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Today’s still life is tomatoes. I bought some lovely Cherokee purple ones at the market, and I had fun painting one in the sunflower painting over the weekend. Summer tomatoes are worth celebrating, so I decided they deserved their own painting. This is the lunchtime progress, so it’s not finished yet (I’m taking a long break and doing a blog post), but I had a tomato at lunch to match my painting, so I thought that might be fun to show.
The other thing was that I kept thinking about still lifes in general while I was painting. I put up a post about them yesterday, and this painting was feeling very generic to me as I started it, right up until I started painting details into the Bridgman pottery platter the tomatoes sit on.
The other thing was that I kept thinking about still lifes in general while I was painting. I put up a post about them yesterday, and this painting was feeling very generic to me as I started it, right up until I started painting details into the Bridgman pottery platter the tomatoes sit on.
So this still life, I very intentionally chose a platter by Melissa to use. I wanted that lightness shining out of the darkness, but I also wanted some of her distinctive work and pattern included. Craft has not always been appreciated on the level of art in this country, but it is equally beautiful and often more skillful. It began to feel like a painting that was more personally mine when I put in the handiwork of a friend. I’d like to include more pottery in my still lifes to come. My first was my new Shearwater teapot I brought back from Ocean Springs when I had work at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Including it, aside from celebrating its beauty, was a way for me to memorialize that moment in my career. I intend to keep my still lifes personal by using items I own, things that are important to me, and things made my people who are important to me. The vase in the sunflowers is one I inherited from my Mom, and it always makes me think of her.
Back to work now (and I’ll get a better shot of this painting when I finish it), but the final photo is lunch, the one Cherokee purple in the house that is not currently posing for me. This time it’s on a plate by Perry Munn potters, the friends I visited in Arkansas last week who are also the resident potters at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View.
Back to work now (and I’ll get a better shot of this painting when I finish it), but the final photo is lunch, the one Cherokee purple in the house that is not currently posing for me. This time it’s on a plate by Perry Munn potters, the friends I visited in Arkansas last week who are also the resident potters at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View.
Kudos to Melissa Bridgman for loaning the platter out to me for this. I have a lot of her work, but nothing the shape I was envisioning.
I love Dutch still lifes, as I wrote about yesterday, but they tended to show off the wealth of their patrons by painting fine china, ornate goblets, and other fancy and expensive objects. What I want to do in my still lifes is to show the beauty of daily life. I hope people will slow down and admire the sheen of a tomato before eating it or remember to get themselves flowers at the market once in a while. And one of my daily happinesses is using handmade things in my regular life. I’m friends with lots of potters, and I love to use the plates, bowls, and teapots they have made.
I love Dutch still lifes, as I wrote about yesterday, but they tended to show off the wealth of their patrons by painting fine china, ornate goblets, and other fancy and expensive objects. What I want to do in my still lifes is to show the beauty of daily life. I hope people will slow down and admire the sheen of a tomato before eating it or remember to get themselves flowers at the market once in a while. And one of my daily happinesses is using handmade things in my regular life. I’m friends with lots of potters, and I love to use the plates, bowls, and teapots they have made.
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I’m back to market still lifes this week. It’s an pleasurable and easy way to get the paint flowing when I’m feeling stuck on another project, and I do enjoy the feeling of continuity with still life painters through the centuries. Pieter Claesz is one of my favorites, and several early women painters were flower and still life painters, Rachel Ruysch and Clara Peeters among others. It was a genre women that was “acceptable” or women to do at the time, and they did it beautifully. And made lasting names for themselves, which is amazing given the patriarchal society they were born into. I also think it’s a gift to the world to simply paint beauty occasionally and remind people of the joy in the everyday things that surround them. Still lifes often get marginalized in the same way as genre fiction, but I’ve always been drawn to them, both in viewing and execution.
This week it was sunflowers, which I discovered are harder than they look. I’d done some years ago, but in a very simplified way. I’m drawn to the size and robust presence they have. I started off a little fussy with them, but then the tomato and carrots went in largely one pass. While I painted the flowers likely ten times. So it goes.
This week it was sunflowers, which I discovered are harder than they look. I’d done some years ago, but in a very simplified way. I’m drawn to the size and robust presence they have. I started off a little fussy with them, but then the tomato and carrots went in largely one pass. While I painted the flowers likely ten times. So it goes.
You can see the chalk marks I use for my initial drawing in the early views. I used NuPastel either light yellow or light gray to lay the shapes down where I want them before diving in with paint. Nothing very detailed, but a road map.
The end of the first day below on the left. I was largely happy with it, though I ran out of steam before I finished the second set of hydrangeas. There had been a different flower there that I wasn’t happy with, so I did a little rearranging near the end of the day to bring another hydrangea blossom around to the visible side. The next day I finished that and also decided the sunflowers were a bit fussy, so I simplified them down a bit. I think it’s finished now. The background is pretty uniformly dark, but it’s hard to get a snapshot without glare. The dark background feels to me particularly in an almost apostolic line with the Dutch painters of the past, and it really makes the lighter objects in the foreground pop. Feeling happy with this one is making me reconsider the previous still lifes in this series. A follow up blog post will show you work I did on one of those.
