I've been thinking about why I paint the subjects I do.  Why am I drawn to the landscape, birds, animals, and flowers?  If I feel a good story, I enjoy painting people.  

     My first memory of a happy place as a child was my grandparents' farm in West Virginia, the place my mom was raised.  An only child, town girl got to roam free in the fresh air and walk those lovely rolling hills.  I loved the wide view of the mountains, the old barns, all of the farm animals, riding with my granddad on his tractor, and milking the cow with my saintly grandmother.  Being anywhere with her was the best, so I learned about using that cow's milk to make butter and cottage cheese. Can you smell her hot rolls baking waiting to be smeared with that butter?  She taught me how to make hollyhock dolls from her garden which was full of not only hollyhocks, but light blue iris and pink peonies.  Of course her vegetable garden was enormous and I probably enjoyed it because I didn't have to do all of the work. To this day I can hear flies buzzing, cows mooing, and crows cawing, and I'm immediately on that beloved farm.

     Well I live on the coast and not near those dear memories, but I believe my memory of them is revealed in my art work.  I love painting the landscape with its trees, birds and other animals. The marsh is where I live with a far view that reminds me of that distant view of mountains. I feel so much pleasure painting flowers, and I'm certain my grandmother is with me when I do.  Did you see the red tractor I painted?  Now granddad didn't have a palm tree next to his, but when I saw that old shed and that red tractor, my heart skipped a beat!  Mamie loved to visit the ocean with us after granddaddy died and to this day, I see her walking on the beach with me as I hold my first baby boy, wind in our hair and sharing a new generation.

     I believe I react to my world because of those basic fond memories, and I can hear the stories my paintings tell as I paint.  I usually paint in silence, but those words from the past are actively buzzing in my head.  I hope you can hear them too!

     As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm being reminded and refreshed by listening to other professional artist describe their methods and processes as I listen to webinars and videos.  I've learned volumes  over the last eight years of painting, but all of that knowledge does not always reach my consciousness while I'm painting each subject.

     For instance, did you know that different planes have different values of light?  The sky (under day time conditions) is the lightest, the ground is next in value, slanting planes (mountains and hills) are next, and upright natural objects are the darkest.  Now as the sun goes down, this pattern adjusts and uprights have a lighter value and everything else adjusts accordingly.  Have you observed this?

     Shadows should be painted transparently and good design must have value differences.  Symmetry is static and variety is dynamic!  An artist can create an entire painting using just three colors plus white.

    Well this week I learned something that I've never heard before referring to the word "meniscus" and it's relationship to water.  I knew my son, Jeremy, had his meniscus repaired from a baseball injury, but what does that word have to do with water and painting?  A meniscus is the curve in the surface of water where it touches another material like the side of a glass or rock.  The water actually curves up and therefore receives a highlight.  Painting water has so much to do with reflected light and that little bit of new knowledge might just help put paint down in a way that my viewer "sees and feels" water!

     This might sound minuscule, but I love learning new concepts in nature and plan to store this tidbit away (but not too far away) for another water painting!  Who knew?

     I continue to evoke personal perceptions of nature!  Until another day!  Stay well!

     Today I am more grateful than ever for this time God has provided me to immerse into art.  Covid 19's quarantine has created not just painting time, but study time with webinars, videos, and iconic art books.  A big thank you to Eric Rhoads, founder and publisher of PleinAir magazine and Fine Art Connoissuer magazine for all of his free videos and interviews each day with different artists.  These have allowed me to virtually connect to other people with like passions and their stories.  I have learned how I might have experienced something similar to them...a sense of belonging in the artist world!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

     For the last eight years, painting has been my passion!  My studio at theArtWorks™ has been a second home for concentrating on my craft.  Thanks to Covid 19, my life, like everyone else's has been changed dramatically and so has my studio space.  Thankful I have a small corner in my bedroom and a screened porch that have fabulous north light!  I've rigged an at home easel and I'm trying to stick to a regular painting schedule.  Feeling that my art show with Sandy Nelson in May will be cancelled, I've allowed my self to concentrate on smaller works that are somewhat beyond my usual subjects.  My paint is not flowing as usual and I realize that I'm adjusting to a new normal.  Trying new subjects and techniques brings challenges and negative voices in my head.  I'm working on accepting the challenge and quieting those voices.

     I feel blessed to be able to contine my work without much trouble and in a beautiful setting.  Be on the lookout for new work and my next observations of my state of mind.  Take care!

I paint my perceptions of nature!