While we were away, without internet access or phones ringings off the hook, I had a lot of time to think about my work and my life. Seemingly "important" things insidiously creep into our lives, like an invasive vine that takes over and begins to choke the life out of us. Less and less dedicated energy was being put into the most important thing (next to my husband), painting. Not just "making a pretty picture" but really painting. By really painting I mean developing the ideas and exploring the emotions that are critical to the creative process. And this takes time, quiet time, unencumbered by the buzz of "shoulda do's" which drones on like Musack in our brains.

As painters, we can create "boiler makers" - works that simply satisfy the market demand for decorative images to hang on our walls, or we can choose to take a more challenging path. The path of working toward becoming an artist. Artists give you something to think about, and attempt to create a link via emotion. It's the most challenging, and the most important part of picking up a brush, violin bow or pen. Without thought and emotion, we are simply machines, removed from the essence of life.

A new website

If you've been following along with this blog, you will recall my friend and sculptor, Ray Mathis.

Sean and I have collected his work for years, it is simply some of the best design we've seen and the quality of his work is unparalleled. For years, I've wanted to see his work on the web, and today, he launched his new site: http://www.tuttometaldesign.com

Take a moment, look at the work, be amazed!

New England is incredibly beautiful, the light up there is cool (in colour) and clear, and it seems to magnify the earth tones in the shadows and push the jewel tones of water and sky to seemingly impossible levels. It also appears that nature has a "fast forward button", because I found it impossible to keep up with the quickly changing light. I managed to get in a few oil sketches (some flecked heavily with sand), and I took a lot of notes and photographs.


It's also great to be back to work - funny painting, does not feel like "work" in the usual sense of the word, but at the end of the day, I'm still tired and ready for a glass of wine.

Cape Cod, here we come!

It's funny - right before you leave for vacation it seems that you have the most amount of work. Packing, cleaning, paying the bills, mow the lawn, the list seems endless.

But tomorrow Sean and I leave for vacation on Cape Cod. I'm not sure how often I'll be posting as we don't know what the situation is with internet access at the cottage we're staying at. I'm sure a quick run into town will provide wi-fi opportunities. I've packed my painting gear and I'm looking forward to a week of painting new scenery (and sleeping, oh the luxury of sleep these days!).

For some reason lately, I've had an overwhelming urge to work big. Really big. Don't know where this is coming from and I'm not going to question it. But an interesting thing happened on the way to the colosseum . . .

While thinking about these large paintings I've wanted to do, I've also been thinking about the context of still life subjects. Now, I'm a sucker for a beautiful still life, but often what bothers me is that objects often feel out of context, posed, and the whole thing often feels contrived.

So I thought about one of the most common objects that show up in still life paintings, the humble pear. Putting these on a table or shelf would be fine, but not what I was looking for, in part because I want to impart energy and movement in these large paintings. Hanging them together and securing them to a wall or hanging them they are just suspended in space is another "regular" of showing displaying these in a still life. Duh, I thought, show them as they are in nature, hanging from their branches, and moving in the breeze. So this will end up being not just about pears (yawn), but about the energy, movement, light and the air moving around this subject in its most natural state.

There's a lot more work to be done on this one, probably 2 full days worth. But it has been a blast because now the subject is so much more fun to paint, and it feels right, not false. It is big, 36 inches square, and I'm hoping to have the time to get this finished before we leave for vacation this weekend.

After a bunch of rain and wind on Saturday from the remnants of Hurricane (Hanna?) we've had incredible weather for the past two days. It's near impossible to stay inside the studio to paint so off I went to the park again for some painting.

After I returned to the studio, I realized that I did not have the camera, so I took a chance and photographed this with my phone (OK, call me a yuppie, yes, I have an I-Phone), and I'm very impressed with the quality of the picture. The colours as they appear on both the phone screen and on the computer are dead on.

They say the early bird gets the worm, in this case is was the early bird gets the view.

I discovered quite a while ago that I paint best in the morning. Luckily, it's also the time of day when the light and atmosphere is very interesting (and no one is around to break my concentration).

I'm not thrilled with how the photo came out on this one. I shot it in daylight, and used a tripod, but the actual painting is sharper, more clear. Again, this is why I'm inviting people to come to the studio to see these in person if they like. Something gets lost in the transition from painting, to photo to the post on the blog.

Title: Morning Light
Size: 6" x 6"
Medium: Oil on 5/8th" wood panel.

SOLD

I know, I know, it's been about 3 months since I've posted anything up on the blog. After the Rebuilding Ray event, I needed time to step back for a while and I needed time to work on larger paintings for upcoming fall shows. I was also experimenting with several things in my work and did not feel right posting what is, at the end of the day, a very personal thing to me.

This painting came about in an unexpected way. Every morning I paddle downstairs, make coffee and feed the cats. I go out on the back porch, coffee in hand and have what my husband calls "my Zen time". Facing the back is a large blue spruce, and this morning the light just struck me - cool blues, hazy earth tones and the highlights from the sun just grabbed me.

SOLD