The Day After

 

'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the town

gifts were being returned and prices marked down.

Not interested in shopping, I took a walk by the lake

and there I spied Santa--he was taking a short break.

He still wore his hat but had ditched that red suit.

I waved and he nodded, then off he did scoot.

After a sleepover in Clarksville, he's off to The Pole.

In a year he'll be back and gifts he will dole.

     (If you're good!)

  - - - -

It's been a rough year. First I had a problem with neuropathy--burning legs, elbow pain, numbness, even pain in the eyeballs. I'm not diabetic; I learned that it was caused by a prescription--statins--which I'd been taking for years. I stopped taking them and the burning/pain/cramping stopped; I felt great for a few weeks in July--so good that I moved the summer furniture from the workshop back porch to the deck. That's when the tick must have latched onto the back of my knee. In August I was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. I finished four months of antibiotics a few weeks ago and felt like myself again. Two weeks later our dog Willie began limping. He came home Monday after surgery on his OTHER knee and bladder surgery for stones. What a year--a lost year.

  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. And here's to a Happy 2015!

O Brother

O Brother Bob No. 4

I had a photo of my brother, the collector--taken about three years ago--with a flash (not a good idea).  I thought I'd do some quick practice portraits with Tombow markers.  Unlike my iPad apps, there are no undo or erase buttons.  This No. 4 took forever because I really wanted just ONE to be recognizable.  The picture behind him is a selfie he sent me as a joke when he added another camera to his collection--he and I never throw anything away so he should know better.

O Brother Bob No. 3

No. 3 includes a few of the many paintings he has hanging at his house; however, the woman in the actual painting doesn't really look like she's ready to attack.  Behind him is my recollection of a painting by K.A. Colorado, a very nice artist Bob brought by for a visit in the Fall.  The book is a big, beautiful one on Francis Bacon, a gift from Bob to me.

O Brother Bob No. 2

Bob is a book collector/seller and gave me some titles of his favorite books (and a few I made up).  I screwed up his right eye so he's being socked by his Blue Boy sculpture (which is actually about four feet tall).  Okay, the punch works on several levels because he was Mom's favorite child!

O Brother No. 1

So this was the first, drawn upside-down quickly with the markers.  When I turned it upright, I thought, "Oh, Lordy--he looks three sheets in the wind."  This one was based on the actual photo--he's sitting in front of a beautiful hand-painted screen--filled with flowers, with the modern lamp just behind him.

Bob is one of those truly nice guys; I'm lucky to have him as a brother and neighbor.  I tried Tombow markers because I admired the work of Jean Spitzer.  My work is zilch compared to hers, but it was fun.  These are 14x10 and on hot press w/c paper.

Sundays in Southern Virginia

After Church, created in "Paper" on iPad

This has been on my list of things to paint for about ten years.  I thought I'd try a simple sketch using pencils in this app; it's done from memory or imagination--and it took days to finish.  It was done, I thought; then I spotted Dad's Bible on my book shelf.  It wasn't black like I'd drawn but a deep red.  I had given it to him--that got changed; then the color of the chair cushion had to be changed.  The made-up chairs (the one on the left looks like the type we had in our store) are in the grass because I thought a baseboard, floor and rug under them would be too many horizontal lines.  Mom probably wouldn't like this because her shoes and pocketbook absolutely had to match.

Even before my dad studied for the ministry, Sundays were busy.  Mom fried the chicken (one of us kids stole the liver) and we went off to church for Sunday School and preaching.  We came home to "dinner" of fried chicken with gravy and biscuits, of course, lots of fresh vegetables and dessert.  Afternoons were spent napping, pitching horseshoes (I'm still a champ), or visiting relatives.  After a light "supper," we went back to Church.

Cow Painting

Cow with a Green Earring, oil on cradled board, 11x14
based on photo by Susan Marks Dalton

My friend Susan posts great photos of their southern Virginia farm on FaceBook; I asked if I could use some for paintings--she agreed.  Okay, so her trees weren't violet and there wasn't a dead one in the foreground, and the grass wasn't golden, and there were four cows--not just one (this is based on the photo).  I liked this one who had delicately picked up her left front leg.  How do those little legs support so much cow?

 

Lots of paint on this one--it may never dry, and I'm not quite finished.

 

 

I don't know the breed of cow--red angus?--I like her color; the same color as my hair when I was younger.  AND my parents let my friend and me paint my bedroom lavender when we were about 10 years old.  We used lots of paint and signed our names behind the headboard.  Holy Cow--this is probably another self-portrait.

 

Another Gouache

August on Buggs Island, gouache on Arches, 12x12

Another Thursday, another gouache from a photo taken several years ago.  I now have a folder on my iPad, "Painting Subject," and this photo was among them--a guest who was working on his tan.  He'd make a great model but he lives about 400 miles away.  I like people of substance; maybe I'll try this in oil.

