"Shake All Your Blues Away" 6 x 6 oil

Our painting group, Girls Just Wanna Paint, was handed "chic" as the theme for September by our member Pam Copeman. She was unable to attend the meeting as she was at New York Fashion Week.  Pam epitomizes chic, so we painted her (as a surprise).  Pam bears an uncanny resemblance to famed dancer Ann Miller (in my opinion) so this is my painting "Shake All Your Blues Away", Pam as Ann Miller (Nadine Hale) in Easter Parade, one of my favorite movies.  

By the way, Ann Miller has the reputation of fastest tap dancer, ever.  (Not sure if 

 her record still stands, but check out a video of "Shake All Your Blues Away" and you'll see why.)
Or, watch the whole movie: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ann Miller, Peter Lawford... just the ceasar salad scene is worth it!   Chic.

"Horizon" 6 x 6 oil

Horizon  6 x 6 oil original oil painting

This is my third in a series of working boat paintings. "Horizon" was pulling traps off the Pemaquid Point in Maine. I am enjoying painting these small, closely cropped, semi-abstract images.  When I look at the boats, I can hear the intermittent start-stop-start as they move from trap to trap, and can hear the gulls following, smell the salt, feel the air, and the sun.  The small format is working very well for me this busy autumn.  More to come.   

Thanks for looking.

"September Dusk" 8x8 cut paper

 
I like to cut paper.   Let me elaborate.  I like to cut paper with scissors to make interesting shapes and forms without drawing them first.  I use it in my math classes to demonstrate symmetry to my students.  I cut paper shapes iconic of certain holidays that our church youth group then uses to make one-of-a-kind note cards which they sell to fund their mission trips. I like to cut paper.  

 "September Dusk" image stretched to square proportions

So, when North River Arts Society kicked off this year's Outside the Box fundraiser, inviting artists and non-artists alike to create an 8" x 8" work, different from their norm, I decided to paint with paper.  

I chose one of my favorite paintings of our local river and stretched its image into a square for the proportions.  I bought a number of sheets of patterned paper, no solids,  considering only the colors and values, not the patterns, then proceeded to cut shapes, and to use them like paint.  It was very interesting to decide how to layer up, how to soften edges, how to build in atmospheric perspective and texture.  I used the paper much like I would use paint, blocking in with large shapes, then continually subdividing those shapes.

original "September Dusk" 7 x 5

The result is a "paper painting" filled with paisley, polka dots, peacock feathers,  floral images, toile, and stripes that comprise "September Dusk". When I compare the original oil and the paper version, I'll admit, I am drawn to the oil more than the paper. However, I love the paper painting, the thinking and the process. My goal was not to recreate the original oil painting.  My goal was to create a piece of art that stands on its own, using the oil painting as reference, much like my oil paintings are intended to stand on their own, using life as reference. 

 I'm planning to explore this idea again, and am considering skipping the middle step altogether, bringing my paper, scissors, and Modge Podge outside to paint with paper en plein air. 

As always, interested in your thoughts.  Thanks for looking.

"Open Mic" 6 x 6 oil

My entry for August's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge, theme "music".

Last spring, my daughter sang at Club Passim in Cambridge on open mic night, great fun, with a variety of performers of a variety of ages, styles, and talents. She sang an original song composed in her high school music project, and is performing here with her music teacher.  This is a study for a larger painting which will include her friend and classmate playing guitar.

Thanks for looking.

Marshfield Fair 2012

The Marshfield Fair comes to town for 10 days each August.  We love it and have volunteered for years in a variety of ways during the weeks prior to and including the Fair.  We find ourselves there almost every day, enjoying the lights, the pageantry, the sounds and smells, the people watching.

We spend a lot of time in Agricultural Hall, smack dab in the center of the fairgrounds.  Arts and Crafts are housed upstairs and Horiculture

is downstairs.  This year, I was scheduled for a painting demo upstairs, and chose the Arts and Crafts Shop. I love the majestic old building with its views of carnival rides and festivities out the windows.  

I have been bringing my sketchbook and will sit and draw while soaking up the atmosphere.  Whether I am sitting isolated on the rocks of a Maine Island, or amid the hubbub of our local country fair, I am blessed... 

 

"Good Day at the Office" 6 x 6 oil

 

My second in a series of fishing boats from this summer.  This is the "Susan A",  a work horse with salmon pink trim - quite a contrast.  This happened to be a crisp, dry day with calm seas and light breezes, a good day on the water, though I assume the catch is the true measure of what makes a "good day".

Thanks for looking.

 

"Evening Tide" oil painting 9 x 12 and goats

 Manana is the small island across from Monhegan which creates the sheltered harbor out here, 10 miles from the mainland.  Manana is visible from most vantage points on the west side of Monhegan.  Its lovely curves and angles have been painted by generations of artists including Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper, Aldro Hibbard.  

I love watching the shadows appear on Manana midday, then creep down the sides, the ratio of light and shadow shifting as the afternoon progresses, until Manana is completely in shadow and the sun eventually sets behind it. "Evening Tide" was painted from Fish Beach late in the afternoon.  I was painting with my friend Marianne Buckley Curran, which is always a joy.

While I was painting, I looked up and saw the Manana goats aligned on Manana's peak.  The goats are a relatively recent addition to the tiny island.  I had a flashback to childhood when Johanna Spyri described Heidi sneaking soft rolls into her pinafore in Dusseldorf to save for Grandfather on the mountain...  what a great afternoon.