Seeking Advice

Here is a little posy to get your week off on a lovely path!

This is the painting I finally completed this weekend. I have been working on this for quite some time as it has probably between 50 to 75 layers of glazing. It will go into my Contemplation Series and is acrylic on 30 x 40 gallery wrapped canvas. I am still toying with names for this one. If you have ideas, I am listening. Some of the ones which have come to me are Into the Depths, Soul Seeking, and Into the Spirit. But I have not settled on anything at this point.

What do you think would be a good name for this painting? Do you ever have trouble with naming your works? Did you have a good weekend of art making or art seeking?

I have received a book shipment, so tomorrow I will share with you some of my thoughts on what I received.

The Look of Taste

So, okay...I tried to reproduce what a taste looks like today. I am no where near as successful as Babs, but I gave it a quick shake!

This is berries and cream...specifically, raspberries and blueberries and whipped cream! The taste is fresh, complex, sweet and the berries have huge bursts of individual flavor and sometimes it is all blended together.
This is coffee with cream. Do you think I like cream...I really struggle with a milk allergy, so I don't get much of that...but enjoy it when I take the allergy hit. So coffee tastes very earthy, creamy and there is a lot of intensity at some points and thin-ness at others. The cream works with it to take it deep. I love my coffee strong and rich! :)

So there you have it. I tried the Babs trick. Well, it is my personal interpretation of the Babs trick! That woman has some tricks up her sleeve, don't you agree?

So here is to a great weekend for you all! I wish for you all a beautiful weekend outdoors or in the studio...better yet, both!

What does Taste Look Like?

Note: I cannot say exactly who photographed these particular photos. What I can say is it was either my son, my daughter or myself.

Recently I have been inspired by so many blog posts. Some of them are art blogs and some are not. But our friend, Babs, at Off the Wall Art has shown a beautiful painting (she always does, but this particular one is inspiring this post). She refers to it as "The Day In The Life Of An Orange". When you visit to see this painting, you will totally understand what she means (and do visit it is well worth the clicks). While I am not sure what was in her mind or heart when she painted this, when I first saw it the thing which came to mind was she has painted this in response to how she feels an orange tastes. Have you ever done that? Produced your art in response to a taste?

I thought I would share a few photos of food to see if they might evoke some tastes you might paint...well, I am going to give it a try, since I haven't done it before. These lemons are some of the most incredible I have ever tasted...they are sweeter than normal. Yes, you heard me right! My daughter has a lemon tree in the yard of the little cottage she rents. It produces all year and produces a lot. If I had some here, now, I would have taken a photo of a cut one for you!
Nice, fresh salad, anyone? This was a lovely salad I had at a cafe in Berlin. It tasted especially nice as I sat at the table, with my son, on a wide sidewalk and watched people pass. The tomatoes were not so great, but the red pepper was fabulous!
Well, how do you think these might look if you painted their taste?
Or yummy, yummy...a mocha or espresso for anyone? I think these might paint up quite lovely! What do you think?

If you are wanting some other photos to respond to, consider visiting Taste With The Eyes blog. Of course there are lots and lots of photos of food on the web, but some bloggers really have some delightful photographs. And there are lots of artists who paint some lovely foods...

Let me know what you think about this idea. Thanks Babs, for so much inspiration for this post.

Photography

Note: these three photographs were actually shot by my son, Jonathan. See my response to Kate in the comments for more information.

One of my first (among several) artistic loves is photography. But I learned to love the dark room a lot...that is where the manipulation of the images took place. The dark room was where I could make the image my own, so to speak and I could do so even without a camera. But in these so many years, I have continued to use photography to inspire my other endeavors. When digital photography came about, I was somewhat reluctant to give in, but once I realized I could use the computer to manipulate my images, and without the chemicals, I was sold.

The little cameras which are so easy to carry around are very enticing, but for my photography work, I prefer my digital SLR. I like to be able to change the lens and manipulate the shutter to suit my needs. How much control do you like with your photographic experiments?

Lately, we have talked about how gardening is such an artistic inspiration and being able to capture those beautiful gardens with the camera is ever so delightful. When we lived in England the gardens were like nothing I had ever seen before in the US. I have shared a few of those photographs before. It seems as though flowers just love that environment and everyone seems to have a green thumb there, too. Now these photographs don't show those gardens, but they are some photos taken from the upstairs window of our cottage out over the back garden.

This is a rising moon in the evening sky. If you look closely, you can see the top of a tree in our garden. But what is that green light? We have never been able to figure that out. Any ideas? I have another photograph with the green light closer to the moon.
Obviously, this was taken earlier in the evening. It is looking toward the Channel Coast. Isn't the sky beautiful? We saw many sunsets like this. I also love the way the vegetation presents itself as black against the softly colored sky.
This is a similar photo taken to show the horizon as more defined.

I love these photos and find them inspiring. Photography in this house always brings a smile to my face, though. My husband, and his family, cannot understand photography beyond the human image. In every photo there has to be a person! No matter what! I find that so interesting...of course it is totally what inspires them.

What does photography mean to you? Do you use it as inspiration for your work? Is it mainly useful as documenting your work? Or are you just rarely without your camera and have your computer filled with photographs? Do you find it difficult to delete images because there might be something there you could use?