Friends and family don't usually look at my blog; he would recognize his bracelet.

I posted this earlier but the photo did not display--maybe Google thinks it's a nude.  It's a puzzle to me, but I'm trying again.

Still Standing--oil painting



Still Standing, oil (alkyd) on linen, 12x12

Since it was cold and icy, I slid out to my studio for the last couple of days.  This tree is down by my dock; I always stare up at it for a while before walking back up to the house.  I don't know if it's still alive--it's surrounded by other trees and I can't tell if there's any green at the very top; there's none on the lower branches.  I thought it was a cedar; now I'm not sure--the trunk is rather hairy.  I painted this from memory; the photo is a bit different.  I like that this is stark naked against the cold sky.

Maybe I should title it reforestation.  

Sketches for Still Standing

During the past year, I've thought of the tree often.  I like the one on the left--Crayola crayons on card stock.  Top right is hydrus watercolor, and lower right is, I believe, oil (it was painted from the photo). 

Inktense Pencils and Hydrus Watercolors



Low Lake Level in the Cove, inktense pencils on clayboard, 5x7

Like everyone else, I hate finishing and framing.  Two of my paintings--The Blue Man and Caution--were finished some time ago and just sitting on my easels.  I've read that watercolors on Ampersand aquaboard can be varnished and framed without glass, but what about inktense pencils or hydrus watercolors on aquaboard?  I decided to test with this small drawing of maybe a willow tree behind my neighbor's house (sometimes it's in the water--sometimes not).  This is from a photo I took as Willie and I checked out the cove; I liked the colors--the orange and yellow parts are usually filled with blue water.

A Walk IN the Cove January 2013, photo

Two weeks ago we actually walked IN the cove behind my house (though I do have a fear of quicksand); it was 70 degrees that afternoon and not much water--my dock was on dirt.  I looked for arrowheads and found a couple of smooth round rocks.  I considered taking my metal detector down but it rained the following day--and for several more days.  The Lake's back--and it's a 50,000-acre one.  I can see the water from my upstairs window and I don't need to walk down; the weather has turned cold.

Hot Feet, hydrus watercolor on clayboard, 6x6

Just a sketch to test the varnish.  I suppose I could have just painted squares or lines but what fun would that have been? 

Okay, today I gave everything several coats of varnish.  I set up a varnishing station in the workshop bathroom--covered the toilet with large pieces of cardboard and turned on the exhaust fan--ran in and sprayed; ran to the porch door and breathed.  Nothing disappeared and it passed my Q tip test--dipped it into water, then rubbed the painting--no color came off and no lines were smeared.  I used Golden archival satin varnish.  

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.

Pest Control



Pest Control, size variable, iPad screenshot

Another summer, more bug spray.  My husband has armed himself, and all the bugs who wander onto our front porch get zapped--he thinks there are no good bugs.  I worry about the birds.   I'm a bug-rescuer; if I find one inside, I carefully take it outside to freedom.  Now I wonder if I'm sending them to the great beyond--I'll have to take them out the back door.

This is not a portrait of my husband; I don't know who it might be--looks a bit like a man I worked with many years ago.  I wanted to check out skin tones and figure painting on my iPad.  Now I need to learn how to move the painting from the iPad to my computer without including the little circle that's part of the screenshot from Sketchbook (and you probably thought it was a bugbite).

**Afterthought.  If I downsize the drawing on the iPad with my fingers, I can eliminate the little circle.  Aha!

iPad Screenshot

iPad Sunrise, in progress

Okay, I'm addicted to my iPad.  I looked at the inktense drawing I made last week (still unfinished) and painted this in SketchBookX, a free app I downloaded this morning.  This is what I worked on during Art at the Y today--I demo'd and said, "No clean up and no odor."  Neither this painting nor my inktense drawing looks like the actual photograph.  SketchBookX is a bit like the Corel Paint programs I've played with for years.  I didn't use layers here and I've never used them in Corel--not that I don't like them, I don't know what the heck they are.  LifeArtist has been working with the iPad for a while--she gives me tips.

This is my first ever screenshot--can't believe it worked.  It took many steps to get this painting posted.  I emailed the screenshot to my verizon account on our HP computer.  It was HUGE and a PNG; I opened it in Corel, made it smaller, converted it to a JPEG, and saved it to Picasa; from there I posted to my blog.  Whew!

I promise not to post every day!  These iPad works really save on storage and framing costs. 

                                                                             

Tied Up



Tied Up, Ink, 4x3

I've been tied up with things other than art and blogging for a while--back problems, a bit of yard work, made some business cards for a friend, got a hair cut, attended an art show opening, etc., etc.  Tomorrow I will begin gathering papers for taxes.  I will also make time to visit blogs and leave comments.

