Tobacco Barns & Days Gone By

Sometimes I give myself a painting assignment

just to up the ante in my process.  This time

I chose to paint in two layers: the first

would be rendered in yellow, red and white; in the

second I could only use yellow, blue and white.

Tobacco barns are a familiar sight in the western North Carolina area.  No longer used for their intended purpose, many of them stand empty and sad, slowly disintegrating before our eyes.  The evils of tobacco notwithstanding, I have an affinity for these old structures and often pause wishing I could know the tales they hold in their old weathered boards.  Now and again I am able to get a decent photo...too many are located on fast moving roadways that preclude pulling off to explore.  But when I do get a pic, I have fun painting them in a variety of ways.

Limiting myself to a strict palate of only what I could mix with yellow, red (primary colors) and white if needed, I made my first pass at the scene with an acrylic underpainting.

I actually liked the feel this gave and left it for a few days as tribute to the warm and humid days when the tobacco hung.  I was also contemplating what I might do with my next selected colors.

So I switched to oil paints and put away the red adding the third primary blue.  Now I could mix these two for green and/or put glazes of blue on top of red for purples or on oranges for...so I got to work.

I was tentative in the sky because I really liked the yellow overcast but worked on clouds while deciding just how blue to go.  I also wanted the attention to flow up the hill and thru the barn so did not want to provide too much distraction in the orangish foreground.  Restraint was called for even with so few colors to work with.  I had to rely on brush stroke, temperature and perspective to get my message across.  

My Father's World

oil, 24 x 24, on cradled board, $325

And even though my father's farm did not grown tobacco, this was of his era so the name felt appropriate.  I would give anything for an afternoon of stories from this barn, and even more so, from my Dad.  Meanwhile, the structure sits alone, a beacon of days (and economies) gone by.

PRIMARY COLORS,

Cindy

Socks for Book Lovers

Socks? for book lovers? in an art blog?  Thought I'd give you a giggle this morning by sharing a gift I received from a very clever friend.  Carmen Beecher, artist, author and all round great gal, is a lover of books.  Look what she presented me with recently:

SOCKS! (the old mary janes are mine).  Not just any old, throw 'em on socks but "banned book" socks.  Now these take some thinking to wear.  On the left foot below are all the titles of books that have been banned at some point in the United States ( To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Tom Sawyer, The Invisible Man, etc.etc.)

On the Right foot, shown below, the books are crossed off the list, banned from public consumption. Cute aren't they? And yes, some folks have done a double take thinking I inadvertently have mixed up my pairs.  Did you figure out why I was told they are right and left specific??

Check out Carmen's website and her blog. She has recently published the story of her growing up days in Dundee, FL.  Titled "Crackers and Oranges," it's about a slice of old Florida that has not changed much to this day.

And for added color I share with you what I'll be working on this week:

Yes, that's a painting of my sister riding her bike!  Stay tuned as they say...there is much more to come!

Fondly yours,
Cindy

The Gentle Shove of a Deadline

Nothing like flipping over the calendar only to discover one is less than 4 weeks away from a deadline!  Usually I love having specific points of reference for project finishes, it helps to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing!  But yikes....so here we go with a need for speed and a critical look at several unfinished pieces.  Photographing them really helps to see them better for corrections.

Duneside, 11 x 14, underpainting

This little scene is from an area in Ponte Vedra, FL, a cozy little spot tucked in the sand dunes of the ocean...a lovely place to sit and dream.  Of course this is the first of many layers of paint and colors but I do want to stick to a predominately purple-ish tone and feel.  It was the gentle time of day when the sun was sinking and the gold light made everything so soft.  Lots more work to do.

UnNamed, 24 x 18, oil

work in progress

This piece is crying out for a name...suggestions?  There is more work to be done on the tree and its nest of roots as well as raising the sandbar in front of the water.  Roots like this are always so fascinating to me...and always so difficult to paint.  But I am anxious to get back to this one...I feel I have visited this scene many, many times.....

Heron, 30 x 24, oil

work in progress

I found this scene in the Everglades, FL.  There is still much to do on this very large piece but I like the vagueness of it in its present state.  It will be interesting to see where it goes....all this green calls for a little bit of pink dont you think?  and more blue?  hmmmm.  It could use a fancy name as well.

All of these pieces need to be finished and framed before the ArtWorks of Eau Gallie show on November 22.  The festival has added a patrons night before the opening which means that instead of working until the very last minute, putting up your tent and heading home to crash, we will be on site, gracious and smiling at 6 pm to greet the fine folks who make the show possible.

More on the show and my progress over the next week or two.  Meanwhile, if you are near Brevard County, FL mark the dates and come see us.  And cross your fingers I can get these done and dried before I hit the framers!

Colorfully yours,

Cindy