Clear Spring Studio

SETH'S RAINBOWS

2006-04-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

We spent the Easter week-end at the cabin. My son and his wife and their good friends, Seth and Carol came along. It was opening day of fishing season and all Seth wanted to do was fish. He spent hours happily chasing down trout in the stream in front which is about 500 ft. from the cabin. Finally an hour or so before they were scheduled to leave he caught these two. I quickly drew them before they were fried up and eaten. P.S. They were delicious!

SELF PORTRAIT

2006-03-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well, here is my attempt at a self-portrait. In case you are thinking "hey, that's not bad!" I'm here to tell you that I hate it...well maybe not hate, but I do dislike it. It doesn't reflect the me that makes me me (figure that one out!). Portraits, self or of others, should contain something of the essence of the subject. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'm going to try it again to see if I can illustrate a little of who I am.

A VERY OLD DOORKNOB ON A VERY OLD DOOR

2006-03-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

I live in a very old farmhouse in Pennsylvania. Some of my doors have old porcelain knobs which have cracked, probably with the change in temperature, over the many years they have been here. This one is actually in my "studio," which is a converted chicken house. The door was obviously painted blue at one point, but now it has weathered to a very sort of white-washed look.

HERE'S MY TELEVISION...

2006-02-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

"My"TV is a 15" flat screen that sits on a little table in our dining area and when I watch TV (which is not very often)that is the one I use. I really enjoy the programs on Public Television, especially Masterpiece Theater and many of the other series from Great Britain.

MY CORNER

2006-02-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

This corner is always covered with books, catalogs, art stuff, and at the moment, my incoming garden seeds and plans. The big wicker chaise lounge was supposed to be put upstairs in the bedroom, but it wouldn't make the turn in the steps, so it now lives in our "new" room. I like it better there anyway. The sun shines in and I can sit there with a cup of tea and catch my breath. Doesn't everyone have a favorite spot where they can escape for a few minutes (if they don't, I highly recommend it!)? I guess I am my father's daughter, because he had a similar spot where he caught up on his reading and his thoughts.

SUNDAY MORNING READING...

2006-02-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

On Sundays I head for my favorite chair and spread the NEW YORK TIMES out in front of me. First I read the front page and go through the front section finishing any articles that I started and that are of particular interest to me. Then I take out the Magazine section, the Book section, Arts and Leisure and Travel. If I get through those I might scan Business and Sports (it is rare that I get that far). When I'm reading the "TIMES" I try to keep a dictionary handy, because I often need to look up words. It is by far my favorite newspaper, in part because I used to live in NJ and go into the city often, and my son and his wife now live in Hoboken, which is an easy trip on the PATH to lower Manhattan. I love my rural existence now, but I also love to get in there as often as possible. It's like a shot of adrenalin, especially to the creative psyche.

WILD RASPBERRY IN WINTER

2006-02-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

In an otherwise muted winter scene, the deep red of the raspberry branches stands out. Everything else has turned to shades of brown and tan, so the raspberry bushes can't help but catch your eye. They are the only red, with the exception of an occatsional tiny berry clinging to a nude branch. When you see them you are reminded that in only five months you will be able to pop them in your mouth as you make your way along the trail.

STUDY IN ORANGE

2006-02-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

I seem to be into fruit lately; guess I'll have to follow this up with red and blue... Right around the holidays we start to get the little Clementine oranges. They are just the right size for a quick snack or a lunchbox, or a painting!

STUDY IN PURPLE

2006-02-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what kind of pear this is, but I thought the skin was so beautiful. It was a really lovely shade of purple, so I painted it whole and then took a bite to test it out. It is mounted on a piece of purple Mi Tientes paper, almost the same shade, which shows it off really well. This one I like (although there are other pears that taste better!).

A WHOLE LOT OF CANDELS!

2006-02-17T12:34:00.000-08:00

My son and his wife (Michael & Claudia) have candles all over their apartment. I counted them...there are 63!!!, in five rooms. Sheesh, it's a good thing the Fire Dept. is right across the street.......

This painting is one of those "not my favorites." For one thing, the glass was really hard to reproduce, and the candles are surrounded by multi-faceted yellow glass balls. It should have been done on a different colored paper, or I should have done a colored wash background, or something......??

TUB IN THE WOODS

2006-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

We own a cabin in northern Pennsylvania that is reached by cable car across a stream. The hot tub is a wooden barrel in the woods and is heated with a small enclosed wood fire setup. I know it sounds kind of unbelieveable, but they still sell these units, which you put together yourself. Since the tub is in the woods right beside a small stream (but within sight of the cabin) it can be easily filled by pumping water into it. It is just fantastic to be out there in the dead of winter with the stars overhead and the pine trees laden with snow. I tried to capture the scene, but nothing can do it justice.