Sunrise, inktense drawing on w/c paper, 6x6

I did manage to work on this drawing at the Y on Thursday.  I had nothing in mind so my friend Terry Smith Denton offered her photos.  She evidently walks very early--like at dawn--and her farm abuts Corp property and the lake.  This was just a portion of one photo.  I haven't finished my trees and I'm not sure it looks like a lake.  The lake (known by two names--Bugg's Island Lake and Kerr Lake) looks quiet but a 143-pound catfish was caught last year.

The above photos were taken with my New iPad (hard to believe), a belated birthday gift from my husband.  He inadvertently ordered two and I convinced him we needed both--one for him; one for me.  They were delivered by UPS on Friday so I've spent the weekend setting up two iPads. Apple was helpful each time I screwed up.  I've read the manual and know how to use the keyboard now and I've played with the camera and made videos of my dog Willie.  My husband has watched a movie on his--he was aiming for DaVinci Code but accidentally rented The Descendants--for a month. I haven't bought any art apps yet but I've looked.  Any recommendations?

Here are a couple of self-portraits using the iPad.        

iPad Photo Booth--Thermal photo

iPad Photo Booth--Mirror photo (my favorite) 

Circling the Thing Called Art



Pencil Sketch of Dave, 5x5



My sketchbook is always handy but until three weeks ago I had never sketched in public.  At an auto shop I got my chance; sitting across from me was a great model, my husband Dave.  Both our Jeeps were at the dealer (54 miles away) for repairs.  Dave's not very patient--he sat for a few minutes, left before I sketched his feet, and returned to a different seat.

Corel'd Dave

I recently bought Corel Draw Graphic Suite X5 (an upgrade because Suite 12 didn't work with Windows 7).  I wanted to play with digital paint brushes and colors so I tried scanning the sketch into Corel--the scanner didn't work.  We now have a new printer/scanner.  Everything's working, thanks to a good friend, Sam Caparatta.  Sam and Dave spent lots of time talking with "Tech."  We bought a Windows 7 computer in January and it has taken me 10 months and a lot of cussing just to get back to where I was last year.  I'm not sure this is progress; it's more like treading water and trying not to drown.   

I took a 3-hour linoleum block printing class at
Convergence Art Guild, a real pleasure, taught by my sister-in-law Mary Wilkerson.  My
subject was the chair next to my work
station.  I added a cat the following day, Halloween, and only needed three bandaids. 



Two-legged Chair, linoleum block, 7x5



I hope to do more linoleum block printing.  My problem is I like the block itself--looks like bas relief , and I'm hesitant to cut pieces away for printing with more than one color.  I just read THE COMPLETE PRINTMAKER, a book I've had for years; printmaking is definitely interesting.



Terry, charcoal drawing, 24x18

I attempted to draw my artist friend Terry during Thursdays at the Y Art.  The easel contraption stood still; Terry didn't.  When she appeared too thin, I took the easy way and made her head smaller.  She said she had always thought she had a pinhead--ha.  She was wrong when she said she lacked a sense of humor--we laugh a lot.  

Longwood Park

I feared I had missed the autumn colors so I took my camera along when I voted yesterday; luckily, I wasn't too late. 



Kinderton Golf Club



Clarksville Marina--3 blocks from my house





End of 4th, next to Marina--my favorite.  Geese patrol this knoll during the summer.

And I'm still playing with my Winsor and Newton watercolors--nothing worth posting yet. 

Away from Art (Almost)

Refrigerator Arrangement, found heads, copper & vases

I've been away from my studio/workshop for a couple of weeks. A new refrigerator meant cleaning out the old one--a dirty job. I found pre-cooked bacon with a use before date of 2005. These three cool guys have always had the spot on top of the refrigerator--from the utility room, they peer around the kitchen doorway and keep an eye on the front door. Their heads bob in rhythm to a heavy wash load or the stereo. They got baths and, while trying to get them in the perfect spot and position, I accidentally leaned against my new water dispenser--I got bathed from the waist down with cold water.

My Town (pop. 1,400)

Guests (relatives) from NJ and MD arrived last week so a boat ride was in order--I had not been on the boat in three years. It's a long walk down the hill to the dock (I had to make a second trip up and down for the key) and an even longer walk up the hill when we return. I sometimes forget just how beautiful it is on Buggs Island Lake and how fortunate we are to live in this beautiful small town.

We did not fish for the 65-pounders but I spotted goldfish clouds.

http://lakecountry-live.com

Project: Clean Out the Workshop/Studio

My workshop is well-equipped with heat, an air-conditioner, a bath room and a back porch (with a view of the lake). To save energy during the cold weather, I painted in the upstairs bedroom. Now I need to get my supplies moved back to the workshop. This may take a while because--thanks to my accumulation gene--there is barely space to walk and I got wider during Winter.