A quiet moment

"A quiet moment" by Hilary J. England
18" x 24" oil on canvas, 2016

I finished this as a gift to someone very special to me, and these little people are very special too!. This photo needs to be adjusted, because there is a lot missing due to glare and well, just because it was taken on an iPad in crappy lighting.  I will rephoto it with my professional camera in the next few days.  It will be fun to compare the "before" and "after" photos.

I like doing off-beat "portraiture" because I find traditional portraiture absolutely boring...but that's just me, and not meaning to impugn anyone that adores it.  I just find it done over and over and over, and kind of sappy sweet or paintings that don't hold my attention.  They could be technically accurate, but for some reason, again, I find them boring.  I like trying to catch things a little more impromptu, like a moment in time that you can think about and smile and say, "Yes, I remember that day!" or "I remember when the kids were doing that!" or some such sentiment. 

I hope the gift is enjoyed :-) <3

San Fran

As much as I wanted to dislike San Francisco, I must say, I really enjoyed it.  I thought it would be a Lefty paradise, but I was pleasantly surprised, both by the very beautiful area, and the laid back people.  The city itself is at a pleasant pace, and minus some aggressive homeless people, it really is a very enjoyable city.  

Dale and I crammed in as much joie de vivre as we could in our small amount of time here, and as much as I loved the cultural activities such as visits to the local gallery scene, taking in some of the historical sites, etc., the crowning part of this trip was to Muir Woods, right outside of Sausalito, over the Golden Gate.  The redwood forest was so breathtaking, it stirred my soul so deeply, I never wanted to leave there.  It was as if one of those great, old, noble trees, with the nooks and crags and corridors, all of their mystery and magnitude, had a little doorway you could duck into, and be in the realm of elves and fairies, or cross over to some world like Narnia.  It was sublime.

All said, San Francisco seems a breezy town, large enough to rival Manhattan Island in it's sprawl, but minus the frenzy that seems to accompany NYC.  The city has a somewhat empty feel to it, and there is also an decent amount of empty storefronts throughout, along with the large homeless population that is not restricted to the mission, which gives it a somewhat forlorn feeling at times, of a city on the precipice of death, rather than one that is growing.  This city, seems to us, just at face value, a city that is surviving on tourism.  No one we met was a native.

Looking at the stats here, it's no wonder.  The city dwellers, by and large, can't afford to live here, and that puts many businesses under, due to out of control rents, and wage workers that can't afford to live in the city, or even near it, to fill the lower paying jobs.  Socialist policies versus capitalist corruption, and a magic elixir of disaster.  Very sad.

So, I was happy to have visited this very lovely city, and enjoyed the best of what it has to offer, the beautiful views, the easy pace, the yummy restaurants, and then, leave.  That's the best of all worlds!

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!

Another snowy day~

I am awaiting the snow...but that is not a bad thing (I know people will cringe when I say that).  I love a good snowy day, just like I love a good rainy day.  There is something so peaceful about the snow, the purity of the flakes, the gray skies obscured by the white gales.  I like to glance out my window as the wind gusts and causes drifts around the landscape, while my little potbellied stove struggles to keep the cold out of my studio.  I feel safe and warm inside, like a pioneer in a wagon or a primitive cabin, or even an Indian in a teepee.  I enjoy seeing the snow start to creep under the barn door, and the wind ruffle the blanket I have hanging as a barrier over that ramshackle old door.  Yes, I know I'm a bit strange...but that's ok.  So is everyone in their own peculiarities...

I'm still working on "A brave new world."  I need another few full days of studio time, and the snow actually buys me that.  Here in this "neck of the woods," everything basically shuts down now even with the threat of snow, so I have that to fall back on as an excuse for no interruptions, no need to take anyone any where, no danger of people showing up unannounced (unless they are stranded, and that is not too likely), no errands to run.  Everyone sort of hibernates, and everyone is very o.k. with that, even expectant of that. 

Tomorrow's N.A.W.A. opening on Fifth Ave is starting to look further and further from the possibility of accomplishment.  I see the chances of my attendance to that reception growing remote as this supposed storm front begins to envelope the next few days.  I was looking forward to it, but I accept that Winter is a capricious season, and Old Man Winter gets cranky pretty often, and when he does, we all have to obey him and stay put.  

So, I'll throw another log on the fire, and a few pieces of coal, brew up some more coffee, roll up my sleeves (put on my Jets hat) and get to work!

Enjoy your snow day!

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.