The Leaf

One of the paintings I did on vacation was a struggle. At first the colors were all over and totally out of control (some might say they're still out of control, but they're now where I want them to be). I hated the composition (it was going to be something completely different than what it is now). This went on for several days. I barged out of our rented house at one point to come up for air, feeling like it's tentacles were around my throat instead of my hands around it. I wanted to run it under the hose - I almost did. I was having a good time. I was feeling very alive.

The leaves on the ground, out there during my break, were amazing. Every one uniquely flawed and with the sweeping lines of their veins and edges accentuated by the changed colors and the movement in the wind. I always notice fallen leaves - I still pick up hands full every autumn. This was nothing new (and it's always new). But this time the leaves echoed with the painting. I carried several back into the house. Then I saw how one should be overlaid on the diabolical mess the page had become to that point. I drew and redrew the leaf to get it how I wanted it in the square, and to get the asymmetry and the veining correct, so it said "Sugar Maple" and not something else. One or two small sections seemed to make sense and I could gradually expand the order into the chaos until the whole thing finally got where I wanted it. The negative and positive spaces got pleasantly crossed and slightly ambiguous, like the flickering light of autumn under trees in the wind.

I was totally lost in the doing of this.

I set it aside, finished, I thought. Then several days later I reversed the negative/positive play of foreground and background of a significant section of it, improving it.

As I remarked later, to Dearest, I could paint more of these, and I know they'd sell (this one will have a higher price on my website than others). But this isn't where I want to spend the time yet. It's nowhere near big enough or interesting enough. I'm still looking for that. I'm still looking for the answer to, "What do you want to paint?"

19 x 19 inches - watercolor and white charcoal on hot press Arches 140 lb.

Painting in the Mountains

We packed a lot into our two week vacation in the mountains. A lot of walking in beautiful places. I had less time for painting than I hoped, but I think I relaxed more deeply because it was more of a break from everything usual.

I did paint four pieces. These two were smaller, and faster. They were like warm-ups after not painting for several months. The other two are larger and each will have its own post.

Both began with random blind contour drawings and then "found" themselves. My surroundings affected all four paintings - certainly for content.

The first is watercolor on cold press paper (not my favorite - I don't care for the texture) = about 7 by 10 inches.

The second (with the bird) is watercolor with a little white charcoal, on hot press - about 10 by 14 inches. One of the things I "eat up" while in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the way the wild and the tame (woods and field) are arranged over the land, and the feeling of being up over everything. This latter piece captures a little of that - and my longing to break free and soar out over it instead of being earth bound beside the trees.

Neither of these pieces are as free as I want. I wasn't as engaged as I wanted to be. But what do I expect after neglecting my brushes for several months...

Roofs and Birds

Been on the road a lot lately. In Minneapolis' airport (the only part of Minnesota I've seen yet) I worked through a few hour layover. This was my "office" away from my office. The bookstore in the background was a temptation, but I resisted and stuck with the powerpoint project I was finishing up. Not exciting, but I feel better having it out of the way.

I had a quiet weekend with family and my paintbrushes. This was the visible result.

I also updated my gallery - got the most recent pieces out there, including this one.

I've been listening to Frou Frou's album, Details. I like it a lot, which surprises Daughter because it borders on Techno, and that's not usually my thing.

Tiny Frogs

Last weekend we went to Duke Gardens to wander and take photos. This small fountain, planted in papyrus and lotus, had lots of possibilities, and I took a number of shots.

But it soon became about the tiny tree frog which Oldest discovered on a papyrus plant. Then we found another. So I looked further and found two more in that same small fountain garden, one golden colored, instead of green. They were each just a little over half an inch long. Soon we had other passers by stopping to see what we were seeing, and we had fun watching their faces as they finally spotted the frogs.

Enjoy.

The Last Pie of Summer

A pie was requested - chicken, mirepoix, ricotta, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, and sage. It's either the first pie of autumn, or the last pie of summer...

or both.

All the Black Roll-ons Look the Same

I have been flying more lately (not my favorite, but I'm getting almost used to it). On a recent trip home, arriving around midnight, I stood at bag claim and watched all the luggage. Half the bags looked enough like mine that I had to look at every one carefully. Inevitably they come out on the belt upside down. From that view my own bag looks unfamiliar.

I had tied some yellow yarn on one side of the top handle, and I do spot it that way, but it's too subtle for midnight grouchiness. If I'd been a comic strip at that point the thought balloons over my head would have been liberally sprinkled with strings of energetic symbols, like Sarge in Beetle Bailey. In the last frame of the strip I vowed to paint something on my suitcase so I would not be doing this again.

When I considered the job I realized part of the problem is that in the crush of bags I might see one or two of the six faces, but there would be no predicting which ones. The front, with the red Victorinox button, is the only one that I recognize, and it's the one I see least on luggage conveyors. So I knew I had to do something on five sides. And I'm seeing more of the Victorinox bags... I want to prevent a mix-up.

At first I considered some stenciled symbol that would be easily spotted from a bit of a distance, so I could, "Excuse me" through the human crush to the conveyor in time to grab my passing bag. But as I thought of the symbol, I couldn't come up with anything that interested me or seemed unique enough.

Oldest's various projects for Design school inspired me to push past such a mundane solution. I thought of Chinese dragons (lungs) twining around the bag - because I've always loved them, and because they are thin enough to work between all the leather and hard plastic caps, handles, and corner guards on the bag.

So here is the result. I only did two legs each, not the traditional four, due to space constraints. I had thought to do it in color, after underpainting in white to get brightness, but I liked the elegance of the black and white, and so I just brought out light and dark with repeated coats of the white. The bag material was challenging to paint on - it's a nice tough weave.

One lung is upright, the other is head downward as the bag is set on it's rollers. They're rivers and air creatures in Chinese lore, so rightside up is arbitrary, and having them twining all around the bag is what I was after. Some part of the dragons is visible on every side but the front.

Oldest asked me, before I started drawing them, how many toes I would put on them... I immediately replied that I would use the imperial five toed lungs. But on further consideration, I like the reserved status of the imperial dragon. And I prefer the four toed configuration aesthetically.

I know they will get scuffed, stained, and worn - that's just part of the story.

Where Did Summer Go?

I flew home this weekend, in the middle of a business trip, and then back out of town on Monday to continue it. First time I've left my car somewhere else and flown in and out of home, instead of the other way around with a rental car. It still has me feeling inside out somehow.

But mostly I feel like the summer vanished while I wasn't looking. Our oldest started college; the weather turned cooler and rainier; the crickets took over the insect chorus from the waning cicadas.

This weekend I painted this little piece - a reach back towards fading summer, end of childhood, the last pinky golden light of the day, wistful ends and exciting new starts, my favorite season of autumn. The landscape and creatures are jumbled as in my dreams. It took a few hours to start looking anything like I wanted, then it finally got in line. I had to get the pigments dark enough to make the light work. About 10.5 by 14 inches, watercolor. It was nice to see when I got in late this evening after over six hours of very steady driving. I was so eager to get home. I feel like I've been gone for weeks. I guess I sort-of have. I held Dearest for a long time when I got in the door. Youngest came out of his room and threw himself at me when he heard my voice. Life can be as sweetly lovely as the theme of this little painting.