Open Studio Reception Coming Soon

I am excited that we are again opening our home (and my little art studio) for a reception in a couple of weeks. Our local daughter-in-law, Ashley, will cater, which will make this event much, much simpler for me than the previous reception two years ago. She makes amazing party food and is a super hostess, too. Again, we are fortunate that our friend, Greg Spiess, a super party pianist, will provide music for the gathering. UPDATE: I have now added an index to all blog posts about planning and holding an art reception. Access it here.

A number of items on my planning list are checked off, leaving a task list that seems manageable. It was a wonderful feeling to put a big batch of postcard invitations in the mail this morning; a few more await completion once I locate addresses.

If you are reading this, you are definitely invited! What a treat it would be if blogging friends from far and near could be magically transported to our home in Jacksonville, Florida to join us. But perhaps some of you are nearby and as yet not personally known to me; if you are interested, come on down!

The postcard invitation, pictured here front and back, really looks great. On the advice of some artist friends, I order business cards, postcards, etc. from Vistaprint online and have been pleased with the results and the reasonable price. I even was able to order a nice tote bag imprinted with the same image, which will be one of the door prizes for the day. Now, to finish the last couple of smaller paintings which will be displayed (and for sale) all around the house.

Our Visit to Georgia and FDR's Warm Springs Home

We have returned from a delightful week with our Georgia son and his wife; they completely spoiled us while we were with them. Although we lived in the Atlanta area for about 9 years before moving to Jacksonville, Florida, visiting their home shows us a completely different side of the city from our old stomping grounds in the northern suburbs. Both areas are beautiful, with hills and gorgeous natural vegetation. But now we have an opportunity to be tourists again, taking drives (while they are at work) to places we have not seen before. Poking around wherever we are (including near home) adds a creative dimension to our lives.

This time, we drove to Warm Springs, GA, and toured the "Little White House", seeing the grounds and home of the modest retreat where Franklin Delano Roosevelt stayed whenever he "took the waters" to soothe the pain of his polio and to increase his mobility. The exhibits, short film, and personal possessions housed in the museum on the property fascinated us both. Seeing the personal side of this great man was more moving than we had expected. The cottage (seen in these photos) is charming and surprising in its simplicity. FDR unexpectedly died in this house; he felt ill while sitting for a portrait (now displayed in its unfinished form in the museum) and doing presidential paperwork. He retired to his bed and died within a few hours from a cerebral hemorrhage.

The historians have made every effort to keep the home and outbuildings unchanged from that day (except for welcome modifications, like air conditioning). The buildings just inside the gate housed Secret Service personnel and the few servants who cared for FDR, his family (when they came), and visiting dignitaries who sometimes stayed in two simple guest rooms in the rustic home. One photo shows a custom built 1940 Willys Roadster equipped with hand controls; a 1938 Ford convertible fitted with the hand controls Roosevelt himself designed is in the museum. He drove both for pleasure and to keep himself in touch with ordinary people, visiting and listening to the stories of both black and white rural Georgians whenever he was in residence. Another photo shows one of four Marine Corps Sentry Posts just off the corners of the cottage.

Here, we were reminded of the formidable challenges FDR faced as president of the United States through the Depression aftermath and World War II. But more striking to us was the vivid depiction of his personal pain and struggles and his daily courage as he continued to work at a punishing pace and to encourage the nation. FDR's nobility of spirit shines clear. We saw his heart for others and his generosity in establishing the nearby Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for disabled children and adults and in his work to remove the stigma and loneliness of polio and other disabling conditions and injuries. Our visit to the Little White House was memorable.

Question of the day: What historic site in the US would you recommend people visit (even those of us who are not history buffs)?

Painting of a Wooded Path

Here is the painting of a wooded path I showed you as a work-in-progress a couple of posts ago. Loosely based on a scene at our nearby Kingsley Plantation (which has appeared in a few previous posts and some other paintings), the piece is nearly finished. I have adjusted the light and shadow patterns on the path and have added some details in the upper right quadrant (the intended focal area). There will be a few more adjustments, but nothing that will be very noticeable in a snapshot. At least, that is my current thinking. Sometimes, I get a new insight after putting a nearly complete piece away for awhile.

