Cerulean

Civil War Ladies

2011-02-21T10:00:00.001-06:00

This summer I went to a Civil War Re-Enactment. And I drew these ladies. They had the most wonderful dresses, and just once or twice gave a kind of a time warp effect. I knew it was 21st century, but sometimes that fell away just a little, with a delightful and eerie result.

Big Turkey

2011-02-20T15:07:00.002-06:00

One nice turkey. I was afraid the coyotes had eaten him during the recent blizzard, but no, him and his buddy were back for more food the other day. Gosh, pictures don't do him justice, he is really beautiful in the morning sun. I passed my hunting course this year so I can buy a license to kill him, and his relatives too, except now I don't want to. I am going to wind up being a vegetarian if this trend doesn't stop. You can see the beard of feathers hanging down that marks him as a male.

Dog sledding pt.2, the cast of characters

2011-02-05T15:31:00.001-06:00

They are all good dogs.

Dog Sledding

2011-02-05T14:38:00.004-06:00

One of the perks of blizzards is lots of snow. And one of the perks of snow is dog sledding.It is such fun. I am taking my first ride on a dog sled through a county park. Eight dogs, one musher and me. A lot of fun!

The Blizzard of the Month

2011-02-02T10:28:00.002-06:00

This a picture of a man engaging in the the Wisconsin state sport of "Snowblowing in a Blizzard." In this sport, participants go out in 50 mile an hour winds and dense snowfall to battle the elements for control of the sidewalk. Its is a contest between man and the primal forces of nature reminding us that we are not called "Cheeseheads" for nothing.

Here Turkey, turkey, turkey

2011-01-14T05:29:00.006-06:00

Here are two wild Tom Turkeys that came in from the woods for brunch. You can tell they are males because they have a tuft of long feathers hanging down from their fronts and the fact that they seem to defy gravity and walk at a 90 degree angle to the rest of us. This is why they are so much fun to hunt. All this courtesy of my new iPhone which I happened to hold in the wrong position.... ahhh phooey.

Winter

2011-01-04T21:35:00.002-06:00

This is exactly what winter is like in Wisconsin.

Onions

2010-11-28T11:02:00.002-06:00

Unbeliveable! Two posts in one month. I have to do better than that.......
These are onions. And little onions at that, only a couple inches high. Ah, well.

Looking East

2010-11-06T16:59:00.002-05:00

Gosh, I've been busy. Really. If nothing else, I brought in 150 pounds of honey from my two hives. I'm so glad things look to be calming down so I can get back to painting. I bought some of my favorite medium, a combo of oil and mastic varnish. I can't wait to start using it. I never feel good when I am away from this too long.
The painting is a street scene in Milwaukee. Sorry it is so blurry, I had a really hard time with glare, so it is what is is.

Plein aire .. the falls, part 2

2010-06-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

Plein aire is French for open air. I had to look that up. I don't speak French, even though I paint in Plein aire, so I guess I paint in French....... ummm...... Anyway, this is a view of the falls and I am mighty pleased with myself. The little tiny canvas looks a whole lot like the real thing. This is good. Now I just need to go back and put in the trees branches and I'll have a nifty little painting.

New Bee Suit

2010-06-04T17:13:00.002-05:00

Here I am in my new bee suit. New outfits are so fun.

More charcoal stuff

2010-06-04T17:09:00.002-05:00

More charcoal.... I have a few more adjustments on the head dress and the neck.

Louis --May 24, 1998- May 24, 2010

2010-05-26T17:07:00.003-05:00

Drawing a cast( part 1)

2010-05-14T07:24:00.006-05:00

Back to drawing a cast. This is a still life, sorta. Its a cast of a sculpture by (I think) Michaelangelo. Artists draw casts to practice and refine their drawing skills. Its not all that inspiring until you hit the point of obsession, but by then obsession is the least of your worries. By that time, you are so caught up in it that all conversational skills cease to exist, your social life falls away, and you are given to worrying about the quality of artist charcoal in the 21st century. Think I'm kidding? I once considered making my own charcoal because I couldn't get darks that were rich enough. I wound up importing charcoal from a charcoal maker in Dorset, UK called(of course) the Dorset Charcoal Co. His charcoal is very, very nice and it comes in study cardboard boxes that are actually practical and they last. The website is pretty interesting, too. And remember to check the links section,too. Wanna learn to make your own charcoal? Jim Bettle is your man. The fact it would cost me thousands to fly across the ocean to his class is only incidental.

Well if you did cast drawing you would understand. And I would have someone to talk to about the general lack of quality charcoal in the 21st century. And together we could import more charcoal from Dorset.

