World Wide Paintout

This is the weekend that plein air painters all over the world paint "together." Because of the time zones, it's like a wave of painting going on for several days. Some of the New Hampshire Plein Air painters met yesterday at Twin Bridge Park in Merrimack. Baboosic Brook runs near the park; right now, it's blasting through, as the remnants of storms are still pouring tons of water all over New England. I set up right near the first bridge, looking up the brook. The water was golden-brown, probably from the tannin in leaves that soaked in the brook upstream. It's 9 x 12, oil on panel; I still have a way to go on this one. (That's Clinton painting on the other side of the brook.)

Relief in Relief

I had started this woodcut before my brother died; working on it afterward helped a lot. I was doing something creative, but, as I had already started it, the work was mostly craft. This woodcut, titled New Dawn, is one of 60 by different artists that have been created as a fundraiser for the victims of the Japan tsunami. Barbara Mason, of the Baren Forum (http://www.barenforum.org/), an on-line, relief-technique print forum, started the ball rolling. The prints will be sold both in portfolios and singly. There will be several exhibitions of the prints, the first at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon August 4-18. You can see the other prints here: http://www.barenforum.org/japan/index.html. The title of the exhibition is Relief in Relief, which applied to my making the print as well as to the focus on Japan.

I took some photos of the work in progress; I'll post them later. The size of the image is 8.5" x 6" and is printed in 5 colors on Rives lightweight paper.

Another Goodbye

This morning, my dear brother Jack died. We fought a lot as kids (he was a tease; I was crabby), but became the best of friends in our teenage years. He was a fabulous cook, a cabinetmaker, an organ builder and art lover, but most of all he was a great family man. Anne, his wife of 46 years and their three kids were the center of his life. I loved him and will miss him like crazy. Here's a picture of Jack as a kid in Alaska; he had just picked a bunch of weeds for our Mom.

Goodbye Patches

Yesterday, Patches, our elderly, wonderful, good-tempered doggie died. He was a handsome dalmation-collie cross who had just turned 17. Though the last couple of years were somewhat difficult, Patches had a good life. He liked to work, supervising everything from bringing in wood for the woodstove to keeping the deer, woodchucks and bears at bay while I worked in the garden. He imagined that his favorite dinner would be squirrel, if only he could have caught one. The kids liked to get him to shake "hands," then toss and catch a biscuit that was put on his nose. Besides all this, he was a really good, cooperative model. Tomorrow I'll post some artwork that I've done using his image. Meanwhile, here are some photos of him. Goodbye and thank you, Patches; you were a great friend.

Garden Time!

Well, time to think about the garden, anyway. I've been scanning seed catalogs to see what would be fun to plant this year (not yet, though; it's snowing at the moment!). Recently, I came across this little (6" x 8") oil painting of a cabbage I did a couple of years ago and hung it in the kitchen to remind me of the summer garden. I'll post some more old photos next time.

Some History

My turn has come to look through the family photos. It's been fun reliving some old times and since some of the pics are (distantly) art-related, I thought I'd post some here over the next few weeks. This photo was taken from the porch at my godfather's place in Rockport, Massachusetts. We stayed there off and on when I was a kid, sleeping on the floor in the tiny apartment. You can see the iconic Motif #1 in the background. The building we stayed in is still there; you can see it in the photo (on the right ((not the far right)), with the outside stairs) that I took last year when Steve and I went to Rockport for Paul Goodnow's opening at the Rockport Art Association. Motif #1 is still there, too, sort of. The original was destroyed in a storm years back; the town then built a replica. It's way too straight, of course. Maybe it will gain some charm over time. Speaking of charm, that serious-looking kid in the last photo is me, in my "arty" skirt, standing on the porch with the sun in my eyes. I was eight. The lady is my mom and the kid is my baby brother Billy.

About Time

It's been awhile, plus those hornworms are pretty ugly, so here goes with something I hope is better. I have a few things in McGowan Fine Art's Love, Lust & Desire show; here are two of them. Backside Bouquet is a small (8" x 8") oil on panel of a flower arrangement that was on the table at a friend's wedding. I had painted the same flowers from the front with a lighter background earlier, thus the odd title. The other painting is a close-up watercolor (about 10" x 7") of an amaryllis I have that has bloomed about 12 years in a row. Right now, it's in sleep mode. One of my prints is in this year's Prints of the Year show. Info on both shows is at right. One of my New Year resolutions is to -um- blog more often. In a couple of days, I'm off for a few days of painting the snow in Vermont. I'll post again when I get back. Really!