Wake up to Spring with Paula's Paintings!

       Belmont is fortunate to have a spacious art gallery in a town hall building, run by creative administrators. Not only are there a variety of shows, group and individual, but art shows pop up and are installed in the main library. Always surprises!

   

       Jumping into spring, the BGA called for Spring Awakening: birds, blossoms and botanicals. I had not been painting, but found past paintings w birds. Friend Paula didn't think she had something to enter, but I said, "You have lots of birds!" The juror was to be a landscape architect, botanical artist and editor of the papers of Frederick Law Olmsted who designed the green spaces in Boston.

        Paula www.paulapitmanbrownart.com teaches at the MFA and is a prolific artist who leaves me in the dust. I enjoyed classes with her. Her imagination, so obvious at her website, is always a thrill. I sent her photos of what I was entering and she mailed me hers. I thought you would enjoy the thrill I got when I saw her choices. They woke me up that Spring is here!

        You will want to look closely at the robins. As Paula said in an article in the Boston Voyager http://bostonvoyager.com/interview/conversations-inspiring-paula-pitman-brown/, "When I step out of my house each day, especially to walk my dog, I delight in the small animals I see along my way. I am also painfully aware how stressed they are by pollution, pesticides, traffic, noise and micromanaged plots of land. I am hoping my paintings can be a reminder for people to take care of animals and make better choices in how they maintain their properties and ultimately the planet."
All paintings below are by Paula Pitman Brown!

  

Always a beginner in painting

      Sketchbooks are a great place to start over again. I often keep one on the breakfast table along w scissors and glue to cut up the newspaper, pencils and pen for the mini puzzle and some colors for when inspired by a photo or idea. In the sketchbook is where I found my cow in the sky for a recent painting (see last month's blog post). The steer was better in the sketchbook. I worked on the painting again today Don't laugh, but I wondered if cows in their anxiety have a cow in the sky for solace.Also, I think I finished another painting of that Palo Duro sunflower. I always wondered why artists painted the same subject over and over. Now to get Joe to frame those paintings as he did Paula's today! Joe finished the day to go a book reading by Steve Almond (author Bad Stories); and I took off for a class at the Apple store for painting with Procreate on the iPad.

     I had fun throwing on the paint for the sunflower, thickening the sky. I wanted to paint some rain for the Panhandle but went for a clear sky. The painting is not quite so dark as this. Then I looked at the sketchbook cow to make the one in the painting better, but I still have work to go. This guy is just wonderful. In no time, Joe made a frame for Paula's painting of her dancing with son at his wedding. It is probably a surprise for him so SHHHH. Jean and Neal I achieved quickly with Procreate, the fabulous painting program on the iPad. It is a lot of fun and the classes "Today at Apple" are free.

     

Sun is shining in Boston

       The sun is finally out in Boston. The house is moving along...walls up, floors going back down, cabinets being installed, wall plastering + painting happening and the counters soon to be laid out. The choosing of wall colors shouldn't keep me awake for 4 or 5 days; but to get back to sleep, I enjoyed reading, over the past months, Bad Boy by Eric Fischl, the painter, to get a better understanding of the NY art world and the life of a professional artist today. I finished The Underground Railroad and appreciated the magical realism. I visited Appalachia with Hillbilly Elegy. I am glad the author is returning home to help. After finally finishing A Gentleman in Moscow, I think I may try Red Notice, a non-fiction thriller set in Russia that Joe enjoyed and will look at Dark Money he told me about.

       But I did not paint a bit all month, so wrapped up in 7/24 decisions on the house, while it rained outside. I hope I don't forget how! Nor did I exercise that much.  This 2008 self-portrait w black eye expresses my disappointment in not having new work to show in my blog. All the time I was thinking...just one painting or drawing a day! At least I didn't miss blogging in April.