The end of the first day below on the left. I was largely happy with it, though I ran out of steam before I finished the second set of hydrangeas. There had been a different flower there that I wasn’t happy with, so I did a little rearranging near the end of the day to bring another hydrangea blossom around to the visible side. The next day I finished that and also decided the sunflowers were a bit fussy, so I simplified them down a bit. I think it’s finished now. The background is pretty uniformly dark, but it’s hard to get a snapshot without glare. The dark background feels to me particularly in an almost apostolic line with the Dutch painters of the past, and it really makes the lighter objects in the foreground pop. Feeling happy with this one is making me reconsider the previous still lifes in this series. A follow up blog post will show you work I did on one of those.
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I absolutely loved staying with Judi Munn and John Perry of Perry Munn Pottery this past week. It's great to have creative friends with interesting homes (their handmade dining room chairs are gorgeous) who can talk art and shows and living a self-directed, creative life.
It was great going out and sketching with Judi after the show. Here are a couple more sketches from that, to right and below. On top I drew Judi sketching at the Ozark Folk Center toward the end of our workshop. I'm trying to get myself out of my reflexive use of watercolor and mix up my sketchbook with different inks a little more.
Judi and I were racing a storm while we sketched, which you can see a bit from the clouds below. I'd been eyeing this tree and got a very quick sketch in my journal before we had to bail. Sometimes, especially with good days and special places, I want something in my small art journal instead of just larger watercolors in a random sketchbook. It's nice to have that record of a well spent day.
It was great going out and sketching with Judi after the show. Here are a couple more sketches from that, to right and below. On top I drew Judi sketching at the Ozark Folk Center toward the end of our workshop. I'm trying to get myself out of my reflexive use of watercolor and mix up my sketchbook with different inks a little more.
Judi and I were racing a storm while we sketched, which you can see a bit from the clouds below. I'd been eyeing this tree and got a very quick sketch in my journal before we had to bail. Sometimes, especially with good days and special places, I want something in my small art journal instead of just larger watercolors in a random sketchbook. It's nice to have that record of a well spent day.
The final reason to love visiting art friends is that (especially when they're generous to a fault), you end up taking a bit of beauty home with you. I totally fell for Judi's bunny (I've got a thing for bunnies anyway), which was in the room I stayed in. She caught his expression perfectly, and I loved the green background. He's now living just beside my bed where I see him every night and every morning, and he makes me smile. I also came home with a gorgeous, wood fired teacup of John's. The photo is too dark to show off its full beauty, but there are flashes of blue inside and out from the ash, and it fits my hand so well. I do love this photo of tea on their deck. They live up a forestry road, and it was the perfect getaway. I'm so grateful for this job where I get to do things I love surrounded by the best people.
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I’m being able to revisit various special places this spring. I used to go to Mountain View and Calico Rock in the Arkansas Ozarks pretty frequently, but it’s been a good while since I got over there. My potter friend Judi Munn (she and her husband are the resident potters at the Ozark Folk Center) is also in an art guild there, and she invited me to teach a sketching workshop. I loaded up an array of materials, a stack of inspirational books, another stack of my own journals, and I spent the day with a crew of lovely and dedicated artists. We had a great time, and they were so welcoming of me. I love getting to go talk about doing what I love and all the different fun things you can use to sketch. Then Judi and I ended up going to City Rock Bluff outside Calico Rock to sketch. I used to paint here regularly, but it had been several years. It felt so good to step out onto that broad bluff and again and look down on a beautiful world. And it was the perfect, quiet end of the day. Below is Judi sketching the view.
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I got to revisit Tower Grove Park last weekend for the first time in several years. It's always a muse for me, one of my deeply happy places, and I was delighted to have a full afternoon to wander with my sketchbook. I've painted the Chinese pavilion before, and this time I'm at least contemplating a print of it. The park has two gorgeous trees I love at two opposite ends. I checked on my my favorite sycamore in the bird sanctuary. She is old and has deep pockets, but she's a beautifully hospitable tree. The first one I ever fell in love with in a must-touch, spend-time-with-her kind of way.
At the other end of the park is a copper beech I've sketched and painted many times. More traditionally photogenic, with whorls and spirals all over the trunk. I did a larger watercolor of this one, fighting gnats, but so worth it.
It was good to revisit old haunts. I hit Ted Drewes frozen custard, of COURSE, and I saw a lot of friends dancing. A marvelous weekend.
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Memphis Urban Sketchers met at Dixon today, since our show is still up there. It was a perfect morning for painting outside, and I'd been meaning to get back out with my gouache and see how I could do outside, after those magnolia studies went well a few days ago. I'm working much smaller in gouache than I did a couple of years ago when I tried it the first time. I need some smaller brushes for it -- my regular watercolor brushes are too soft for the stiffer paint. But I had fun playing and feel like I'm on the track to somewhere.
