Clouds and water

"Clouds and water" by Hilary J. England, 8" x 16" oil on canvas, 2016

So, this constant rain and entrapment has gotten me depressed.  I usually like the rain, but after a very stressful month, and so much to do outside, being caged up for days on end finally got the better of me, and I have been feeling down and out.

I decided to just do a little, limited palette study based on some photos I had from India, of Lake Vembanad, and try to think of happier things.  It was monsoon, and there was constant rain initially, but then, it cleared away, and you could literally see it moving off into the distance.  I hope this current cloud cover that has become stuck over our area decides to move on out of here too.  I could use a few days of sunshine.  It's either always sunny, or days and days of rain...can't we have a nice happy medium??

So, that's my gripe about the weather.  I'll go stick that gripe into the garbage pail along with others ones that have zero ways of being changed hahaha.  And no, I'm not traveling away to avoid some rainy days...those adventures will come later.

:-) enjoy~

Busy, busy, busy!

"Stormy sky" by Hilary J. England, oil on canvas, 8" x 11"

I've been very busy lately, and also, had an extremely hectic month.  Three car accidents, one with injuries, two without, last one involving us getting hit-and-run by a drunk driver on Memorial Day weekend, who thankfully was eventually caught.  Not a good month for my mind, getting frazzled every other day with serious car accidents, or for our wallets.  But, the old superstition is that bad things come in "threes," and there you have it. If I want to put a positive spin on it, it was good things.  No one died, or was permanently injured, thank God.  So, it's the old "half-full, half-empty" deal.  I will look at it as half-full!

I've also been very busy with a time-consuming class, and lots of work from that.  But, that's fine, and thankfully, it will be wrapping up in a little over a week, so I look forward to the month off I have coming after it's finished.  I will certainly need some time to just relax and get caught up on some "me" time.

I feel good today, despite having the worst allergies right now, my eyes are swollen up like I have pink-eye, LOL.  Claritin won't touch these bad boys!  So, I will just deal with the condition...usually the month of June, for some reason, is worst for me and my allergies for the first two weeks of it, then it just goes away.  So, I know it's just a matter of time.

I am packing and getting ready to head back to Europe in a little over two weeks from today.  Nice and the French Riviera.  I am very much looking forward to my three weeks I will be there.  I am doing an artist's residency with a gallery out of Naples, Italy, with a satellite gallery in Nice, and the apartment they are putting me up in is literally right on the beach, so I should bronze up nicely!!  I just have to make sure I pack lots of sunscreen so I don't get burned to a crisp.  It's an art form in itself, trying to get the right balance of sun.  Unbelievably, I burn SO bad.  But, if I get a very gradual exposure, I do get nice color.  Very strange for someone who is has some olive tone in there.

I plan on a four day excursion into Italy--one day in Milan, two in Rome, and one in Naples.  I am all arranged for it, with a room near Vatican City for those days.  Having never been in Rome, I am extremely excited at the prospect of it.  Rome and Roman history has always been fantastic and mysterious to me, the beauty, power, and brutality of it, along with the longevity of it's survival has always made me think that it was the supreme civilization of all, even to this day.  But, that is my opinion, and I'm sure everyone else has their own idea of it.

So, I am carefully packing, because I don't want to be lugging a lot of crap around with me, and have to also take into account my painting supplies which will be stowed inside my luggage (and takes up probably half the suitcase).  I'm only bringing one large suitcase (Yes Jilly, the Life Raft!) along with my carry-on (which is just my laptop and computer/business gear) so I have to pack very carefully since I will be gone for three weeks, and I can only bring the bare necessities.  But, as long as I have access to laundry, I'm good.  It's all about roaming and painting, and sunbathing, and mingling.  It will be awesome.

Well, I am trying to finish up a new painting in my series, which I am determined to do this weekend, all other things be darned.  I want to bring it to Myron for Monday, or Thursday the latest.  His opinions are very important to me, and I would like the peace of mind to have a critique before heading overseas.  So, I'm out on this quiet, rainy, afternoon, and I am looking forward to getting it done.  It's time.

