Sometimes...it just doesn't work

This is another in the series of finding those things we don't normally see - the things that are right in front of us. After I painted the water pipes in Barbara's furnace room (see post 11/9/16 - "Making the Invisible, Visible"), I continued to look around her house. She has an interesting old fashioned door lock.

I went over to the door to take some photos of the lock. I noticed that the door was really warm. As I ran my hand over the wood of the door I discovered two screw heads that were very hot.

When I opened her front door I found that the screws were holding a very unusual door knocker. The morning sun was shining very brightly on the door and knocker. The metal knocker was really HOT.

I opened to door a little wider to take some pictures of the knocker and then really saw 'the painting!' A strong shadow fell across the door and the knocker. That would be fun to try to capture.

The holidays came then and I didn't have a lot of time to get back to the idea. In early January, I got out my photos and drew a sketch of what I had imagined. I used the matchstick and ink method to 'draw' it.

It still seemed like a good idea and I was enthusiastic about it until...I painted it the first time. For some reason, it just didn't work. I think there was something about the shadow... The knocker wasn't as interesting as I thought...it just didn't feel right.

So, I put the painting in sink and washed it off. My experience of second chances had been pretty good...in the past. The paint never comes off entirely, but I now had an underpainting and my ink drawing to work with.

Bottom line here - I painted it again, and washed it off again... I painted it once more and am calling it quits on this one.  Sometimes, it just doesn't work!

I'll tuck this away...even though it's not a 'winner' I always learn something. When I look back a few weeks/months from now, I may see something I can't see today!

The Unexpected Gift

For over thirty years my husband and I have celebrated New Year's Eve with special friends who live in the Baltimore area. We get together, share meals and stories and exchange simple gifts. We watch the ball drop at midnight, toast the new year and finish off our celebration with Oysters Rockefeller on the 1st of January.

This year, however, was a little different. For the past few months our friends have been downsizing - clearing out their house in preparation for a move to a retirement community. It's a long process of sorting - what to keep, what to pass on to the children, what to throw out... They are doing it slowly and carefully and have talked about how difficult it is to clear out a house that they have lived in for 40 years.

Well, they appeared as usual on the 30th of December with suitcases, hors d'oeuvres, wine ...and a shopping bag overflowing with presents. What? We do the simple gift thing, I thought!

It was good to see them. We settled in around the Christmas tree and got caught up a bit. It was soon time to open gifts. They were very excited about this and began to distribute all the things they had brought with them.

As we opened the presents, the mystery was solved. It became apparent that they were sharing their treasures with us. Each gift was thoughtfully chosen and held memories for us as friends. There were books that they had read and thought we would like and framed photographs with special meaning for the four of us. We shared more stories...

Then there was a small package for me...I opened it and there was an envelop filled with photos of my son's wedding in 1995! Our friend said, "You probably don't need these, you must have dozens of them.. but I didn't want to just throw them out." I was overwhelmed - what she did not remember was that all of my son's wedding photos (and other photos, too) had been destroyed in a fire five years before!

This seemingly insignificant envelop held something more valuable than she could have imagined. This unexpected gift is a true treasure of our friendship and example of how something so trivial can hold awe-some meaning for me. That she chose to save the pictures was somewhat unusual, I thought, and that they were given as part of this particular celebration was lovely. I was weepy and overwhelmed to be holding these pictures.

Thank you, Shirley and Bob, for your friendship and shared history!

These amazing moments are there for us. My hope in 2017 is that I may recognize them, name them and share them.

End of the year

What a fun year to review. I looked back on my posts this year and am delighted to see that I tried so many different things.

First there was 'Mikey' (that's the St Michaels crab on my street banner). He was eating an ice cream cone. By the way, my 2017 banner is finished and will be posted in the near future...what's Mikey doing this year?

I really tried this year to experiment and make myself do new things. That's always risky. It would be really easy to keep doing what works, but I have loved the new challenges. I have been fortunate to substitute in the watercolor class a lot, but have also dabbled a bit with my pastels.

Looking back, I rediscover various class assignments - boat painting, "Painted Ladies - Victorian House;" my rivulet paintings; painting with a matchstick; painted screens; melting crayons with grandchildren; different shape paintings to fit mat cutting practice; painting on a Chesapeake Bay chart with the Jimmy Buffett signature; various sketches; finding common things and turning them into art; and the most fun, doing LOTS of puns.

It was been wonderful to hear comments on all these different things. Thank you all for your supportive observations, critiques and encouragement!