Ukrainian hives

2010-05-12T07:17:00.004-05:00

This is a wonderful example of the painters craft. It's an interesting subject turned into a very nice painting by a Polish Impressionist,( Jan Stanisławski "Beehives in the Ukraine", c. 1895, oil on canvas, 19 x 29 cm, National Museum, Cracow). The colors and texture in this painting really capture the mood of an early autumn day. They look like funny little gnome huts, but actually they are beehives that are made out of logs. They are from the Ukraine and I really want one, although I'll bet harvesting the honey from one of them can get pretty tricky. The painting is gorgeous, and the painter really captures that
warm light and the dry, crunchy-leafed feel of September.

Beekeeping in the 1500's

2010-05-11T10:13:00.005-05:00

16th century beekeepers. Look at the guy on the right prying the bottom off the bee skep. I always wondered how they got into those things. And I like the bee suits they are wearing-- they look like they are all one piece. The cloth must have been very thin so they could see out, and they certainly didn't have any problem with bees crawling up their pants legs because they were wearing leggings(or are they?!?). The only thing that is scary is that they don't have gloves. ouch. Well, that and the fact they look like they don't have faces, that's a little disconcerting.
And way on the right is a little guy who wandered in and had to climb up a tree to get away from the cranky bees who didn't like their homes disrupted.

Oh no! I think it maybe bee fever.

2010-05-08T17:11:00.003-05:00

Bee fever. Its real and it's incurable in it's early (and maybe in all) stages. It just has to run it's course, and may never be completely eradicated from its victim. I just spent four hours driving to buy an upper story for the hives. The girls are going to need more room as they are multiplying rapidly. The man at the bee store said, "you know, there is more to life than bees. There is a whole world out there with many many things that have nothing to do with bees." Can that really be true?
I also tasted a little bit of the honey the girls made. Oh yum.
This is a picture of one of the frames with capped brood cells that contain baby bees. This is a good thing.
Bee fever. I has it.

And now for something completely different........

2010-05-02T07:46:00.002-05:00

I've decided to keep bees. The reaction to this project has ranged from "I will pray for you" to the simple question "why?" coupled with a look of horror. Well, it's great for the environment, and I can, theoretically, get all the honey I want, so there is no downside, except when they sting you on your foot. Which they did, and plus they crawled up my pants leg, which wasn't really a good feeling, all things considered. But my bee-buddy Paul just said that that made me a real beekeeper, so it was alright. In truth, there was some yelling and bad words on my part, but that was just the fear and pain talking, and now I feel much better.

I visited the girls( honeybees are females, mostly) yesterday and after only three weeks in their hives( two hives) they have made me the proud grandma of two and one half frames of capped brood per hive. Paul says this is very, very good, and soon I can put an addition on the hive, because in two weeks the babies will hatch and the number of bees will double. That means I will have 32,000 bees and maybe more.

The top picture is me putting bees in a hive for the first time. They come in wooden cages, you open them up and shake them out into their new home, just like they were pennies in a penny jar. Then you put in the queen bee, give them something to eat and let nature take its course. The second picture is the girls doing the bee thing and being busy. So far, they seem to like their new home.

Scarves

2010-05-01T08:52:00.002-05:00

These are scarves/shawls I designed and have named Angel Wraps. They are 72" x 22" and printed right now on polyester silk for easy cleaning. Originally I began with the concept of the wearer being wrapped in the wings of an angel and the scarves were meant for cancer patients, survivors, and their families. As I showed them to friends, they started suggesting more and more uses, including use by persons with disabilities, and just people celebrating happy occasions. One person thought that wearing one would encourage her piano students! Another thought that people in rehab would think they were cool. Psychics/lightworkers seem to like them too, so I guess I got the thumbs-up from the other side!

I am using a short-run printing company and that means that I can customize the scarves if people want to include names, or poems, or even prayers.

Anyway, I am getting my first shipment back from the printer today. I'm so excited!

Table top

2010-04-19T13:55:00.006-05:00

This is a really small picture 8x10 inches(20x25 cm). not quite finished, but I have been working on a project ... a secret project!!... and I thought I wanted to post something between now and the time I show everyone what else I have been doing. It shouldn't be long ... a week or two at the most.

SOLD.

$75.00 + shipping

Tundra Swans

2010-03-21T06:57:00.000-05:00

This is unbelievable to me. Look at these swans. They are Tundra Swans. At least I think that they are. I put in a close up photo too. They were so beautiful and there was flock in a farmers field. Its the one time I wished I had a telephoto lens with me. It was just north of Waupun Wisconsin.

Radishes part2

2010-03-20T18:49:00.005-05:00

Ok, I was desperately ignoring a certain radish post, hoping that I wouldn't have to explain that the painting, um, didn't work out so well.

Those babies were murky, dense, uncooperative as subjects, and downright obstinate when it came to posing. Luckily, they were much more suited to being stuffed between two pieces of bread and eaten for lunch. However, I did start on another version, hoping to make more sense of things and this time they became white radishes and make a little better showing, I think.

I am going to try and post it below, but that usually doesn't work, so the new painting is (probably) up above somewhere. Totally out of my control, btw.

I think it'll work this time. On the other hand I always think that.