Ciao!

New painting



"Too soon/Mort laisse un chagrin d'amour que personne ne peut guérir, l'amour laisse un souvenir personne ne peut voler"
by Hilary J. England, 2011
Oil on canvas, 24" x 26" x 2"

This was a hard painting to paint.  After the procession of deaths I have experienced over the last several years, I felt moved to chronicle the absolutely abyssmal pain that follows these experiences, and how we flounder and feebly attempt to process the enormity of the losses. 

For several months, I was languishing in a sort of limbo--my mind refused to move forward, but it also refused to look back.  It stubbornly resisted all thoughts of anything painful, as you would attempt to fight off a mugger.  I felt this apprehensive, breathless sort of waiting...as if something more was going to happen.  And, sometimes it did.

After several funerals this year, several last year, etc., and etc., I was a bit on edge, and just plain sick and tired of people I know and care about kicking the bucket...not very eloquent, but there it is. 

I am thankful at this year's end for all I have, and all that were given to me, for the people, places and gifts that make me appreciate life.  I mourn those who have departed this life before their time, or even, if it was their time, it's never good time for those who are left behind. 

In three days time, Christmas Eve,  Nicole will have left us a year ago.  Casey is gone a year as of December 15th, Dan died on President's day, Matt on Memorial day.  Several more have gone on since the beginning of this year, such as Lori at Thanksgiving time, even Larry who went at St. Patrick's day...we have all the holidays covered, not to be sick or sarcastic...and although I'm well aware that death is part of life, it seems once you open the floodgates, it's a never ending trickle. 

I remember 14 years ago when my Grandmother died, and it was the most enormous loss I had suffered to that point in my life.  Here I was a women in her mid-twenties, and I had been lucky enough to not have been touched by death in a major way until that point.  I knew in my heart of hearts Pandora's box had been opened with her death, and we had several more, back to back, all in a succession.  It seemed to grow quiet for several years, and then, again, all at once. 

So, this painting is my way of trying to work out the enormous love that is carried away with the departing souls, and the enormous hole that is left behind in the hearts of those who love them.

Sand in the pants

"Storm over sand dune " study oil on canvas, 8" x 10" by Hilary J England

I had a nice day at the beach.  I've always liked Sandy Hook, since it brings back memories of my childhood...funny, since I've been going there my whole adult life, but I never really brought my kids there...I was always too afraid to be alone with them at the beach, afraid they would drown, and I worked so much when they were little, and lived far away from my family, so I never had anyone to go with.  Sad, really.

They are more "lake" types, since that's where I would always bring them.  The lake was calm and safe, with no rip currents, no mysteries of the deep.  The beach was "off limits" since the water was wild, and the kids were daring, and this scared me.  I remember once, when Noelle was about two, she wandered away from my beach blanket at Jones Beach, when it was packed wall-to-wall with people.  I ran searching for her, blanket to blanket, and then, down to the edge of the shore, where for a moment I watched the rough surf pounding against the sand, and felt a thrill of horror like one I've never felt before or since...I just felt completely helpless, thinking in that vast, violent mass of water, my baby could be lost inside of it, and I couldn't get to her.  I just stood on the shore and cried.  The lifeguards found her wandering with a little group of children close to the snack stand.  She apparently saw the kids playing with their sand toys and ran off after them.  I never brought the kids back to the beach again.

Yesterday though, the beach was extra quiet, the water still and gentle.  The shore has a steep drop-off, so I respect that I have to be cautious.  The day was so hot, it was hell trying to cross the quarter mile of sand to access the North beach.  I can now say I feel pity for anyone who has to cross a desert.  What an ordeal...I literally thought my feet would have blisters on them.

The weather held out until about 5 pm, and then a terrific storm came rolling in.  I got to capture a good deal of it before we were kicked off the beach, and as Providence would have it, the second we opened the door to the car, the rain started.  Talk about perfect timing.