However, I am wary of overworking a painting, a real temptation for a detail-oriented perfectionist like me. So, it's smart to stop before I feel that a piece is totally "there" and put it away for a time. I am much more likely to detract from a work by continuing to fiddle with it at this stage than to improve it much.

Given the sort of person I am, painting has been very good for me. Artistic pieces are never "perfect" or "correct" in the same sense that something like an algebra solution is. I am learning to enjoy the process above all and to let go of the need to keep trying to improve a painting that is "almost there". In art, there may be no "there" there--as someone said in another context. Looser work with some imperfection is often fresher, livelier, and easier for viewers to relate to. Stiff, overly fussy detailed work misses the mark in terms of communicating an artistic vision. Nature, after all, achieves its beauty in the variations, asymmetry, and yes, imperfections of living things and natural features of the landscape. So, for a representative landscape painter, letting go of perfectionism is the perfect approach.

Question of the day: What recent project or undertaking has proven to be a helpful corrective to your personal tendencies?

Early Autumn, North Florida Style

In North Florida, we do get distinctive seasonal change, which I truly enjoy--especially the coming of autumn. However, our autumn is quite different from the season I grew up with on Lake Michigan's shore. Although some of our trees change color, many are evergreen--or have leaves that just curl up and turn brown before they drop. Whatever "typical" autumn changes come this year, they are still a month or two away. I do miss the brilliant colors of autumn in places we have lived before. But even here, with the sun slanting at a lower angle and a softer hue in the sky, I still feel the same lift to my spirits as always. Some of you may find autumn a bit sad, a kind of ending. For me, it has always been enlivening. Maybe that's because I loved school and the beginning of the new school year. Brand new pencils, marching band practice, football mums from a special guy, and Orion rising in the night sky, are all a breath of fresh air. In fact, this is the time of year I am most likely to start a new venture, to renew my exercise program, and to make resolutions as the lifting of the heat provides me with newfound energy.

Here in coastal North Florida, late-blooming flowers are an early autumn bonus that comes with slightly cooler nights (and finally, sufficient rain). Our mandevilla vine waited even longer than usual to bloom this year, but has been lovely. Off and on for awhile, I have been working on a small painting of these brilliant blooms, but have not yet achieved the colors I want. It's frustrating. Florals can be much more difficult than you might think, and I am always impressed by the lovely paintings of accomplished floral artists. Maybe I'll need to be content with enjoying the real thing.

Question of the day: Have you lived in distinctly different climates at different times? How do you feel about the beginning of autumn?

Open Studio Class--A Creative Community

On Saturday, I again traveled over to Gainesville, Florida, for Linda Blondheim's Open Studio Class. For this class, we each bring our own works in progress (especially those that seem not to be progressing :>) to Linda's retail loft studio above the Paddiwhack shop. We work at tables or bring an easel and enjoy ample opportunity to ask for advice and direction as we plan or paint. Linda is an ideal art teacher; she respects each student's vision and style (never trying to push us to paint her way), yet offering keen insights and helpful suggestions to help us do our best work. I wish she were nearer, as the drive takes me over an hour and a half each way--but it's all well worth it whenever I can make the trip.

Six of us came to paint this time, so we had plenty of kind encouragement and the inspiration of participating in a creative community for a couple of hours. At her Art Notes blog, designed as a kind of on-line journal describing her work and thoughts, Linda has posted a photo of this delightful group with the pieces we worked on. In the photos here, you see several of us at work with Linda's guidance. In the background, you can see the amazing paintings Linda shows in her Paddiwhack loft. I include a photo (not the best shot, I fear) of my 16" x 20" woodland path "work in progress". The path itself needs the most work. Once that is in better form, I will spruce up other areas, especially the intended focal point in the top right quadrant, with a double trunk tree and some red-orange wildflowers catching the sunlight. Hopefully, I will have the final version to show you fairly soon, although I alternate working on this piece with several smaller paintings that are on a deadline, so it will take some time.

Question of the day: Under what circumstances do you prefer working alone on a project, and when do you prefer a creative community?

