Open expanses

“Study of clouds in September” oil on canvas, 8” x 11” by Hilary J. England

I painted this as my heart was in turmoil. Such a beautiful day, and yet, it weighed heavily on me. I thought back 18 years, to the horror of that day, and then I thought back 11 more...12 more...standing in the quiet of th office, looking out over the Manhattan landscape...the other buildings, the bay with the helicopters constantly engaged in a delicate dance of weaving about each other like moths at a lantern. I remembered occasionally stepping up into the long, elegant windows, and pressing my head to thick glass to look down and thrill myself. Many days, from the 92nd floor, I would see a cloud cover that settled around the midsection of the building like a fluffy belt. Other days, I would see tiny people as small as a swarm of ants milling about in the streets below, caught up in the hectic pace of the day and their daily lives, not knowing that a young girl was watching them with intense interest from above in a building on top of the world.

The days before and after September 11th always cause a flood of emotions for me, a mixture of nostalgia and pain, and force my mind back to my youth, which I suppose is a good thing. It reminds me of who I was. I have lost much of that person...so much. That is my ghost. I think if she and I were to cosmically meet, say, passing each other in some street, she would not recognize me, and I would weep at how distant we became. 

The landscape I sat in in this day was bright and clean and refreshing and perfect, but oddly sad and alone, dwarfed by the largeness of the universe. The one tree stood alone and resigned. Lonely? Not so much. Maybe indifferent, sad, thoughtful or resigned. 

These were my thoughts when I did this cloud study and the breezes blew by me and through me.

Wildflowers at Sunset Prints on Sale!

Hello dear friends!

It’s been a hot summer week, and to combat the dog days of summer, I decided to offer one cheerful, best-selling landscape artwork from my Gallery, for **20%** off!! 😊🖼

I’ll do this once a week, until the kiddos all head back to school after Labor Day! 😁😁

This week’s pick will be:

“Wildflowers at sunset”

This beautiful painting was created on a fine summer's day, early evening, out in a field by Blue Mountain, in Pennsylvania.  I love walking the fields in solitude and listening to the wind and the birds.  There is such peace in the beauty of the natural landscape and different seasons of the year, and of life!

This romantic print can be created to your size needs, on the type of paper or surface you would like, and framed or unframed, etc.— completely customized to your decor, space, and budget requirements!

And (this part I love!) — you can actually see it on your own wall in your home or office, to make adjustments or to see if it works for your space, BEFORE you purchase it— simply hit the AR button (Augmented Reality) and you can position the artwork and see it, the way you’ve customized it, so you don’t just take a guess and worry how it will look. You can even see how it would look in different "staged" rooms too, so say you are planning on painting your living area as a summer project in the upcoming weeks and are concerned about how the new colors will look with your artwork choice, you can be sure of all of that too!

I love these features because this is a personal concern of mine when I shop online -- thinking it might be perfect online, and then when I get it home I'm disappointed with the reality of how it looks on me or in my space -- this is especially true for Art, sunglasses, jeans, or lipstick! 😂😂

Your discount is applied automatically at checkout so no codes to remember or futz around with! 😘😘😘😘

Happy shopping!! 

Click Here To Shop For Your New Artwork!

The quiet creek

  

"The quiet creek" by Hilary J. England, oil on canvas, 8" x 11" 

Here is a little study I did this week, down by the creek that splits off through town.  The day was warm, and the kids were all playing by the edges of it, squishing their hands in the mud.  It was such a timeless scene, one that could have vaulted back to the 1600's, and still, children would be enjoying their time in the creek.  These four girls and little brother in tow, all towheaded and in their play clothes.  It was very sweet to watch them enjoying the mud and without a care in the world.

The sunlight was so strong, and the shadows were alive.  I had to try to work as quickly as possible, to try and catch that moment.  I feel like I was cracking off "my shell" from winter, and trying to get the rust all gone from my mind and hand.  It was a wonderful exercise, to be sure.

I am looking to start a new series -- I am officially shelving this summer's project that I was going to move forward with.  I am moving in a new direction, and decided, I am not interested in such a big scale project, when in essence, my heart is still here among the local people, the forgotten people of America.

So, that's the direction I'm going to go in, and I will very much love exploring the little towns and people that reside in them.

Bumble bee on the sunflower

"Bumble bee on sunflower" by Hilary J. England
oil on canvas, 8" x 10" 2016

I have been very busy with several projects.  I have *3* books in production at the same time, so that is really a lot to juggle, and I pick up on my MS Comm (that's Master's of Science in Communication and New Media for those who are not familiar with the lingo) in a couple of weeks (first week of October), plus working on a larger painting commission that has me ripping my hair out, lol, so it's been hectic.  I did take the day to go out and plein air paint in the gorgeous end of summer weather, which I sorely miss.  I didn't go far (the edge of my own property) and just enjoyed the sun, and this awesome bumble bee on my last remaining sunflower. 

This summer slipped away from me in a whirlwind of work, heat, and contemplation, but I have much to be grateful for.  I plan on stepping it up even more after New Year's, with a couple of residencies I am considering, and some other cool projects with my gallery, and between the projects I have going now, well, it's a lot.  But, I like a lot! "A lot" always works for me -- don't want moss growing around my feet!.