BACK TO BASICS...and Bagels

2006-02-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back to painting, sketching, and learning. Working my way through Danny Gregory's "CREATIVE LICENSE," I did a bagel. First I drew it - very slowly and carefully - and then I took a break to go find my WC's. When I returned all that was left were crumbs!! That'll teach me to leave food lie around :-) My dog was the culprit, of course. Not to be defeated, however, I went out and got another one. This time I ate it!.

FINAL PAGE(S)

2006-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

This was also the year my husband and two other couples who have owned a hunting cabin (although none of them hunt...)decided to renovate, and what a renovation! It turned out beautifully and the "cabin" has now been upgraded to a"Lodge." There are a couple of unique things about this rustic place: you have to take a cable car to cross a creek to get to it, and the hot tub, which they installed years ago, is wood-fired and is a huge barrel. It was a kit which they purchased and put together. The water to fill it is pumped from the creek. It's pretty awesome to go out there on a winter evening with snow falling or the sky filled with stars.

PGS. 8 & 9

2006-01-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

Here we showed all the canines in our family: two German Shepherds, a part Lab., a Pitt Bull and his "sister" who is part Border Collie, and the biggest: a part St. Bernard and something else huge.

PGS. 6 & 7

2006-01-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

These pages were devoted to our (actually my husband's) grandchildren. The pictures don't turn out very well when they are copied into Blogger, but on the card they were perfect.

PGS. 4 & 5

2006-01-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

In May we spent three glorious weeks in France with friends. After a short stay in Paris we drove south to Provence where we rented a 500 year old, completely restored house full of all the latest appliances, gorgeous antiques and astounding views of the surrounding countryside. To top that we spent the last week as guests of some old friends of mine at their Provencal home. Being French and knowing the region well, they treated us to some excursions that were off the beaten path. The whole trip was an amazing experience!

PGS. 2 & 3

2006-01-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

If you can read this text, it is pretty self-explanatory... this past year BOTH by son AND my daughter got married.

OUR 2005 XMAS CARD!

2006-01-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

This year our annual Xmas card became quite a project. Actually it was a Xmas "book" since it actually had 11 5" x 7" pages of photos and text all layed out in QUARK, which neither my husband nor I am very adept at. After lots of false starts we finally conquered it though and got them in the mail just in time for Xmas. It's going to be awful hard to top this next year!

ENHANCED IMAGE

2005-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, duh! I just discovered that I can move scanned images into iPhoto on my MAC and make color, brightness, sharpness, etc. corrections there. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT and I wondered how I could get the images to look more like the originals. I know, I know, I should get Photoshop but it's so expensive; at least this is a halfway decent way to do it. So in the interest of comparison, I am posting my two "corrected" scans herewith.

2005-10-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

I decided to try an experiment with watercolor pencils. Architectural subjects are definitely something that I need to practice. This one was done from a photograph that I took in S.F. a couple of years ago. I loved all the beautiful little houses squeezed in beside other houses or apt. buildings. The colors and details of the windows & doors fascinated me. Now many of them have been divided into apartments so that the number of cars trying to park in teeney weeney spaces on the steep streets is amazing. You have to be one damn good parallel parker to live in S.F.!!

SIGNS OF FALL IN PENNSYLVANIA

2005-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

The wheat and leaf on this sketch were picked up on my daily walk with my dog, Moses. I am somewhat of a nature journaler, always picking up or snatching items on my walks whether in the woods of my home area (actually the Appalachian Trail) or on a far-off beach somewhere. I can't come back without a treasure of some kind! The leaf that I drew here was such a luminous green that I couldn't resist it.

THE EYES HAVE IT

2005-10-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where that title came from, but this pencil drawing was done from a picture in this past Sunday's NEW YORK TIMES (Oct. 9, 2005). It was a story about families from New Orleans displaced by Katrina. The man pictured is the patriarch of a family sent to Oklahoma. I was struck by his eyes which seemed to evoke his exhaustion and acceptance of his (and his families' situation), yet the burden of his position.

Hand Bound Journals

2005-09-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

This is my solution to the "perfect" artists journal. I have bought a supply of coils from www.coilconnection.com"and cut w/c paper to the size I want. That way I can include different weights and types and include vellum or whatever I might want for pen & ink or pastel, etc. Officemax will punch holes for you (be sure to specify you need round holes for a spiral!) very reasonably. I then make a cover with archival mat board which I cover with book cloth and punch the holes to match the paper with a Japanese Screw Punch. You can find these at Dick Blick or www.volcanoarts.biz They are kind of pricey, but for me it was worth it. These scans are of just one of my many handbound journals. For some reason the color is not scanning very well - guess I'll just have to figure out what that is all about!

