The Fisherman that Got Away

Fisherman Unknown, inktense pencils & pen on hot press w/c paper, 10 x 14

I live on 50,000-acre Buggs Island Lake here in Southern Virginia (called Kerr Lake in NC).  Fishing and fishing tournaments are popular.  Five years ago I saw two photos on a local site, printed them out, and naively thought I'd run into this fisherman and ask permission to do a painting of the other photo--one of him and his friend in a boat near a tree-lined shore--holding a 50/60-pound catfish.  No such luck so no such painting.  Most of the photos on the site are of gigantic fish (I think this one was posted as a joke).

Who's the Fairest?, pencil & ink on hot press w/c paper,  12 x 10

I wonder which came first in Holland--windmills or tulips?  I find aging tulips more interesting than those in their prime (this photo was taken by my son).  Age has been on my mind this week.  I was at President Kennedy's inaugural parade fifty years ago; I was eighteen and remember being on Pennsylvania Avenue climbing on piles of snow--wearing high heels, no hat, and no gloves.  As a Southerner I was not prepared for DC's sometimes harsh winters--I learned.

I recently finished reading Egon Schiele, a book discussed on RHCarpenter's blog.  I'm still looking at his drawings, watercolors, and oils; I especially liked his line drawings.  However, I still draw the same way I've been drawing since elementary school--use whatever's handy and add a black outline if I'm so inclined.

Tall & Thin in Just Three Days

 

Painter's Salute or Oh Crap, What have I Done?  acrylic, 36 x 24

After weeks of cleaning I needed to try my new easel.  I looked through my list of paintings to be done; I looked for inspiration and found none.  Finally I headed to the workshop just to splash some paint onto the easel.  I found a 10-year-old canvas--it was the only painting support I could easily reach--and propped it up.  That's when I spotted my image in a small mirror about 10 feet away.  I had hung it when I was clearing the workshop--a 70s Danish Modern rosewood piece, 7 inches wide and 20 inches tall.  With that piece I feng sui'd the workshop--the mirror faces the lake.

I couldn't see all of me at one time so I ended up tall and thin and looking like Miss Hathaway from the Beverley Hillbillies.  I recognize some parts--the oversized Abercrombie & Fitch corduroy shirt that reaches to my knees (found at a community yard sale for $1), my magnified bad eye (my left but reversed in the painting), and my long black underwear (good for cold weather).  It's impossible to look at my hand when I'm using it to paint!  This painting was fun and is not quite finished.

I never got the counter cleared.  The empty easel box served as the perfect surface for holding my paints and palette.  One more day to finish the painting; then it's back to clearing clutter (including the box).  Mirror is upper right, next to ladder.

Loose Screws

Untitled, terra cotta, 1992

 I suspect I have a few loose screws.  While most people partied for the Holidays, I cleaned out my studio/workshop to make room for a new easel.  Seven days of manual labor--this was not the brightest idea.

 

 My Richeson easel arrived Monday afternoon. 

I decided I could handle and assemble a 98-pound easel.

 Lots of pieces--and a winch and pulley!  

Winch Warning:  Not for Humans.

 

 I had my Leatherman tool.

I couldn't resist the comfy box and the easel was perfect for rigging up the camera.  Getting into the box before the self-timer blinked wasn't easy--getting out of this box and up off the floor was even harder.  My right shoulder was aching! 

All set; everything works.  I have to clean off the counter and find my paints. Tomorrow, a trip to the dumpster.

May you soar in 2011

conte

pencil

For the past month, I've been drawing these birds again.  These are old sketches found while trying to clear out my workshop.  Maybe someone should write a song called "Yellow Bird." 

I've been cleaning my workshop (another attempt) for four days--so far, I have one clean spot.  Instead of a resolution for the New Year, I opted for an incentive.  I ordered a Santa Fe II easel last week (on sale and a rebate) which will be delivered Monday afternoon--it will require space.  I have looked at oak easels for several years and worried about the wood warping in the workshop because it's a separate building, and no heat or air conditioning unless I'm out there.  Recently I thought, What the Hell--I'll warp before the easel warps; order the thing.  As I cleaned I inventoried supplies, moved boxes of photographs into the guest house, and stacked things on the porch (to be moved to the storage shed or Good Will).

Here are some of the interesting things I found--charcoal drawings of my two kids from the 60s.

Items from my brother's run for the Virginia Senate (bags and a tire cover for my Jeep); also, a 20-foot banner from my husband's run for town council.

This photo of "my relatives" will continue to hang on the bathroom wall.
Photographer unknown.

I'm off to check my lottery tickets; I might have won $200+ million!   If so, I'll skip the cleaning and build another workshop just for the easel.
 HAPPY NEW YEAR

Christmas

First Christmas for Willie 2007

I hope Santa makes it to your house.

Happy Holidays

Escape, ink on paper

It's that time of year.  I think of leaving until mid-January--a cruise might be nice (although there have been rough waters recently).

Evidently, escape has always been on my mind.  When I was four or five, I'd borrow Mom's high heels, get her pocketbook, and wait for the Greyhound bus to take me away.  Odd, isn't it, that my parents allowed me to play beside the highway?

When I get the stance right, this will be a painting.  Okay, maybe I'll work on my size, too--I'm taller than the Amoco sign!  For the drawing, I moved the King Edward Cigar sign (great for target-practice) across the road.

