Halloween Fast Approaching

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays-- the mystery, the festivity, the costumes and sometimes the weather. This year we, here, at 9 Central Street are having a Halloween Party for friends and friends of friends. Since I was the one who wanted it, I am doing most of the planning and decorating and having so much fun in the process. The pumpkins I bought at Walmart - $4.00 per, and they are big - are being transformed into spooky looking entities and with the new l.e.d. candles, fire hazards are not and issue anymore . The building we are in is quite old and eerie without doing anything to it, so with a little tweeking here and there we should be able to create an environment that would give even the die-hard halloween fan the heebie-jeebies.

Where Does the Inspiration Come From?

The question, which is so subjective and broad in scope, is, none the less, a question that most artists ponder for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, one of our greatest fears is, " what if the inspirations stops?" So fearsome a thought, I won't go there, but rather will try to answer where inspiration comes from for me. Other artist's work is one of my greatest inspirations, whether they are living, contemporary artists or great masters who are no longer here. One young, compared to me, painter I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago, and have been following his career since is Colin Page. I read his blog regularly and feel akin to many of his thoughts about painting and being a painter. His work is phenomonal and my gut tells me he will be a great American artist before is career is through.

Something else that inspires me a lot is how some artists are able to take the very mundane and make beautiful paintings out of it, something I strive for and hope to be able to do with ease some day. In my painting, You're In, You're Out, I painted an interior scene based on the kitchen of the Red House on Monhegan Island, and as always with interiors, I was having a hard time making a statement in the painting. After much ado, I got the idea to put my dog and husband in the scene, and voila, it solved the problem! An inspired thought, for sure.

Some Thoughts

Keeping a journal has always been something I wanted to do but never did--for whatever reason, I don't truly know. This blog is the closest I've come to it and I realize that new technology has made it much easier for one to correspond with friends, or anyone for that matter. Being able to upload images is just an added plus to this whole process. A friend of mine, an avid journal keeper and painter used to glue photographs of her work, or places of interest, into her journal, adding a new and interesting dimension to journaling.

With that said, I now want to update a photo of an unfinished painting, posted earlier, that I intended to work on in these ensuing weeks. When I originally started this painting, I set up the still life for a student and decided to paint along with her to more or less walk her through the painting. At the outset, because of the complexity of the print, I decided to simplify the tablecloth for my student. After she finished her painting, which came out very nice, and I began to complete mine, I decided to remain truer to the print of the tablecloth, and I must admit, it is a lot more challenging then I expected it to be. I do enjoy working out the problems, though, and feel it will be worth it when I am finished. I still have some details to resolve on the left side of the cloth, but the right side is falling into place nicely. There is a lot more work to do, overall, but it should turn into a nice painting when done.

Why Do I Paint

As I lay in bed last night, not able to sleep, I thought about painting and about my process in particular. It is one thing to be able to paint, but to verbalize why or how is completely different. When I teach my students I try to get them to pay attention to value and also to notice relationships between shapes in a given space. But last night I began to think about what I think or feel when I paint and what I realized is that I try to define the essence of the object or scene I am painting; for instance when painting glass, what constitutes its essence. It is reflective yet transparent, solid yet liquid, smooth. What about a tree? I remember reading an anecdote, when I was taking a Tai Chi Class, about a Buddhist Master who was visiting a certain monastery and when the Senior Monk met with him in the court yard, it was noted that they sat for a very long time without saying anything at all. Finally, the Master was heard to say to the Monk, "They call that a tree." The anecdote has spoken often to me as a painter. I try to understand what the Monks were witnessing and begin to understand the essence of what makes a tree a tree. It is not just the physicality of the tree, but how the wind rustles the leaves and how the light flutters through them picking up color from the sky in some places and casting shadows in other places. How the birds flit from branch to branch and how the bark of the tree is alive with insects. If you touch the bark, sometimes pieces will come off in your hand and it is so rough. If you can think of an object from this perspective, it will then become possible to paint.

Working out the kinks

I just made a few adjustments to my blog and I'm sure that there will be more as I learn to navigate this system. In a few minutes I am going to start painting, it has been calling to me all day and I have been busy with other things. Got to get to work.

Here is a painting I did a few years ago and I'm pretty sure I sold it, if I didn't it means I painted over it because I haven't seen it for a while. Sometimes I'll paint over pieces because I can't seem to work out the problems of the painting. I think I want to try to paint this again, I like the view and it would be interesting to see how I would interpret it a second time. My style is constantly evolving so I know some things would look very different. I will post the painting when I finish it.

Finishing Work

Two views of my studio, where I do almost all of my painting.

Finishing Work