Ah,Spring!

January 26, 2020 roxannebaldwin

Maybe I’m rushing the season

After “Winter Horse Farm “, I ran out of ideas. At least, I mean winter ideas. So, I have been doing some winter greeting cards in hopes of selling them later in the year. Not very remarkable pieces of art…only one I really liked.

And even though it’s a redo of a drawing I did, years (really decades ago). But, I felt it was worth resurrecting.

Then I got an idea! However, it’s spring themed. Only two months away! Okay, let’s be optimistic.

A blast from the past of other spring drawings. Here goes!

Enjoy this early peek at spring! See you soon.

Do it again, again

January 21, 2020 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Okay, I really should give it some time before I post a drawing I’ve finished. There’s something about posting it, for all, the world to see, to show off my mistakes. Ooops.

So, as I looked at “Winter Horse Farm”, I realized, once again, it was too stark and uninteresting. So, this is what it looks like now:

And on to other news,

I’m trying to figure out how to put my display in the darn car! I didn’t expect it to be so involved a display, nor did I expect the cargo space in the car to be so small. That’s really not a good combination. It’s going to take a lot of organizing, and as you know, my organizational skill are almost non-existent.

But I’m looking at a nearby craft show that I might do. Fortunately, I will only be selling holiday cards and accent pieces. Not nearly as complex…and I already have a decent picture of the display:

So, here are a few items I’m planning on putting up for sale:

EPSON MFP image

Well, see you next time I put up a drawing too early. Until then, au revoir.

Okay, Boomer…

January 16, 2020 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Yes, I’m a boomer, for good or bad….actually it’s a bit of both. Why? you may ask.

Whether you ask why or not, I’m going to tell you, or give you an example.

When, I was first learning to compose pictures, my mother would teach me to check the drawings out in the mirror. That would give me a fresh look at it. It worked! Only problem is your head is in the way, or you have to tip it at an angle, which also distorts. Problem solved?? Not exactly.

Here I am, old school, but I found a trick for myself, which is to take my fancy, expensive, in debt for, phone….and take a photo of the drawing. Bingo, fresh look! No funny angles to look around. Problem solved?? Not exactly.

The problem is my 1980’s mindset. I had a 35mm camera, which took a strip of about 24 exposures, if I remember correctly. Not many, not many to redo, not enough to waste. Then of course I had to wait for the photos to develop.

However, my phone has 256g of storage, and pictures (or pics) are about 5 megabytes. That’s 5 million into how many billion? Needless to say, I won’t be running out of room for duplicate photos soon. With my mindset, used to 24 exposures, I’m in awe! And hard to comprehend. Instant pictures, too!

So, yes, I’m the generation who had long, straggly unstyled hair, torn bell bottoms, listened to the Grateful Dead, ate nutmegs to get high, build communes and generally pissed off our parents’ generation. So, why are we so pissed off at the millenials? Just following tradition, I guess……

So, what brought on this tirade? It’s a train of thought that started with me taking a picture of my latest, “Winter Horse Farm”.

Speaking of horses, I think I encountered more in NYC than it Connecticut. Seems odd…..but I did encounter them.

In Connecticut, I used to do drawing for a charity that involved horses.

Here’s another:

So, that’s my blog post for today. Now, excuse me while I check my email on my dandy phone.

No,No,No!!

January 10, 2020 roxannebaldwin 1 Comment

First off, a redo of “Full Moon in the Afternoon.

The original was meant to be minimalist. However, it turned out to be boring. It’s a lesson I learned long ago, sometimes what works in a small piece looks like hell when you enlarge it. So,I added a few patterns and designs that I could sink my teeth into! I think it turned out more interesting, although far from my original idea. So moving on…

I promised a look again at the boring titles of the category of not a chance. These are among the drawings for the show that I have entered to the jury. Not sure when I hear back.

This is “Number 35”,which I feel is a lackluster summertime drawing. With a lackluster title. I think I should rename it “Hidden Stairway “,which is the real subject of the drawing.

