Daily Painting

Presentation on Morocco- in French!

I'll be giving a casual presentation on my trip to Morocco. June 22, 11 am,  Alliance Francaise Smith St. in Providence for their friday Cafe/Croissant.  With lots of help from my friends at the Alliance me give lecture talking French on Morocco.  This reminds me of how much laughing outloud I did while reading David Sedaris' book Me talk Pretty one Day.  The lecture won't be that funny but will undoubdtedly make you laugh for one reason or another. It wil also include pretty pictures and people who do actually speak French fluently.  The lecture is free and open to the public, a small donation to the Alliance is appriciated.

Now I think I am going to get an audio copy of that particular David Sedaris book.  (I wonder if I can get just the audio of my favorite silly movies like bow finger, what about bob and il mostro?  that could completely change my studio life...)  

The Practical Impressionist

That's me.  Quick, go get your copy today: The fabulous Elyse Press Major (see her blog tinkeredtreasures here) wrote a peice on me for Romantic Homes Magazine.  Thanks Elyse!  

A Version of the Tar Baby

I am not sure how this relates but its a great quotation and they came to me together .

From Tricycle, Seeing Clearly

Our practice is to meet life exactly as it is and to notice whatever fear, anger, or doubt gets in the way of direct,intimate contact with this moment, bringing attention to that as well.  Rather than changing something or seeking to get somewhere we imagine we should be, practice is about seeing clearly exactly how things really are and how we relate to them.  Practice thus becomes an increasing intimacy with life just as it is, and there is nothing-including the idea that we should be getting something or somewhere-that is unworthy of the clear, nonjudgmental attention we call mindfulness.

-Douglas Phillips, "Q and A with Douglass Phillips"

Hazmat Modine

Today's clementine.  Painted while listening to Hazmat Modine's album Bahamut.  Fitting since Wade Schuman (of Hazmat Modine- God bless you Wade!) taught me so very much about still life painting at the NYAA.  That painting one class was one of my favorite experiences ever.

Miracle Shmiracle

Who am I kidding with that last post?  The moment I clicked "publish" I could hear myself challenging others to take responsibility for not just the bad stuff in their lives but the GOOD as well.  Indeed it was I who made the glorious painting moment happen; I created the studio space, bought the paint, set up the taboret.  Even I bought that lime (on a late night grocery run for holiday party muffin ingredients I specifically made for the produce isle determined to hook up with a gorgeous something).  My delicious studio moment was no mystery but instead the direct result of intention and perseverance and I accept full credit.

The painting above is a watercolor inspired by a home in Moroccan Interiors, a beautiful book by Lisa Lovatt-Smith.

Miraculous

And suddenly there I am, in the sun, painting, listening to Luciano Pavorotti and Joan Sutherland sing La Traviata while the most beautiful lime in the history of the world sits patiently for me.  Not perseverating, not fretting, not baking for Holiday parties, not fixing things or worrying or running errands just lost in paint:  What color is that reflection?  At what moment does the lime appear darker than the background?  At what moment does it become brighter?  Is there an inbetween?  What is the color of the penumbra, what is happening where shadow stops and light begins?  Such glorious questions.  The paint so satisfyingluy sensuous. I'm not sure how I got there and I'm not sure when I'll be back but thank you.

Last Night I Dreamt

Calling all Jungians!  It seems like a hopeful dream.  Are teeth a symbol of strength and self expression?  If so wouldn't molars be more so?  Also they are referred to as "wisdom" teeth. So perhaps it could be interpreted as a dream that I had discovered a new strength/wisdom that is decayed but can be restored.  

Makes me want to hunt for more Marion Woodman books.  Her book The Owl Was a Bakers Daughter Was Facinating, others sound so provacative.

It was satisfying to draw this out.  My son Benjamin (aka Captain Spectacular) began the drawing with the center left image.  try it!  if you need encouragement ask your children to illustrate for you.

Slow Love

This is from a post on India by Dominique Browning at Slow Love Life.  I was there reading her beautiful reflections on her relationship with Elizabeth Young-Bruehl.

The Morris gallery of Contemporary Art opening

Here is yet more press for the Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art opening.  I had such a wonderful time meeting the vibrant people of Marshall Missouri and hanging out with fellow NYAA grad, art teacher Charity-Mika Woodard. (not to mention sporting costume and bag of my own design!)  

"all the blasts of doubt"

"Always...before exchanging the flow of life for the concentration of painting she had a few moments of nakedness when she seemed like an unborn soul, a soul reft of body, hesitating on some windy precipice and exposed unprotected, to all the blasts of doubt."

During my trip to Missouri I had the time to luxuriate in "To the Lighthouse".  My copy is a loan from my friend and  poet Sarah.   I am floored by how eloquently Virginia Woolf describes the feeling of vulnerability and the raging cacophony of threats from within that usually assail one before settling in to make art.  (I also like how I come away from her writing feeling that I have permission to go bananas with run on sentences and adjectives, though that may be a burden for my readers.)  

Paintings #s408 and 409 are 6"x6", oil on masonite, available here and here, respectively.  That is the very last of our pears this season.