       I have certainly been "into" color, looking at Benjamin Moore samples and others sent from Sherwin Williams, learning about the other new paint companies. I have read many new blogs on decorating, scanned books sent by Alice, and observed Laura down on my rugs scrutinizing ideas for color. Keith Smith at Foote in Brighton chose colors for me w thoughtful service you thought no longer existed. Jean and Alice worked to confirm some decisions. One never gets over the first painting mistakes one made when first married. I love advice! Decision tomorrow.

      I won't carry on further, but I just discovered myself in a subway painting by the remarkable Paula Pitman Brown (one t) up at PPB's Facebook page. Look at what is in her backpack for student still lifes and more! I took a screenshot of it so you can visit her website to see her amazing output. A teacher at the Boston MFA, Paula has Open Studio in Needham next weekend at 80 Norwich Road. Always worth a visit!

Yes, Linda, there is a Santa Claus

       Major stress follows a house fire. I was only inspired to draw after I looked up "hell mouths" in old medieval paintings. I will have to add paint to the sketch below.  But son Jim made our day by taking a 35" x  60"painting I had given him about the Museum School. He removed the frame and stretchers, rolled the linen canvas with the oil side out, drove from NYC a third time to our temporary home to reassemble it and hang. We missed having paintings. Blanche was correct: "Yes, Linda, there is a Santa Claus."

               Eureka, there are more....thus all the angels and saints (thinking of Jeanie) in the hell mouths sketch!

        Paula Brown dropped by with a wonderful portrait she had made of me (my serial selfies were lost in the fire). I was thrilled. Paula's imagination and original works knock my socks off: paulapitmanbrownart.com  She once recommended we draw each other with careful observation. We did many versions using Micron Pigma Graphic pens. My drawings of Paula were in the basement studio and lost along with my selfies. She inspires a Phoenix wannabe.

       Christmas Eve, Neal presented me with his repaired whirligig he made long ago of our house, myself painting and the pets, that was somewhat crumbled and broken apart in the putting out of the fire. Brought tears to my eyes. So heartwarming to have it back home!

       I made sketches of the house flying up as I tried to reach to grab it. I sketched the Charles River walk across the street with its beautiful trees and leaves. But I just can't get started painting. I have a mini projector to hook to my iPhone to make fast the sketching of some other ideas...but you still have to paint. Maybe tomorrow, now that I have gathered my paints and posted this blog. I will have no more excuses. Sebastian Smee's book The Art of Rivalry is also pushing me along. I regret my poor photography. Click to enlarge photos.
   

Making faces using paint and thread!

     Family and friends have asked me to get back to painting. When I saw Paula Pitman Brown was offering a course at the MFA Boston, I signed up. Every Thursday I drag in my Masterson Stay-Wet palette, simple canvas, brushes and paint up to the third floor. Each student is to paint a theme...and I ended up with self-portraits, after courting sunflowers, portraits of the grandchildren and animals. I have gessoed many old cardboard legal pad backs and am painting with acrylics that dry too fast. However, I don't want to be running in and out of the MFA with oil paint all over me when I try to be grown up there. The fast drying acrylics are a challenge, but I can get back to oils at home. To think I once painted 9 to 9 daily.

     Just as I had to learn crochet over again (I just down loaded a beanie pattern), I think the same goes for painting. I do find it helps to paint a bright or dark coat of paint like green, blue, orange or red on the "canvas" before starting and half the work is done! It helps unify and gives you something to work against. I have a little water spray bottle to periodically wet my paint on the palette. Today I took a break and have been playing with STITCHing some portraits.

      I did some experimentation and I believe that free-motion quilting such as in these quickie portraits require old artist sticktoitiveness. What works depends on the sewing machine. For some machines you lower the feed dogs and others you do not. On some machines,  you put the stitch length on zero and others you don't change. Most need an embroidery foot. Experiment and don't give up, if it interests you. These are my first two attempts. In the future I will use a little blue water soluble pen to draw my design. That will make me slow down. I want to read Stitch Draw by Rosie James. Remember, if you can write your name, you can draw.  It is a learned skill. As for ideas, Picasso said that painting was but keeping a diary.