APPLIANCE CHALLENGE

2005-08-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

I did two sketches for the appliance challenge. One is a sleek new Cuisinart that my husband got me for my birthday, and the other is a coke machine that I sketched while sitting at a lunch counter near our cabin in the woods of Pennsylvania. There was a red reflection on the stainless steel from a large standing coke dispenser on the opposite wall which I "tried" to capture, but I'm not too pleased with the result. I needed more time. I almost said I needed different materials (I used my watercolor pencils) but after seeing what some people are able to do with colored pencils and WC pencils I don't think I can use that excuse.

JOE PYE WEED

2005-08-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

This is just an "extra - draw anything you like" post. Joe Pye Weed grows in boggy areas of the northeastern part of the U.S. I don't know if it grows in other parts of the country? I was sitting next to a stream sketching away and my dog, Moses, was sniffing around on his own when right next to me a young doe leaped practically over my head and went running off through the weeds. Moses must have scared him, and then he scared me!

ARCHITECTURE CHALLENGE

2005-08-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

For the architecture challenge I decided to do a series of paintings of houses. For some reason I am really drawn (no pun intended :-) to interesting or quirky little houses. I am always taking pictures of them when I am traveling. I think it goes back to seeing Sara Midda's little paintings of Provencal cottages in her book "Sara Midda's South of France - A Sketchbook"http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0894807633/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-3165382-5091960#reader-page Anyhow, so far I have done one and another that is unfinished. The first painting is of a little Portugese-style cottage on an island just off the coast of Maine (Islesboro). A wealthy landowner on the island had it built for his daughter, but apparently she used it only for a short while and it has languished in disrepair ever since. What a shame! It is a lovely little building with a big central fireplace and windows overlooking the water on three sides. What a studio that would make!!

The other is of a restored cottage somewhere in the Maritime Provinces (Canada). I don't remember precisely where it was, but it had been beautifully repaired, thatch roof and all, and was open to the public, so I snapped several photos of it. I need to finish it, but I wanted to get something up before three or four more challenges went by, so here it is.

Painting/Sketching tools

2005-08-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

In answer to Teri's question(s) about what everyone uses for
sketching/painting...

I make my own sketch-paint books with a coil binding (that allows them to lay flat) so that I can put in different kinds of paper. I'm always experimenting with various WC papers (hot press & cold press, heavy wt. and light wt.), as well as vellum, pastel paper, regular card stock, etc. They are generally 8 1/2 x 7 1/2; the covers are usually mat board or something equally "sturdy" but thin enough so that I can punch holes along the spine with a Japanese drill press. I got the coils from Coil Connection: http://coilconnection.com/coilFAQ.htm I did buy a coil punch from them, but you can easily have the paper punched for coil bindings at Officemax very inexpensively.

When I'm on the run I carry that book and a double zippered case (meaning it has two compartments so I can carry 24 WC pencils plus other "stuff") that holds watercolor pencils, a couple of drawing pencils, rapidoliner pen and a waterbrush. That allows me to do quick sketching wherever I am without pulling out my pan paints. When I know I am going to have an opportunity for more serious painting I carry a pan paint set, a velcro closured flat case that holds a bunch of paint brushes and can be set up easel-style so that they are readily available and protected. Not sure where I got it - probably from Daniel Smith because I buy a lot from their catalog (love their WC paints!), and a water bottle. Hope that gives you an idea of what I've devised as my "kit". Oh yeah, and not to be left out of the Moleskin mania I also carry a small Moleskin with plain paper. See attachments...

GARDEN BOUNTY

2005-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

My garden has been producing so many tomoatoes that I don't know what to do with them all! I tried a painting this time first using watercolor pencils, then watercolors with no pencil sketch or pen. I'm trying to develop a "looser" style and I definitely like the second picture best.

CLEAN SHEETS

2005-08-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am attempting some new techniques in watercolor. Or, rather, I should say attempting to learn some new techniques. This painting is a try at doing a tree-scape. Depending on which book I am referencing, the instructions for painting trees can be very different. Here I sort of combined wet-on-wet with layering - not too successfully. I can use all the help I can get. All suggestions gratefully accepted!

SECOND TRY AT CHALLENGE #25

2005-07-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

I decided to try my glass of lemonade using hard pastels. It's ok, but nothing to write home about... I used the rough side of a Mi Tientes paper. Haven't used my pastels for a couple of years and I really am out of practice. Can anyone make any suggestions for ways to improve on this sketch? I would appreciate any instructive criticism.

