Here’s another kitchen painting. I thought dried figs would be good since they last forever and don’t wilt. I liked the look of them in the plastic wrapping. The background is a laminated (and treasured) cutting board that our son made for us when he took shop in middle school.
Dried Figs oil on claybord 5 x 7″ unframed $100
Cadenza oil on birch panel 36″ x 48″ $2000 unframed, ready to hang
All winter after Ed broke his leg I escaped to the studio when I wasn’t needed and worked obsessively on just one painting. It’s larger than most and I’ve stayed with it much longer–scraping down and repainting over and over. I think I needed some distraction, repeated problems to solve. It’s another in the cloud series for a show I’ll do in 2012. It started off with a photo I took late one afternoon but very little of the photo remains. Compositional structure and the path of light offered the challenge and I invented clouds where they would fit my purpose. I considered other titles, like “Carried Away” or “Extravaganza” because I was so taken over by the whole process. I hope some of my frenzy is reflected in the painting.
So–snow a few days ago but the first of May was perfect for a celebration on the village green. Ed (wearing air boot) and several other musicians provided music. There were morris dancers and picnic fare, a May queen arriving by carriage. People were dressed for spring and everybody was so happy to be out in the sunshine. Later in the day we enjoyed a concert of madrigals in the community bldg. Then Ed and I had a gin and tonic on the porch 
In Houston we hardly noticed spring since it was so warm most of the year. Here it’s a big deal. 
Note: This post was supposed to appear at the beginning of May but being the technoklutz that I am I inadvertently stuck it in an old abandoned drawing blog where it has languished. Ed has recently gotten rid of the boot and now walks mostly without even a cane.
We’ve been bringing in the bird feeder at night and putting it back up early each morning when the birds start perching on the pole and looking expectant. (I can’t enjoy my breakfast if they’re out they’re waiting for seed.) Anyway, yesterday we were gone most of the day and returned to see the feeder on the ground and the suet cake gone. Sorry that we had missed a photo op we were sitting around the kitchen table when a black bear appeared just outside the window, sniffing around on the ground for more seed. We both grabbed cameras and got several shots before I opened the window and yelled to scare it off. As exciting as it was to see a wild creature we *don’t* want it hanging out around the house. It was so plush and shiny, with such a sweet expression I wanted to dash out and hug it. Surprisingly we don’t see a lot of wildlife up here surrounded by the woods but when we do it always feels like a gift.
Two days ago (April 28th!) we got up to go to appointments in town and there was snow everywhere. It snowed on and off all day—much more up here at our house than even two miles away in the village. Ed snapped this photo of me cleaning off the car. Life in Vermont indeed!
On Feb. 12 Ed went out to help Alison, Mason and Emma unload the car after they arrived for the kids’ week of vacation with us. He slipped on the ice, fell into the rhododendrons and broke his tibia and his fibula. Surgery followed and since then a looong recovery. He’s still in an “air cast” and can’t put any weight on his leg. He had a lot of pain the first three weeks or so and has only in the last few days been able to get comfortable at night. So we’ve stayed close to home except for many trips into the medical center. He goes in next Monday and we hope the docs will let him start putting a little weight on the leg. It’s his right leg so he can’t drive. It’s surprising how much time caretaking consumes although that’s much better now.
While all of this has been going on I’ve been working on two projects. For years I’ve been trying to make pants that fit so I’ve been sewing up test pants, ripping them out and trying again–over and over, more times than you’d want to know. The other project has been a very large painting of clouds which I’ve been painting, scraping down and repainting. Both of these activities have been more than a little obsessive. I think I’ve just needed a distracting problem to work on but now that Ed is improving I think I’m coming into the home stretch with both and can move on to other things.
I’ve always said ice is the one thing I don’t like about Vermont (well, maybe the black flies as well).
Three Tomatoes oil on claybord 5×7″ $100
Here’s the latest in my kitchen series. I can’t believe how much longer it sometimes takes me to do a tiny still life than to slap down a landscape! The tomatoes were pretty much finished before I was. I did a grisaille underpainting for this one because when you paint something red it’s hard to lighten it afterward without making the light parts too pink. Anyway, I had fun with it. That’s a box top the butter dish is resting on.
Our wonderful postmaster has made the post office something of a community center. There’s coffee, often sweets, art by local painters, and several women who meet weekly to knit. I wish I knew how so I could join this jolly group. ( I guess if you grow up in south Georgia where it’s too hot for wool people just aren’t as into knitting.)
Recently I mentioned to a friend that I have a “Life in Vt.” section of my blog and she said she had a photo that would be perfect. To give you a little background–last October I posted a picture of the local piglet who was visiting the post office at the time and eating the candy corn on offer there. This, if you can believe it, is the same pig 3 mos. later. Four women, two dogs and the pig went out fora little cross country skiing. I hate to have to tell you that this pig will be pork chops in the near future, but it has been very gently raised.
Three Turnips and a Purple Saucer oil on claybord 5×7″ $100
Still life painters seem to need to paint pears and turnips. I’ve painted lots of pears but never turnips so I felt it was just time. Setting up arrangements for the kitchen series is fun because it forces me to think of different possibilities for presenting foodstuff. Fruits and vegetables sort of take on personalities while I’m observing them so closely. I was tickled when I realized that the saucer under an African violet would be a nice purple to go with the color of the turnips. Fortunately they lasted long enough to roast along with parsnips, carrots and onions.