Happy Holidays.  I'll be working on cards, shopping, and minimal decorating (nothing stops me from drawing, though). 

What Cleaning Ladies?

This is what the house looked like when we moved back in after remodeling five years ago.  This is what I hope the house will look like again.  The cleaning ladies never showed up--we hired them as a favor to a friend.  Was it because I said "no copper polish, no Pledge on my furniture, and no scouring of the countertop?"  Was it me?  Was the floor too much?  Too much dirt?   I think I'm more relieved than disappointed (and a bit ticked off that I got out of bed early--8 a.m.).  

Dave and I were not surprised when they didn't show; it's a common occurrence here in southern Virginia.  Contractors and workers smile and take measurements and say "yes;" many never return or call.  Later--when you meet at restaurants or parties--everyone pretends that all is well.  I pitch their cards.

I am pleased that, after my frantic prep work, there's a chance the house will be ready for the Holidays.  Tomorrow is art day at the YMCA--no cleaning.

Adolescent Pears

Adolescent Pears, pencil on cover stock, 7x7

I bought some Luminance 6901 pencils--they are wonderful on hot-press water color paper.  Of course, I drew this on computer cover stock.  Why?  I was just sketching a scene that's been in my brain for several years,   I imagine fruits and vegetables play around when everyone's in bed.  I worked on this for several nights before falling asleep--and who needs a model for pears or cups?  Obviously, I do.  I thought I had cups that looked like these--I don't.  And try fitting a pear into a cup in this manner.   I got the countertop correct but these subway tiles are waaay too wide.  What the heck; I like it and had fun--I might just paint it.

I was drawing at night because I've been cleaning my house--anticipating the cleaning ladies who are scheduled to show up tomorrow.  First, I found my ironing board--buried under art supplies--and read directions for the steam iron (I skipped HomeEc).  I have washed and ironed seven ivory Pottery Barn linen drape/shades (I would have ordered new ones but they're no longer a Pottery Barn item); the window sills are clean; the top of my stove is clean; the dining room table is almost cleared of catalogs; the outside of the microwave is clean; most of the kitchen backsplash tile is clean; and I washed and ironed six hand-painted pillow covers.  Why do I like off-white and ivory?  Tonight I will tackle the inside of the microwave and clean the hard-to-reach corners of the backsplash.  Thank goodness the cleaning ladies aren't going upstairs--I'd be exhausted.  (The art supplies from atop the ironing board are piled on the floor.)

I'm beginning to think senescence is a lot like adolescence--tomorrow night I go back to playing for two weeks.  Maybe I can play neatly.

Copper Bowl and The Three Pears

Copper Bowl and The Three Pears, acrylic on 24x24 cradled panel

Several bloggers mentioned and recommended the book, Alla Prima, by Richard Schmid.  I bought it and read it--actually studied it.  Sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous; sometimes ignorance is bliss.  I thought I'd whip out a painting from a pear photograph I had taken in my kitchen--I estimated it would be done in a couple of days.  I used open acrylics and set up a palette, forgoing my usual ketchup cup/paper plate method.  I was actually concerned that the painting might be so easy I'd lose interest.  Ha!

That was ten days ago.  I spent half a day looking for my copper bowl (it was hiding among other copper bowls) and I've eaten about twelve pears--I needed the real things.  I tried palette-knifing the dish towel.  It was interesting but did not look like my work; I spent half a day sanding those palette-knife marks.  Then there was a cricket-rescue from the utility sink in my studio--a major delay in cleaning brushes.  I wouldn't classify this painting as alla prima--more alla Hallie, although I resisted the urge to add a couple of bare feet in the background.  I think it's finished.

Happy Thanksgiving. 

My Garden Grew--and Grew

Homage to the South

This photograph (one succulent planted in an outgrown dog toy) represents 100 percent of my gardening during the past three years.  It sits on the front porch railing and is a nod to my roots, where petunias are sometimes planted in old tires.

We have very good grass cutters and leaf picker-uppers but it was time for more than maintenance.  Shrubs were overgrown, ivy was reaching under the back porch of my workshop, and rose bushes were buried under hollies and camellias.  I found master gardener Kathy McNulty and asked her to stop by.  After walking around my yard, she told my neighbors (who were visiting on the porch) that she might be finished in 2012.  Kathy is quite the comedienne.  She showed up Tuesday at 10 a.m.--as promised--and set to work.

Kathy McNulty

She pruned the prickly hollies, shaped the camellia without disturbing the mockingbird's nest, unearthed the roses (which I replanted), shaped the unidentified huge shrub outside the kitchen window and left some shoots for the birds--they like to bounce after their baths and I enjoy watching.  We transplanted irises; she trimmed along the driveway and pointed out which trees and shrubs are beyond help and need to be removed.  She pulled everything to the curb--the town picks up.  While Kathy was doing the heavy work, I pulled up gobs of ivy that I had planted--underneath, I found two antique Bayonne NJ fire buckets, my practice golf balls, two croquet balls, and a bird bath. 

The Garden Ho

I moved my Bob Currier sculpture to the front yard.  Why was I working six straight hours a day alongside Kathy?  I'm uncomfortable letting someone else do my work.

November on Commerce Street

I don't rake, though.  After all the leaves fall, we'll have them picked up.  I'm off to the workshop and back to painting as soon as I can move without pain.  Kathy will be back in the Spring!

My small southern town--Clarksville VA--did a great job of picking up the debris.