On the third hand.... I kinda like the red radishes too. I was having such a hard time with the background, it all just started looking like a giant mud puddle. Maybe I could work a solution for the red radishes that wouldn't fall apart on me.

Moondala

2010-03-19T18:31:00.002-05:00

Moondala with watermark

Lotus Mandala

2010-03-13T16:36:00.003-06:00

Lotus mandala with a watermark.

Mandala

2010-03-12T15:00:00.003-06:00

This is done with Adobe Illustrator. It's harder to learn than Photoshop, but your payoff is very

rewarding. Here is another link.

Radishes

2010-03-11T18:13:00.002-06:00

I can't believe its been over a month since I posted. Time just flew by. This is a start for a new still life of radishes. I've been working on better starts, ones that didn't seem so stiff to me, something more painterly. I am pretty happy with this one. Over at YouTube, painter Jos van Riswick has a video of a radish being painted. And of course there are always radish recipes like this one here.

Honey Comb part 2

2010-01-28T16:29:00.003-06:00

Done. I liked doing the honey comb, but the plate was the very interesting to paint too. You don't realize the subtle shadows on such an ordinary object until you try to paint it. All of a sudden it becomes an intricate puzzle of interlocking shapes.

BTW, the honeycomb is delicious.

Honey Comb

2010-01-18T21:56:00.006-06:00

A start for a new painting of honey comb. I made it rather rough because honey comb is rough,

almost like an iceberg in miniature. It will smooth out some in the painting, and the plater will get more plate-like too.

My Parrot is Stuck to my Coffee Grinder....

2010-01-06T14:22:00.005-06:00

My African Gray, Amanda, has decided to sit on the handle of my coffee grinder and I cannot get her to leave. She thinks its a fun thing to do( I guess) and its even more fun to see me try and make her move. Birds used to be dinosaurs, and I think they know it. They sure are smart, and dinosaurs must have been amazing. I've been carrying her and the coffee grinder around all afternoon. I was going to paint a still life of her and set her up in a pose, but then I changed my mind and just decided to snap these photos. When she was sitting next to the computer she was following the cursor with her bill. She is so funny.

Illustration Friday "Renewal"

2010-01-04T10:20:00.005-06:00

This was done for the meme "Illustration Friday" and it gave me the chance to use some new

software called Alchemy. It's a drawing program, it's open source and free, and it is so much fun to use. Anyone interested in digital drawing should take a look at this program. Its compatible with Photoshop, Painter, and Illustrator in case you want to take your drawing farther.

It has a feature where the shapes are controlled by sound, so by playing a combination of Bach and Ry Cooder I came up with this drawing. Well, OK, not exactly. But it really does have a feature controlled by sound, and the music playing on your computer does influence the type of line you produce.

The topic for this was Renewal. It's been Zero degrees outside for days. All I have been able to think of are flowers coming up in Spring.

Pansies part 2

2009-12-16T14:43:00.005-06:00

Pansies part 2. Not done yet. I took some time off and went up to the BridgeBetween Retreat Center. It was cold here, but it was way colder there.

Pansies

2009-12-10T20:22:00.006-06:00

A start for another still life. I am never sure any painting will be what I want it to be. I wonder if paintings are like the stories that authors claim write themselves and they don't even know how they will end. Maybe I should just start painting without any plan and see where I get to.

There was a huge storm, and now that its passed, its a simmering 3 degrees F.(-16C)outside. No more pansies until spring.

December 7, 1941

2009-12-07T16:54:00.006-06:00

A picture of the beginning of the attack on Pearl Harbor as seen from a Japanese bomber.

The explosion is going off near the U.S.S. Oklahoma.

Somewhere down there, and I think it's on the Oklahoma, is my neighbor's son.

Its an odd feeling to sit at a computer 68 years later, and find a picture of the precise moment when the life of someone you met and knew suddenly changed forever.

Milkweed Pods, part 3

2009-11-30T16:28:00.004-06:00

The latest version of this picture. I haven't compared it to the others as I am writing this, and to my eye, I might have gone too floofie with the milkweed fluff. When I post I'll be able to tell. Maybe I'll back it off a bit./// Now that I saw it, I am thinking just a little adjusting here and there and it'll be done. I like the floofie.

Milkweed, part two

2009-11-29T21:28:00.002-06:00

This is the second stage this painting, and its coming along pretty well. Its all earth color, if I remember correctly. There is raw sienna, raw umber, trans. red oxide and white, and thats it. Its only about half done, and the challenge will be to get the fluffy milkweed seed painted fluffily enough.

Milkweed Ectoplasm

2009-11-27T11:26:00.003-06:00

A start on a still life. Looks sorta like ectoplasm, not that I have ever seen ectoplasm, but if I did see it, I am sure it would look like this. Hope I can make it look like fluffy milkweed parachutes.

Snow (Fameuse) apple

2009-11-17T17:47:00.008-06:00

A quick sketch of a Snow apple done this afternoon. I was working with edges, trying to get the illusion of depth. It's 4 x 5 inches and I like that size. Its easy to finish in a day.