So, back to school for everyone, including me, and that's a challenge I always enjoy.  When it's said and done who knows -- maybe a Ph.D just because.  We'll see.  My son is in the U for Physics, looking to be an Astrophysicist, so maybe we'll race to see who becomes a "doctor" first!! :-D :-D  Again, lots to be grateful for, and lots to do. No time for leisure books right now, but I have been forcing myself to read before bed just to decompress.  Newest book: Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely .   It's a wonderful book we are going to use in our Tuesday night women's bible study.  I thought I would get a jumpstart on things before we officially begin our group, and it's a very good book.  Personally, I don't have time right now to feel "left out" or "lonely," but I can identify with the "less than" part, because sometimes, no matter how much you do, you never feel adequate, or that you are good enough, so this book is a comfort and a guide to help for those moments you feel tired and inadequate. So, I'm glad I've been taking the time to "nourish my soul" right before bedtime.


Well, time to jet! Enjoy the weather, and the little painting~



 

Poppies and wildflowers

"Poppies and wildflowers in the field" by Hilary J. England, 8" X 10" oil on canvas, 2016

It was a beautiful day for painting outdoors. No humidity, and a slight breeze. I attempted to video this session, but I need a bigger memory card. The memory ran out about halfway through 😖.

I have been so busy lately, and the time just seems to get away from me sometimes, but today, time seemed to stand still, and there was great calm and peace while I painted this. That was very refreshing and somewhat unexpected, since the day started a bit on the hectic side. No matter -- all that matters is what serenity was found while painting this beautiful little scene.

~Enjoy!

Hillside wildflowers

 

"Hillside wildflowers" by Hilary J. England, oil on canvas, 8" X 10"

It was a hot one today, really hot. The sun was bright and somewhat punishing, only because there was a slight haze to the day. The Blue mountain was extra blue, and the wildflowers were so lush and beautiful, like a majestic carpet of color.

I love being able to be out and about, in the quiet solitude of the heat, that no one else wants to brave. It is always nice to be close to a water source, but the creek was behind me a while, so I had no recourse but to sweat and sizzle, and drink in the scenery.

-Enjoy.

Swan on the lake at sunset

               "Swan on the pond at sunset" by Hilary J. England, oil on canvas, 8" X 10"

I was at the lake the other night, and it was so nearly sweltering.  The gnats were attacking me, I wrenched my neck and shoulder out carrying my gear, and I dropped (yet again -- this seems routine haha) my painting face down in the dirt.  That really enraged me this time, and I was about to hurl the painting into the lake, but I didn't want to get arrested for littering ;-), so I sat down and took some deep breaths, and just sat there for a long time.  

The sun started to set, at nearly 9 pm, as I working and cleaning and transforming the little painting (which is against my own rules, but rules are made to be broken).  The Canadian goose, which was in complete silhouette, I made into a a swan, because again, it's my world, and at that moment, I preferred a swan to go along with my Debussy's "Clair de lune".  So, in the end, hurt neck, gnat bites and all, and then the giant thunderstorm that chased me away -- it all was still amusing, and my own world triumphed because I was able to make an enchanted world from the beauty that really was there, however fleeting it was. Like life....just make the best of it 😊 !! 

Enjoy ❤️

Purple pansy by the tree

"Purple pansy by the tree" by Hilary J. England

Oil on canvas, 8" X 10", 2016

I've been working a lot lately, but I have been feeling a bit down.  I have had some personal situations that are very stressing, and that affects me deeply.  I have someone very close to me who is desperately ill, perhaps in the end stages of life, and it drains me inch by inch watching this process.  I want so much to help, and to make it stop, to make it better, make it go away, and I can't.  I want so much to protect them from this, to keep them with me, and I see the disconnect beginning...when they begin to ever so slightly disconnect from this earth, and you can feel it, in your soul.  It's a hard perception to explain, but to anyone who has ever been around a terminally ill person, someone they were very close to, and went through this process, you will understand what I am saying.  I don't know how many days or months we have, I just know the process has begun, and my heart quivers in my chest at the idea of what is to come.

Many days I feel like I'm in a holding pattern -- so grateful for the love we have now, but not knowing what's ahead.  It's the oddest feeling, like being in limbo, and you still must go about your life, but it's like sleepwalking...you go through the motions, but your mind is switched off.  It's always somewhere else, no matter how conscious or focused you are on the task at hand.

I have been looking for peaceful little scenes that speak to my heart, and yet, are still challenging to recreate.  I did this one in town, again, while I was out wandering around after hitting the gym.  I was hungry, so I sat down to eat my almonds, and I noticed these little flowers.  I went back to them later on in the day, and the light and shadow was more dramatic, and that made me happy to work there.

I feel more connected to the Old Masters when I work outside these days.  I think of their joy at the beauty they were able to view and capture, and also all the pain of life on this earth, and how they assimilated the good and the bad into their work, to make something beautiful from the ashes.  I admire that persistence in the face of adversity, and it gives me pause to think about my own work.  If the sadness was too large, would I stop working?  What then?  Where would it manifest itself?  I'd probably end up a drunk face down in the gutter.  No, this is the healthier way to move through these painful events.

Enjoy~

Impending storm

"Impending storm (over the harvested field)" oil on canvas, 8" x 11" by Hilary J. England

I motivated myself to photo up some of the work I did in autumn 2015 that I kind of just had piled up. I want to start 2016 right!  Everyone asks about New Year's resolutions, and I always say the same thing: I don't make them.  But, I do make a list of things I would like to improve or work on for the year, along with some concrete goals, and getting a bit more organized with my time is always my struggle, as is staying on top of tasks I loathe, such as photographing my work (as I have said over and over again).  I am looking to take the "bull by the horns" this year!

I will post them up as I get them recorded, and try to stay a bit more timely with it.  That is my ultimate goal for 2016.  That, and cutting back on sugar :-D

~Enjoy!