Napkin Lists

I end up writing on whatever I have with me. I also draw on napkins to explain things to people at the table... ask my friends and family.

This shows the back of my life drawing ticket. I ended up with six or seven painting ideas on it (that walk mentioned in this previous post). Now that I've posted the one I didn't want to hint at before it was done (the moon and birds) I can show this. This is the earliest germ of paintings I've ever shared here on-line - I'm curious to see what happens, if anything.

>>>> Appendix de Grenouille <<<<

Etienne should be painting now. But it is hot, and he and his cheri played in the dirt of the gardens for several hours this morning, and he is tired and feeling relaxed and happy. This leads to a healthful langour. This is a time when you should let the flies come to you, instead of hopping about trying to go to them.

His cheri, his companion in the garden and the one who wisely keeps him engaged there, is a lady of great sensitivity and wisdom, and she feels things deeply. The passing of the pansies (oui, I am among them in this illustration) will be too quick this year, because of the sudden onset of the heat, and she mourns this. It is one petit example of the passion and power of her soul, and part of what makes her an eternal fascination to Etienne. He is prone to still his heart and feel nothing, because it is easier, makes less trouble... but this makes him feel dead. And so the heart of his cheri is his most precious possession, and he is happier when she holds his, because she knows better what to do with it. To him, hers seems to move like a bird of paradise, with deeply colored plumage and long graceful sweeps of feathers and plumes, everything made real and vital and felt fully. She does not let go of things in fear or to keep life neat and simple. He does. Or he would, but she is there to hang on, and he cannot let go either if he wants to stay beside her... and there is nothing he wants more, so his courage is pressed into action, and he must feel what he must feel. This is difficult for him, but he much prefers it and knows he would not do it alone.

She makes him tres rich - while Etienne alone would be impoverished by his fears of life, of feelings, of loss, of change, of risk.

Moi, of course, I do not need this sort of help. I feel everything as it comes, preserve it for several slow amphibian beats, and then it rolls off my rounded back. My heart is very small, but it works well, merci. I never installed an off switch like Etienne says he has on his. So I am independent and resolute without a lady frog to help. Etienne says I do not know what I am missing, but, voila, my blood is cold while his is hot. It cannot be the same for grenouilles. And while I also mourn the passing of the pansies, it is mostly because they attract the most delicious, tres petit bees.

Birds

This is one of the images that came to me on that walk a few weeks ago, ideas for which I wrote on the back of my figure drawing ticket. This idea has been in my head a while, but it came back louder on that walk. It's simple, but it wasn't easy to paint and get what I wanted. I'm pretty happy with this.

19x19 watercolor. It's softer and a little more pink/violet in real life. Branches were all left white, then painted dark, leaving the highlights where I wanted them. Painting between the branches and leaving the soft influence of the glowing birds was the hard part, but it also led to the irregularities I like in this kind of painting. Some parts of this got seven or more layers of pigment, before I reached the color or value I wanted. The birds were assembled from dozens of photos, to get the different poses. I drew them all in a few hours a week ago. They're trickier than they look, too - we read so much into the figures, and the smallest mistakes on contour or angles make them look pretty terrible. I probably drew twice this many, but had to erase a lot and keep adding more until I got the number and movement I wanted.

Maybe tomorrow I can start on one of the other images from that walk. I did this one as a warm-up for the one I REALLY want to do. I might be ready to tackle that one next...

Tiny Still Lifes

When we were in the mountains last October we had one hike that Dearest and Oldest son wanted to take, but Daughter and Youngest son wanted to skip (quite tired already). So I hung around the parking area for the trail head, and the younger two stayed in the car and read books. While I hung around I took my camera and searched the ground for these little compositions in the fallen acorns. All of these are not cropped and not arranged- they're just how I found, framed and shot them at the time.

The oak leaves in this part of the Blue Ridge Parkway were oddly full of holes. It seemed only to affect the white oak group - white oak and chestnut oak, in particular.

Looking at these more than six months later, I'm not sure why I liked them so much. And I have the strong feeling that these could be turned into paintings, but I would sharpen up the compositions and motion in each. It's some measure of where I've traveled internally in those six months. Then I got an itch from these as I saw them - now I have a feeling how I could scratch that itch if I chose.

And I have a feeling that another six months would find me somewhere else. While the differences probably seem subtle to others, and my work might seem pretty similar in style to observers, to me the changes are larger, feeling like some kind of drift in taste or in internal fashion.

Life Drawing

I've been away from life drawing for nearly two months. Work, other events, and stress have kept me from going. This week Dearest plainly arranged things with the hope that I could go, and Oldest and I did. I had a good time and it went well from the first time my chalk hit the paper. At one point in the last drawing it seemed to just go by itself, and I just watched the lines and shadows showing up. That was incredible, and I'd like to have that happen again.

These are displayed in the order we did them. All are on 18 x 24 inch newsprint. The first was a two minute drawing, the next several were five minutes, and the more complete ones, with some setting (chair, drapery, etc.), were tens and fifteens.

We had an older model (late fifties, early sixties, I believe) whom we've drawn before. I like the way the bones are implied in her body, especially her shoulders. Her hip bones are less visible than in some of the younger models - it's all fascinating and interesting to capture on paper.

