I was mostly off the grid last week, hanging out in the mountains while Elmore took a class in coopering at Country Workshops woodworking school. It's on a lovely farm many of my paintings and prints have originated over the years. I went out sketching a couple of mornings with the printmaker next door.
My lasting image from this trip, though, was of the French Broad River. I had driven into the town of Hot Springs partway through the week and spotted this view as I crossed the highway bridge going out of town. I thought about it for several days and convinced Elmore (not too hard) to run this river on our last day so I could go back and paint while I was waiting for him at the takeout. I did the top one first, with more pencil detail than usual, since I want to make a print from it. The pencil lines will help me decide where and what patterns to make my cuts in the block. Then I decided I might like a vertical composition better, so I did a fast second sketch (below). It was not the most comfortable place to paint, perched on the narrow sidewalk of a highway bridge with big mountain pickups roaring past, so I kept the second sketch fast. I'm excited about the image, and it will be the next print I start once I finish a couple I have going now.
2 Comments
8/24/2012 01:48:15 pm
Martha, I am very excited at the prospect of one day seeing this work finished. I know EXACTLY the place you were.
Reply
Martha Kelly
8/24/2012 02:32:58 pm
Thanks so much, Charley! I'm excited about this one (I even dreamed about it after doing the sketches), and I hope I can do it justice.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
![]() online store Martha Kelly is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee. Get studio email updates from Mr. Darcy and me. To subscribe to this blog, by email: Archives
April 2021
|