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Pretty Lady

Friday, December 14th, 2007

So many chores at home preparing for the holidays pull me away from typical art work, but that doesn’t stop the old eyes from spotting things! Transplanting and tidying the garden, shaking soil from dead plants, the root systems are very interesting. I call this one “Pretty Lady”. It’s from a dead Croton — one was posted earlier from a more mature plant.

Art everywhere

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

While tidying up the garden and shaking out the soil from dead plants I was marveling at the root systems and couldn’t bring myself to throw this one away, it’s so interesting. This one is from a dead Croton plant, stuck into the ground upside down makes a unique garden sculpture.
Below: Croton, 1992 36 x 24 inches acrylics on canvas (private collection, Scotland).

‘Tis the season

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

“Hey Baby, How’s it goin’?”

Dancing With Trees 02

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

Dancing With Trees 02, 48H x 48W x 1D inches acrylics, matt and semi-gloss glaze medium, and semi-gloss varnish on canvas, scene continues onto trim frame. Detail images below.
Layers of glaze washes used in final stages: Hansa yellow light, Phthalo blue, Phthalo green, Permanent green, Thio violet, Mars black, Cadmium red light, Dioxazine violet.
This piece is an example of work that does not reflect the original vision but is turning into something much more interesting. To help enhance the character of cedar branches I’ve dripped water, paint, glazes, and varnish across patches of color, splattered it on with a brush and also painted it turned upside down. This left sheen and textures not captured in photos; best seen in person.
Dancing With Trees 02, started August 30th – several progression details posted on different dates are combined in this post. The oil pastel with the same name, first version, posted in March 2007, inspired the painting.

City Streets

Friday, October 5th, 2007

Three Photos will be on exhibit and available for sale at the City Streets Exhibition at Studio 333, Sausalito, California October 25 – December 6, 2007

Burnt Offerings 01 – From Burnt Offerings the photographic series consisting of ten images of the devastating results after an explosion that rocked downtown Dallas on July 25, 2007, in an acetylene and propane warehouse. In the distance: the famous Reunion Tower.

Grey Phase – Dallas, Texas. With a history and reputation for competing with Houston to attract visitors to stay in a beautiful, safe, and interesting downtown area, Dallas makes room for new buildings and upgrades existing ones. This photo: Demolition on the corner of Commerce and S. St. Paul Street, across from the infamous Dallas Grand Hotel which has been vacant and in a serious state of disrepair for many years, now planned to also receive extensive renovations.

True Colors 63 – An original photo of one of the digitally manipulated images in the True Colors website series. A cow wanders the streets of San Antonio, Mexico. Nonchalantly meandering through the neighborhood, tether rope dragging on the road beside her, it’s as if this cow has simply left for a short walk and no one, even the owner, ought to worry about her finding her way home.

A tale of two drawings

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Northern Delights 01, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 14H x 11W graphite, water-wash pencil, oil pastel, colored pencils on paper. 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.

and

Redbuds 03, Eastern Redbuds blooming on a foggy Spring morning in Coppell, Texas. 14H x 11W oil pastels, graphite, water-wash graphite, colored pencils, eraser on paper

Browsing for pieces to enter in a juried exhibition, I came across two drawings started in March that have a lot in common. Both scenes are low-light situations that were achieved by lots and lots of layering, scraping, redrawing, and using the eraser over pastels for blending as well as erasing. Both are experimental re: oil pastels vs. paintable water-wash graphite pencil.

Growing Up and Looking Back

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Lucas at the Museum, 11H x 14W inches graphite on paper, originally posted March 23, 2007 – today notified as part of the exhibition Growing Up and Looking Back – Reflecting on Childhood, Parenting, and Home at Gallery RFD in Swainsboro, GA October 12th – November 3rd, 2007.
See more of the Children Series, graphite illustrations available as cards, matted prints and framed prints.

Peace by our back door

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

This is the second time around for doves nesting in the wreath by our back door. I’m sure it’s the same pair who devotedly cared for two eggs, taking turns in shifts as they are now. The chick in the second thumbnail is from the first brood hatched in May. It mysteriously disappeared after two days and the other egg didn’t hatch. There was no trace of that chick anywhere..no body, bones, feathers..nothing. It was not old enough to fend for itself – could the parents have eaten it I wonder? Maybe there was something wrong with it, or the parents were first-timers. The lizards and salamanders around here are too small to eat a meal that size, and other birds would not have been brave enough to come so near to the door I don’t think. Nature takes care of itself though, so no tears. Hopefully these ones will survive and we can watch them mature.

Sept. 3rd: One of the chicks hatched! There were about six Starlings on the roof overlooking the evestrough, which is not usual for them – at our house anyway- so I’m thinking maybe they are interested in robbing the chick from it’s nest. Maybe they were the egg-robbers from the first nest.

Sept. 4th: The chick appears to be so much larger today, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it so exposed. It seems so vulnerable on that small flimsy nest.

Sept. 5th: The chick has been left on its own a lot in the past 24 hours, also becoming quite vocal. The other egg is unlikely to hatch.

Sept.9th: The nest is overcrowded. The chick ruffled its feathers and snapped its tiny beak at me when I took these photos – the instincts are strong – how sweet is that?!

Sept. 11th: When the parent sitting on the chick is up in the air above the nest, it’s time for little chicky to leave! That’s what I thought the day before the chick flew away, and sure enough it was time. It’s so funny when the parent sits on top of the chick trying to hide it – there is hardly enough room for two in the nest, and she/he is not fooling anybody!

Sept. 12th: Fortunately I walked out just in time to see the chick fly from the ground to the fence nearby. There it remained for about 90 minutes then it was gone. That night I wondered where it would be sleeping, and if it was truly on its’ own now without parents, how it would survive. Less than a month before it was not even in the form of an egg!!

Sept 13th: didn’t expect to see it again, but while sitting outside at dusk, there they were, the mom (or dad) and chick. It was so pleasing to see them sitting on the fence together.

Sept 16th: I still see the little one come into the yard, much bigger now. It is smaller than an adult, and I’m sure that must be the same chick. Full circle!

Rude Awakening

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

Three quaint old apartment buildings in the Strathcona District on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton, Alberta were demolished to make way for a large condominium complex — a shame, considering all the new windows that were just replaced a few years ago. To remove them beforehand would not be financially viable for the new builder, but it’s not the way things are done in oil-rich Alberta these days. Everything: fridges, furnaces… someone’s home the week before — smashed and crushed within 36 hours.

Individuals would gladly use these second-hand materials, even volunteer to take them out. China would kill for that wood. The trip to Mexico is still fresh in my mind, and of how they utilize everything, even wire frames of old mattresses as fence material. This destruction was wasteful, almost painful.

On the other hand, it was very interesting to watch! It’s these sorts of extremes that conjure up perplexing conflicting emotions, and all the travel this year leaves me with so much revitalized energy to draw upon for a long time. I haven’t been painting, but these kinds of experiences are where all worthwhile art originates.