Tag Archives: trees

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.

 

The Worst of 2016….and Moving Forward…

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I’m still a little groggy this morning.  I stayed up until midnight to see the ball drop in Time Square.  Makes me think, all the years I lived in New York City, and close proximity, I never made good on my intention to go to New Years in Times Square.  I think the lack of available toilets is what discouraged me.

However, let’s get to it.  My worst work of 2016.  I do this to keep it light on my part, and to keep it real.  Everyone puts out a clunker now and then.  So, here ’tis.

Shrubbery.  It is.  It’s not really all that bad, but then, it isn’t good either.  Just laying there, in mediocrity, like yesterday’s stale sandwich.

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My comforting observation to myself, is that my worsts don’t seem to be as bad as they used to be.  Happy New Year…may 2017 be bright and populated with happy little clouds and trees, with friends.

Fading away

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When I first moved to Danbury, the ideas for pictures came in a rush. It was a lot like being in a wild, passionate beginning stage of love.  Once the highs and lows have straightened out, you’re either left with a solid, loving friendship..or a lot of bittersweet memories.

As it was, I really was overwhelmed with the physical beauty of being in Connecticut again. Last winter I worked quickly and intensely on lots of drawings…but, just as that love fades, so did the intense impressions.

So, now, much as I spent 16 years in Queens looking and reinterpreting the scenes around me, I guess I will do that for however long I am here in Danbury.

As for Looking at the Smaller Picture, or as it is now called, The Fading of the Morning Star, here it is…

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Somehow, I Managed It

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As I was saying, I woke up to a an orderly mess of scribbles.  So, what did I do.  Sometimes, there are things in artwork that there are no words for. I did something here, I did something there, I added a little blue.  So, I pulled it off.  I captured the feeling a bright summer day gives me, both peace and excitement at the same time.

And here it is…I think I’ll call it, “Sweet Summer”, because I’m big into alliteration.

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Unlike other times, I have an idea for the next drawing already, so I’m not having the empty, lost feeling that I often have once I’ve finished.  As a matter of fact, I’m so excited about my next idea, that I’m almost salivating.