Feeling the Energy with Paint

VA Buttercups

Forsythia and Tree

Sycamore Moon

Painting still unfinished, ranunculus and peonies

detail of ranunculus and peonies (painting in progress)

Several paintings in progress.

Having a strong urge to clear external clutter to allow for a freer flow... 

the internal clutter is even more difficult, but some of it seems useful.

Full Moon

Almost a month since my last post... hope to catch up tomorrow.

Meanwhile, some photos of the lovely sky and full moon, caught while making dinner and suddenly running out of the house asking my husband to "watch the fish, it's on broil..."

Endless Inspiration

Three new paintings and three photos taken today:

White Dogwood at Dusk

Forsythia at Twilight (detail)

Red Cabbage

Profuse Bluebells (photo)

Mustard Yellow

Horses in Field with Mustard

Suddenly Spring

A couple of weeks after the unexpected March snowfall that wrapped the countryside 

in a cold, white blanket, the colors of Spring have now exploded, 

seeming extra vibrant and defiant of the recent bleak hues of winter.

Beginning of a second painting of forsythia

Woodland path with a carpet of periwinkle Virginia Bluebells, Daffodils and Narcissi

Star Magnolia blossom

Woodpecker on a blossoming cherry tree

Walkin' in a Winter, I mean Spring, Wonderland!

March 25 in Virginia

Looks as though there's still a chance to squeeze in a snow landscape painting!

The following are morning photos:

Witch Hazel blossoms still clinging to branches under the snow

Snow-laden hyacinth

Daffodils wondering what happened

Foresight to Gather Ye Daffodils While Ye May... nod to Robert Herrick in caption :)

Afternoon Colors: the Front

The following photos were all taken within 45 minutes, as a storm front rolled in and out:

Morning Sky Colors

Witch Hazel Branch Drawing

Detail of a witch hazel branch drawing, in progress. The leaves are dry and brown, curled up or frozen in frail gestures, crumbling at a touch. 

I find myself drawing very gently, as if the pencil tip pressure might shatter the leaves.

The Ribbed Sky

“...the bones of cirrus clouds stand out like ribs against the sky - an angel is stretching...”

― John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

“Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton... I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by... If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations... What do you think you see, Linus?"
"Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean... That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor... And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen... I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side..."
"Uh huh... That's very good... What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?"
"Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!”

― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960

THE Blue Ridge Mountains

This evening a photo of a quiet pastel-colored landscape

and a few days ago... the same Blue Ridge Mountains, different light, 

different day, different time...more to come

Looking Back

Sorting through some old sketchbooks I came across this pencil drawing I did of one of my daughters when she was only 6 months old, asleep on the ferry from Ocracoke - strengthens my conviction to get some drawing and painting of the girls underway immediately, before I blink again and they leave the nest.

roots

tree by the dairy


A study of a tree in pencil, with the ever present grounding wall. 

Drawing on inner reserves

Goose Creek flow

Winter wonderland, my foot! 

So far, just a dusting of snow, but still such a bleak landscape much of the time (aside from dawn and dusk psychedelic skies) ... now back to the black and white and tonal work (with occasional  episodes of color)... going with the flow. 

Things flow slowly in the wintertime (see below... dog flowing slowly, in sleep, over the chair; water flowing slowly, iced over;  Swiss Brown flowing slowly, walking the pasture. 

Artist, flowing slowly, very slowly and mindfully, ingesting it all, and letting the state of flow happen. 

How long did it take to paint a painting?

Years. Years of looking, drawing, learning.

So blessed to have an opportunity to do what the heart and spirit ask at this time.

Chloe-flow

Brown Swiss flow