Waterfall... better colors

2009-11-12T15:07:00.001-06:00

OK, I have a newly calibrated monitor, new settings on Photoshop, and better results on my end. Still paler than it should be but better. Monitors are variable in their pictures so I am hoping for a happy averaged outcome.

Waterfall

2009-11-12T01:52:00.000-06:00

The finished waterfall that I started earlier this week. But the question is : Why are these photos showing up with such bad color? Why? I am a good person and this shouldn't be happening to me. I assign the correct {as far as I know} color profile, I tweak the color so it will be more rich, and it still washes out. GAAaaaaahhhhh.

From the Civil War, too

2009-11-11T16:03:00.004-06:00

One of the family that fought for the Union in the Civil War. I don't know who it is, but he is rather elegant. His uniform fits so well, it looks tailored. I *think* the rifle is a Springfield 1861.

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T10:46:00.007-06:00

Veterans Day. They could do anything, including the impossible. In the United States, they were often first generation Americans, survivors of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sons of immigrants and grandsons of pioneers. All were patriots. They confronted Evil, they overcame it. Now that they are almost all gone, we are so much the poorer for it. I miss them.

Swan

2009-11-07T18:56:00.002-06:00

A Swan.

Bridge with Falls

2009-11-05T17:51:00.004-06:00

A start for a plein aire painting.

Pastel Pear

2009-11-04T10:13:00.002-06:00

A pear done with pastels, which are colored chalk. I did it really quickly, but it came out looking OK.

Fence

2009-11-03T13:40:00.006-06:00

I heard something the other day on the radio... a man said something about portraying the real world that was created by God within the walls of Eden as opposed to the illusion of the real world created by people outside those walls. A poetic thought, but also one not so far away from some of the theories in quantum physics.

Apple and Squash Part2... almost finished

2009-11-02T15:43:00.006-06:00

Almost done, this started as the painting below. After 354 revisions, painting the background

37 times and replacing the apple twice, it might, maybe kinda be almost done. I have to fiddle with a few edges and it'll be done.

No models were harmed in the production of this painting except for the squash that I am going to cook for dinner. And, ummm, the apples.

Happy Hallowe'en

2009-10-31T21:07:00.006-05:00

Some Hallowe'en decorations around the neighborhood.
Louis the dog likes all the bones in the graveyard.
This is a classic, *less is more*, approach. I like it.
Happy Hallowe'en everybody.

Autumn

2009-10-21T23:04:00.004-05:00

Farm land after the grain has been harvested.
Presbyterian Church in rural Wisconsin. Its got hickory trees, its the real deal.
Just the edge of a field up the coast of Lake Michigan.

Climate Change

2009-10-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

If the climate changes, the seasons won't. It's so important to do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint.

Apple and Squash

2009-10-13T13:48:00.003-05:00

Nothing ever photographs like it should. Ever.

A New Apple

2009-10-07T18:10:00.004-05:00

A new painting that I finished about 15 minutes ago. I think I have advanced as a painter, even while working at the garden center. That job didn't leave much time for other things, but I managed to hang in there and am so glad about it. This was painted from life and I like working like that, it gives you a relationship with whatever you are painting. The colors in the real painting are a little more vibrant than the picture here. Somehow saving it for the web seems to mute the colors down. I'll have to experiment and see what to do about that. Anyway I'm thinking of putting it up for sale.... don't know where exactly.

Another da Vinci

2009-10-05T10:29:00.006-05:00

This is Leonardo's Madonna of the Rocks. I think there is a figure hidden in here.
Here it is reversed in color to make it easier to see.
Now its upside down.
Now I have masked around what seems to be a very sinister face. If it was anyone else but Leonardo I would say it was a coincidence. But, because its him, I'm not so sure......

Salmon run.

2009-10-02T11:08:00.003-05:00

I went to look for a place to paint this morning, and noticed all the cars parked by the falls.

The salmon and brown trout are running! According to one fisherman they are averaging 20 to 30 lbs. a piece, that's a big fish. Didn't see any get caught, although I saw some swimming around. The fish swim upstream from Lake Michigan, which is about a mile from this location.

They are certainly tasty.

Leonardo and the Hidden Pictures

2009-08-12T20:30:00.005-05:00

I've always been interested in visual puzzles and I've always been interested in Leonardo da Vinci. When I read Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" I began to wonder if maybe there really were things in da Vinci's work itself that were hidden in plain sight. I began to look at his work with the help of Photoshop. I found other images hidden in the pictures, a sort of "find the thirteen hidden squirrels" type of picture puzzle. I believe them to be deliberate images, placed by a dazzling genius and left waiting to be found. I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind whether they are deliberate or just mere chance.

Happy Summer

2009-08-01T00:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Summer everybody.

Vortex of Evil

2009-07-31T00:12:00.001-05:00

If it's worth money, he will chew on it.

