I finished this one recently and am pleased with it. Trees fascinate me as a subject and all the time I was painting I was remembering the time my dad paid me a dime to memorize Joyce Kilmer’s poem, “Trees.” (“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree….”)–pretty sappy but it has stayed in my head. I’m pleased with the clouds made by my new palette knife. The whole scene reminds me of glorious bright summer mornings, full of possibilities.
Morning Glory 30 x 18 oil on masonite $600 unframed
And here you see the advantages of a standing seam roof. Last winter we accumulated four feet of snow and ice on our old roof before we had it shoveled off –apparently just in time. The white stuff still built up on the new roof but as soon as we got warmer temperatures it started sliding down, like a curtain hanging. We’re relieved it works because the roof itself is pretty flat. It’s amazing how much we’ve had to learn about living in a cold climate and what expense that knowledge has led to!
My nine year old granddaughter visited over Thanksgiving. I had decided that she was old enough to try oils, especially since we just had a powerful ventilation system installed in my studio. I had ordered some little latex gloves for her as well so we were all set. I was amazed to see her at work. She made a few structural lines, asked me to add cerulean to the blues on my palette and just dived in. I acted as her assistant, cleaning the brushes between applications and in a few minutes she had covered the whole board. I just couldn’t get over the confidence and lack of hesitation. Years ago I saw a film of Picasso painting and it was the same kind of unhesitating spontaneous creation. After she had all the colors on, she gave it a close look, quickly and deliberately drew the two lines through it, then announced “Now it’s finished!” She assured me that with abstract painting you can’t make a mistake. It’s nice she believes that and I wish I could.
The Mountain oil on masonite 5 x 7 NFS!
Here’s a painting I did some time ago; I kind of forgot that I’d finished it. When we’re in Utica visiting our daughter, Ed and I like to walk around the local golf course for exercise. One morning when we started out there were many jet trails in the sky and as the sun rose the colors were amazing. I like the darkness in the foreground contrasted with the brightness of the sky and the way the sky fades into the hills.
Morning Light oil on masonite 18 x 30 $600 framed
Life in Vermont is not all beer and skittles. Thursday we went into town in the morning to shop; then saw “Les Mis” at the theater in White River Junction (motto: “White River Junction–it’s not so bad”); and from there went to an art opening by a wonderful Strafford Artworks member, Micki Colbeck. It had started snowing a little after the play but by the time we left the opening it was really coming down; cars were going off the road. We crept home, using a back road to avoid the highest hill, and it was a relief to get safely in. The snow was pelting down. Then, sometime before 2:00 a.m. the power went out. That’s not usually a big problem because our expensive super back up battery kicks in. We tried not to use too much power all day Friday to conserve the battery but at 8:00 Fri. night the battery quit. We had gotten the house really warm so were comfortable reading by candlelight and warm in bed under comforters. But I tell you, we really hated to get up yesterday morning because we knew it would be cold. We dressed in many layers, Ed built a fire in the fireplace– psychologically helpful but actually almost no heat. By then the phone was dead as well so in my morbid mode I started worrying about all kinds of emergencies where we’d need a phone. When Ed went to take the recycling in he was able to check the recorded message at the power company which assured us that we’d have power by Monday night–Yikes! Then we started worrying about the pipes freezing since the temperature was dropping every hour. The house is relatively new, pretty well insulated but without any heat we didn’t know if it was insulated enough. Friends with wood stoves invited us to their houses but we felt we needed to keep stoking the fire to keep the house as warm as possible. As soon as phone service was restored a friend called to cancel her dinner party. Since she has a gravity-feed well that doesn’t require a pump she offered us some water–all sold out at the general store. But then–hallelujah!–just as we were getting terribly cold in spite of all our clothing, the power came back on. I never thought electricity could make me so happy! Now every time I run the faucet or turn on a light I’m grateful. We went to a big cocktail party last night and everybody really bonded over the stress of the last couple of days. We have to do something, either a wood stove or a generator. After the ice storm in ’99 the power was out for three days and that would be a disaster. But–silver lining–the world was beautiful with all the ice coating the trees. When the wind blew you could heat the limbs clicking against each other. Here are a couple of photos.
I was sorry I had to point the camera right into the sun but the sun coming right through the ice was what made it all so spectacular. I’d love to be able to figure out how to get that effect in paint.
