Ahoy!

 Each year (since 2010) the St Michaels Art League (SMAL) has had a banner program. Artists are invited to present artwork that will be scanned, then printed onto 'weather proof' material. The banners hang on the telephone poles along Talbot Street - which is our 'Main Street'.

I have blogged about my banners for many years. You may remember "Mikey" my St. Michaels crab who tries to "Celebrate St. Michaels", our annual theme, in all sorts of ways. 

I wasn't sure what I wanted Mikey to do this year so I went back to my file and began to look at all the banners from past years. I found the sketch below...It had been an idea that I never followed through on.  Maybe this year...

I began with a rough sketch...capturing some of what I had done before and adding a line to the life ring.

It progressed from there...to this. This was all done on drawing paper - not watercolor paper -so the watercolor paint just wrinkled up everything. I was trying to get an idea of color and balance.

I really like the simplicity of this. It should look great at 30 feet up on a pole. Not too detailed as you drive or walk by. 

So, I switched to my watercolor paper. Almost all my previous Mikeys have had some sort of hat and I wanted to fill the space between Mikey's 'head/shell' and the life preserver ring. 

Now I had this...

I showed it to my artist critic friends and we had a discussion about adding any kind of light wash background to make sure the hat and ring would stand out from the white paper. Several of us just like the crispness of the primary colors and the white. 

After putting it aside for several days and looking at it from across the room (no way could I get it 30 feet high!), I decided not to do a wash.  

Instead, I added more shading and a bit more ink drawing around the hat, ring, and line. Mikey is ready to be scanned!

"Ahoy!"

It's takes time for everything to be scanned, printed, sewn and readied to hang. Lots of behind-the-scene activity on this project! Look for the banners to appear in mid-April. 

All the original banner art will be on view in April at the St. Michaels Community Center. Stop by for a preview before they go 30 feet in the air!  They will also be on the art league website around that time smartleague.org

"Things that Warm the Heart"

Horrible fires in California, snow in some unusual places across the South, minus zero temperatures in the north,...14+ inches of snow here 10 days ago. It's hard to process all this and it's just the first month of the year!  At least when I am snowed in I can get a lot of things done inside! (and, yes, I did go out and build a snowman.)

Blue Heron Coffee, a small coffee shop in my village, offers gallery space to the St. Michaels Art League. The theme of the upcoming show in February is 'Things that Warm the Heart'. I wanted to participate so tried a couple of paintings. 

For many years I made valentines for my husband in sort of a 'zentangle' manner. As I thought about the February exhibit I wondered whether one of those valentines would work. I couldn't find the original one, but I did have an image in my photo file. I sort of copied it and made some upgrades...

As I understand zentangle, it's free form object with formulated 'designs' within. I think 'true' zentangle is also black and white. But, being more of a color person, I break the rules. This is what I reconstructed. I love the hearts connected.

While I love this image, I wanted to try another idea. My thought was warming hearts centered around a fire...and a chance to really get into color! I got out my pastels. I love the variety and depth of color. No 'hearts' shown here, just implied. 

If you are in town during the month of February, stop in to Blue Heron Coffee and take a look at this and all the other artists' ideas.

Coming soon...whatever it is I decide to do for the 2025 Banner program... ???

2024 is ending!

 As I look at my calendar and see December 31...I find it hard to believe that this year is ending! Then I look and see that my last post was in October and am forgiving myself for neglecting this blog. I have never been into New Year's resolutions so won't even pretend, but ... maybe I'll post more in 2025.

Since October... I have exhibited in three different places:

The Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD offers its members an opportunity to hang our own artwork for a month each year. This year there were space considerations so it was a show of 'small works.' I entered this piece titled "White Flame" It is an acrylic pour. I like the drama of it and apparently someone else did - it sold!

I also had an opportunity to put a painting in another 'small works' exhibit so I entered this one. I love the swirl of colors, but it never had a title, I called it "What do you see?"

Then it was time for the annual art league watercolor exhibit - this happens each December. I thought I would try something entirely different. This is watercolor paint on Yupo paper. It is a simple procedure but gives a dramatic effect. This is an 11x14 piece of Yupo. I took three long pieces of string. First green, then red and then yellow. I dipped each in watercolor paint and then laid it in an irregular pattern on the paper with the end near the bottom of the paper in the center. I pulled the string and it painted itself...one string at a time. As you can see, I did the red one twice and the other two colors three times. Ta da! Fun to do! 

And lastly...it was time to design this year's Christmas card. Many of us have been in a funk since November - yes, I will say it. The election results were disappointing... I was trying to find a way to be hopeful. I do find hope sitting outside... so I worked on this idea. The Christmas star in the sky - a figure sitting and looking at night. 

I began by painting the dark background (this is hard for me because I am usually so into color!) I knew it would be difficult to paint a figure there so I began by drawing the figure separately and then painting it.