Great White Egret

2009-07-30T06:51:00.005-05:00

One more bird picture, and its definitely an Egret. They are so pretty and don't seem to mind posing for photos, either.

Onion

2009-07-29T20:19:00.003-05:00

My new painting of an onion. I really think that all that work drawing and painting plaster casts in black and white has paid off. This is a rotten photo, my scanner isn't working so its the best I could do, but I am pretty happy with the way this turned out.

Goose and Caspian Tern

2009-07-29T00:15:00.002-05:00

More Horicon Marsh pictures, this time of a Canada Goose sitting around and a Caspian Tern diving for dinner. These were taken just on the side of the road that runs through the marsh. There were also Great Blue Herons, and a Green Heron that flew up too fast for me to get a photo. I'd love to do a regular boat tour of the marsh, I've been through it all my life and never been on a boat tour.

Marsh monsters

2009-07-28T10:08:00.010-05:00

This is a cormorant on the Horicon Marsh giving a good imitation of the Loch Ness Monster. There were lots of them roosting in trees too, looking very eerie as well, like an ominous cross between a crow and a duck.

Egret

2009-07-27T18:28:00.006-05:00

I went through the Horicon Marsh Wildlife Preserve the other day. There were the most beautiful birds just hanging out along the highway. This is an Egret, I think, although it might be a juvenile Great Blue Heron. If anyone knows for sure, feel free to chime right in.

I've been working at a garden center for the last few months, and haven't had much time to do much else, including painting and photographing. I am not giving those up, and hope to make even stronger images. If nothing else, I'm too stubborn.

And being that its summer, the television says we are in atornado watch right now. I think its north of me, so it'll be OK.

Barn

2009-05-13T09:23:00.003-05:00

I've been photographing this barn for about 5 years. Every time I go to visit my aunt, who is 103, I stop to record this wonderful old barn. She was a beauty in her day, with scrollwork along her eaves and a yellow stone foundation. Last week I drove up to deliver chocolates to my aunt, and the barn was gone. And not just knocked down, but so flattened that no trace was left. In a few years no one will remember how truly wonderful it must have been in its heyday, and how even its skeleton was magnificent, like some great wooden mammoth still standing on a sand prairie in central Wisconsin. I'm glad I got the chance to see her.

Paul Strisik

2009-04-26T19:39:00.008-05:00

My last post was about a painting that I copied from a 8x10 print, but had no idea who had painted it. Stapleton Kearns left a comment saying he thought it was by Paul Strisik. I wasn't sure who Paul was and so I looked him up. Well, the only thing to say is "Wow! What a wonderful painter!" And also "Wow, I need to work a lot harder!" These are two websites featuring his paintings Welcome to Paul Strisik's Web Site and Paul Strisik (1918 - 1998). The sense of light in his paintings is so elegant. He studied with Frank Vincent DuMond, who was a legendary teacher at the Art Student's League.

This is one of Paul Strisik's paintings from Greece.

Waterfall

2009-04-20T10:55:00.004-05:00

A copied picture from my new class. I wish I knew who did this originally, but I don't. I used a limited palette to paint this, the colors were Cadmium Yellow light, cad. red light, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, viridian and white. And they were water mixable oils, which was something new for me. The class has about 2 hours painting time, and I raced to finish it just before time was up.

Under the trees

2009-04-18T23:32:00.002-05:00

This is a quick sketch of a woman and child sitting under the trees. Its done in an "oh so fashionable Moleskeine" sketch book, that I really, really like despite it being trendy. It has paper with a very nice surface to it. Plus, I look cool when I draw in it.

Copying

2009-04-16T10:00:00.002-05:00

I started a class in painting in a more loose, brushy manner. And one of the things the teacher recommends of copying other work to learn technique. In the 19th century, many of the painters like Sargent copied the old masters to figure out how they painted. This is my copy of a painting by John Frost who was a California Impressionist and a wonderful painter. He used warm and cool colors, but also kept (I think) tight rein on his values. He went from light to a mid tone in just about the middle of the picture and then kept it at a mid tone until the very front of the picture, where he darkened again. All the while he also kept his grays under control. Whew!! What a good painter he was. Here is a link to more about John Frost and California Impressionists: Pasadena Society Of Artists: Charter Member: John :Jack" Frost and Spacious Skies: California Impressionist Cloud Studies and Seascapes

At the Museum

2009-02-26T22:31:00.003-06:00

This is my drawing of the Lievens painting. We get two hours a week and its a lot of fun. I have another couple of weeks to work on this and I sure hope I get it finished.

The Artistic Process

2009-02-18T21:00:00.001-06:00

The artist contemplates his work.

