Tag Archives: trees

And Poof, it was gone

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I’m talking about the post I just wrote, and lost.

Ah, well.  Facebook keeps reminding me that I haven’t posted in a while.  I apologize for my absence.  The truth is, I’ve run straight into a brick wall of an artist’s block. I’m as stuck as  a car in a muddy ditch.

This has happened before.  I’d lose the excitement of my work, and come up with some horrid pieces.  That’s exactly what has happened now.

I thought the change in seasons would revive me, but no.  It’s time to take a break and play around with other creative outlets.  But I’ll be back.  Ready to start fresh again.

So, in the meantime, I’m leaving you with a drawing I did many years ago, of a season like this….spring easing into summer.  It was a fruitful time artistically for me, going back many years to when I lived in Greenwich.  Goodbye, but only for a while.

Turn, Turn, Turn

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There was  a song big in the sixties, during the folk music era.  The lyric went something like this;

To everything, turn turn turn…there is a season, turn turn turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven.

Some of you, I know, remember this song.  Some of you, will remember it because your parents played it.  I think it was made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary, but I’m to lazy to Google it to be sure.

 

For me, the season has been spring, but the purpose of the time wasn’t art.  I had family issues, a new job that turned into a horror show, and all sorts of sundry events and mishaps that life takes from time to time.

And so, finally,  I can turn, turn, turn back to my artwork!

And Then It Dawned On Me

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On nights when I’ve had trouble sleeping, I’ve stared out the window as morning approaches.  The sky looks peaceful and promising, not vibrant and bright as it does at sunset.  So, what makes a sunrise picture look different than a blazing sunset?

“Red sky at night,  sailors’ delight”

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning”

I’ve forgotten the scientific reason behind that little ditty, but it does answer my question.  I know now how to make a sunrise not look like a sunset.

Here’s a picture from a long time ago, which my good friend refers to as the “Psycho” house.  I can see what she means, but the windows were supposed to be reflecting the rising sun. Norman Bates doesn’t live there.

So, pastel greens instead of bright oranges and pinks make a sunrise.    Here’s a dawn from not too long ago:

It Sort of Makes Sense

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So, in tribute to Autumn coming – hard to tell with the summer weather we’ve been having-I did this drawing, “September Field”.

I’ve always been attracted to drawing landscapes, and now I realize why.  Landscapes capture moods in complex way.  I’m not talking something simple like a sunny day being happy. I’m talking about the subtleties of mood, what I believe Jung referred to as “feeling tone”, when talking about dreams.  Or some famous psychiatrist did, perhaps one of you knows.

Speaking of dreams, I’ve had this recurring one, in which my work is recognized and in a gallery, but it’s old work of mine, in a style in which I no longer work.  This gives a glimpse at the old style.  Perhaps the dream is telling me to go back in time.

So, what now?  I’m running out of paper, now, and I’m broke.  It also just so happens that the winter holidays are right around the corner.  I guess it’s time to start making greeting cards.

 

The Seasons Changed, and So Did I

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Okay, when I posted back some time ago, I was complaining about drawing foliage.  This started a downward spiral to me hating doing artwork all together, and hating my finished drawings.  I’d see ideas for artwork, but I’d shiver in disgust at the thought of drawing. So, I stopped for a while.

I don’t make a complete living from my art, so I have the luxury of doing that.  Eventually, the green foliage started to take on an orangish color (I started noticing that at the end of July), and eventually…the green faded.  It started looking interesting again.  Finally, I passed by a field with loads of goldenrod blooming.  I’m off drawing again.

So, it’s fall.  While I do the work on this one, I’ll show you some of my past fall drawings.  It’s also interesting to see how much my work has changed over the years.

 

Gee, scrolling through all my old drawings in my media library is like reading an old diary.

Paradise Regained

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Er, Ump..sometimes I don’t know how to start.  All the coffee in the world doesn’t help.  Which reminds me, it’s time for another cup.

Anyway, between getting ready for the show, and doing my household chores (yes, I really do do some), I did some art.

Now talking about Paradise, you know the whole thing, I’ve talk, talk, talked about it.  I’ve realized anything that catches your eye and mind, is healing to the soul and mind.  However, there is one Paradise theme that I never got around to.

Whether it was a dream, my imagination, or something I actually saw, I don’t remember.  It was a small sapling on a hill, lit by spring sunlight and surrounded by dandelions.  I’ve thought about drawing that for a long time, and yet, somehow, I never came across the scene to draw in real life.  That is, with a sapling.

A springtime maple tree presented itself instead.  Surrounded by dandelions, like a starry constellation around the spiral’s center.

I must admit I cheated.  The actual tree I drew wasn’t on a hill in the countryside, it was in my condo complex, with a really boring brick wall behind it.  So, I fudged a hill, and a blue sky.  I also put in a horse for good measure.

 

Oops, I’m missing the horse.  I’ll take a better picture sometime later, but I’m getting hungry.  So, stay tuned!

Richness in the Spartan

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Okay, so, here’s a mostly made up landscape with crows.  I think I managed to keep the horror movie aspect out of it.

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So, back to thinking of things that are delightful in the dark and the cold.  For instance, I think of the massive sky, that in other seasons, is hidden by and competing with glorious green trees and multi-colored flowers.  So, that, and the bare bones of the dormant trees, are visible only now.  I remember speaking with one woman, a photographer, who preferred winter trees for her art.  She said she felt they were more “honest”.  I’m still not sure what she meant by that, maybe she was searching for a word to describe something more complex.  Perhaps she  meant it, in the same way that a nude human is more authentic than a clothed person?  Don’t know to this day.  Whatever she meant, I have yet had a tree, in extravagant foliage, or otherwise, lie to me.

But for now, I’m doing little sketches on notecards, until I’m more confident for an idea.  Thanks to my sister, more of the high quality paper I use is on the way, but I treat it like gold.