Comfort on the Easel

 

Every now and then I begin to fall in love with a particular painting I am doing and a funny thing happens: I lose all perspective.  Because something about the scene affects me deeply the critical eye vanishes and I just enjoy the creation process.  This would be good except that it does not make it easy to finish the piece as one becomes relunctant to take the baby out into the world for possible judgement...and frankly, since the affair is between the artist and the art, one is rather hesitant to share it anyway.

 

This is what happened on this large piece I call "Comfort."  I just had such a good time with it that it took way longer than usual; don't know whether I was stalling as I did not know how to evaluate the piece or if perhaps I was afraid of finishing it and ending the pleasure.  No telling.  And no excuses for the many rough spots it no doubt contains but are invisible to this "mother's eye.""  It's still on the easel as I try to decide if it is really ready for the frame.

 

Comfort   36 x 24 on board

Mixed media: graphite & acrylic

 

I know these trees: they reside in western NC and I visit them on a hike that my husband and I take often....you can walk right by them on the way up and even miss them watching your feet on the trail down.  But I usually take time to pause and visit and think about all the many ways I receive, and hopefully give, comfort.  It amazes me that these huge trees are living, for the most part, on rocks and stone...somehow surviving, even thriving.  That reassuring pat or gentle touch seems to say "we're in this together, we can manage."  And I could go on about the sun spots peeking through the leaves and I could get very melodramatic and thoughtful....see? I told you I had lost all sense of reason!

 

 

OK. Enough of that, there's another easel in my studio demanding some critical evaluation and scientific analsysis....I hope you have a current favorite piece in your life, some art you enjoy just because you do.

 





Details Can Be Abstract

For some time now I have been painting trees: their trunks, their bark, their shape and their leaves.  I love the body language of trees and I also love how the repetition of certain details becomes abstract when seen apart from the whole of the tree.  Slowly I am beginning to paint other things but I have a few more to share from this particular series.

"Sweetgum"

graphite and acrylic on cradeled board

16 x 20

 

The sweetgum tree intrigues me mainly because of the fascinating little seed pods it puts out which are miserable to step on in bare feet.  Nevertheless I continue to gather these odd little balls since I find them very interesting.  I think I painted this entire piece just so I could showcase the tiny little sample hidden in the "treasure box" tucked onto the lower left hand of the painting.  The trunk of the tree is one of those repetitious details that is almost abstract when zeroed in on alone.  I also find the dark and light patterns of leaves on a full grown tree rather abstract in nature when squinted at.

Anyway, this is my interpretation of a Sweetgum Tree, it's leaves, pods, bark and overall shape.

 

"Sweetgum" detail

box open

 

And here is what the box opens to reveal.  You just can't improve on the design of Mother Nature, can you?  Framing this piece will be a real challenge as I just see everything competing with the art...oh well, who said the artistic challenges end when you sign your name?  I'll have some fun with it.  And if you think of a better title for the piece, please, please share....some days they are so elusive!



Serious Seeing

Back in the studio after a little "play time" away I am working on some

"serious seeing."  What I mean by this is the difficult job of seeing

everything in shades of black and white (grayscales).

As painters we are so attracted to color and its wonderful possibilities that we

often skip the hard part of learning proper values.  Where is the darkest dark?  what path

do the darker values take?  where is the lightest light? and so on....

I've been working with graphite (pencil) for a while now and decided to try it

on a (for me) huge scale: 24 x 36.

I am working from a photo my daughter-in-law took in Nova Scotia.

It was a beautiful misty-grey morning and the only color that stood out was the

bright yellow canoe resting on the closest dock.  The

photo really caught my attention so I got her permission to work with it.  The size presents a few

challenges that a paper sketch does not:

* since all the values are relative it is a constant adjustment process: I have to remember to step back

often and see what needs to be lightened or darkened relative to something

I just added.

* leaning across the piece can be messy, the graphite will smear and transfer unless it is

sprayed with fixative, but once you spray you cannot erase or lighten a line.

* straight lines are hard to keep straight when working 36" across...I have to remember to

find my ruler and adjust when things slide downward or wiggle off to the unknown.

But even with the challenges I am enjoying this piece, I'm quite curious to see how it turns

out...I'll try to remember to share it with you.

Roca Roja

Roca Roja  12 x 12 framed

Sedona is a magical place, I needed a bit of intrigue to properly present the mystery it poses.

This is graphite on a cradled board with acrylic.

sold

Seeking Support

I like experiments and this one grew naturally out of my study of rocks and the graphite and acrylic techniques I used to paint them.  The photo on my easel is one I took while visiting a garden center that has lots of natural areas of native growth.

I wanted to simplify the composition and concentrate on the detail of the bamboo.

The title?  Well, when you work for a long time on something you begin making up

stories in your head about the personalities of your subject matter...

regardless of whether they are inanimate or not.

I eventually realized that the two bamboo on the right were a "couple," or

at least wanted to be, and they were asking, pleading. "seeking the support"

of the family on the left...no political puns intended!

See the spokesperson on the left...leaning in to make his (!)

point very clear?  What happens next?

(Sorry about the wonky photo....I must have been leaning

too far in one direction...)

not on etsy yet...contact me if interested

Alone but Happy

This proud mushroom stands solo but seems very happy in his forested retreat.

I have no problem giving personalities and even background stories to

plants and animals that I paint.  When I hike I

usually find clusters of mushrooms sprouting up after the rains.  This specimen

was different, no rain preceeded his discovery and no buddies were hanging

out nearby.  So I concluded he was either the Lone Ranger or the last survivor

of a mushroom clan.

The finished piece is 8" tall by 6" wide, done on a cradled (framed out) wooden board which is painted white along the edges.  It is rendered in acrylic washes and graphite (pencil), sealed and protected.