Old Master Portrait

2009-02-17T21:12:00.003-06:00

There is a new show at the Milwaukee Art Museum featuring the work of Jan Lievens, who was a friend, fellow student and studio buddy of Rembrandt. Its a brilliant show, he did terrific portraits and I was lucky enough to get into a class that allows me to copy one of his works. It was hard to chose but there were two portraits of men in turbans with feathers that were knock-outs. I picked the painting above, a picture of a young man in a turban and cloak. It's pretty when you see it on the web, but in person it's gorgeous. We are only allowed to draw, not paint, I think because of the fear that fumes from paint solvent would damage the paintings. The point is to study the technique and composition of an old master and understand how he put it all together. I made a good start last week and got the basic shapes in fairly well, and since he doesn't look like a space alien in my drawing, I think I'm doing ok so far.

Black & White Drawing

2009-02-08T23:17:00.005-06:00

This sort of confusing photo is of another black and white cast study. It looks all out of shape, and yet in person it looks pretty exact. Really. No, really. It does. Honest. Maybe I need to recheck my proportions. Better yet, I am going to stop showing the drawing and the still life together! Then you will have to take my word for it.

See, it now has perfect proportions!

Ribbon Work Bag

2009-02-04T19:12:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since November! How can that be?I made this little bag and gave it to a friend last week. She liked it and said she was putting her mothers wedding ring in it.

Its a kind of a muslin cotton worked with silk ribbon embroidery, beads and pearls. It came out so nicely that I think I'll make some more. As I remember, its about 3x5 inches square. I found a place that sells small silk bags similar to this so maybe I'l give them a try.

Mandalas

2008-11-24T23:20:00.004-06:00

Ok this is a foray into design. I've been doing mandalas as well as painting, and for what ever reason they have been coming out quite nicely So I opened a shop on Zazzle. This is me: http://www.zazzle.com/chichine I make the designs and they print them and then they put them up for sale I am thinking that some of my other art work would fit in well too as cards or posters. They also have stamps and shoes, which are so much fun to design.

I have gotten interested in mandalas and also in labrynths, which I don't think I spelled correctly.

Anyway I walked a labrynth that is located on the bluffs above Lake Michigan last week. It was an interesting experience, very soothing I couldn't help but think that it was very much like life. You think you are headed in one direction and suddenly you are headed in another, only to switch back again. I think that is the where the phrase going around in circles comes from.

Cast drawing and Values

2008-11-13T22:29:00.005-06:00

So even if cast drawing is really, really difficult it really, really pays off in the end, hopefully. It helps train your eye to all the details and nuances of the form. It also helps you see the lights and darks, the values, in your subject. It is seeing these lights and darks that is the backbone of all picture making. It isn't color that is vitally important, unless you're looking at a stoplight and then its really important, but it's value, the lights and darks, that make things recognisable to the human eye. To see what I mean look at the three pictures. One is the picture as it was originally with both value and color, one is the picture with color and no value, and one with value and no color. The one without value is almost unrecognisable. The one with value, the black and white one, looks exactly like a tree and water. Even though we see in color, the fact that we also see in values is much more important. A good way to begin to see values in your subject is to squint as you are looking at it. Scrunch up your eyes, look through your lashes, and the color is reduced while the relative values remain. This actually works, although people will look at you funny. I was taught this technique by a very good artist as we were standing in a *very* upscale art museum. There we both stood like a couple of fools, smack dab in front of the Rodin statue our eyes reduced to slits, looking for values, while the other patrons made a wide detour around us. I've never felt so much like an artist in my life.

Drawing Project

2008-11-12T15:11:00.002-06:00

I've been working on something called a "cast drawing" which is drawing pictures of white plaster casts and making them as exact as possible. Its really hard. I've done it before, but it doesn't get any easier, apparently. It's a good way to sharpen your perception and accuracy in seeing. It's also really hard ..... did I mention that before? Right. I thought I did. Anyway this is a picture of my set up, with the casts on the left and the drawing in the first stages on the right. The method involves moving a couple of feet away from the drawing, looking at the casts, and then moving up to the paper and drawing what you saw. Then you move back to the previous place and check if the marks you made are correct. And repeat and repeat. And repeat until the drawing is finished. It is how all artists were trained, right up to the 20th century. Even Picasso had to do this and I think its why he invented cubism. He just decided that he wasn't ever going to do that again. Because it's really hard.

ten-HUT!

2008-11-11T15:39:00.004-06:00

Today is Armistice Day. It was created after WWI to commerate the end of that terrible war and to honor the 20 million people who died in it. My mom said she never forgot seeing one of the boys from her little village in Wisconsin coming home after fighting in the trenches of France. She said he was in full uniform and he marched up the road as straight as a ramrod until he reached the turn in road that would lead him to his home. There he stopped at the top of the hill and stood for the longest time, just gazing out over at the beautiful landscape below. Then he turned and walked down the hill to his house and family. I remember him as a wizened old man, living with only his dog in a tiny cabin. The image below is one I found years ago. I don't know the names of the men, or where it was taken. In a way, its anonymity makes it a tribute to all the soldiers from so very long ago who sacrificed so much. But having said that, this one is for August Wellnitz. ten-HUT!

