Machias Painting

Well, here is another painting trying out my new color idea.  This was so bright I had to put a blue wash over the whole thing.  My new toy is fun enough, but I'm coming to the end of my interest in just working on it.  I've learned a lot and am glad I did it, but there is a limit to how long a technique can amuse me.  I want to go back to to something else.  With all this experimenting I have enough landscapes, etc. to get through two seasons of the gallery.  After that I can paint over them again and try something new.........

New Snow

The weather doesn't seem to know if it's winter or spring.  Last night we had a snowstorm that must have confused all the plants that have come up in the garden.  They seem to be surviving the see-saw.  Even though it is pleasant to have had no winter to speak of, and an early Spring, I can't help thinking about the fate of the earth.  Actually the earth will go on, I suppose, but humans are destroying the environment that supports them.  Like so many other species before us, we are using up what keeps us alive.  Also, like other species, we can't help it.  It's my belief, anyway, that we can't help it.  We are doing what animals do, and with our tool, our brains, we try to figure out how to save ourselves.  Or we pretend that nothing is really happening.  Once it rained on the earth for three million years.  Our time here is less than a second.

Some more paintings and chicken pen failure

Picasa has changed and I can't upload photos the way I am used to doing.  It has taken me an hour to figure out the new method, and I'll have to do more studying to find out how to size the pictures.  So there you go.

Anyway, I worked more on the painting of my living room, and then did the bottom picture from a painting one of my students did years ago at a workshop.  I've always like the composition.  My latest challenge is to work on color.  I have always been so fond of value that color was almost unimportant.  I had to find something new to do with my painting, so that is what I chose.  I've studied pictures of work in art magazines that showcase color and dove in.  It doesn't come naturally to me, and I am still working with my usual six tubes of primary colors.  That takes some creative mixing to obtain anything but conventional landscape colors, but I'm trying.  I know it's possible.  Primaries can make any color there is.

For a couple of days we had weather like mid-summer.  The temperature was in the 80's.  No sooner did I get out my sandals and short sleeved tops when snow began to fall again.  Now we are back to winter.  I spent most of the time working on the chicken pen in an attempt to curb Penny's wanderlust.  Just as I was finishing up my revamping of the pen, Penny flew over my head to freedom.  People have suggested I trim her wings, but somehow I just can't do it.  I can only hope that my reluctance doesn't cost her her life.

New Paintings and Willy Update

I didn't realize how long it's been since I wrote a post. I have been spending a lot of time painting, and these three aren't the only ones.  Some of them have been obliterated, since I have only two canvases.  The top painting and the bottom one are the top layer of those canvases.  The middle one is painted over some other painting that has already been erased in my memory as well as literally.  I may have done more that have also gone down the well, already forgotten. I also painted over two old paintings where I didn't change the image, just the technique. I experimented with various ideas to change the harsh look my acrylics have always had.  I liked them that way, but suddenly turned against them.  I'm happy with the new versions, which I have forgotten to photograph.  I'll do that today and post them.

It continues to be difficult and boring without Lytton and I am still brought to tears when I think of him.  Luckily it happens only once or twice a day and I basically make my way through the mud that is my life looking for things to keep me busy.  Willy has wormed his way into my heart and I now think of him as part of the family.  He is endearing with his antics and I can't help but love him.

Morning Dog Walk

It's a blustery, cold day, which always produces a different kind of beauty. When I took the dogs out today it was snowing only lightly, but the wind was fierce and bitter cold. Nevertheless, after I brought the dogs home, I took my camera and went back down to the foot of my street to tale pictures. This is a colored photo, believe it or not. It's what the day actually looks like. One can imagine the world looking like this before human beings, and probably after, too.

I love having access to the water in all kinds of weather. Here on the rough Maine coast one can see an indifferent ocean free of human interference. No beach umbrellas or surfboards for rent here.........