Blazing Heat!

"Stonehedge water spout" oil on masonite 8" x 10"

It's been a scorcher these last few days...actually had to turn the A/C on so I didn't turn into a mummy while I was sleeping!  I've been pretty busy through it all, with a local high school student tagging along with me to understand what it would entail to be an artist.  This is some new twist on career counseling/"go to work for a day" that has been developing over the last few years.  This was through Jim Thorpe high school, not my own personal school district, but it was a nice program nonetheless.  She was a very nice girl, but unfortunately, she suffered from seasonal allergies also, so when I took her out into the gardens to paint, we spent the afternoon simultaneously sneezing and getting covered in clouds of pollen...pretty horrible. 

 I went home so covered in the vile stuff, my eyes were nearly swollen shut.  After her teacher picked her up, I jumped into the shower so fast I almost forgot to peel off my coated clothing!  It was a nightmare in that respect (dealing with what Mother Nature chucks at you), but I think that the student enjoyed the relaxing pace of the afternoon, so I suppose it went well in the bigger picture of the day.

I've been preparing for the show I have coming up--framing and registering the paintings, etc.  Even with proper ventilation, my old barn studio gets pretty heated up by midafternoon, so I have to retreat into the cool recesses of either the house or under a tree until the sun goes down...I feel like a vampire!!

Anyway, I've been working alot lately, and feeling pretty good.  I'm looking forward to getting a good deal of work done through the summer, God willing, and just enjoying each lovely season as it comes upon us...

New Painting--

"Sunday afternoon at the tide pool" by Hilary J. England, 24" by 30" oil on canvas

It's been a while since I've posted, and for that, I'm apologize.  I really have suffered over the last weeks with depression, and it's been a hard struggle.  I'm starting to come out of it a bit now...

About this painting:  This was done from several studies at the shore.  I did this in studio, and it was a true battle to get it finished, since I was feeling so poorly, I could barely even pick up my brushes.  I couldn't keep focused on the painting, and wound up smoking a cigarette for every 1/2 hour of time put into it...LOL...not a healthy diversion to say the least.

This painting was done from these studies, but also from a very strong image I had in my mind throughout all of this...this middle aged couple, looking so happy and content, enjoying their Sunday, the rest of the world was away from them...I was an interloper, looking into their bliss...feeling happy for them, feeling content for them...wishing to feel their happiness as well...like looking through the picture window of a storefront.

I hope you enjoy it..I do now that it's done.

New painting

"The Lesser Bridge" by Hilary J England 8" x 10" oil on canvas

Alot has gone on since my last blog--most of it is very personal, so I'll leave it there.  It has affected me very deeply though, and in that respect, it has driven me even further and more frantically to paint, which is actually a pleasant "by product," rather than shrinking into a nonproductive depression and shutting down.

Anyway, the above painting was done at the Hill to Hill bridge in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  It was a very pleasant day, and I was with my Bethlehem group of artists, so there was a nice little gathering.  I kind of wandered off the path and found this little stone footbridge, bathed in sunlight to the left, yet the murky, muddy little creek was completely in shadow from the large, elegant trees that crowded it's narrow banks.  I found the hollow of the little arch somewhat intriguing, from the vantage point of "looking over the shoulder" of a very large tree...which had a lovely array of ground foliage surrounding it, and ivy creeping up and around it...ivy, which turned out to be POISON IVY, which I had plopped myself down in the middle of!!! 

After this realization, I accepted the fact that the damage had already been done, and to switch locations was futile...so I just shrugged it off and went forward with the painting :-)  

So far, no rash...