Responding with Art

It seems to me we have had some very serious and severe weather which has caused a lot of destruction and loss of life around the world. There has been the whole horrible business of the cyclone in Myanmar, the terrible tornadoes in the southern US and now the tremendous earthquake in central China. My heart breaks for those who are in the middle of all of this and my heart swells with gratitude for those who are helping these people recover.

When I am so touched by anything, I often find it makes its way into my art in some way. At least I have had this experience in the past. I think this might be true in many art forms. Last night I watched a wonderful documentary about the NY Philharmonic Orchestra's concert in North Korea, and it renewed my interest in how art can be a wonderful bridge to build when trying to unite cultures. Can art also heal those involved in these natural disasters? Can art be a peaceful way to heal wounds of many kinds?


This is an old painting I did after the earthquake in Pakistan several years ago. We were living in England at the time that happened and the BBC kept showing these people living under draped blankets in the middle of a beautiful park. I kept thinking about how amazing it was these people were living on top of the earth in this very beautiful park, but the earth beneath it was shifting and at some place there was a crack or cracks in the surface. This painting was my response to that. Obviously, it is called Cracked Earth is acrylic on 24" x 36" gallery wrapped canvas.


This is what has been happening where I am right now. Rain is also acrylic on 12" x 16" gallery wrapped canvas. We have had almost 4" of rain in the last 18 hours. Now I have been through more rain when we lived in Texas, however this is a lot different geography than there. Believe me, I am not complaining about the rain here. I do not mind at all.

This particular little painting is so appealing to young teenagers. I have no idea why, but so many of my nieces and nephews have wanted these "Rain" paintings. Maybe it is because when you are a teenager there seems to be a lot of "raining on your parade".

So do you ever respond with your art to news, weather, etc.?

Have A Great Mother's Day Weekend!

Sometimes I just like to browse books. I like all kinds of books and writings, and I have a HUGE interest in creativity. Yesterday I found this book by happenstance. Have you read it, heard anything about it or do you own it?

Would you like a little sneak as to what it is about? Visit Ian Roberts web site for the book to read a sample chapter. This chapter is Principle Fifteen - Finding Poetry in the Everyday. I copied this off last night and really enjoyed reading this chapter. If the remainder of the book is similar, I will be buying. The book has very good reviews, too.

Are you reading any good books related to art and or creativity? If so, please share them with me. I did place an order for the book, Art from Intuition which I spoke about a few months ago on this blog. Additionally, I ordered The View from the Studio Door. If you own either of these books, I would also be interested in hearing your thoughts on them.

The main thing I want to say today as we head into the weekend is this is the weekend in the United States, and other places around the world where we honor our mothers. I often think of the passion of motherhood and how that is very much like the passion of art. In this sample chapter, Ian Roberts shares on his web site, there is a paragraph I thought expressed the experience of the artist as well as that of the mother:

When on another occasion we can't find that spiritual level of experience, and so can't repeat it, the frustration can be cruel and the separation painful. Here lies the myth of the suffering artist. It isn't the art making when it goes well that has any suffering in it. That is the union with the beloved. It's the loss that causes the suffering. And the problem isn't something we can necessarily control. We are instruments, conduits for that expression. It comes through us by grace.

What do you think? As artists and as mothers we are instruments for creation and we access that through our grace. So with this, I will say to all of you who are mothers, have been mothers, want to be mothers and have mothers...

HAVE A HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A Little Break Today

So today I thought I would give everyone a break from my studio forays. Many of my blogger friends, I am learning, are also gardeners. We have only lived in this house just over a year. So what you see here is a result of the previous (and original) owners. My husband is a HUGE tree lover. He can't get enough of hardwood trees! Thus one of the big reasons we purchased this house. It is actually on a double lot and this area of our back yard is actually where a house was suppose to have been built about 35 or 40 years ago.

But this is the view I see each day from the back part of my house which is a kitchen and family room of all windows and skylights. I am clearly aware of how blessed I am to enjoy this kind of space and be so very close (just a couple of miles) to the city of Washington, DC...well, not the being close to Washington part, but the lovely area so close to the city part.
And these are the lovely tall trees which have leafed out beautifully this year. I love the way the green looks in that high light.

But here is what I really want you to see:
Do you see these little sprouts? I planted these in a pot. They were seeds sent to me by our dear friend, Babs! I didn't touch the seeds as usually seeds hate me. But I sprinkled them into this pot from the little package Babs sent along. And this is a shock of shocks to me that these little guys have come up! Seriously, I am shocked! But it is very exciting to see this happen. My husband and son covered the pot for me with fine wire fence, for now, to keep the squirrels from eating the seeds...I think they may have gotten some before we got them covered! So this is art, at least for me!

Gardening is such an inspiration for so many artists...I always think of Claude Monet. I wish I were a better gardener. I love planning gardens, I love viewing gardens, I adore flowers and I am grateful for the gardeners of the world, BUT I am no gardener. The one thing I don't care for in American yards (gardens) is the abundance of grass. We are presently working on plans to eliminate a lot of the grass in this yard and to allow the remainder of the back yard to return to the forest floor! Our plans are to keep this house for the long term, now. Those are the plans...but one never knows what the Universe has in store for us as far as relocation. One day, I will show you the front garden space.

So would you say gardening is an art? Does your gardening inspire your art as Claude's did?