So, I hope you enjoy my painting study of "Storm over the sand dune." I was only working with four colors and titanium white, so it was as basic and to the heart of it as I can get it.  I'm looking forward to hitting up some more Shore points very soon, and getting right back into that ocean! ♥

Frozen fingers

It's been brutally cold, and will likely get even colder in the overnight--but, I am prepared!  I have been hauling my wet paintings, and palettes into my office in the main part of the house, so that the paint doesn't get "funny" with the frosty temps.  This is not really a bother when I see the flipside of the coin--thick, clotty paint, and frustration.  No thanks!

I am about half way through my new painting, and it's moving along at a really good pace.  I also have two smaller paintings going, but these are really just "exercise."  I like to paint little still life paintings, quick studies, just because.  They are cathartic little brain candies...kind of like knitting!

I wasn't able to get into the City today, as planned, so tomorrow is the goal.  The curator for the gallery I was going to meet wasn't able to make it today--she's a sweetie, and I know she is very busy, always on the go putting stuff together, so this didn't ruffle my feathers at all.  Tomorrow works better anyway...

All in all, it was a good, productive day--the karma was good, the brain juices flowing...hoping to keep the groove going over the next several days and get all the work done~

So, that's that for now, and off to enjoy the chilly evening with some dinner, and a good, old flick!

Arghhhh!!

Sometimes a painting is just a pleasure, and you sail through it on a calm sea, completely in tune with your brush, and it is such a triumph.  This painting I'm working on is not. 

I can understand that not all paintings will be as mentioned above--if they were, we would never grow as artists.  I had to come into the warm and take a breather, since this new painting is giving me a fit.

It started off as usual, but now that I've hit the middle ground, it just isn't "gelling."  The eyes are staring through me rather than at me, and since I'm working in such a high key, the midtones are completely gone, so I have to create my own three dimensional visual "bridge" that really isn't there...that's called improvising, and if it isn't done right, because there are no perceptual visual cues for me to go on, it changes the dimensions of the face...so I'm walking a very fine line. 

My plan of attack is usually to start working on another area of the painting when I get stuck.  I usually walk back about 10 or 15 feet, and look at as a whole, and see what needs to be adjusted, and get to it.  Today, I woke up feeling yucky, it was cold out and I wasn't tolerating it well, and the face, which is one of the main composition components of the painting was just glaringly annoying me, the tones were wrong, the dimensions off, and too many fussy little things going on too early in the painting,  so I went berserk and just basically painted out the whole thing--got rid of all details, and started again with big design components...

So now I'm in here...feeling crabby, and taking a breather.  We've had a row, my painting and I, so now I need to be away from it and sulk for a while.  Soon, I will go outside and make up with it, but just not now.  I need to clear my head and get warm ;-)

Yes, I know it sounds psycho, and maybe to an outsider it is, but to me, it's how I operate and communicate to the Muse...sometimes we are friends, sometimes not.  It's a very real thing, and once you leave your "zone," or can't find your way in, it's a problem.  So, I'll clear the head a while, another cup of coffee...

Where I'm at

I guess I've been doing too much thinking again...I really try to avoid that, but it's a constant battle...especially when it comes to my art, and Art in general. 

Of course, I have more than my fair share of the requisite self loathing and the mental chaos that generally accompanies that, but I have chosen to corral that, to reign it into the manageable rather than the debilitating, and with that, stick to benign subject matter, and go from there.  Kind of like sticking your toe into a pool to test the waters rather than just jumping in...and finding it to be be boiling or freezing cold.

Initially, I swore off of painting people, since as a bartender for many years, I found I began to loathe the human race, and all of the insanity that surrounded us.  The chaotic karma that came off of people in general tainted me like a drop of poison in a martini...initially the martini felt and tasted good, then it turned to death.   I stuck to landscapes, in the manner of a person that would knit or garden...a very lovely distraction, where I didn't have to have a true deep emotional investment...yet after a while, I did start having that slant, that bent, that initial taste of blood, and then inevitably, I hungered for more.