Summer into Fall

2008-10-13T22:45:00.006-05:00

Summer is gone, fall is here and it's more beautiful than ever on the Rock River. The trees are mainly Silver Maples and so lovely. The temperature was 70F+ (21C+)all week, very rare for us at this time of year. I took advantage by walking in the dog park. The dog thought that was a good plan, too.

Crafty Stuff

2008-09-29T22:17:00.005-05:00

And now for something completely different. I've been fooling around with a graphics program called "Illustrator" and came up with a bunch of designs for scrap booking or maybe scrabble tile jewelry. I put a small sample on the left to show you. Its fun for me to do something really the complete opposite of what I normally do. Gives you a better perspective on where you are going for one thing and I didn't have to wash out any brushes for another. If anyone is interested in a .pdf file, let me know. I think I'll have these up at Etsy.

Black-Eyed Susans

2008-08-06T21:35:00.003-05:00

Black-eyed susan daisies done in gouache. They are a mid summer flower, and very reliable. These are growing by my garage door. This is a link to Jungs Seed company, a Wisconsin seed firm that my family has been going to since my Granddads' time. They are celebrating "100 years of growing", but that is two years less than my aunt who is 102.(So we win!!) She was a good customer and this year helped me pick out some CherryBelle radishes to plant.

Old Barn

2008-07-07T13:20:00.003-05:00

I went out painting last week and came back with this. It's one of those plein aire paintings, also known as 'painted all-at-once
outside, don't worry I brushed off most of the bugs' paintings.

Parrot and Roses

2008-06-28T12:29:00.004-05:00

She loves to be outside, and I think she likes the color red. A few years ago she flew away out of an open door and was gone for four days.
Unbelievably, I found her and she was a very hungry bird. Now she is clipped, no more adventures for her. There are Cooper's Hawks here and Great Horned Owls, too, so it's a dangerous world for little parrots.

Ribbon Work

2008-06-20T22:12:00.002-05:00

A ribbon embroidery pendant, with beads and cameo. I think I am going to try more of these. I haven't done much embroidery as of late, for which I am very sorry. I was taught to embroider when I was four, by our neighbor. She grew up as an orphan in pre-WWI Hungary, and was taught to embroider by the nuns as a means to support herself. After she came to America, she was widowed, and in fact supported her four children by doing embroidery for specialty stores. She was a very interesting woman, and would talk about hearing the wonderful gypsy violinists playing on the street corners of Budapest.

Summer roses

2008-06-18T15:29:00.007-05:00

It's rose time. Most of my roses only bloom once a year, so I have to hurry if I want to do a picture of them. This is gouache on illustration board. P.S. It's finally stopped raining!

Cow

2008-06-03T13:53:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, the weather is gloomy, its rainy and cold, it's time to take a picture of a beautiful cow. It's got horns, too.

Ginger Jar and Peaches

2008-06-02T16:59:00.004-05:00

This is a ginger jar I bought for $15.00 at a local antique store. It turns out to be from the 18th or very early 19th century. I don't know if that makes it more valuable, but it makes it more interesting than it already is. The peaches are early 21st century.

Scarecrow

2008-06-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure that scarecrows really work. I think the crows are too savvy by now to pay them much attention. I'm trying to think of what medieval Book of Days showed one in a farmer's field. It wasn't working too well way back then, either, as I remember.

Peaches and bowl

2008-06-01T13:48:00.003-05:00

Another peach picture. I like peaches.
It's gouache about 8"x10".(20x25 centimeters) I have another I want to do with a ginger jar.

The Lost Parrot

2008-05-28T13:02:00.004-05:00

What do you do when your parrot disappears and you can't find her anywhere?
You look in the cupboard, of course!

Spring at the Park

2008-05-25T12:00:00.001-05:00

Spring is really here. The golfers across from the park are in full force today. Meanwhile this side of the park stays on the less groomed, but still on the pretty side.(like some dogs I could mention)

Pear Tree II

2008-05-24T20:02:00.006-05:00

The same pear tree as in an earlier post. It got more beautiful!

Ghost #2

2008-05-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

Yup. Another *ghost* picture. Same place as the last one. On the one hand, I think its just a combination of light and branches, on the other hand, I dunno. I've taken pictures there before and since, and I haven't found anything even remotely spooky in any of them. And the place doesn't feel spooky either, at least to me it doesn't.

Louie at the park

2008-05-23T16:09:00.004-05:00

Too nice to stay in today( are you noticing a trend here?). So Louie and me went to the park to see what we could see. I took some pictures, and Louie did a little swimming. This him on the upper path to the meadow.