I end the year with New Year wishes. Of course, in keeping with my quirky nature, it's Gnu Year. Does anyone know what a gnu really looks like? Or, more correctly, what a 'happy gnu' looks like?

I offer this quick sketch that I did this afternoon. I don't think his smile is quite the happy one that I wanted, but perhaps...he is a little anxious about what's ahead in 2017!

Best wishes everyone and thanks for following my blog!

Fleece Navidad

It's DECEMBER! Yikes, how did that happen so fast? In speaking with several friends, we are all saying the same thing...this season silently creeps up on us and then WHAM - the holidays are here!

I am now playing Christmas music and writing Christmas cards. There is nothing like singing along to traditional holiday music. In prior years, even though I do most of my shopping on line, I sometimes just sneak away to a mall and walk around to listen to the canned music and get 'in the spirit.'  So, that secret is out...

Last summer I started thinking about this year's card. Yes, I was in a quirky mood and sketching silly puns. I came up with a number of different ideas for the card. Several of them made my smile - some more reverent than than others.

In the end, I decided that at this time of year - especially this year - it would be good to really smile. So I am offering a preview of what goes in the mail this week.

I had such fun drawing all the little sheep - each is its own character. I hope you enjoy.

Merry Christmas and Holiday Blessings to all.

Making the invisible, visible...

A few weeks ago, I began sort of a series  - trying to make 'art' out of common things we don't usually see. Here is another under this heading. I am thinking of it as making the invisible, visible.

I had walked around Barbara's neighborhood during a watercolor class when I came upon the fire hydrant. (see Post on 10-13-16) Another day, I walked around her house with my camera. Again, I was trying to see what we don't normally look at. It was fun to look purposefully for the invisible.

In her furnace/laundry room I discovered furnace pipes - perfect! I took several photos and went to work. My goal was to simplify - I left out the clothes hanging behind the pipes and just focused on the pipe shapes themselves.

I sketched it out with pencil and then got out my matchstick and ink. I was ready to take it to class for critique.

I really liked the sketch and I was anxious to paint it. We talked about what kind of background would not interfere with the overall image. I decided just to use all the colors I was using in the pipes and do some wet-on-wet painting.  I also cropped it closer to the pipes, creating a more vertical impact. Voila...

 Artwork titles are always a challenge - one of my friends suggested "Turn me on." I am not sold on that - open to other suggestions.

"Painted Ladies"

For the past few months, my watercolor class has been working on a project - "Painted Ladies." We were each supposed to find and paint local Victorian houses. Traditionally, these houses are colorful - painted with at least three colors - and stand proudly in various neighborhoods...strutting their stuff!

Most of us groaned with this assignment. However, over the weeks of painting and critique, we all began to appreciate the what we were learning with this task. We were each to have three paintings ready to go for the show at the St Michaels Library during the month of November!

I began with the Parsonage Inn - a B&B in St Michaels. I have always been intrigued by its many angles and its fun turret. I painted the entire house several times before I figured out that what I really liked was the chimney and roof line. Here's what I finally came up with.

 After driving around town and looking at lots of photographs, I decided to paint the "Eagle House" - located on the grounds of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The house has an interesting history - you can go to cbmm.org and read about it. Bottom line - it has an eagle on the top of its turret. Yeah, I am into turrets...   The thing that caught my eye with this house, in addition to the eagle, was the strong shadow across the front. I love these strong colors and light.

I still had one more to do. Several years ago I had done an ink drawing of a house for the local holiday house tour. I found my old drawing and decided to redo it in color. I picked just a section of the front of the house for this painting. After all, there is only so much fancy porch railing that I can do! What were these Victorian craftsmen thinking?  

We hung the show yesterday - what an amazing display. Stop by the library and take a look. And, of course, many of the paintings are for sale...

Common things we don't see...

A few weeks ago I was again in that 'in-between' place. I had finished a painting for a show and was stuck as to what to paint next. I went to class that morning and just felt flat. I still needed to paint a house for an upcoming exhibit titled "Painted Ladies," but was not inspired.

It was a beautiful day so I decided to take my camera and walk around the neighborhood - looking to be inspired. What I discovered was that the things that caught my eye most were not the lovely Victorian houses, but the 'invisible' things: a trash can overturned, old duck decoys hanging from a tree branch, a rusty old gate and a fire hydrant! Not exactly what I had planned, but why not give it a go?

I really like the shapes on the fire hydrant...I began drawing. I sketched first with pencil and then got out my matchstick and ink and completed the ink sketch.

A bit of watercolor wash on the hydrant and a dark background and this really pops!

I love it that common (invisible) things can be art!