Misbehavin' Blog

If you received an earlier post from me regarding New Year's Resolutions, it wasn't from me. I've reset my blog account and made sure it doesn't contain a virus, so it should be all set now.

Sorry about the confusion!!!

"Summer Glow"

18" x 36"

Oil

After stepping away from this painting for about a month, I decided to revisit "Summer Glow" to finish it for the upcoming studio tour. I love the bright blue in contrast with the orange-yellows of the marsh. The day I took this photograph, I was enjoying dinner outside at Bob Lobsta down Plum Island with my husband, Jake and some dear friends. The glow off the "Got KI?" shack was spectacular and the lighting of the marsh feather tips was inspiring.

Small Works For Upcoming Open Studio

Downtown Vibe

8" x 8"

Oil

Buy Local

9" x 12"

Oil

Three Belts

8"x 8"

Oil

Fall Glow

8" x 8"

Oil

This past month, I've been focusing my energies on painting smaller pieces and finding that I really enjoy it. I forgot how intimate a small piece can be and still have a powerful voice. I continue to use brushes--flats in particular. I'm having a love affair with this flat, square brushstroke!!! I'm also experimenting with blurring out areas and really leaving it to the viewer to imagine the scene. "Downtown Vibe" is one of those pieces that is very suggestive of a hip, downtown scene with cool people hanging outside at the local Starbucks. You can imagine there discussing Jack Kerouac or organic gardening.

My other paintings really speak to my love of playing with color. "Three Belts" shows Belted Galloway cows that I came across in Camden, Maine while on vacation this past summer. The first thing my son said was, "Look at the Oreo cookies!" The photograph is kind of grainy, but in person, you can see the individual brushstrokes (flat square strokes) making for an interesting composition. "Buy Local" is a little farm stand in West Newbury right down the road from me. Every day during the summer, you'll find tomatoes, green beans and corn for sale...all on the honor system. It speaks to my heart knowing I live in a community where people still trust each other enough for an honor system. "Fall Glow" was during one of those magical fall days at Maudsley State Park where the warmth touches your skin and the colors light up your spirit.

My studio is hosting an Open Studio Tour at Artists' Muse, 9 Water Street, Amesbury, MA. Please come!!! Here are the dates...please forward this email to all your friends so we have a GREAT turnout.

Friday November 13th 5:30-9:00pm (reception)

Saturday November 14th 10:00-4:00pm

Sunday November 15th 12:00-4:00pm

Rye Energy Committee's "Home Grown" Art Show

Beginning October 1st, the Rye Energy Committee will be hosting an art show, "Home Grown," featuring works from artists all over the seacoast. The show will be at the Rye Public Library for the month of October. "Home Grown" is a show inspired by Rye resident gardens...

I'm showing one piece, titled "Ripe," that features the beautiful fruit of 124 Washington Road. A magical house with even more magic in the gardens...

Corner of Main & Friend

16" x 20"

Oil

It's ironic that as an adult, I have a studio in Amesbury and have also decided that the town is inspiring enough to paint. As a child, I couldn't wait to get the h@## out of the town having grown up there with both good and bad memories. Amesbury's transformation never ceases to amaze me as I drive to my studio seeing flower boxes, beautiful lampposts and store fronts that are welcoming. I'm glad that I've been given another chance to make memories as an adult working in Amesbury...

On one beautiful evening early in the summer, I was driving home from the studio. When I was a kid, it used to be a 2-way street throughout downtown, but now, there are one-way streets throughout the town. This particular day, I was turning right up Friend Street when the light hit the building on Main Street just the right way. I literally stopped short in my car...thankfully not hitting anyone or getting hit. I jumped out and took several photographs and from that photo a painting emerged filled with light and promise. I'm really enjoying the paintbrush right now and even working with a flat brushes which gives you a geometric brushstroke that is very satisfying to my senses. I think if given enough time, I'd head towards pointillism, really enjoying the mixing of dots to form images and alter color...it's fascinating!

This painting will be on display at my studio for the November Open Studio Tour:

Friday November 13th from 5:30-9pm

Saturday November 14th from 10-4pm

Sunday November 15th from 12-4pm

Stop by if you get a chance!

About a Brush...

Curious

18" x 24"

Oil

To add to my musings regarding brush versus palette knife, I wanted to post this Work In Progress painting that sits in my studio calling to me only on days where I feel like picking up a paintbrush, not a palette knife. It's that straightforward...

The day I started this painting, I literally felt like I was drawn to the paintbrush and almost had this sense that I didn't know what to do with the palette knife. From that feeling, came the beginning of a beautiful story about a boy both cautious and curious about the changing colors of the leaves, the unknown of a wooded path and the sense that something was about to change. This painting, although not nearly done, is of my son at Maudsley State Park on one of those magical days when the sun is out yet the air is cool and you smell fall.

This painting, if done with a palette knife, might not have had the same title or effect. Because of the sharper edges and thicker paint of a palette knife, this story might have taken a different path towards one that speaks to a boy who's very daring and determined which is not what I wanted to capture...

So how and with what you put paint on a canvas truly matters...

Experimenting with Palette Knives...

18" x 24"

Oil

Each day as I enter my studio, I'm always amazed at how I'm drawn to either my brushes or my palette knives. Some days, I want nothing to do with my paintbrushes thinking to myself, "Oh, they do nothing for me..." Then there are those days when I think, "No, palette knives just don't work with the emotion I'm trying to capture..." So not only are artists constantly thinking about subject matter, but we are also thinking about which tools are going to best intepret our art story.

This day, I was feeling the palette knives. I wanted to think outside the color box and interpret the marsh scene with the birdhouse as a playful land for the birds to fly around, sing and really live the life of Riley. A bird couldn't ask for a better place to have a house...right across from the ocean in Rye, NH, this marsh looks out towards the harbor with the beautiful boats, but also sits along this quaint pond filled with wading ducks, huge dragonflies and beautiful gardens ripe for the picking. When I thought about how to best interpret the scene, I thought about being a bird and seeing on these wonderfully playful colors dancing in front of my eyes as I flew over the marsh into my house day after day.

It's still a work in progress...not only this painting, but also my love-hate relationship with brushes and palette knives. I continue to use both and more than likely will always use more than just a brush or a knife in my work (i.e. toothpicks).

Camden and Looking Ahead...

I'm back from Camden, Maine and there I found more inspiration than I know what to do with...although I'm not really a harbor and boat painter, there are one or two scenes that I might have capture on canvas because the beauty was beyond words.

I went to the Dahlia Farm (endlesssummer.com) and if you like dahlias, it's definitely a place to visit. He has over 4000 dahlias!!! I believe I see a dahlia painting series in my future...the shapes and the symmetry fascinate me...

Hung out with Belted Galloway Cows that look like big "Oreo cookies" as my 4-year old told me.

On a different note, the Band of Brushes first show was a HUGE success. We sold over ten paintings in a 6-day period and had an amazing turnout at our reception.

As for upcoming shows,

--Wakefield Paint Out on September 12th (tentatively set) near the lake

--Rye Energy Committee's "Home Grown" art event at the Rye Library starting October 1st

--Great Bay Discovery Center's 5th Annual Art Event which shows in November

--Artists' Muse Studios Holiday Open House is November 14th & 15th