I found that I couldn't stay away from the emotional investment, like a cat with a mouse.  In this case, I see myself as the mouse, and not the cat.  The emotional attachment and hunger for more stalked me...it lurked in the background waiting to pounce at any given moment...and so, I began to cave in in small increments, a series of small compromises.  At first, I would only paint people at a very far distance, then, with no discernable features, then, only intimate features of those I love, and then, like a drug addict who finally can restrain themselves no longer, I just blasted it all to pieces and went ballistic and didn't care.

My thoughts are, now that the glass menagerie is in shards and splinters, I must be honest with myself, and accept that my period of isolation is over.  So, where do I stand?

I had aligned myself with the Impressionists in a sort of fantasy of thought.  I loved their dreamy use of paint and color, and I longed for their Bohemian "innocence" with a nostalgia I had no vested interest in.  So, as I painted away...I was living in a protective coccoon--trying to keep safe my last shreds of humanity, which the rest had been stripped away, layer by layer, by the world itself. 

But, in going away to nurse my wounds, like most wounds, if they are not mortal, those wounds recover.  Now, I realize, I must choose which road to travel. 

I would say I most align myself with Social Realism, except for one glaring problem.  I am NOT A LEFTIST, NOR A COMMIE, etc.  I feel that the LEFT has become the new enemy of the people, in a sanguine way.  They try to appear to champion the little guy, all the while despising him.  It's like sugar coating a cyanide capsule. 

So, what genre am I, a person who is certainly a "little person" (and I mean more than just stature), who paints the perspectives of the little people, and lives the life of an average Joe?  I am going to be bold and break rank here, and still say I am a Social Realist.

I am painting and recording the lives of Average Joes in our Middle Class, from their perspective, not from an Elitist one.  Not from a position of disdain masquerading as concern, but from an indifferent point of view as a person who is in the barrel with the rest of the squirming masses.  Not looking down, but looking around.  One who knows.  One who is here in the midst...not one who must foray out at night in disguise, to see what it's like to be "one of them."

And so, here's where I'm at.

Boiling cauldron!

"The Sand Bar" by Hilary J England

I am tired of the politics of art.  I don't want this to be a platform for a raging rant, but I'm so sick of the hypocrisy...

Back in the "dark ages," the Salon refused to show work that wasn't cookie cutter, exactly the traditional style of painting that all artists were forced to adhere to, and in essence, we've gone back to that standard.  Many galleries and reps want either the total garbage of "abstraction" in which it's more hot air and hype than it is any form of art, or the boring, restrained, constipated forms of realism that you get tired just looking at them...thinking, if this is the smug, bland world these people live in, I'm happy to be insane.

So, there it is...we're back to the traditions of the Salon.  If you do something that falls outside of these two genres, the elitist wanna be intellectuals look down their nose for fear of change...change that will rock the boat, or expose the hypocrisy they've grown to embrace.  Sickening indeed.

So, that's my rant.  I'm done with it...sorry for the impolite outburst!!

New painting!

Incredible lightness of being...yea right! Well, a new painting is born!  It was a grueling weekend, with misbehaved teens, a fiasco of a drawing marathon, and raw nerves....I ALMOST drove to LaGuardia ready to set out for Taiwan or New Zealand, or wherever my Visa and my visa would take me!  Almost...

The drawing marathon was pretty damned funny in hindsight...my day started off with my dog disappearing thanks to M's brain amnesia, a faulty ATM that nearly ate my card, heavy traffic, bad directions, 3 hours on the road for a 45 minute trip, and that was just getting to the marathon...once there, there was no parking, the drawing rooms were packed to bursting, it was either freezing or sweltering in either room, and there was no room to move, let alone breath.  I went to the bathroom and came back to some older woman moving my stuff off of my easel, because she "thought it wasn't being used" for the five minutes I was gone.  The icing on the cake--a very unattractive man posing in THE most unattractive pose (looked like Buddha on a toilet)  for three solid hours.  I was ready to head down to the local bar by the time the 21 year old Don Juan wannabe next to me began hitting on me in earnest....it was pretty much a nightmare.  Through this whole fiasco, I received about 50 phone calls from my teens at home embroiled in World War III that got me so peeved I decided decamping to another continent may be the only solution....