Painting Process--My Easel Set-up

Today, you see a typical set-up at my easel. For most paintings, I place an old piece of heavy poster board against the easel behind the canvas so that I can tape things to it for reference. Nearly all my landscape pieces are studio paintings based on actual scenes, so the main reference photos go up on the board first. Below, you see one of the marsh reference photos I am using for these small paintings. The other item you see in this easel photo is a sheet of paper with a couple of quick sketches and other notes. Many of you know that I am a planner, rather than painting completely spontaneously. However, the amount of advance planning varies for different paintings. This is a relatively simple example for a pair of 5" x 7" salt marsh paintings, currently in progress.

In the photo of the sheet of paper, you see that I have done minimal sketching for these pieces. Given their rocky progress to this point, I may have done better to prepare more detailed value studies, planning the balance of lights and darks--but I didn't this time. I also did less in the way of color studies than I might do for larger works, but I did explore some of the possible gold and buff mixes for the dry winter grasses. Notice (learned this the hard way) that I recorded the tube colors used for each mix and also wrote down the colors used for sky and water (though without a sample patch) and the list of tube colors for this particular limited palette. Some artists probably can do with less written down, but I often am working on several pieces at the same time, so one may be set aside for awhile. It definitely helps to have notes about color blends used when I return to a work in progress after some time has passed.

Linda Blondheim, my painting mentor, suggested this blog post topic when I journeyed over to Gainesville, Florida on Saturday for one of her Open Studio Classes. I am thrilled that she is offering this class again; she had stopped for a number of months, and I missed the guidance she offers painters with any work they bring to the gathering. When Linda saw this set-up, she felt that others might like a peek at my typical messy work board. You can find earlier posts on similar topics by entering "painting process" in the blog search box, top left of this blog. The June 28, 2010 post in particular shows the planning materials and easel set-up for a study of a shore bird--somewhat like this board. And, as always, you can click on a photo to enlarge it and see more detail.

Question of the day: What triggers, tools, or processes aid you in creative endeavors (whether "artistic " projects or creative problem solving and everyday living)?

Happy to Be Back Online and Back Home from Vacation

I am delighted to be blogging again on our brand-new IMac. Have missed all of you and hope to begin catching up on visits to your blogs as well.

Part of the reason it took awhile to post again is that Mark and I (and the intrepid Shih-Tzu traveler Magnolia) have been on the road for a couple of weeks to spend time with members of each of our families. After a rich time with people we love, we are happy to be home again--especially after putting over 3000 miles on the car. (Little known fact: if you try to type "miles" with your right hand on the wrong keys--due to ineptitude on a new style of keyboard--the result is "nukes". Glad nothing we did involved even one nuke, much less 3000!!!)

Our road trip took us from our North Florida home to Wisconsin via a visit in Tennessee. Oh no, here comes the "what she did on her summer vacation" part! Not to worry, friends, will keep it as brief and painless as possible. The photos show scenes from a hike to Cataract Falls in the beautiful Smoky Mountains where we enjoyed a weekend family reunion with my siblings and their families at a wonderful, affordable lodge just the right size for all of us. From there, we drove to Wisconsin to see Mark's siblings and their families--may show you a few photos from there in a later post.

Question of the day: Well, not really a question; a hope and prayer that all of you have loving, supportive friends or relatives in your lives.

Technical Difficulties--Will post again when I can

My beloved 7 1/2 year old IMac is in a coma, and I think I will let her go this time. So, I am typing from another computer, but don't have access to my photos, etc. I plan to take my time choosing another computer and will not be posting or visiting all your wonderful blogs for a few weeks. I look forward to communicating again later in the month.

Creative Refrigerator Cleaning--Summer Salad with Peas and Carrots

This refreshing summer salad is a repeat post from July 2010; we've enjoyed the tasty, nutritious cold version of traditional peas and carrots often since I originally "created" (i.e., adapted a recipe) it. Many readers have been using my recipes, so thought it might be of interest to any of you who did not see it before. By the way, given my previous entry, be assured that I have my permission to copy my own blog posts--others do not :>). Remember, too, that you can use the search box in the upper left corner of the blog home page to find entries on particular topics; just type in "recipe", "travel", "painting", etc.