I cut it out. I was practicing painting the image. I liked what I saw so I decided to use the cutout and make a collage! I placed it on the dark background. I also cut out a star and put in into the dark sky. I added a few more stars by lightly touching the sky with a white pen.

I lightened the front of the figure to show the light shining from the star.

                                                            The inside of the card reads,

The star...

a light in the darkness...

HOPE

May you each find the light in 2025.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Catching up!

When I began this blog in 2011 (how can that be?), I pledged to myself that I would write at least twice a month... Obviously, that pledge has totally 'fallen by the wayside' this year! 

I haven't done that much artwork, still adjusting to my new life, but the work I have done just didn't ever get posted.  Today is an amazing Fall day with nothing on my calendar. Maybe I can catch up a little.  So, I went back and looked at a few images that I had worked on...

Last June, my youngest granddaughter graduated from high school. She was getting ready to write some thank you notes for her graduation gifts. Her mother had bought her some nice (but unremarkable) cards to use for her notes. We were joking around about how to make them more fun... the next day I sketched out some ideas that eventually became this:

Gator Meets Hokie

Her high school mascot was the Gator. She would be on her way to Virginia Tech whose mascot is the Hokie! 

Then...there was a joint graduation party to be given by her and one of her friends who would be going to Clemson...  so we then had to have the Clemson Tiger!

Moving on...into June... I volunteered to do a house drawing for the Christmas in St. Michaels house tour booklet. It's deadline to get to the printer (even though the event in not until December) was the end June.  This was the June project. The event is December 13-15. This year they are celebrating the 35th anniversary of this project which supports non-profits in our area.

Now into July... two projects! My daughter sent me a knitting project... She wanted me to knit a Hokie! It is a strange turkey-like creature. After looking at various patterns... this is what I came up with for granddaughter's birthday in August before she left for college.

The Virginia Tech colors are maroon and orange! Apparently, when VT began looking for colors, a committee made a list of all the colleges then in existence and found that maroon and orange were the only colors that had not been put together anywhere!

At the same time I was knitting at night I was also working on a pastel of a photo of my great grandson. When his parents had posted it, I knew I had to paint it! I finished it in time to give it to them when they came for a visit in August. It was on their wedding anniversary - a special time together. I wanted to put it in a show in September so I gave it to them and then took it back! It will make its way to their house soon.  I titled it "Reflecting"

One more and I'll be caught up... The art league is currently exhibiting artwork at the library in Easton. This exhibit is called "Capturing Autumn".  This is a painting of one of my granddaughters who is now 25! I love so much about this... her curiosity with the leaf, the colors, the timeless quality of sitting in a pile of leaves...  It is a pastel titled "Her First Pile of Leaves."

One of the things that I know is that when I see a photo of one of these 'little people' I am captured by it and it often then 'paints itself.' 

This current show will be at the library through the month of October. 

Talbot County @ 110mph

 Yikes! The summer is almost over...I have done very little artwork, but I have had fun. I am copying a story I wrote following an experience I had last week. This photo doesn't tell it all, but it does give you a preview...

Talbot County @ 110mph 

I have just returned from an amazing afternoon. Thanks to Hunter Harris of Aloft Biplane Rides I went on a tour of Talbot County at a speed of 110mph.

 

Hunter and I had been talking about taking a flight in his open cockpit biplane.  The conditions were just right today. Beautiful blue skies and perfect temperature (not too hot as it has been for most of the summer). I got the phone call a little before 3:00. We were in the air a little after 4:00.

 

I had had hip replacement surgery in the past few months so getting into the plane was a little challenging. But I was determined and, with a little help, was in the plane.

Before taking off, there are a lot of important safety issues to keep in mind:

·      strapping in with a harness and seat belt,

·      putting on the helmet and adjusting to hear when the motor is on (it can be noisy without it),

·      which button to press to talk,

·      which pedals NOT to step on (the red ones),

·      stay out of the way of the stick,

·      be sure to look out the right side of the plane when taking of and landing (the pilot looks out the left side – don’t block his view),

·      don’t use your phone to take pictures (It might blow away in the 110mph wind)

to name just a few things!

Soon we were through the checklist, talking to the tower and headed down the runway.

 

There is something magical about going down a runway and lifting off in a small plane. I could ‘feel’ that very moment when we left the ground – suddenly untethered to the earth. There was a real sense of freedom as we rose in the air, leaving behind the ‘cares of the world.’ As we climbed, the air/wind welcomed me into another world.

 

This world is ‘from the top.’ The tops of trees, houses, roads, boats, and water – so much water. As we flew over the rivers and creeks, I was struck by the beauty of the boats leaving various white ‘V’ wakes in the water.

 

We ‘waved’ at a pleasure craft and circled over a few houses whose residents waved back. There were lots of cars at Perry Cabin with perhaps a wedding in process. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum also looked busy on land and water.

