2013



Graphite and Pigma Pen in Moleskin Sketchbook

I survived the Holidays and spent yesterday taking down and storing my few decorations, changing the whole-house water filter, then making my black-eyed peas and collard greens soup for today's good-luck meal.  I was determined to spend New Year's Day in the studio/workshop but first I in my down coat had to get through all the junk in order to turn on the heat.  While getting organized I came across this sketchbook--first sketch is from March 2010 and the next from June 2011.  This is only the third, and pencil to paper was fun--forget cleaning. 

I usually don't make resolutions; they don't last, and I'm sure this one won't.  Can you tell I had taken Willie for a walk earlier?  Actually, this Food Lion bag is from my car--contains snacks--peanut butter cookies and an energy bar.

Happy New Year.

Holidays



Wishing you perfect Holidays
and a wonderful New Year!

This is my 2012 card and was painted with Procreate on my iPad.  This was my fifth idea for a card; I liked No. 4 but accidentally deleted it when it was almost finished (which is not easy to do).  Once this reindeer painting was finished I got a cardshop app--nothing as exciting as having a deadline and learning new stuff.  There was no grid for layout; just a tiny piece of ruler across the top of the card showing inches and FIFTHS of inches.  Fifths?  I'm accustomed to eighths.  My only way to check placement was to print one.  Print?  I had never printed from my iPad, and my Canon printer is not one of those compatible with Apple's airprint.

Luckily, the cardshop app has the option of sending a PDF by email.  That worked, but I was unable to print from the PDF reader on my desktop.  So I emailed it to the laptop in the dining room; from there I could send it to the printer in the computer room.  A solution at last.  I printed 75; none were upside-down and the inside greeting was in the right place.  I folded, signed, wrote some personal notes, addressed and stamped the envelopes, and got the cards in the mail yesterday.  I can check that off my list--and my fruitcake has been delivered.

Now it's on to cleaning and shopping.   Perfect Holidays?  At my house that's a joke.

Merry Christmas! 

Chihuly Exhibit at VMFA



Organic Vase, created with Procreate on iPad

Last Friday I visited the Chihuly Exhibit at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond VA.  I left my camera in the car so I have no photos.  Instead, here's a Chihuly-inspired iPad painting of a red vase I bought at Mr. Harris' yard sale.  I painted without actually looking at the vase, and imagined it melting and changing forms, being displayed on a mirrored surface like Chihuly's works.  (And, yes, this looks a bit like an internal organ; I guess it's a ChiHallie.)  

Mr. Harris, Colorsoft pencils on Wallis Museum board, 9x6

My camera was in the car when I stopped at the yard sale and the light was right.  Mr. Harris said okay when I asked if I could take his photo; I told him I might want to paint it.  He's a neighbor and owner of one of the local funeral homes--a nice-looking man.  He hasn't seen this yet and it's not quite finished.




Outside VMFA, photo by S. Brooks

Here I am, outside the museum, pretending I'm holding up Chihuly's 25-foot chandelier which was hanging in the Atrium--my idea--and it took a while for the patient photographer to line this up.  Pedestrians probably wondered why I was posing like Vanna White.  My brother thought this looked like Miss Liberty with a tight grip on her pocketbook--not a bad idea for these times.

The Chihuly Exhibit was excellent--rooms filled with forms and colors and reflections.  I especially liked his Ikebana Boats and the Tobac Basket Bowls, which were displayed on huge beautiful slabs of wood. 

Small Town Drawing



Robert, Inktense pencils on hot press w/c paper, 12x9

I'm a Sunday evening regular at The Pizza Pub Restaurant/Bar here in town--so is Robert.  He's usually helping out or having a cup of coffee; and I see him outside always with his pipe.  I asked if I could take a few photos with my iPad--he obliged.  It's been a long time since I've tried portraits other than my own.  Robert liked this and, last Sunday, he walked with me through the restaurant as I showed it to the customers.

Most of you fellow bloggers live in cities where you can sketch strangers at coffee shops, but I have to brew Starbucks in my kitchen.  I live in a place where everyone knows our names (and The Pub knows my drink is unsweet iced tea) so Thank Goodness it does look like Robert.  This was not as much fun as my self portraits where I tear into myself and pounce on every wrinkle.  (Maybe I can do that with tourists or fishermen I don't know next summer.)

Hurricane Sandy looks ominous but I'm 150 miles inland from the coast; my area is not expecting much damage but we might lose our internet (that's what happened last year when Hurricane Irene hit the coast).  We think this latest hurricane is named for one of the bartenders at The Pub.

I'm now putting the Inktense pencils aside and will be trying Colorsoft pencils on different papers, then on to Polychromos pencils.  (Dick Blick had a sale so a big box was delivered to my front porch Wednesday--lots of new stuff with no instructions.)  I'll play with pencils for a while, then get back to my studio and paints.  Well.... that's my plan today.

Caution



Caution, inktense painting on aquaboard, 11x14

My son took a photo of a blackbird with attitude; in the background was one orange traffic cone.  I started with the bird and played with the rest of the painting--don't know what it means but I like it (and each time I hit the highway I run into roadwork).  Traffic cones don't actually look like this but form tops function here; rectangular bottoms would have messed up my lines.

This was done with inktense pencils/blocks; a wet paintbrush, then lifting the lights; and I worked on it for three weeks--more thinking than painting.  If I repaint with acrylic or oil, the eleven lights or reflectors (the last one is very far away) might become eggs.  I've never repeated a painting; doing it again would be a bit like copying.

I visited the Munch exhibit at N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh--he must have enjoyed working with the same subjects time after time.  Of course, I had to buy a book about Munch and just finished reading;  his paintings linger in my mind.

Out of the Blues



Holding Back the Drought?
Speech of the Era?
Encore?

