Witness of the Mute Swans

I began this piece on a beautiful summer's day while plein air painting. I had set up my easel in a favorite spot that's lush with water lilies. This particular day there were swans landing on the lily pads and splashing about. I quickly blocked in the sky and the distant shore, then the color of the water and the placement of the water lilies. Small white x's marked the location of the swans. Before packing up I took some resource photos. The mood of the day was carefree. Walking back to my car, I realized it would be my last carefree day for awhile.

My mother's health had been failing for a long time, but I knew deep down inside that these were her last days. And so it was. It was mid October, the first Sunday after Mom's funeral and I wasn't looking forward to going home to an empty house. You see for years Mom spent Sundays at our house. Knowing this my husband wanted to distract me. Let's go to that place you like and walk around. Sure. Although the sun was shining it was windy and cold. As for me, I was busy being grumpy. I walked over to where the concession stand and boat rental are. Everything was closed for the season. I stood on the dock looking across the water where I had been painting that Summer. In the water, moving directly towards me were the swans. Soundlessly they glided to within inches of where I was standing. They hesitated and then swam on.

It would be another year before I could open my field kit and pick up a pastel. But when I did, just like the swans, my muse swam out to greet me. "Mute Swans of the Dixboro Mile" is about what once was and what remains.

Nose To The Grindstone

Don't you just love how in the movies the artist is seized by...inspiration! While wielding a brush in one hand, a stretched & primed canvas appears out of nowhere. With gusto paint is slashed across the canvas. A masterpiece is rent of this passion. It has never worked like that for me. There is the inspiration and even the passion, but there's so much more. As an artist, I fall head over heels in love with my subject. Like all love affairs, one wants to know everything there is to know about the beloved. Thus begins the research from the Internet to dusty old books. Right now I'm researching water lilies and swans for a threesome of paintings that I'm working on.

'Til Spring Creeps over My Windowsill

While I was walking through the home center, I found a rack of primroses. The bright, open faced blooms told me that Spring can't be all that far off. I bought three and lined them up on my kitchen windowsill. I do this every year. I keep the little plants alive until it's warm enough to plant them outside. I'm developing a really nice primrose patch. Inside or out, whenever I look at them blooming I am euphoric. They are the most optimistic of plants.

Here are the stages of my pastel painting of the purple ones. Although I was painting from life, I took a reference photo. I did the drawing with a watercolor pencil to establish the placement of the shadows. The next two images show the layering of color and refining of the image. And last is the finished piece.

What The Lilies Know

This was my first experimental media piece. It is a very personal work. Since I wanted to play with copy, I used my favorite lines from scripture which are in the sixth chapter of the book of Matthew. I use to be a world class worrier. In fact, if I wasn't actively worrying about something, that worried me! Then my rather quiet life changed on a dime. I didn't have the luxury of time to indulge in worrying. My days were dedicated to survival. One day I stumbled across the familiar quote. "Fret not..., what of the birds of the air & the lilies of the field",... it was all there, everything I ever needed to know. It's the key that opened the door for me. Both in my personal life, as well as an artist, I know that there is something simply wondrous out there. I don't need to be white-knuckled onto life. I'm freed up to spread my wings and soar.

A Winter's Dreaming

The woodland that surrounds my home is covered in snow. Red squirrels and the winter birds stand out against the subtle palette. This painting was done the year we had snow days. There I was with a whole day to paint ! Looking out the window I was amazed at the shades of gray and the amount of detail. The snow falling created a texture all it's own. So there I was at the second floor window- painting until the sun went down. It should be named, "Plein Air With Warm Feet".

A Merry Time

This acrylic painting of the center of a poinsettia resides over my mantel this time of year. It was a painting I did purely for my own enjoyment. This was a completely foreign idea for me up to now. I've always been working towards a goal. So for once my goal was to make art for my own enjoyment. Need I say it- purely for decoration? ( Eeeeek !!! ) Each leaf of the poinsettia is the result of many sheer layers of color. While doing them I was tossing about ideas for the background. I was painting on a 30" square panel with a 2" cradle which was looking more and more like a box to me. In fact, it reminded me of a Christmas present. That's what I'll do with the background, wrap it in gold leaf ! Having never done leafing before, on any scale, it sounded just the thing. Read all the instructions, laid out my materials, and began. Now there's a window of opportunity when the glue is just right. It lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. Three quarters of the way through the process, I run out of gold leafing squares. That's when my husband found me going through the phone book like a crazed squirrel. I had found more leaf, but it was in the part of town where you can't ever find parking. It was 5:15 and they closed at 6:00. With a John Wayne retort he said, "I drive." As I raced into the art supply store, my wheel man circled the block. Once home I laid on the final metal leaf sheets. I had abandoned the directions and was rubbing the sheets down with my thumbs while bits of gold floated through the air. I have never had more fun. Just looking at this painting makes me smile remembering that crazy, wonderful afternoon. It is good to enjoy one's art. Have a merry one !

Cup of Kindness

This was the art I used for last year's Christmas card. Originally, this colored pencil drawing was the cover of a yearbook I designed. Yes, it's the same pewter teapot as "Arrangement in Red". It is true that a thing of beauty is a joy forever, not to mention a great prop. Painting the same object with different media always stretches the artist. It's a new puzzle to be solved.