Needless to say, I got a handful of gestures before some bozo set up her easel directly in front of mine, literally blocking my entire view.  I did manage to make her understand how incredibly rude it was to walk in 1 hour late, disrupt the class, and the artists in session.  She sniffed at the rebuke and sulkily moved her easel to a cramped but empty corner of the room.  I did manage one, horrendous drawing, which we got a terrific laugh over.  I will post it as soon as I get it uploaded.  I also managed a fast color drawing of one of the female models, which is rather lukewarm to me.  I was completely irritated at the entire affair by that point, and couldn't get into it....

Anyway, I have a new oil to post, and will have more this weekend after another shore excursion.  It's really the only place I can find my center anymore....

This painting is called "Solitude" and it's 12" by 16" oil on canvas.  The day was brilliant, cool and I could just feel pending Spring...once again, Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey.

The Blues

"Painting is not just an activity, it is a way of life; a painter lives in and through painting. As the materials of painting are not just part of the process by which the work happens, but part of the end-product as well through their transcending this distinction between means and ends, they are the very way this aspect of the painter's being both manifests and realises itself. They are the vehicle through which the painter's life as a painter happens, unfolds itself, realises itself. This manifests itself back through the materials. The realisation of the materials through the painting is the realisation of the painter through them. His potentiality is their potentiality, and their potentiality his. Thus, his being drawn towards certain materials is his being drawn towards a certain potentiality of his own." --Nigel Wentworth, The Phenomenology of Painting

Lately, I have being reading the biographies of many of my favorite artists through the ages.  The parallels in some of their lives, is eerily strange sometimes.  Like Frida Kahlo, my father is of German origin, and also a photographer.  She suffered a life altering motor vehicle accident that left her lamed in her leg and back, like I did.  She is also half Hispanic, like me...she shares alot of personality traits, such as her tendency towards "duality."

So many different artists seem to share similar things...Vincent's literal propensity, like me...Monet's love of the land and family...Renoir's motif of his "girls..." the list can go on and on.

I've been feeling very sluggish lately, and I don't know if I can attribute it strictly to the doldrums of winter, and a form of cabin fever.  I usually get this way around mid-February, where it just seems one cold day blends into the next, and the dirt never leaves the house, from the constant trail of muddy bootprints.  It's enough to me go back to bed and watch an old Bogart movie...quite happily.

The snow, as peaceful as it is on the gentles slopes of the countryside, incites fatigue rather than passion...I feel the constant intrusions into my time more sharply now, as if my skin is raw and the nerves are exposed.  I feel weepy rather than rejoicing when I see the icy landscape.   It's beautiful, but the monotony of winter is getting to me, and I need a change to light a "fire" in my gut.

I've started working on my portrait commission.  I'm in the earliest stages of designing the layout and palette...putting together the mechanics of it.  I will prep and prime the canvas tomorrow, after I get back from NYC.  Today was a waste--I spent the morning languishing in the Dr's office for my yearly appointment and some routine tests...then to the dentist on Thursday, and of course it's Valentine's weekend, and all of M's plans and guests...I can't stand it anymore.  I'm feeling like I literally have to go missing soon to get some quality, uninterrupted time of my own.  I don't mean two or three hours, I'm talking two or three weeks.  The interruptions are destroying my nerves...and not allowing me a free flow of creative thought...this keeps me up at night, and the cycle is maddening.

G went to the hospital today...perhaps her baby is coming.  She feels bad, and I hope it is just her own stresses that is causing her discomfort, and nothing more serious.  D stopped by this afternoon, and said she had quite the little group together for our life drawing sessions on Sunday, unfortunately, the blizzard (and of course Super Bowl for the fellas) sidetracked our session last night, and now, Valentine's day falls on this coming Sunday, and I'm obligated to that too...so, no get together for another 2 weeks....always something, always something.

I dream myself away, my Muse comforts me there.  We work on long projects, and she promises me one day soon, we'll spend some quality time together....until then, stay well beloved.