OR

Descent?
Hydrus Watercolors on Aquaboard, 12x12

I played with these watercolors--dripping, scrubbing, painting over, spraying with water, etc., until I had an underwater scene.

I can't pinpoint the source for the remainder of this painting:  I watched a Lakefest Idol contest at our local Fine Arts Center (my old elementary school), I was mesmorized by President Clinton's speech at the Democratic Convention, and my brother has a wonderful 4' tall wide-armed blue man sculpture whose eyes watch everything.  All of the above.  When I walked out of my studio a few minutes ago, I saw long hair instead of shadow in this and glimpsed Mona Lisa--made me laugh.

I've been AWOL from painting and blogging, and was gambling in Atlantic City last week (once every five years can't be considered a habit).  I picked my lucky machine at Trump's Taj Mahal and sat down to either spend my money or win a $500,000 progressive jackpot.  I was winning when a stage nearby opened their show.  LOUD music--I tried sticking my finger in my left ear and playing max with my right hand.  After an hour of deafening music and machines, I cashed out (at a profit) and went up to my room, read Vanity Fair on my iPad.  I overslept the following morning so no time for gambling--I brought most of my money back home; I guess that's a win.  I saw the Atlantic, the Boardwalk, and lots of Jonathan Livingston Seagulls.  During the 800-mile roundtrip, I saw Richmond, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Annapolis, and Amish country in southern Maryland.  My studio is now looking very inviting.     

Moonlight Does Not Become Her



Moonlight Does Not Become Her, in progress
Oil Pastel on Sennelier O/P card, 18x22



I've been away from painting and blogging for almost a month.  I have managed to make it to my Painting-at-the-Y on Thursdays where I attack my paper with oil pastels.  When I'm in this mood I use myself as a model; I'm not quite finished with the cigarette and reflections on eyeglasses.

I will add this to my PWTO series (Painting While Ticked Off).  I like it!  Now I feel better.

Behind the Facades

Behind Main Street Facades, South Boston VA
 alkyd, 14x11

I don't remember playing with blocks as a child but I enjoyed playing with my kids' blocks and Lincoln Logs.  I have a trunk filled with blocks in my workshop (and keep buying more); I still play.  This scene reminds me of my blocks of all colors, sizes, and shapes.

I've been away from blogging for a while--it was a hot month, a beloved aunt passed away, and I have a few paintings hanging in a group exhibit at MacCallum More Museum and Gardens in Chase City VA.  I have kept up with reading your blogs; I'll now get back to leaving my comments.

Were The Stars Out That Night?



Childhood in Buffalo Springs VA, acrylic, 18x24

This is all true--I couldn't make this stuff up:

When I was three, I had a pet squirrel.  Whisko Wilkerson was his name.  I traded him to gypsies for a bird; the bird only lived for a few weeks.  The gypsy caravan came through southern Virginia on Rt. 58 about once a year and Dad let them park overnight in front of our country store; we got our palms read and we children were never stolen.

When I was about five, I saw a flying saucer come towards our back yard as I stood near the gate.  I ran into the house screaming; I escaped.  (Okay, it's possible that was one of the days I had watched someone patch an inner tube at the store--I loved the smell of that glue.)  My flying saucer looks a lot like a recessed ceiling light; maybe I was seeing the future.

At six, a calf was born and she became my pet--Pansy.  I used my hair brush on Pansy and I rode on her back.  Before my father studied to became a minister, he was a businessman--he owned the store which was on ten acres, owned several rental farms, was an antique dealer, drove a school bus, and he bought and sold livestock.  HE SOLD PANSY!  I'm sure I cried, but probably quietly, in my room.  About a month later, he hitched the trailer to the car and he brought Pansy home--I'll bet he lost money on that deal.  He told me much later that, as we drove past Pansy's new pasture on the way to church every Sunday, he could feel my feet pressing into the back of his driver's seat and just couldn't take it anymore.  I didn't know I was doing that--I was concentrating on holding my breath and trying not to cry.  

If we're lucky our parents teach us lessons in caring.  Happy Father's Day.

I'm considering adding a few faint stars to the sky (maybe the Virgo constellation for Dad's birthday); when I started this painting Saturday night the sky was starless and gray.  This painting makes me smile and it was great getting back into my studio for four straight days and having real paint under my fingernails again.



Childhood in Buffalo Springs VA (w/stars added)

 Sat. 6/16/12--IMPORTANT UPDATE.  Out of curiosity, I googled "UFOs in 1947" and the results were exciting.  There was a six-week "wave" of reported sightings that year--all over the US.  I only reported my sighting to my parents and, until this blog, never mentioned it to anyone.  Maybe I really did see a flying saucer!!  

Reading Dreams

Untitled, created in SketchbookPro on iPad

Our local newspaper sometimes has an insert called Lake Country Living.  I was surprised to see an article by my blogger friend Celeste Bergin on Page 4.

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning before I could read the article (I often dream of reading newspapers, scientific books, poems, and lawyer stuff).  I remember the title, that it was the left-hand column, half-way down the page.  Had I stayed asleep and actually read the article, it probably would have said that Celeste has worked hard to earn what sounds like the wonderful artist's life--the classes, the shows, the coffee-shops-in-Portland, museum visits, hanging out with other artists.  She has earned the gifts and now enjoys them.

I cannot guess why the article was illustrated with this atrocious gaudy boudoir chair--deep red cushion, white wood with gold paint, curlicues.  I don't think it's Celeste's taste and I don't remember seeing one on Antique Road Show (and that's the way it was facing in my dream newspaper--I would have flipped it).  

Hallie's Cleaning Tips--I have none.  Quentin Crisp said cobwebs soften corners and when you've got a quarter inch of dust, no more accumulates.