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My Dad passed away on February 29 in 2012.  He was 93 and had a long, happy, successful and full life. 

From the car

But, of course, I still miss him.  I think about him a lot and will always try to live my life as well as he did.  Although Daddy didn't paint, he did many other creative things and was always trying new things.

Lately since I've been trying to work on finalizing his estate and sorting through all of the things he and Mom accumulated, my thoughts have returned to the day we invited friends and colleagues together to celebrate his life.   As you've probably heard, it never rains in Southern California, but on the morning we buried Daddy, it was as if the heavens had opened up and unleashed everything they had.  Wind, pouring rain and cold all added their voice to the mix.  It was truly wild.

Happily by that evening it had cleared and was quite beautiful although a bit chilly by the time we gathered in Dad's back yard to celebrate his life.     On the way home we were greeted by a truly beautiful sunset.

From my balcony

I wanted to capture the beauty of that sunset and had started to work on a medium sized painting.  It had clouds and orange yellow skies and bluer clear skies too.  But it just isn't working as I'd hoped.  I haven't been happy with that painting and have repainted it several times.  Finally, I put it aside for some later date when I can "see more clearly" and just decided to paint a seascape sunset.  Yes, I know it has repeated horizontal lines...  I just decided to do it... despite the rules.  This one turned out more to my liking -- even if it is just a bit different than what I usually paint:

"Until We Meet Again"

As you can tell, the title is meant to convey my thoughts about Dad.  I also think I'm in some kind of a phase to try new ways of doing things like he always did... 

I'm working on paintings in order to explore texture.  I'm working on paintings to explore composition and color.  All the while, I'm still painting my usual things and always trying to become a better painter.  Who knows what will come of it.

Plein Air -- I love it

Every chance I get I like to get out and paint outdoors.  I do it because I love getting out to paint.  It helps me really SEE my world.   There is so much beauty if you just stop to really see.

I've read several articles in blogs and newsletters lately about what exactly plein air is and whether it is "better" or more important than studio work.  Of course, there are two very strong opposite camps, but in my opinion each is important and each is necessary.

Just the other day I read an article written by a wonderful artist that I follow named Keith Bond.  Here are a few of his thoughts on the subject:

"Does It Matter?
The short answer is 'No'. It doesn't really matter where or how a painting was created. What matters is twofold: quality and authenticity. I define authenticity as being an expression, filled with meaning, that is a true reflection of what inspires the artist.
Plein air work has its place with many, many benefits. It also has some drawbacks.
Likewise, studio work has just as many pros and cons.

-----

First and foremost, my plein air work is all about my relationship with nature, having a conversation with nature, finding inspiration in nature.
When something strikes a chord with me, and I know I have to paint it, I am more likely to capture that emotional response if I paint from life while that emotional response is actually happening.
If I merely take a photo and try to paint that scene back in the studio, I may capture the scene's beauty, but that emotional response is one or two steps removed."

You may enjoy reading Keith Bond's blog on your own.  This is a link to his website and blog:  Keith Bond  His work is beautiful as well.

This painting is titled "Relentless"  after the constantly pounding waves that ever so slowly wear down rock and land along our shores.   I painted it a Leo Carrillo one day when I just went outside to paint on my own.  Since then I have painted outside with a friend two different times (once at the beach and once in Franklin Canyon) and with two different painting groups (once in Echo Park and once at El Matador State Beach). 

Being Relentless

I keep looking a the work of wonderful artists.  Gosh there are so many!  They do landscapes, and portraits and still lives.  Their work is traditional but more and more, I'm coming to appreciate those who have moved toward abstraction.  I know I have a long, long way to go to reach the level of these artists.   I've had a few setbacks lately which sometimes slows me down emotionally.  But I realize that I need to take a lesson from those waves.   I need to be relentless. 

Actually that sounds a bit "overboard".   I just need to keep on painting.  My progress is very slow, but it IS progress and the more I paint, the closer I will get (albeit slowly) to the quality I'd like to see in my own work.

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By the way, there is a little silver bowl study that is on Daily Paintworks Auction.  It will close on 8/23/13 at about 4:30 p.m.
Interested???   It's a great deal!
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auction/154270

A Bit About The Painting .... (then I'll tell you about the title...)

I had decided not to submit work for an upcoming show with one of my favorite organizations.  Part of my reasons were frustrations and part were simply practical.  The theme of the show seemed too limiting and I am growing weary of creating paintings to fit a theme when they are not necessarily themes I embrace.  Oh, I have enjoyed trying to paint different things... often successfully, but more often than not I end up with paintings that don't really reflect the joy I want to share in my paintings.

Well, the group broadened the theme and I weakened.  I actually had some field studies that I could use to create work to submit.  I worked on two paintings, and while I learned from both, I decided that one just wasn't "cutting it".  I did, however, like the one I created from my plein air study in Eaton Canyon that I did last December.  For the studio piece, I emphasized the sunlight on the top of the sandy bank of the arroyo and played with the colors a bit in the foreground shadows.  I tried to keep the way some of the leaves were in shadow while others were catching the late afternoon sunlight.  I liked it and perhaps the jurors will too.  We'll see.  As always, sometimes your work gets in and sometimes it doesn't.