Peach Study

2008-05-22T23:25:00.003-05:00

This is a fast gouache study for a new still life I want to try, but I think I'm going to change the composition a little for the final painting. The bottle is still too central for my liking and the background too warm. Move everything a little to the right, cool down the background and it'll look much better. ( I hope.) I was using the golden section to determine the proportions, or trying to anyway. I need more practice with that, I think. It took about 90 minutes to paint, and it'll help to determine the final picture that I want to do in oil. If I ever get it all working together, I think it'll be a nice painting.
The problem with using fresh fruit is that it never stays fresh for long, and I don't always want to work that fast. On the other hand, it was really tasty. Next time I'll bake a shortcake to go with it.

Ghost

2008-05-18T09:01:00.003-05:00

OK. This is my ghost picture. It's taken at a cemetery for nuns and priests. I didn't notice anything until I downloaded to my computer. To the left of the arrow, it looks like there is a nun hovering over the headstones. She has what appears to be a traditional habit, with a long dark veil and seems to be looking a little to the right side of the picture. All I can say there was no one around when I took the picture. Besides I think she'd be about 15 feet tall, if she was real, that is. I think that it is partly a trick of the eye. I think that the light and branches combined to create the illusion of a nun. On the other hand, what are the odds that this particular illusion would occur in a nun's cemetery? In the end,I don't quite know what to make of it.

Fallen tree

2008-05-17T19:27:00.005-05:00

Today was just one of those perfect Spring days. Warm, but not too warm. Sunny but with a few nifty clouds to keep it interesting. So the dog and me went to the park to paint. This is a different park from the dog park, but dogs are allowed anyway. It's located on the St. Francis Seminary grounds. Its a lovely little woods with bridges and a stream running through it. The buildings on the grounds include the Archbishops palace, a seminary, a former girls school that has been turned into a really interesting collection of non-profit businesses and a nun's retirement home. It's also supposedly haunted.
I sat down, used water from the stream for the paint, and painted this picture. Louie the dog helped by being cute, laying next to me and offering an occasional comment. He did a good job, I think.

Pear tree

2008-05-16T13:09:00.002-05:00

It's spring and the trees are blooming. I went to the Bridge Between because I had to get out into the real country, and there it was, a real live blooming pear tree. It'll make a great drawing. The Bridge is getting ready for the growing season, mulching and planting seeds. Everything they grow is organic, including the homegrown eggs. It's all wonderfully tasty, too.
I personally am at war with the weed called Creeping Charlie or Gill Over the Ground. Since all's fair in love and war, chemicals are shortly going to make an appearance. If anyone can tell me how to kill off this stuff, please, I'm begging you. It's everywhere.

More Gouache

2008-05-07T08:42:00.007-05:00

This is titled "Hall of the Mountain King", and it is an imaginary scene done in more of the that glurpy gouache. I'm starting to like painting with it more and more. This was an exercise in composition for a class I'm taking, I was supposed to get the viewers eye to move around the picture. Maybe I did and maybe I didn't, but I'll tell you a secret, I'm really really happy with the way this turned out. I hope it shows well on other monitors, the colors are rich but not garish.

River-drawing

2008-03-15T19:57:00.004-05:00

This is a drawing of the Root River in my beloved dog park. It was done for a class I'm taking to work on my painting technique. For everyone wondering about the procedure, first you find a subject( in this case, the river), then you draw thumbnail pictures, which are little pictures about 2 inches(50mm.)or so, square. When you have one you like, you make a comprehensive drawing, which is what this is. It's a little more finished than it has to be, but it is basically a blueprint for the painting. Next comes the painting itself, and in this case it will be a class assignment. I liked the drawing so much I thought I'd put it up and I may make another on better paper, but extend the lighter reflective part of the river more to the left.

Geese

2008-02-17T16:23:00.004-06:00

This is painted with gouache, a kind of opaque watercolor. The word gouache comes from the Italian word "guazzo", which means either splash, puddle or muddy pool, depending on your source. I'm voting for something connected with the concept of mud. Its really hard to use. This is a picture of three geese waiting for their dinner.

Squash

2008-01-03T12:38:00.000-06:00

I've been practicing my drawing more. Drawing is supposed to be the basis of all painting, and so I thought I would see if I could improve my paintings by making portraits of fruits and vegetables. I met this very personable squash last month at a farmers market and I think I've captured his stoic, yet charming, nature. I've been using graphite and white chalk on Canson Mi Teinte paper. I think I need to coat it with something, the graphite gets slippery and smeary really fast and that makes it hard to work with.

Russet Apple

2007-12-24T08:19:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite orchards, Weston's Antique Apples had some russet apples and I got a couple of bags. Mmmm, so good. They taste much different from store apples with a stronger and more distinct flavor, like honey. And they are brown with a sort of rough skin, almost like shark skin, so they look (and feel) unusual too. If you go to the Weston site, look for the variety " Golden Russet" and "Zaubergau Reinette" for more info.
I needed to draw one before they all got eaten. I was going to make them into a pie, but they are tasty little nuggets and I have no will power when it comes to apples.
This drawing is graphite and white chalk on tan paper. I am going to be drawing more I think. I really enjoy it, I don't have to wait for paint to dry, and we all know the saying about how interesting THAT is.