June 9, 2008

Yesterday when I was doing early in the day gardening I noticed that some short poppies were coming up in a cluster of about 10. Sorry I have to go back a bit an explain my garden (and do not think it is anywhere near weeded as we have had 3 weeks of rain into many many days of exhaustive heat and humidity-but I digress) Most of my yard is part of one or another flower bed. There's the two beds at the front of the house under the maples and another small spot with all day strong sun. In the shady garden I had planted hostas of many varieties and planted them in a simple pattern, some old traditional orange day lilies. and a nice small leaf ivy which slowly climbs up the wood fence. But let's move on. As you go to the back of my yard you pass a work area of wood-firewood brush, etc under a giant maple tree-hardcore no real beauty to this section of my yard but:

1. It doesn't need to be mowed
2. I love to see piles of firewood-like money in the bank.

At the edge of the shade of the giant maple tree is the first bed I have in full sun and it's a basic the entrance bed for the garden In this bed goes the flowers I treat myself with I had a blue lupine there, a beautiful blue delphinium, striped green and yellow grasses, mint, primrose, ground sedum, comfrey, sweet woodruff and a delightful pink poppy. Last night when I looked I saw only the pods. This morning when I got up to look the pods were still attached to the flower (like a chick coming out of the egg shell) By afternoon the pods had already dropped to the ground and the flowers were fully opened. I took the attached photo this morning around 9:00 am.
Peace Always

Sharon

June 8,2008

FInished!!! As with any painting there are areas that please me as well as some that do not. I struggled a bit with this painting as I had no real idea of what the outcome was to be, no real sketches to start from and found it hard to paint everyday whether in the mood or not. I hope you enjoy the finished product. After a few days of letting the paint dry (Normally this does not take long as I paint with acrylic but the humidity has been outrageous so I will allow a few extra days of drying. I will take it to be photographed. After it is photographed slides and a tiff file will be made so I can post on my web site and/or enter shows. I plan to bring this to the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh annual show screening in two weeks and may not have time to have it framed for the screening-normally for this screening I would but as it often does the date has snuck up on me and I don't have enough time to follow my usual protocol.

peace always
Sharon

June 6, 2008

Photos show regular view, view when finished today's session and close-up of heart.

The day I had decided it was best to put my dog down, I had been to the vet earlier in the day and she was describing the results of Jackson's chest x-ray to me. Jackson had diabetes with many complications including blindness. I had a hard time controlling his diabetes even with his twice daily shots of insulin, careful home made food and regular blood work. Diabetes is an insidious disease and eventually his body had given all it could and it was time for him to leave this earth. The X-rays showed several areas of cancer, the retention of lots of water and an extremely large heart. When I talked with my friend later in the day about his health she stated "Jackson died of a heart that grew too large!" If you had met my dog (and I would suspect many Vizslas) you'll know exactly what I this means.

But How does this tie into todays painting session. On the upper left behind on of the clouds I painted a stylized heart. I used a diagram from a Biology course on line and played with the lines until it became the shape(s) it is now. Sometimes when I paint I will actually be consciously thinking of the symbolization I am using sometimes things just appear (such as the lemon in the upper right side).

June 5, 2008

A day or two ago I caught part of the movie Pollack with Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden. In one scene, Jackson Pollack has just broken through the restrictions of traditional painting and starting experimenting with dribbling, splashing, pouring, etc. In a classic New York accent Lee Krasner says something to the effect,"Ya finally done it Pollack and broken through to the other side." A total misquote but if you have seen the film you'll know which scene I am referring to. So last night in the classic Pollack style with a mood alterating atmosphere I become Pollack and broke the boundaries of painting by painting with my eyes closed not looking at either the palette of paint nor the canvas. This morning I anxiously approach my easel to see what I have done and how it translated since as I was doing this I believed it was pure genius. Fortunately paintings can always be corrected ad after a few hours of over-painting my experiment with breaking boundaries was eliminated and the painting is back on track.

June 4, 2008

Today was a full day of rain and I had a mad idea that I could paint all day and finish this painting. Well I did paint most of the day but still no end in sight. I'm usually anxious at this stage as I start to get ideas for my next painting(s) and want to get started working on something new and fresh.


I wish I had something interesting to write but mentally I am drained so we will all have to settle for a picture being worth a thousand words (or at least a hundred or so)

Peace Always

Sharon

June 3, 2008

Well I'm finally feeling that the end of this painting is near. Not everyone of my paintings I love, in fact I'm usually satisfied with only one out of three which isn't bad but as a perfectionist This painting falls into the two out of three category. I would like it to be three out of three. As far as this painting goes I am mostly unfinished with the background and some areas around the words. Today was a good painting day although once again it was fabulously beautiful outside and I had to force myself not to stray outside too often. My dog Sophie gave me until about 3pm when it was time for our walk through the woods.

I have been taking my digital camera (Cannon G9) with me as much as possible and especially on my hikes in the woods. Today I tried to capture my dog leaping through a field of ferns. I didn't capture her mid air leaps but will keep trying. Pennsylvania's Mountain Laurel-the state flower is just opening up and there were lots of pink and white just opening flowers throughout the woods.

Even though time away from the easel may not seem like time spent painting it actually is research and inspiration and I find myself revived for my next painting session.

June 2, 2008

Alright you guys caught me again. No painting today. This is indeed the frustrating life of an artist. I would have liked to blame the weather as it was a most beautiful day and hours of gardening and hiking in the woods could have almost justified not painting. But no I have no lofty excuse. I went on a date with my almost 19 year old to a matinee to see Sex and the City. I'm not going to give away any plots (if they had any to give) and I won't give my opinion on its merit as entertainment. However my daughter rarely wants to socialize with mom except for out Wednesday night take out dinners (which used to be take out and movie watching but now has been shortened to meal and taking left overs with her to her next stop). So I went see a movie that is over and under my head on so many levels that I needed a 2 hour nap when I got home.

I did still have thoughts about yesterday's blog concerning the suffering that goes on in this world. I heard on the Angry Hippie blog that because of money making opportunities rice would be diverted from Cambodia which is send there as part of a relief effort, News stories abound about the horrors of Darfur,the Middle East, the animal industry, bigotry, sexism, racism, speciesism, and on and on. As an artist I want to include thoughts concerning these things. Some are offensive to see and/or think about. I once heard Eric Marcus (an animal activist) beg people to help causes whether it was animal, human or environment issues. When I first heard this I was discouraged as I didn't see myself as a person who could stand on the corner passing out leaflet showing the horrid of animal treatment (as in the case with vegan outreach). But I do have a creative talent and I can paint. So when you are looking at my piece although initially they may seem bright and cheery there may be an underlying message that a few viewers will get. And for those people who do get what I say I hope that you will also use your talents to improve a world that is much in need of improvement.

Peace always

Sharon