New Landscape painting--"Lizard Creek in Winter (the little red tree)"

My newest painting is:  "Lizard Creek in Winter (the little red tree)"  and it is 16" x 20" oil on canvas.

I keep returning to the creek as my motif through this ongoing series...I don't know how many I'll finally paint yet, but several more at least.

Manifesto behind the art is simply that the creek is a "constant."  No matter what season, it is there and extends a friendly reception.  Whether I am content or dejected, the stream is still there, with it's crisp, cold water, and the rushing flow that sounds like the tinkling of little brass bells.  There is no deception in this creek...the water is clear like glass, and if there is any pollution or corruption, if perchance, there is, it cannot be discerned in the clear, fresh stream of it. That would be beyond the naked eye, not grotesquely parading about in front of my eyes.  The vegetation on it's dark, earthen banks kneels to communicate with it...it is always a scene of comfort, even if the rest of the world tilts in utter chaos.  So, it beckons me again and again.

My choice, as usual lately, is to utilize a limited palette...I prefer the harmony and simplicity of that.  Palette was as follows:  Titanium white, prussian blue, french ultramarine, lemon yellow, cadium yellow medium, burnt sienna, cadmium red medium, mixed with Liquin. 

I have a frame that I feel was made for this painting, and will be putting the art into that--perfect dress for it's debut. 

Now, I will start on the studies of the children.  They are coming over later on, and hopefully I can get some good solid reference sketches without too much squirming.  Again, since this is "par coer" it doesn't matter too much to me how badly they wriggle, as I know their little faces so well, they are second nature to me.


Ciao!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's 67th birthday, so we are going over to his place to celebrate, and bringing him his favorite, an ice cream cake--I always laugh about how he likes ice cream cake with his birthday being in January--coldest month in the Northeast!

It's sunny out, and although it is quite frigid today, it is still a very nice day.  I'm trying to gather up the gang and get rolling, but my coffee hasn't kicked in even at noon, as I didn't sleep well last night, and just layed in bed watching TCM until about 4 a.m...that sucks.

I dropped off my work in NYC yesterday, in prep for the upcoming exhibition, so I'm glad that is done, since I almost missed the dropoff date the gallery scheduled since I have been scatterbrained and preoccupied, and wrote the wrong date down like a dumbass.  Lucky I just happened to read the info they sent me just one more time again, and nearly pissed myself when I saw I had to make a scramble into the City the next morning rather than when I had planned....lol.

I have finished two new paintings, and will try to get photos of them tomorrow...it has been so cold and windy that outdoor photography is out of the question, especially for an incompetent photographer such as I am....tomorrow's forecast is supposed to be slightly warmer and less windy, so I can give it a try then.

Heads up on the fact that these two new paintings are abstract, not impressionist or realist.  Every now and then I just get an overwhelming feeling to do an abstract series, and this was one of these times.  I'll give you the whole thought process involved with this evolving series as I post the paintings.

Ciao, friends.

Feeling restless

I suppose it's just way too early to have cabin fever--holidays literally just ended, and kids are going back to school tomorrow--hooray!  I almost finished taking the tree and all the other Christmas decorations down--my tree is so petrified, almost all of the needles have fallen off...lucky thing the holidays are over!!

I know this is the time of year you're supposed to get all charged up and crazy over making New Year's resolutions, which last about three weeks (and that was in my prime, when I actually had some self discipline and willpower!!), but I can't rehash another old resolution...it's like taking out a leisure suit from the 70s...makes you want to shudder.  No, no more resolutions for me...at least not hard and fast ones...more like "guidelines" for the new decade...and here are a few:

First, I'm going to start thinking about me a little bit more.  I know you all might think that sounds selfish, but it's not...it's actually good for everyone in my life, and of course, for me also.  I was so concerned about meeting everyone else's needs, I was frustrated and worn out at not being able to meet my own...which leads to a bad state of mind, and other miseries...no.  It's going to be about structuring things and ordering things for myself, be it time, delegating jobs, staying away from anyone negative no matter what the relation or obligation...finding time to center myself with God...things a person does to have peace and harmony in life.  I know life can't be perfect, and sometimes crazy, sad and out of control things are thrust upon us, but you can still strive to take care of yourself, and find a little cave of solace in a blizzard of bullshit.

