Christmas Wishes from Clarksville VA

 

(inside greeting)
We're ready for Christmas
with our pretty main street.
There's a tree with lights
and the shop windows are neat.
The decorating committee gave it their most
and wreaths are hanging from every lamp post.

Welcome to Clarksville, dear Mr. Claus.
I tried to be good but I have a few flaws.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I have been AWOL from my blog for a while but I managed to create this Christmas card, get them printed, folded, addressed and in the mail Saturday.  This is a photo taken with my iPad during the summer; then, in my desktop Corel Photo/Paint program, I converted it to a watercolor.  Next, I sent it to my iPad and, using the Procreate app, removed parked cars, painted a nighttime sky with stars, added street lamp lights and wreaths; then painted Santa and the dog.  Text was added in Corel Draw.  (The dog was inspired by Big Ben, a mixed black lab, who was featured on our Lake Country SPCA site last week--he and many others need homes.)  I posted this on FB yesterday and, somehow, this scene touched the hearts of many who live/lived here, and brought back memories.  Some of their comments brought a tear to my eye (it is that time of year).  Clarksville is a beautiful little town, especially, at Christmastime.

 

I wish you a wonderful holiday and I hope to find more time for art and blogging in 2014.

 

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.

Mockingbird

Mockingbird, gouache on Arches, 14x11

Oh My Gouache!  Two paintings in one week; definitely a record for me. 

At the Y yesterday, I painted this from one of my photos stored on the iPad.  When I sat on the front porch several years ago I was constantly eye-balled by a young mockingbird couple; one had a single feather always out of place.  Is this the evil eye?   Purple and yellow?  Why not play with all my colors? 

Easter

My Clarksville VA, created on iPad, SketchBook app

Easter is here so I'm eating blue chicken peeps and my front porch is decorated with yellow wooden ducks.

 

This is one of my first iPad projects from August.  I took a photo of our downtown with my iPad, then removed the moving cars using Corel on my desktop, and sent it back to my iPad.  The photo is one layer; the duck is a second layer.  It's fun making the duck larger (he blocks the lake) or smaller and ducking into the Pizza Pub.

Happy Easter.   

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.

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.

When I Met Harry



Chase City VA, pastel, 16x12

I finally had this framed last week--the 98-percent finished pastel had been lying in my studio since October .  When I showed it to friends, they said, "That's Harry's house."  I asked, "Who the heck is Harry?"

I was one of the artists invited to display a few works at the celebration of MacCallum More Museum and Gardens' listing on the Virginia Landmark Register and on the National Historic Register.  Since it's in Chase City, I set up this painting at the Sunday afternoon event (I also took my iPad and a printed copy of my iPad Bottle painting). 

When I Met Harry

And.......someone fetched Harry!  He said he chose the old mill because it was the most interesting building in Chase City.  Perhaps the building and occupant found each other.

Every local who saw the painting had a great story about the Southside Roller Mill, the water tower, or what they did down by the railroad tracks

MacCallum More is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon; here's a photo from an earlier visit. 

Autumn at MacCallum More Museum and Gardens



He Walked



He Walked, watercolor on arches, 10x12

I picked him up about ten miles outside town.  It was shortly after the 9/11 attack and I had been listening to CNN coverage on my car radio.  I said, "It was terrible what happened in New York."  He said, "I didn't do it." 

He didn't want me to drive him home so he got out of my car at the traffic light in town and began walking west--he had seven miles to go.  Maybe he got another ride; maybe not.

I miss seeing him on the road.  I imagine he still walks but no longer needs his cane and his back is straight.

(My mother taught me that whatever one does on New Year's Day, one does for the rest of the year so I began this painting at 10 p.m. on January 1.)

Shelter



Shelter, acrylic on linen panel, 12x12

Earlier this summer, as I let our dog Willie out for his last pit stop each night, I was delighted to see small birds sleeping in the corners of the porch.  They'd turn their heads, look at me, and tuck themselves back into their corners.   Once, around midnight, the moon had tucked itself into a corner, too.  I made several sketches (below) before painting.  Our street has street lights--rather than shoot them out, I guessed at how the scene might look on a dark cool night, and added the house at the top of the street (actually it's my impression of the house--can't see it from my porch).  I can tell by the light (which needs to be dimmed along with my signature) that my neighbor's home--upstairs, probably at the computer.



1st sketch



2nd sketch

Interesting that I see these columns at least ten times a day and don't know their curves until I paint them.  This is probably the fourth time these columns have appeared in my paintings; one day, I might get past my front porch and paint other streets or towns.

I just re-read The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.  She is so right--the artist or writer begins with a vision; time and materials hound the work; the vision recedes.  At the end, you have a replacement of the vision--a page.  

April on the Front Porch

April on the Front Porch, acrylic on canvas, 30x24

Hallelujah--I think April is 98 percent finished.   I originally blogged about her on May 23 (I should have listened to that voice that was saying "larger.")  After she grew, I felt she needed a throne rather than a metal outdoor chair so I had to visit the thrift shop and look at chairs--all mine are modern.  (Here in southern VA we don't really have indoor furniture on our front porches, but I did have a toilet sitting in the front yard for a while.)  I wanted an old Coke bottle as a vase but mine's gone missing; at midnight, I substituted a piece of van Briggle pottery--that meant getting the ladder and retrieving the vase from a high shelf.  My paintings sometimes become projects and I work through the night. 

I like that April's arms are wing-like and her legs resemble the Colonel's drumsticks and thighs.

When I signed this I was listening to KD Lang and the Reclines; KD was singing "Big Boned Woman."  I imagine April dancing at the Legion Hall.

This is not my first work with a woman and rooster; there was a sculpture 20 years ago--Mystic Woman aka Chick with a Chick (photo below).  She was sold to a sculptor from West Virginia.



terra cotta and white clay, 24" h

 

A Quiet Street

Home, w/c on hot press paper, 24x18

Looks like a Normal Rockwell setting, right? This quiet street in a small town labeled Paradise by realtors will be active for the next six weeks. Town Council elections are coming up--four candidates for three seats. Local elections can be exciting--letters to the editor will fill the two newspapers and porch conversations will be lively.

Home is where the art is, too. I won a contest by coming up with a title for a signed serigraphy monoprint by Don Michael, Jr. My title? Sylvester got Tweety--I saw yellow feathers and blood. Don't worry, Don--the art will look great inside this 1890's house. The interior was gutted and rebuilt in 2004--totally modern inside. Yin & Yang--outside, a cottage; inside, a loft.

About the painting--the Dali-esque tree (this is about half the trunk) is at the top of my street. I have always loved it but it's dying; tree men have pruned, and huge branches have fallen. I will miss seeing it from my kitchen window; I watch crows sitting on it and, sometimes, vultures check out the neighborhood. I had taken this early Spring photo about five years ago--I set up the shot to block all my neighbors' houses. In the painting I eliminated mail boxes, utility poles, and some driveways. I'm still playing with the watercolor sticks. I had bought hot press paper for drawing and thought "Why not just do a large painting?" Here's why. I'm not a neat painter--I spatter, don't follow any of the lines I sketch, and I need more practice at "lifting."
I say "Whoops" often.

(I actually like this painting better cropped and upside-down.)