I couldn't resist Ceres (at right). I always seem to paint her when I go there, but it's a much different image than my usual, more clear, watercolors.
I couldn't resist Ceres (at right). I always seem to paint her when I go there, but it's a much different image than my usual, more clear, watercolors.
After doing two in gouache, there wasn't much time, so I did one fast, small watercolor just to have the day in my journal as well. I was missing line and wanted to play with my green ink a little too. The two gouaches are on freestanding Kraft brown paper. It's always fun to sketch Elizabeth in her nifty sketching hat.
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I've been enjoying the pastel studies lately, but I'm frustrated with the limited range of greens available to me. I've gotten spoiled by all the lovely watercolor and oil ones. So today I got the gouache back out to try. I've been thinking about it anyway, and then my neighbor was having a magnolia tree taken down. I brought in a number of blossoms since I hated to see them going to waste. I had fun testing out the gouache over my morning tea. I used the same brown kraft paper I was using for the pastel forest studies as well. I'm still having trouble getting used to the texture of it and the color mixing, but I'm happier with these than the ones I had tried before. I just bought a couple more greens to add to my basic kit. Now I need to get back out and try this in the forest, but still life is always a good first step to keep things simple.
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I’m back to fast moving work again. I’ve had several paintings going lately, including the one above. It’s a little smaller than most of mine plus quite simple, so it was really a two session affair. Again, after struggling with a print that won’t get there, it felt good to dive into something where I could see immediate results.
Pen and ink has also been a lot of fun lately. I started my food journal this week (for three days before the holiday, anyway, and then we’ll see), and that’s got me doing some fast sketching with a fat, felt tipped pen plus a little tone with a brush pen. I’ve carried that over into a new series of self portraits, just for fun. I joined a facebook group called Self Portrait Sundays, so that’s inspired me to do another batch.
I spent the evening at my work table last night with baseball on the radio and a commission to finish. When I was done I did another quick self portrait and also a sketch of my studio helper Mr. Darcy. I haven’t been drawing him much lately and have been missing that. Plus at the bottom is yesterday’s food journal page.
Pen and ink has also been a lot of fun lately. I started my food journal this week (for three days before the holiday, anyway, and then we’ll see), and that’s got me doing some fast sketching with a fat, felt tipped pen plus a little tone with a brush pen. I’ve carried that over into a new series of self portraits, just for fun. I joined a facebook group called Self Portrait Sundays, so that’s inspired me to do another batch.
I spent the evening at my work table last night with baseball on the radio and a commission to finish. When I was done I did another quick self portrait and also a sketch of my studio helper Mr. Darcy. I haven’t been drawing him much lately and have been missing that. Plus at the bottom is yesterday’s food journal page.
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I’ve started a series of quick, fat pen sketches this week. I’m back doing a food journal for a few days. It makes me think about whether I really want something enough to sit down and sketch it, which helps me keep from just wandering through the kitchen and grazing. I’m enjoying the fast pen work and have also been doing a couple of self portraits along the way as well. I’m using a fat felt tipped pen on these along with a Pentel brush pen filled with warm dark gray ink.
A lot of my recent work has been that print of the live oaks, but I've been really struggling with it. It feels good to jump to some quick sketching and get some immediate gratification as a break. I'm also back working on the waterscape series in oils. I'll have a new one of them to show here quite soon. In the meantime, I'm on tea break to post here, but back to it soon.
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I've been walking daily in the forest lately thinking of trying some oils of it, as a break from the water paintings, but watercolors (my normal plein air medium these days) don't give me enough depth to work from in forest scenes. They're fine for wider landscape or water pieces, but the forest has a lot more density and depth, and I've never been happy with my watercolors inside it.
So I got my pastels out this week for the first time in several years and pulled the big French box easel down from its high shelf. (I usually just take a cushion and do watercolors in my lap.) You can see my set up at the right.
I had forgotten some of my colors, what and where they were, but it felt good to work in pastels again. They're the most immediate medium I use. There's no brush or intermediary. You just pick up a hunk of color and go.
I got all excited about the sycamore and started a painting of it the next day. It's simpler and more styleized than most of mine, and I'm going to keep working on it (I only had three hours by the time I started it before I had to be somewhere else. We'll see where it goes when I get the chance to get back to my easel. I'm also hoping to keep doing more studies and see what else I come up with.
So I got my pastels out this week for the first time in several years and pulled the big French box easel down from its high shelf. (I usually just take a cushion and do watercolors in my lap.) You can see my set up at the right.
I had forgotten some of my colors, what and where they were, but it felt good to work in pastels again. They're the most immediate medium I use. There's no brush or intermediary. You just pick up a hunk of color and go.
I got all excited about the sycamore and started a painting of it the next day. It's simpler and more styleized than most of mine, and I'm going to keep working on it (I only had three hours by the time I started it before I had to be somewhere else. We'll see where it goes when I get the chance to get back to my easel. I'm also hoping to keep doing more studies and see what else I come up with.