Second, I'm going to make time to visit the people who are most important to me, and are not able to visit me.  Once time takes them away, you can't get back those lost moments.  Ever.  I want no regrets, which leads me to third and finally,

I'm going to stop beating myself up over past failures, real or supposed.  I'm a perfectionist by nature, and my own mind is my own worst critic.  I'm going to stop being so hard on myself, and just say, F*ck it.  We are all only human, we all make mistakes, all of us make small, medium and large mistakes, and that's just the way the living experience goes.  I'll try to correct any actions on my part that were hurtful to other people, but I refuse to stay in that "moment."  I won't fall into the trap of living inside other people's ill will, and allowing them to manipulate me through guilt.  Finito!

So, aside from the major changes of the previous decade, such as turning 40, getting married, etc....here are a few other things I'd like to be able to get accomplished...a work in progress...

Oh, and of course, paint a few more masterpieces!

New year, old problems!

"Siene in early December"  oil on canvas 16" x 20"
Ha!  You'd figure with the start of a new year and new decade, I'd work with a clean slate--alas, this is not the case.

I'm still wrestling with my camera skills.  Granted, today was about as nasty and blustery a day I could pick to try and grab a quick photo of my newest painting, and as my Gran used to say, "Patience is a virtue."  Unfortunately, patience is still something I also wrestle with.

The wind was frigid, and I tried to get a few natural light shots in, but they are uneven and a bit washed out.  I'll post one here, and then hopefully I can get another, decent shot indoors.  I was being lazy and hoping to avoid setting up hoods and filters, etc., and hoping to get that one great natural light shot (I only took three to begin with LOL). 

Anyway, the photo is quite hideous, hehe...the painting looks much better in person.  I won't put it in the upcoming exhibition because it won't be dry by then, so maybe the exhibition in Spring.

Ciao for now!

Hooray!!!

Got some very amazing news yesterday, and I can only keep thanking God over and over for a miracle--my Dad suddenly responded to his treatment, I mean, DRAMATICALLY responded.  His blood counts dropped like a stone, which means the chemo is starting to work for him.  Doesn't look like salvage will be necessary, and hopefully, God willing, he is back on the road to remission.  I'm so happy, it's the best Christmas present ever!

On another good note, I will be exhibiting in New York City in mid-January, so I hope to see some of my old and new friends there.  I will be exhibiting with other women artists in the National Association of Women Artists 2010 exhibition.  The exhibit begins January 15th, and the opening reception is on January 20th, from 5 pm to 7 pm.  The gallery is located at 80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1405, New York, New York.  You can email me for more details and I'll post them as they become more known to me as well ;-)

Anyhow, I wish the happiest of all happiness to you all for this upcoming holiday, May God Smile On Us All!

New painting--"Siene in December" Day 1

Here is the first stage of this painting--I had put together several sketches, and did a final composition, as the basic reference.  I'm never too hard or fast with making an exact replica, so I kind of just remember what my impression of that day was, and blend it with my initial on site sketches...so I am intimate with the scene in my mind, I have no doubt of what struck me as beautiful that day.

Back to work!!

Out all day in studio--feeling much better...still don't have an appetite, but who would complain about that LOL

Started a new painting based on sketches and references I did in Paris...will do a series of 5 paintings only until I return to France in the summer for a more immersive study.

I'll post the progress as I go, because I have had a few people indicate this would be interesting to them, rather than just seeing the very end finished painting.

It's pretty warm today, but my studio is still a bit damp, so I can't wait for our friend to come and insulate it at the end of the month...or it's gonna continue being mighty chilly out there! I'll have to lose myself in Bocelli and that will thaw me out...his incredibly beautiful voice will keep me warm ;-)

Anyway, here I'll leave you with a photo I took from the first level (Floor 1) of the Eiffel Tower...