Blog March 15, 2009
Demonstrating for visitors to the studio.
Enormous thanks to everyone who stopped by for the SECOND FRIDAYS STUDIO WALK AND TGIF last Friday night. I enjoyed myself completely and I appreciate your interest especially your attention, questions and comments as I painted this landscape:
On the Easel Teton Fall 16 x 20 Oil
I began with this quick value study before anyone arrived. When I lay out these studies, I am checking my compositional elements, adjusting the position and shape of the large negative areas, considering changes to the atmosphere, lighting, depth of field and values according to my vision of the finished painting. In general I am improving on the photo and drawing upon my memories and emotional response of the particular place.
On the Easel Teton Fall b 16 x 20 Oil
As the evening progressed, I chatted about my memories of the day, explained what changes I would be making to the photograph and why and generally discussed my approach to painting. My purpose this evening was to allow the observers to witness the development process of a painting, for me to share with them the feeling of hope represented in each of my paintings and to give them an opportunity to enter the painting with me as a participant.
Well, this is as far as I got on Friday….just the thin color value washes showing my notations of where dark shapes are located and how the shafts of sun wash across the scene from right to left and hit the tops of cottonwoods along the creek. Keep watching.
On the Easel Long Shadows 12 x 16 Oil
This is where I left you on the Long Shadows painting….. Thin color value washes begin to show the dynamics of the painting.
Long Shadows 12 x 16 Oil
What a spectacular experience we found along the river this summer day. The sky had been cloudless all day, a warm breeze had kept the flies and mosquitos away and the fishing was spectacular. In the evening, heading home to the cabin, I took these photos along one of my favorite bends in this braided river. These long shadows and heightened colors created by the fading sunlight spoke to me then of that perfect day and still do.
On the Easel Perfect Eyebrow 18 x 24 Oil
Remember this one? This value study, patiently waiting in the corner of my studio for my attention for about 2 months now, finally shouted loudly at me. I think I was enjoying this study so much that to go ahead and paint it seemed to defy the actual purpose of the painting. But alas, it was time to do it real justice.
Utah Perfection 18 x 24 Oil
Hot, dry. Rain once in a while but always sub-subsurface water in the draw. Spectacular water and wind erosion on the red sandstone forming statues of imagined beasts and ancient ones. A spiritual place with songs written on the wind and memories deep in the caves. This is a land consuming us with its history of eroding surface and ancestral cultures. Have we been here before?
On the Easel Aspen Glade 11 x 14 Oil
This represents the thin color value wash on this early morning aspen grove painting. The day was ahead of me to be filled with plein air painting and my memories of that day are profound. I completed a plein air study of this that day (and sold it thank you), but still felt I needed to complete a larger painting revealing my true vision at the time.
On the Easel Aspen Glade B 11 x 14 Oil
The morning light, having just crested the mountains, fell in shafts across the quaking aspen leaves lighting only parts of the view. The rest remained in the light of early dawn with hints of night still lingering in the deep woods. I just couldn’t accurately capture this moment in plein air, so now with the aid of photographs which do capture these moments (inaccurately at best) and my clear memory, I hope to share this very brief moment with you.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS! I flying to North Carolina to visit my sister for a bit more than a week. Weather doesn’t look spectacular and spring may be a little late this year, but the change in scenery will be enlightening and stimulate my senses. Needless to say, the next blog won’t be until April! For those of you who watch for my Newsletter – sorry, but that won’t go to press until April either, just before I leave for England! More on that trip in the first April blog.
Don’t forget:
SECOND FRIDAYS STUDIO WALK AND TGIF
Friday April 10
4 to 9 pm
891 Good Hope Drive
Castle Pines Village, Colorado
303-660-1458
Please bring your friends and stop by for a while to see the latest paintings up close and personal. Once again I will be painting during the evening. You can ask questions if you wish or just watch. We provide some light snacks and a pretty cheap wine or BYOB if you prefer. See you there!
Keep your topknot, everyone, and know this:
If we all just relax, keep trying, stay cool, help each other in every way we can, make new friends, treat each other with respect, support the effort of others to improve themselves and try new things, reduce our consumption, think and act ”green”, learn to trust again even if in small steps, then this depression/recession will fade into history sooner than later. Greed got us here, support for and genuine concern for others will take us out. Try this: Smile at everyone you meet and make eye contact, stop talking in negatives, go out tomorrow and help someone, bring someone a gift you made or found, talk to your family honestly and sincerely, bring your kids into the economic picture and find ways together to save, put on a sweater, change out your light bulbs, turn down the thermostat (or up in the summer), turn off the lights, go back to basics …I think you’ve heard this all before. And as I write this, things seem brighter already. See it works!
And sign up for the Newsletter by clicking here!
I’m off – not just “Goin’ to Carolina in My Mind”.
Thanks for your support and interest….
Ciao,
Ginger
