Purple Christmas Tree

I put in the background for "Embrace" and when I was finished I realized I had a purple Christmas tree! When I was in high school I wanted purple hair. I've wanted a lot of purple things over the years. But I have to say I've never thought about a purple Christmas tree before. I suppose I could leave it and save it for a Christmas decoration. But I think I'll just wait until tomorrow and let "Embrace" be born instead.

Warm Embrace

This is a charcoal drawing I did as a concept sketch for my next painting. Still working with the idea of Comfort, this piece will be about embracing. Often an embrace is pictured with two people in a hug. But I wanted to capture the idea with just a single figure. When I think of being embraced, enwrapped, cuddled, and snuggled in comfort, I think of a warm, soft blanket. I want her to have a look of appreciation and familiarity more than a relief from fear or struggle. I'm having fun with the charcoals. I'm not spending the time on them that I do with the paints, but just playing with them again is fun!

Warmth

This is the first painting in a series I am going to do on the concept of Comfort. To me, comfort is warm. When I think of warm comfort I think of standing outside with my face to the sun. Today it's raining outside. I can hear the drops pelting the skylight in my studio and it reminds me of some of the old farm buildings when I was child. The sound makes me feel cold even though the temperature inside is very comfortable. And yet, I can look at her and see her embracing the light and warmth of the sun and suddenly I feel warm again. Many people have a "happy place" in their mind that they can go to when life gets stressful, and it can help them calm down. While this isn't really a place, it is an image that can bring a sense of warmth and comfort when life gets hard. 

Squaring Her Shoulder

We square our shoulders when we are determined. Squaring one's shoulders shows a lack of fear. Perhaps she isn't squaring her shoulders for either of these reasons. Perhaps she squaring her shoulders simply to open them up to the light that is before her. Soaking in the warmth of comfort fully, she accepts the light without reservation, with faith, with hope, with acceptance and love. When someone offers us comfort, are we able to accept it this openly? Or do we resist just enough to keep ourselves emotionally safe? Do we secretly fear the very offer of comfort we so desperately seek?

Profile

A profile is a view of something from only one side. Today my subject got a profile. She has her face to the light and is soaking up the warmth of the sun. But there's more to her than just this one side. And yet, that's all we'll get to see.

How often do we see only one side of a person? How often do we create a profile in our minds of what a person is? I'm working on getting to know people more fully and accepting them as a whole person rather than just certain aspects of them. This isn't always possible. So I try to remember that everyone is a whole person whether I can see all of them or not. I guess this has become important to me because I want others to see me in the same way. 

Canvas Covered

I took yesterday's charcoal drawing and am making it into a painting. I chose a 16" x 20" canvas this time. I've been working on 8" x 10" canvas boards for paintings that are more for exercise and whim. But I want to turn this into a series of paintings focusing on the idea of comfort. Today I got the canvas covered with an underpainting. I left all of the edges soft so that I can make adjustments as I go along. Things will change, but I have a starting place. My heart is speaking to me in this one. I'm excited.

 

Warmth... Charcoal Drawing

I'm still pondering the concept of comfort. What is it that provides comfort? How does comfort feel? For me, comfort is warm. After a long winter I long for a sunny day when I can stand with my face to the sun and feel the warmth on my face. On a stressful day I can face the sun and feel the calm seep into me with each ray of sunshine. The comforting embrace of my grandmother felt as warm and penetrating as the heat of the sun. Let the sunshine in!

Comfort

I realized today that I've been so focused on painting that I've neglected my sketch journal as well as my artist dates. I've been pondering some emotional things the past few days and one theme that keeps returning is Comfort. How does one visually illustrate comfort without any figures? I can think of objects that symbolize comfort, like a blanket, pillow or teddy bear. I can think of comforting people like mothers or grandparents or friends. But comfort in and of itself? I think of warm, soft, encompassing, safe.

Beach Boy

Well, here he is... my little beach boy. He makes my toes curl with excitement. I want to get down to the beach and help him collect rocks and stomp in puddles with him. Capturing him on film was such a joy. He ran from puddle to puddle to puddle. I was afraid that by the time I got to him, asked his dad for permission to take his picture, and got settled in, he would have run out of energy or interest. I was so wrong. His dad said he'd been running across the puddles for over half and hour and I was there with him for nearly as long. It was a rare moment, such as this one, when he would stop and find a treasure, and then be off running again. 

I often wonder why all of that energy is allowed in those tiny bodies when my body can't seem to get enough energy to keep up with my own schedule. Watching the carefree child always stirs something deep inside that causes me to yearn for that same freedom to run and laugh and explore at will. Some days I let myself be that child. We should all do that a little more often... 

Getting Your Feet Wet

My little beach boy finally got his feet wet. This was a fun day of painting. I love how the shorts came out. I love painting fabric. It was as amazing this time as the first time I painted fabric. It took just three strokes of bright red and he had folds in his shorts that defined what his legs were doing. Crazy how that happens. When I learned that painting flesh was just like painting fabric, I was on my way to figure painting. Flesh is simply live fabric that lays over muscle and bone. It reacts the same way as fabric over a solid structure. So cool. I love my work!

County Fair Harvest

Fun times. I have to admit that Fall is my least favorite season. It's like menopause - hot, cold, hot, cold... life is seeping out of leaves, it's getting close to bedtime. But every cloud has a bright lining and for me in the Fall it's the harvest. My garden is having as hard a time saying good-bye to summer as I am. The tomatoes are coming on so slowly I have to pick every day just to get enough for a sandwich. So this painting was rewarding because I was able to create the harvest of my dreams. Everything gathered in is huge and round and colorful and juicy. Now if only I could eat out of this basket... 

The Moving of the Water

My little guy is picking a stone up out of the water. Painting water is very interesting. We tend to think of water as always being blue. Water, however, is colorless. It simply reflects whatever is above it. Because most of the time that is blue sky, we tend to think of water as always being blue. There is almost no blue in this puddle, however. So finding the colors that really are there is a fun challenge.

Beans and Carrots

When I was teaching school my students were invited to share one of their projects on a local TV program. As my students and I sat waiting for the camera to roll, the host told us to look at each other and repeat "peas and carrots, peas and carrots" over and over again while we laughed and acted "natural". He said that saying these words would make us look like we were really talking without having to force or fake a conversation. Today, however, my guests are beans and carrots instead. Does this make them look less natural?

Tide Puddles

When I think of tide pools I think of the ponds left by the ebbing tide that are filled with star fish and sea anemones. When they're only filled with plankton, are they still tide pools? Or just tide tide puddles?

Trying to paint the texture of the wind-blown sand was an interesting process. On a larger canvas I might have become obsessive. On these 8x10 canvases, however, I am forced to keep things loose and keep moving. It is a good exercise for me.

It was also fun to note how the water rippled in some places and was completely calm in others, even though it was the same tide puddle. The earth is such an amazing thing.