Some of these drawings I really like, but they don’t fit into the style or subject matter of my usual work. Such is the case with “Rocking Chair “. I think I will rename it “Rock, Rock, Rock!”. For no particular reason, except..it’s more interesting.

This is “Constellation “. Not a bad title, but a drawing that falls short of my usual quality. And so it goes.

“Cloudy Day ” Can you imagine anything more boring than that? Yes,the drawing itself. It was one of those drawings trying to find beauty in a sunless day. Failed miserably. But “Sunless ” is a better title.

This is “The Greening “. I like the name and the drawing. However, again it doesn’t fit with my usual style. All the advice I have gotten from career instruction is that I should be branding myself. I should ignore advice, I really, really should.

Anyway, the ayes have it. Let’s look into better titles for the ones I have chosen…next time

Full moon in the afternoon

December 27, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

And that rhymes!

Here’s my latest.

Sometimes, coming up with a title is the hardest part of a drawing. I suppose I could go the way of “Untitled 1”, “Untitled 2″and so on. But what fun is that?

Most of my titles are pretty dull and boring, when I think about it.

Here are some pictures that need better titles:

Yes,it’s a cat. Another cat. Everyone knows how much I love cats. As a matter of fact, one of my closest friends just gave me socks with cats on them as a Christmas gift. Cat socks! Love’em!

Ok,next:

Dull name. Maybe if I change it,by giving it a destination!

Stairway to Heaven…naw,been used

Stairway to Nowhere. Obviously, though, the stairs go somewhere. Stairway to Somewhere? That’s just plain stupid.

How about “The Way Up”? Now that is a possibility.

Don’t have a clue for a better name. Not a clue.

And then there’s this:

Well,that is obvious. Something like “Hobbit Home “? Not sure everyone knows what a hobbit is. I like the home part. Something to start working with.

In other news! I’ve entered an application for a juried show. Don’t know if I’ll be accepted yet, but I am thinking.

They have to be from the last two years. Ive divided my work from that time into Yes,No,and Maybe.

I can have eight, because that’s how many frames I have. Also…

Not so coincidentally, the pictures above fall into the Maybe category. What next?

No.

Lemons are sour

December 10, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

There’s a popular saying “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”….but there is also a meme of Grumpy Cat saying “Unless life also gives you water and sugar, your lemonade is going to suck. ”

So,what is my point, and what does have to do with art?

My last topic was trying to make the subject of a dismal, rainy day into something inspirational.

Here’s the result:

Kind of pretty and cheerful, right? Truth is, I used my artist license and cheated. Ive added color, and exaggerated the gracefulness of the trees.

Then I looked outside, and the gray rainy day was a gray rainy day.

My point is this, sometimes sadness is the usual and understandable reaction to a situation. Tremendous loss, as the death of a loved one, being laid off from the job that supports you are reasons.

Unless you are horribly clinically depressed, or the victim of severe abuse and trauma, you get over it. But sometimes you are justified in feeling sad.

Sometimes, lemons are simply sour. However, you do get past that.

Making Peace with Winter

November 8, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Hello folks! I’ve mentioned before about my seasonal depression, and guess what! It’s nearly winter again. I did a series of drawings one year, making peace with each month.

For instance, this was “Making Peace with November”.

And this was “Making Peace with December”

I believe this one was “Making Peace with January”, but as I look back on my artwork, well, it sometimes is a puzzle to me, what I made when and in what context:

I also see I have a picture entitled “January 3rd”……

I think I intended it to be another year’s sequel to January 2,

These drawings did work (or maybe it was the Prozac) and I was able to see happiness and beauty in winter. Or I should say, most of winter.

What still gets to me are the grey dismal days, of dark skies and dirty slush. A couple of years ago, I tried to make peace with the grey gloom, and came up with this;

People in Danbury like this, because it’s a well known statue, here. But to me, however, it still looks like a depressingly dull winter day.

But, I still have hope….that I will find some kind of beauty in the winter days. I have an idea, we shall see if it works out. After all, some winter days are dramatic, and gorgeous.

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