felt great. The photo I took (and used as reference) is below. The chief change here is that I wanted the copper oxide and ornament to be a lot stronger on the building. It's interesting for me to look at these a few days Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-84428411835706533052015-08-19T19:44:00.000-04:002015-08-19T19:44:04.435-04:00Pastels 116 and 117 - Figures
About two weeks passed between these two drawings. The work since then has been different - so I don't know why these two are so similar. That doesn't usually happen. I also don't know why there are no faces; there just weren't any when the drawings emerged. Heads and hair were indicated, but no hints of facial features, so I honored that.
Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-73665913889410666422015-08-15T15:37:00.005-04:002015-08-15T15:44:11.004-04:00Glory behind EverythingI often feel that we walk through our lives like someone on ice, with an enormous different reality beneath what we can see. Hints gleam through and stop me. Some late afternoons, in the last hour of sunlight, when my heart is opened by a tower of clouds or a dramatic mountainside, it will feel like I'm flying on the roaring updraft from this furnace within. I will call at the Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3044778093667409865.post-89948045910565365312015-07-30T21:28:00.001-04:002015-07-30T21:28:30.431-04:00Pastel 115 - Summer Storm
This one gave me particular joy when I did it two weekends ago. I've always been enchanted by light through tree trunks, the light beyond, the dark of summer storms, the small local rain shower. I love this time of year (though there isn't a time of year I don't love). Again, it's feelings that are on display here.
More play. That's what I'm going for.Steve Emeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08628329561652344403noreply@blogger.com0