I enjoy painting on these boards as they are very flexible in the final stages: hung on a wall with the hanger on the back, propped up on an easel and thus able to be moved around, or even stood upright on a bookshelf.  They are very lightweight and there is no glass to break or smudge.

Any ideas as to whether this is a male or a female

mushroom?





BUY NOW

And the WINNER is...

I promised I'd follow up on what possessed me to compose this piece titled "Only a Suit?"  It was great to find out that more than a couple readers did "get it" and shared perfect explanations of the meaning of the piece.  Several others sent in humorous, albeit appropriate, remarks.  It is always nice to know that when you attempt to use symbols or imagery for a different meaning that it is, indeed, decipher-able!

The suit here represents the outside of the person, much like the rock is first seen only from the outside.  In the case of a geode it could be ugly and nondescript, muddy or rough.  You really don't know what is deep inside until you crack it open and get to the heart of the stone.  The exterior of people is much the same (remember when you were told not to judge a book by the cover?).  The suit might give me one assumption but until I get to the heart of the person, or crack him open, I will not have the truth.  The geodes were a good way to remember this when dealing with the public...I soon learned that the exterior appearance had absolutely nothing to do with the situation...it was my job to slice through the exterior and learn what really lay below.  Only then could I do my job.

Hope you find a geode today.

The Thinking Tree

click HERE to purchase

THE THINKING TREE

9" high x 6" wide x 3/4" deep

graphite on board, needs no additional framing

Sometimes the exactness of detail work is paradoxically relaxing.

A friend and I headed to the park for a relaxing day outdoors and after our picnic retreated

to our lawn chairs to mellow out.  This is what kept my hands occupied as I listened

to the children playing in the creek, looked for the songbirds and wondered what

great stories this tree had to tell.

If you are curious about where the name of the painting came from just click through above

and read the description where it is posted for sale on the etsy store site.

Mr. and Mrs.

I love cardinals!  Not as arrogant as the blue jay but full of color and personality.  I did not know that they got their name from the red robes worn by the Roman Catholic Cardinals; and I have heard that they are faithful to their mates (no proof of this).  Unlike some of our feathered friends the cardinals sing all year long and I like that too.  Another motivation for painting this winsome pair is that the logo for our little village is the red cardinal.  Oops, and I confess: I had to paint another pair because the first rendition went flying out to a new home....sold in a flash.  Hopefully I will have to launch a third version soon!  Purchase here...sorry, SOLD

This piece is 10 x 8, mixed media on board.  That means that on a cradeled piece of birch (framed with a painted edge about 3/4" deep) I put many layers of gesso sanding between each one.  As I got the surface closer and closer to glass I added some acrylic to the gesso and put several layers of mossy green on the surface.  I then draw the birds on with graphite and tease out a bit of color, go back in with additional graphite and voila!  it's done.  Wish it were that fast.  Hope you find some cardinals where ever you go today.

Harbinger of Spring

The Messenger

This is a young messenger, commissioned by a collector for her friend named, appropriately, Robin.  Listening to these messengers of spring early in the morning is a wonderful way to wake up.  We've had our windows open so I can hear them and all their feathered friends chatting about what is to come.  Sadly they also announce the onslaught of pollen so windows may have to close soon.  Anyway, this is a little wonky photo cause I shot it while the 7 x 5 piece on board was drying from its final coat of varnish.  It's done in graphite with mixed media.  I'll do better with the photography next time, I just couldn't resist sharing.

Dreaming of Spring

BUY HERE

A lot of folks are dreaming of spring, understandably!  This piece is titled "Basking" and was done one day after I was really chilly from continuously painting snow scenes.  I needed a dose of spring and created it for myself... the zebra swallowtail butterflies were the perfect cure for spring fever.  This is another one of my mixed media with graphite done on an 8" x 8" wooden board that is cradeled with a 3/4" deep trim.  No other frame needed.
(hmmm, my original seems much darker than this reproduction, I must have washed it out in the photographing...so sorry.)  Have a great week and may you discover a hint of spring in it!

Hollaway Mountain Road

One of my favorite short cuts through the mountains of western NC takes you on the backroads towards the Parkway.  I love the scene and working in graphite on board can be relaxing despite the detail and eye strain.  I just listed this for sale in my etsy shop (http://www.cindymichaudart.etsy.com/) but don't tell my husband.  He wants it for his office! 

If it would suit your office, just let me know!

16 x 20, on board

Cider Time a la Qiang

One more wanna-be from the workshop with Qiang Huang: Cider Time.  What took the "master" 2.5 hours and minimal strokes took me 4 hours to lay it in and a studio session to finish....with at least a million strokes.  My poor apples lost their "glow" at one point and it was no easy task trying to find it!

But that's why he is the teacher and I the humble grasshopper.  It was my sincerest intention to follow the workshop with several weeks of intense remedial work to practice all that we learned on still life painting.  Alas! I fell on my elbow and broke the funny bone clean off.  Even though I lucked out and damaged the left one (I am right handed) this "incident" did put a crimp in my oil painting.  I'll be posting graphite for a little bit....hoping to return to oil soon.

'Diller, the Armadillo

Yes, this is an armadillo...I'm certain it is to be the new "in" animal to collect...who needs another cow or rooster?  I was actually trying to think of an animal (without fur) that would be a fun challenge to draw and lo and behold, one crossed the street in front of my car!  I did not hit it but took it as a sign that very soon every home in the USA would be wanting paintings of armadillos.  You can be the first!

It is a 5 x 7 mixed media piece which can be purchased with or without the killer frame that goes with it...then you can title it "Killer 'Diller."

NAB IT HERE