Umbria

In Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon reminds us

that the world is full of ideas just waiting to be

remade (stolen) in another form.  

My summer play dates have given me permission to

do just that.

Remember when I wrote about the marvelous clay technique of Patti Conner-Greene and her dreamscapes?  Click here for a reminder.  Abandoning her pottery wheel briefly, she started playing with layers of design and texture, building a scene without regard to a realistic perspective.  They are beautiful pieces of art.  So, I have become a thief...herewith my confession:

My visits to Italy always result in a ton of photos featuring the beautiful patchworked countryside of olive trees, vineyards and other produce.  The rolling hills, the colors from striped plantings, the mountainous background....such classic views of Italy.  (sigh) Painting that perspective however continued to throw me a curve ball.  One day I decided to just enjoy the effort and paint as if I were in Patti's sandbox rolling out clay and stamping it with crazy texture.

Umbria, detail

I laid down texture, I played with color, I mixed up patterns and I threw caution to the wind where realistic perspective was concerned.  I wanted to capture that feeling I always had gotten of seeing the countryside as a beautiful, freeform quilt of flowing pattern.

detail 2

Of course it had to have the classic Italian cypress in the foreground.  And a low hanging sky.

Umbria, oil, 36 x 24, framed

available, Crossnore Gallery of Fine Art

Done!  Thank you Austin Kleon for permission to be a klepto and to Patti Conner-Greene, of Linville River Pottery for the inspiration.  Oh, and grazie to artist Kelly Medford whom I was traveling with when we stopped to paint at Arte Umbria for an entire week! Much inspiration came from all these folks....my gratitude is endless.

Shameless,

Cindy

"Seeing" the Future

 

First Day 2016

Welcoming a New Year

PATTI CONNER-GREENE

Mysterious. Slightly revealed but lacking definition.  Elegant.  Clouded in possibility.  Stark but gentle, waiting for more color to emerge.

All these thoughts came to mind when my colleague and friend Patti shared her photo of the morning which greeted her January 1, 2016.  I couldn't stop looking at it; I realized I vacillated between being mesmerized by the abstraction and wanting to wipe the glass clean for a clearer view.

Then it came to me that this feeling is exactly my reaction to starting a new year.  The future is looming, beckoning, but not divulging all it is or will be.  It is teasing me, hinting as to what may come but keeping all its options just slightly hidden.  And much like the photo, this is what captures me most about the wonderful clean slate we get every 365 days:  we have a vague idea about what may happen, but there are no sure bets....

I receive many blogs about goal setting, planning, scripting what needs to be done in the new year.  I'm not sure that's what I want to do right now.  But I found a question posed by Alyson Stanfield (www.artbiz.com) that resonates with me: 

What creative project is scary enough that it will help you grow...?

That's a powerful question for each of us and one I am chewing on very seriously.  And going back to the photo...there is a touch of the scary in it perhaps, or no? Hmmm, what do you see?

Black and white thoughts for a color filled year,

Cindy

Photo credit: Patti Conner-Greene, Linville, North Carolina, potter extraordinaire, enthusiastic teacher, gifted photographer and all round creative soul, check out her work and studio at www.linvilleriverpottery.com. Used with her permission.  All rights reserved.