Although I often plan meals carefully, some dishes and menus come about sort of accidentally. I hate to waste food, so track our fresh fruit and vegetable supply in order to serve foods as close to their peak of freshness as possible. A few weeks ago, a bag of fresh, peeled, petite carrots proved very disappointing--not very sweet or appealing. So, I had planned to lightly cook and season them, but cooked carrots did not fit well into the next few nights' meal plans. Planning to enjoy BLTs with some yummy tomatoes and a partial pack of bacon left from making something else, I went on-line to search for carrot salad recipes.

The most promising recipe, Pea and Carrot Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette sounded nice, but shallots aren't a staple in this refrigerator (and I had no intention of running to the store). After several other changes to the recipe, I came up with a salad Mark and I both enjoyed. The amounts are approximate and can be adjusted to your family's taste preferences. If you are interested in the original recipe or in the nutrition facts, go to www.foodfit.com.

Pea and Carrot Salad

2 cups raw baby carrots, chopped in 1/2" chunks

3 cups frozen petite green peas

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tblsp. lemon juice

2 Tblsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

2 Tblsp. olive oil

1 Tblsp. snipped fresh parsley

dash of salt

generous grinding of black pepper

1. Steam (or boil) chopped carrots for about 3 minutes, until slightly tender, but still crisp. Stir peas into same pot of hot water just enough to thaw them and drain off water immediately (the peas will taste very fresh and sweet this way).

2. Whisk the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar together. Stir in chopped onion, then whisk olive oil in, mixing well. Stir in snipped parsley and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

3. Gently toss the peas and carrots in the vinaigrette and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Question of the day: Do you tend to follow recipes, read and then adapt them, or make up your own dishes without a recipe?

Beware of a Known Art Pirate

On a recent visit to Susan Roux's lovely blog, I learned of a person who apparently steals and photoshops the original paintings of others and then markets the result as his own work. Very low behavior, indeed.

Susan has given me permission to provide a link so that my readers are also warned.

Please let me know what you think of her suggestion to "friend" this person on Facebook in order to see if any of my (or your) art work has been fraudulently used in this way. I hesitate to contact him in any way, in case that would make him aware of my paintings. And what action could I take if I did discover improper use of my images? Beyond that, he is unlikely to be the only internet art pirate out there. Life in this Brave New World is complicated.

Question of the day: This sort of piracy is beyond my level of expertise, and I am tempted to simply "play possum" about the whole thing. Yet I certainly do not want my hard work to be stolen. What do you (both artists and others) think?

Jacksonville Beach Painting Progress--Focus on Sky and Sea

It has finally been possible to get back to the Jacksonville Beach scene I began painting a few weeks ago, a small piece in a panoramic format, 6" X 12". Sky and sea were my main interest in this little study, which I worked to keep quick and minimal. Although the piece is not finished, I wanted to show you its present form. The birds are just quick-sketched in with white and grey tones and need some adjustment. There will be a few other refinements in the clouds, beach sand, and waves, but the basics are all here.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, working more quickly was a goal for this piece. I work slowly and include a great deal of detail in my larger paintings--perhaps too much at times. The point of this exercise was to help me fight a tendency to be too fussy and instead to take a breezy, minimal approach, intentionally working in shorter sessions.

The palette is very simple: ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, paynes grey, cad red light, a touch of burnt umber (a warm brown), and titanium white. The top photo shows the entire piece; the other is a detail shot. This has been a satisfying study, and I am looking forward to more exercises in a breezier style in the future as well as to planning some larger paintings in my more typical style.

Question of the day: Are you trying something at least a little new and different this summer?

Still Here

I am sorry for my absence from writing and visiting blogs for the last couple of weeks. It has been an extremely busy time--mostly in a good way.

I hope to have a more extensive new post ready for you soon, but wanted to say hello in the meantime. The photo shows a view of our beloved St. John's River, this time from the wide lawn of a Victorian home whose owners hosted one of Mark's Master Gardener events a couple of weeks ago. It is a lovely, characteristically Jacksonville, Florida view. Life is definitely too short for painting all the beauty in our area!