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.

 

Cultivation

Cultivation, oil on canvas board, 16x20

                                In the future not too distant

                                I will definitely need an assistant.

 

                                In the back I'm growing one.

                                He needs water, he needs sun.

 

                                Arms are sprouting, one eye's opening.

                                He'll have a brain--that's what I'm ahoping.

 

                                When he's ripe among the rose mallow

                                 I'll probably need a large wheelbarrow.

 

I got new oil paints; it's been about thirty years since I've painted with regular oils--they're nice and buttery.  On an old primed canvas board I tried them out.  A head shape on the lower right; then what?  I thought of giving him a dog's short compact body and a long leash.  I thought of having a torso on a spring--maybe several.  Yellow rubber boots popped into my head.  Someone would be watering a planted torso; that would require a hose.  Wild rose mallows are blooming alongside my driveway so they were added along with the ivy.  Being from the South, a painting like this requires a story; I had to make one up so I made it into a poem.  (I might have watched too many Twilight Zones when I was young.)

 

There is a painting by de Chirico of a torso and yellow bananas; it's in THE ART BOOK.  I suspect that triggered the thought of yellow boots.  Today I googled de Cherico--interesting artist; I think he inspired surrealism.  I am also reminded now of Gaugin's leaves strewn around some of his portraits. 

 

A guest is arriving next weekend, an old friend who's a psychologist--I should probably keep this painting under wraps.

 

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). 

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.

On My Easel

Title not yet chosen, 20x16 cradled panel

I've been working on this oil painting for a couple of weeks; I'm as slow as molasses in February.   Mostly, I sit in my comfortable chair and wonder what to do next--and I've eaten all the snacks that were stashed in the workshop.

Of course, there will be a logical (to me) explanation of this when I post the finished painting. 

My Moss is Greener



In the Mossy Woods, oil on panel, 16x2              Renamed The Soft Heart



I like the painting/I hate the painting--can't decide. It's a bit maudlin; yet, I suspect Garry Trudeau's Far Side bears are lurking behind the trees. I've read that green should be avoided in paintings, but the moss in my back yard is definitely green.

Three thoughts occurred to me when I was painting (& it's not quite finished). First, everything is/was alive except the figure. Second, my favorite playground was the mossy woods. Third, some of us never got past getting teary-eyed over every injured or dead animal.

Ah. Surely, nothing dies but something mourns"......Byron.

The deer skull was rescued from a local SPCA thrift shop where I volunteered. I bought the figurine from a MD thrift shop (a volunteer there, too) 20 years ago; she reminded me of myself as a child, a shy redhead. She's crudely heavy and sloppily painted. Unlike me, she can look in two directions at once.

Tabernacle Road in Winter



Tabernacle Road in Winter, oil on gessoed w/c paper, 18x24



I don't normally paint local landscapes; everything is usually just green. For ten years I have passed this scene and just noticed it last Sunday--I liked the farm on the hill--so I went out with my camera Monday. Seventy-mile-an-hour winds and no sun; I held onto my camera as I held onto the flagpole at The Tabernacle. Everyone blew their horns, a form of greeting here in SOVA. (Whoever you were, I couldn't wave back.) I rode up to the farm--it's abandoned--the house, barn, and outbuildings are falling down. Sad. This was an area of tobacco farms and textile mills--beautiful country with rolling hills, creeks and rivers.

I used the photo as reference but much got eliminated and even tombstones got moved. My original pastel sketch reminded me of Thomas Hart Benton.

hmm..........Thursday was my birthday and I was painting a graveyard.

Man & Lure



Man & Lure, oil, 12x12 canvas panel

This is alla prima (about two hours) and first time trying water-soluble oils.

I don't know this person--if he were younger, he might be the guy who waxed my car last year. This was pure play. My son's fishing gear is stored in my workshop--instead of a shirt, this guy got a fishing pole and a fluffy yellow lure.  I managed to avoid the hooks.

I may add hair and eyebrows later--maybe not.  Maybe a hat!