Tag Archives: winter landscape

Making Peace with Winter

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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”.

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And this was “Making Peace with December”

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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:

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

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

 

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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;

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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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This is not my Photograph

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Fabulous Photo

I found this on Google Earth, and it’s credited to Jan Prosek.  I’ve been trying to seek out a website or a link to his work, to give him proper credit. It’s fantastic.  I have artist envy.

I also wish I could find a way to paste the image in, rather just link it.

In other news, my wrist has gotten to the point where I can very gently do some artwork. I’m still too fragile to do large projects, so I’m working on Christmas cards.  Yes, I know it’s February, but I want to have an inventory by October.  I plan on doing a show then, and yes, they’re something that actually sells,.

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Like this one.

While I’ve had this right-handless problem, I’ve been going over the past, drawings I did of NYC.

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Going back to the glamorous days of working in the gift shop of the Metropolitan Museum of  Art.  Lots of great perks, but I really, I mean really hated the job.

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Speaking of both the Met and Christmas cards, this is the card I did of the Angel Tree.

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For day jobs, I worked twice in Grand Central Terminal.  One of them was in the Market, at a little shop called Adriana’s Caravan.  It was the most interesting jobs I ever held.  Totally loved it, part of a great team. The store had a good following, too.

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Visiting gorgeous lofts.  This one  was in Tribeca.

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And having a skyline view to sketch from my studio window.

Yes, sometimes I miss New York.  Our first night when we moved into Manhattan, we said “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore”.  It was an exciting time,  but all the excitement wasn’t good. I was there for 9/11,for instance. Also  trying to navigate the crowds on 5th Avenue on Black Friday put an anxious lump in my throat.  Not to mention the subways……………..

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So, I guess I’m back in Kansas, or Connecticut as it is.  There’s no place like home,

 

 

 

 

Happy End of the Holidays!

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Okay, finally….life is back to normal.

I have a little ritual in winter, as the days grow longer.  First off is Yule, then Christmas, New Years, and then January 2nd.  Here’s the drawing that I made in celebration of t hat celebration.

JANUARY 2ND, BY ROXANNE BALDWIN

The ritual includes such things as The Superbowl, and Mardi Gras.  And of course, Imbolc which is a pagan holiday that falls on Groundhog day.

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It’s amazing how much more subject matter for the winter there is in Connecticut than NYC.  Snow is particularly unsightly in the city, and the only birds around are pigeons and crows. Of course, there are crows around  here, but they’re pleasant, graceful visitors of the season.

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So, I’ve learned to find beauty this time of year…so Happy Rest of the Winter!

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Roxanne Baldwin’s Artsy Store    Postcards :viewfromlic72_thumb.jpg

Start with what you know….

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It’s winter yet again.  Okay, it’s really still fall by the calendar, but who am I to split hairs?  It’s barren, cold, with short days.  Somehow, I feel my artist block melting.

I’ve been prolific in the winter time.  Summer and spring are almost too pretty to come up with something interesting and moody.20170606_212810522996978.jpg

One of my favorites in the past winter:
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And some from previous years,

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I seem to like crows.

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So, here I am, raring to go, but not a clue.  How did I come up with so may ideas in the past?  What do I do now?

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So, I remembered my old rule of thumb.  Start with what you know. So, then, I will.

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Just a memory for all of you who like cats:  this is the third anniversary of capturing Pumpkin, bringing him to a prettier environment.  A chance to be a domestic cat again, and all the perks that come with it.  Pumpkin, it’s been good.

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Here’s That Damned Crow Again

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Off topic for a moment, and if anyone one of you is a great interpreter of dreams, input is most welcome.

I have a recurring dream.  I walk in a strange gallery somewhere, and find that my artwork is hanging there.  Surprise to me!  However, it’s in a style of mine that is old, and I don’t really work like that now.  As a matter of fact, in the dream are a lot of drawings that I don’t remember doing.

I have but one example of that old style.  Forgive the quality of the picture, it was taken with an old, not so smart, film camera….way back in the day.  I wish I had more of these drawing…but various moves and such, all but two are gone.

Back to the subject of galleries, which is much on my mind these days.  As I entered some drawings into the Bott Shoppe show, the owner of the gallery told me what sells the most are small accent pictures, and big statement pictures.  Not as much call for my modest, medium sized drawings.

So, I was researching into making a statement picture out of “Floral Overload”.  Can’t you just see this at five foot by five?

So, the main problem is finding a surface to work on. I found something that would work, but at $140.00 plus tax and shipping.  Someday maybe, but not real soon.

So, that leaves me with accent pictures.  Thinking about my old style hangs so proudly in dream galleries, I decided to experiment.

So, here’s that damned crow, again.

Hurray! I Got Rejected!

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I finally bit the bullet, and sent out an application to a gallery.  I got a polite note back, saying my work was not a fit for the gallery.  Also, the note said, that my information would be kept on file, in case there was a change. (Yeah, right?)

So, why “Hurray!”?  I’m celebrating that I got past my fear of rejection, and actually tried.  You know what?  It wasn’t that bad.  I felt a pang of disappointment, but that was gone, within 10 minutes.

However, back to the subject…..birds. Or more precisely, crows.  I’ve fallen in love with crows now that I’ve moved back to Connecticut.  In New York City, they were noisy scavengers, who tore apart garbage bags.  In other words, a general nuisance.

But here, they’re beautiful.  They’re the only birds I could see that braved the snowfall.  Their flight is graceful, and their presence is formidable.

So, Windback Wednesday….here’s a visit to a drawing I made about a year ago, when I was coming to terms with winter in Connecticut.