 

We circled my house on Broad Creek a couple of times allowing me to get a true ‘birds-eye’ view.

 

I saw the power of waves, erosion, and climate change as we flew over what was once an island – only one tree still standing. There is sadness about what once was…our changing Bay.

 

Flying over the Oxford area we saw three or four log canoes being towed home after the day’s races. So many things that we have all seen from the ground now coming to life from above.

 

I enjoyed my pilot, Hunter’s, dialogue as he pointed out several specific points of interest, but he also left quiet time for me just to take it all in. The magic of the moments in time.

 

And then it was time to head back to the airport…  I remembered to watch out of the right side of the plane so Hunter could see out of the left side. We touched down softly. I was reconnected to the earth.

 

However, my disappointment in having to land was quickly pushed aside by the thankful feeling of a magic afternoon. I will continue to treasure this sense of being a part of something and apart from it at the same time.

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HUGS!

It's graduation time again. My youngest grandchild will graduate from high school in two days. Time really does fly...

Many commencement ceremonies have been moved off campus or interrupted this year. I find that sad, particularly because this graduating class has already been disrupted. They 'lost' their freshman year to COVID - no in-person classes or opportunities to gather with new friends on a new campus. They don't/didn't need to lose this ceremony that they have worked so hard to get to!

I was watching/listening to a few commencement speakers during the upheaval this past month. Some were 'run-of-the-mill', but one caught my attention. I do not remember who it was or what university students he was speaking to, but his address was about the need for kindness. One phrase in particular has remained with me. Apparently, it was something he had heard or read. Perhaps I have heard it before but, like a lot of things, we hear when we are ready to hear - it may even take on a new meaning according to circumstances. 

"Someday someone will hug you so tightly that all the broken pieces will fit back together."

It's now a part of my journal - I changed one word to make it more personal. Being kind to ourselves and to each other can change the world!

"Singing the Blues"

The second anniversary of my husband's death was in mid-April. Of course, it was filled with memories - it's bittersweet. It was a lovey day. I spent time out on the dock enjoying some quiet and listening to some of 'our music.' 

When I came inside, I knew I needed to 'produce' some artwork. I haven't painted in awhile and the art league's annual Members' Show was coming up in May. I had no idea what I wanted to paint...  I decided to just get out a sheet of Yupo paper and experiment with my watercolor paints.

I just 'messed around with color'... My yellow got really muddy...I continued to 'play'. I wondered what would happen if I dropped alcohol on the wet paint. Some interesting effects. The alcohol moved the color around and left circles that eventually turned into abstract shapes...and a big mess!

I started again with some clean yellow, red and blue. This time not mixing the colors, just looking to see what would happen with the alcohol. You can see it more clearly on the red and blue.

When that paint dried I decided to paint over the whole thing. This time I used a lot of blue to cover what was there. I squeezed out blue paint straight from the tube and spread it around in different places...lots of brush strokes. I dropped alcohol, made lots of blotches and let it dry. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of what it looked like then.

The next day I looked at it and decided to lift some of the paint. Yupo paper is fun to work with! I have found that if I wet the paper and then blot it, the paint lifts right off to show the white paper beneath. Without planning anything, I wet a toothpick and drew around the top of a large jar. Two big circles...then another smaller circle. I was on a roll...I put in some lines...  I wanted to do some smaller circles so I looked around and found my scissors - the thumb holes do ovals well. I began to lift ovals. Here I finally began to think...artwork needs odd numbered things. I counted off seven ovals in a chain. Then three in another place.

If you look closely, you can see the colors from the underpainting although most of it disappeared!

looked at it again and decided that the places I lifted paint needed to be more visible. So I then wet a Q-tip and drew with it.

I love blue... (obviously) and had done a painting a few months ago that I called "Garden Music". (See post from December 6, 2023) This new painting had that banjo sort of shape in it...so I called this "Singing the Blues."

I was ready to register for the May show. I signed it and framed it. Finished, right?

Well, there's a lot more to this story... I thought it would be fun to Google 'Singing the Blues' and listen to the words. That decision opened my heart in an incredible way! I began looking at this painting in a whole new light. 

I am aware that I often do things - simple things - and later find meaning that I did not know was there. This was no longer a painting about my favorite color 'blue' but a true painting about 'the blues.' I had been painting my feelings...  I suddenly saw the two large connected circles as George and me. Then there is a single circle...me alone. Then I saw the broken chain. The longer chain that I had counted seven links, now had eight! The shorter chain was three. We were married 38 years! I now see that the chain has broken at some sort of crossroads...and, if you follow the small two lane..one lane road you get to the three links. I have moved into my third year alone! I keep finding more and more symbols.., I love the light coming through the 'blue' woods... I see 'hope.'

Now, I am sure that this is all just me. The amazing thing about abstract art is that each person finds their own message when they look closely.

To see this painting 'up close and personal', visit the St. Michaels Library during the month of May.  Find and write your own story!