Tall Trees Final

One more time... This is the final version of Tall Trees. Genie Sea actually provided the clue I was missing - she thought the lower left needed a red ball. While I didn't want to go that far (her pieces are bolder than mine sometimes) I did realize that I wanted a warm repeat of the orange curve above. I had been thinking of straight lines and that wouldn't work any way I tried it in my mind. I wanted a curve.

I need this board for another piece I'm impatient to start. And I've got another in progress that I won't show until it's done (it's simple, and it needs to be complete for proper impact).

I still haven't packaged up the CD covers. I haven't had enough time to get to it. I have printed out the addresses and gotten some of the packing material. I'm getting there gradually...

Greensboro Daytrip

Two Saturdays ago we spent a good part of the day in Greensboro, visiting two gardens, eating pizza (Youngest) and other Italian entres at Elizabeth's on Battleground Avenue, visiting Edward McKay's for used music and books (whence the CD post), and finally getting ice cream at an old Baskin Robbins.

The gardens were beautiful, starting with the Bog Garden. The new leaves of bog plants are so lovely. Here we have (from upper left, clockwise) cinnamon fern fiddleheads, mayapple, wild ginger (so shiny!) and the beautiful and unusual leaf of bloodroot (one of the shapes - there are several possible shapes, even all on one plant, all of them beguiling).

We found this little painted turtle trying to cross the sidewalk on its way to the road. Four lanes of traffic to cross... So we carried it over to where it wanted to go, took it's picture, and released it in the little stream on the other side of the road (where the other, more formal Bicentennial Garden is). The turtle hustled into the water, struggled against the current, came back ashore briefly, then swam back out into the current, released a few bubbles to sink, and rested on the cool bottom.

In this second photo you can plainly see the segments in the ridge down its back (click for larger view). Those are the vertebrae under the thin scales that cover everything, including the shell. A shell is a turtle's odd version of spine and ribs. All the tiny details always get me - the miniscule claws, not much thicker than my whiskers, the tiny eyes, which it blinked at us, the little webbed feet, which it paddled in the air, trying to steer its flight just as if it were crawling. If you've never carried a turtle before, out and active, you should try it. Just wash up carefully afterwards - they carry Salmonella, especially the young ones. Big snappers are great fun to pick up, but more challenging, and you have to watch your fingers, or you might be missing a few. This little one won't get much over a foot in diameter, if it has an ideal life.

And the azaleas and dogwoods were beautiful.

The Edward McKay Haul

We are greatly tempted in record and CD stores - especially if second hand, when the prices seem irresistible.

So on the most recent trip I came back with:
Way to Blue - by Nick Drake
Liz Phair - by Liz Phair (had forgotten I was looking for this one - pleasant surprise)
Chutes Too Narrow - by the Shins (I have another album of theirs I haven't opened yet - I got into them because Lisa turned me on to the soundtrack to Garden State - I'll be looking for some Frou Frou for the same reason...)
Wilderness - by Archer Prewitt (no idea, but the album art stopped me for the third time and so this time I just went ahead and bought it - no idea if it's any good at all. The girl on the cover is a bird, to me - it's a very strong impression that I can't shake and which fascinates. Something about the overall shape, the shape of the face within the hair (and something about that sweep of hair across her throat), her bowed mouth, and the pert symmetry of the breasts makes her more bird than if they had drawn a robin. I can't explain it or shake it.)
Ocean Avenue - by Yellowcard (was looking for this one)
Dawn Escapes - by Falling Up (not the one of theirs I was looking for, but it was only a dollar - probably not good considering that price...)
EP - a short demo by Verona Grove (only four songs)
Boys for Pele - by Tori Amos (bizarre cover photos - and inside, too)
1999 - by Prince (it's got Little Red Corvette - gotta hear the rest - and I think Prince did the cover art)
The Crane Wife - by The Decembrists (they keep coming up in "you might also like..." lists - but little samples aren't telling me much)

Daughter and Dearest came back with some CDs, as well, filling in some Billy Joel we only have on tape or record (Turnstiles is the treasure in that group - I still think "Summer, Highland Falls" is possibly his most poetic lyric, and one of his best assembled numbers, period - and it will be wonderful to listen to The Stranger all the way through again - I came of age with that album in the background, along with ELO and several other late 70's groups), an earlier Elton John album (Captain Fantastic), a John McCutcheon we did not have yet, some Tokyo Rose, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins.

Plus an Alanis Morissette album (So-called Chaos), and the second Lily Allen Album (It's Not Me, It's You) both lent to me by Daughter (look what you started, Alex - thanks - and let us know if you want to borrow any).

Nearly half a gig of music files on my studio laptop.

Unlike my usual hoarding and nibbling, I am loading the entire great heap on at once and I intend to be a musical glutton for weeks. I am going to get painting again and achieve some balance with this work project (which will now continue in high gear, instead of warp speed, for the next year or more).

Daughter just walked out of here with the entire stack - so we'll compare notes later...

Just back from three days in VA, and not much left of me. Tired in a thoroughly physical and pleasant way. More on the trip later. But I can comment here that the Yellowcard, the Liz Phair, and the Archer Prewitt are all turning out to be the favorites. Tori Amos, Alanis, and Nick Drake are also working out well. Nothing yet that I've wanted to just skip.

Off work tomorrow - I plan to package up all nine CD covers for delivery, start some paintings, and mow the lawn.