"Eaton Canyon Sycamore"

About the 42 years...

Well, it really seems amazing to me, but tomorrow will be the 42nd anniversary of my marriage to a wonderful man I met while on a European vacation.  

I have always considered myself extremely lucky.  I had a wonderful long-lasting and fulfilling career as a teacher and principal.  I have had a wonderful family -- growing up and continuing on to the present. 

I now enjoy my "new career" as an observer and artist.  Best of all and perhaps because of my husband, all of that has been made better. 

Gastone and I met in August of 1970 in a glass factory in Murano, (Venice), Italy.  We married in August of 1971 in a beautiful little Venetian church built before Columbus discovered America. 

If you're interested in reading about our

"LOVE STORY"

click the link.

I wrote about it several years back and enjoy sharing that story every August to celebrate our anniversary.  I hope you will enjoy our memories.

David's Shark

Master Class

Most of you know that I study with David Gallup.  I love going to class.  Every Monday is a surprise.  Oh, there is a rhythm to the classes.  We start out with critiques.  We discuss and analyze a variety of artwork by historic and contemporary artists.  We paint.  We watch David paint and listen to him explain color, brushwork, edges, values and all of the things we need to work on.  Lately everyone is discussing "Who is the "best" living artist?  And WHY?"... (Yeah, I know... an impossible conundrum.... but who would YOU choose .... and why?  It certainly has opened up our eyes to lots and lots of wonderful artists' work!)

My Two Hour Figure Study

But each class is different and you really never know what you will be painting.

Sometimes we have a model.  When we have a model, sometimes we have 10-15 minutes poses to paint... looking a patterns of light.  Sometimes we paint the model for 2 hours / sometimes for more.

Sometimes we will paint something a student has brought in to class --a  frozen shark head, a dead bird, a silver bowl.  Sometimes we paint flowers and sometimes we work on projects of our own.

Just do that

Last Monday we painted a silver bowl sitting on a red satin cloth.  The exercise reminded me of David's "lesson of the abalone".   Click on the links below to review highlights of the lesson of the abalone.

November, 2012

July, 2012

Each time when David explains something he demos on the palette.  More often than not, while our heads are still spinning, he says, "Just do that," with a bit of a smile on his face.

On another note...
I finally decided throw out old paintings that aren't up to my current standards.  (My "spare" room is groaning with stacks and stacks of paintings that I hadn't been able to toss.)  I was just about ready to toss them in the trash when I decided to try just painting over them.  I purchased some oil-based ground or gesso coat and took about 8 of my old paintings and painted right over them.  The ground is very thick and difficult to use, but not too bad.  I didn't sand, thinking that the texture might be interesting.   This silver bowl painting was painted over one of my old paintings. The surface was really nice and accepted the paint very well so I will do this some more.   YAY!!!  Economy AND something new to explore.

The California Art Club is a great club!

The California Art Club Ventura/Malibu Chapter has hosted a monthly paint out for several years now.  They have been arranged by George Malone and the event ranges from 4 painters to 20.  I always try to make it because it is a great way to meet other painters and I sometimes find a new great place to paint.

This July the paint out was at Sycamore Cove Beach.  I had painted there once before with the CAC group and hadn't returned because it's a bit further up the coast than my favorite beach painting place, Leo Carrillo.  Last May there was a terrible fire that burned all the way from Camarillo across the Santa Monica Mountains to Sycamore Canyon State Park.  I wasn't sure whether the beach part of the state park was affected.  Sycamore Cove Beach is just south of Point Mugu, but it has a nice camping and picnic area.

Summer Vacation
Since it is summer and the kids are out of school, I thought it might be fun to bring Tyler and his friends along to play while we all painted.  Tyler loves to be with his friends.  He isn't really a beach person, and he spends far too much time playing on the computer so I wanted him to get outside and active.  He isn't keen on going with me when I paint -- saying "it's boring".  But I exerted a bit of coersion and convinced him to invite his friends.

I crossed my fingers that they would have a good time.  When we got there, I was a bit worried because the beach is very steep and had strong rip tide warnings posted.  The other boys were boogie boarders, but they hadn't brought their boards, thank goodness.  I asked them not to go in deeper than knees and to stay in front of us.  (That SORT-OF worked -- no one went in past their upper thighs -LOL.)

A Great Summer Day At The Beach
It was a grand day!!  The boys stayed safe.  They ran from the waves, waded, dug sand castles, forts and moats and got thoroughly wet and sandy. 

I decided not to just paint the rocky formation in the cove, but rather to try to capture the fun the boys were having.  It was a new challenge for me.   I just tried to place the figures with gesture strokes (because obviously they were running and moving all over the place.).  Then I put in the waves and sand and rocks around them.    When I got home I cleaned up the figures a bit, but left them pretty "unfinished" on purpose.  I was pretty happy with my first figurative plein air.

"Boys At The Beach"

They had a ball and all of us painters totally enjoyed listening to their screams of joy as they played in the sand and waves.