CHALLENGE #25 - A GLASS OF LEMONADE

2005-07-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well I have to admit this was really hard. It isn't easy to render a glass filled with lemonade and a few ice cubes. The green sprig is lemon verbena, which has a very lemony aroma. This particular glass is sort of thick and has leaves and flowers etched into it, but I had a hard time showing them. And it is so hot here that the ice cubes melted before I was done. I may try another one to see if I can improve a bit.

SAGA OF THE BOX TURTLE

2005-07-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering whether I was sticking to my commitment to do a drawing a day, I am happy to report that I am right on schedule, although I haven't posted them all. However, I am pretty pleased with this WC painting of a lovely little box turtle that I found while on a walk in the woods with Moses. Caught without a camera or any sketching materials I scooped him (or is it a her?) up and brought him home.

After making him comfortable in Moses' water dish, I proceeded to do a painting of him. He seemed pretty comfortable for the short time that I had him imprisoned, but I got to worrying about him and decided it was time to let him free. We have a large natural spring pond behind our house and I gently set him down on a large stone not far from the edge. A couple of minutes later I watched him launch himself rather indelicately into the water. Phew! I figured he would paddle around until he met up with some of my other pond wildlife (minnows, mallards, egrets, water snakes and a couple of muskrats).

Then it dawned on me -- what if he wasn't a "water" turtle?! And sure enough, he isn't!!! (I checked at the library - he's definitely a "land" species.) So now I am feeling extremely guilty and worried. Hopefully he was able to scamper up onto land, but his chances of finding a girl or boy turtle to chum around with is rather unlikely and he is more than likely destined to live a life of loneliness and celibacy. In fact, I may have removed him from his wife and children!

The moral of this story is twofold: always carry a camera, and leave well enough alone. In other words, let turtles stay put where they are, and that goes for other wildlife as well.

BOWL OF FRUIT

2005-07-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my fruit for the latest challenge, done in watercolor pencil. Now that I look at it I think the peach is a little lopsided, but it's too late to fix it because I ate it! The other fruits in the bowl are cherries and yellow plums. I would like to try some fruit in pastels, but I need to make a visit to my local art supply store for some paper.

Music box

2005-07-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

As my drawing for the day I decided to try a small music "box" (actually round cylinder) that my father bought at F.A.O. Schwartz in New York City sometime during the 1940's. It was made in Switzerland and plays two Christmas songs - "Holy Night" & "Joyful Christmastide" - so he probably purchased it as a Christmas gift. It sat for years on my mother's bureau.

I seem to enjoy doing miniature paintings, but this one was a real challenge. On each end of the musicbox is a printed label showing children at play. One shows two small boys in what seems to be a playroom boxing with one another. Another child in costume watches them and a small dog (a dachshound?) is in the foreground. At the other end a scene of three little girls with their musical instruments - a piano, a viola, flute and mandolin - is surrounded by the alphabet. Each label is 3 inches in circumference. I tried to paint the cylinder leaning at an angle, but my perspective is all wrong. A little arm with a yellow knob is mounted on the one end; when it is turned the songs come tinkling out. Just a little piece of my past that I remember fondly. Maybe this can count as a toy for challenge # 6 or something vintage #21...

MY TOOTSIES

2005-07-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here are my feet for challenge #23. I drew them while I was sitting on a chaise lounge with my feet crossed. I had on a pair of purple sweats. Drew them in pencil first, then put down the WC.

WHAHOO!

2005-07-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

WHAHOO!! I'm a blogger (gasp, I can hardly believe it)! And if I may say so myself, it wasn't easy, at least not for this slightly retarded "computerer". If they would just break down and send you a written instruction book (or at least give you that option) it would be a lot easier than trying to follow the darn Help menu to all the pages that you need to read. Besides that, it would make more work for people like my son who work in the printing industry...

Enough griping though and on with the important task of posting my fledgling artwork. I have made a commitment (to myself) to do a drawing or painting a day, so the above wedding dress is yesterday's. This was challenge #22 and I have to admit, I stole the idea from our French friend, Laurent (Hope I got that right, Laurent; if not, pardonnez moi, s'il vous plait.) My daughter recently got married and I unearthed my wedding dress, circa 1962, to remove the "train" to make her a small wedding pocketbook, covered with the lace from the dress. Since I have an antique dress form in my bathroom, I put the gown on it to get a good look. I decided that dresses made back then had a lot more handwork on them than now. Anyhow, it made a good, and difficult, subject for the challenge.

2005-07-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

And so I begin...

2005-07-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Herewith on the 12th day of July, in the year 2005 I begin my online "journal," hopefully filled with sketches, paintings and musings related to my feeble attempts at art and creativity. Still much work to do to get this blog up and running properly so stay tuned!