A sunbeam from the ground

A tenacious little marigold is peeping out from under the overhang by the edge of the front entrance.  It is braving days of rain and cold.  No rain today, just a thin washed out shimmer from the sun.  It is the end of the day, end of the year.  It is a moment to reflect on yesterday and tomorrow.  This must be done with a hot drink and cookies. 

Seek Beauty in Time's Changes

Richard McKinley’s article in Artists Network was a good and positive reminder to seek beauty in change.  On a visit to my sister in Kansas City, she asked if I wanted to go back to our hometown of Wichita for a visit.  I declined.  My friends had moved away, there was no more family there and my home of teenage years had become a parking lot.  I knew about the parking lot because my sister had been to Wichita on business and looked up the old house.  I have honed my memories over the years to a golden dazzle of sweet nostalgia.  I did not want to smudge a smidgen of them.

What if I had gone and seen the herring-bone-brick street lined with overhanging trees and homes worn with love?  I think I missed an opportunity.  I will tote my camera around more often now, to capture a moment in time of a place that will most assuredly change.  Case in point, the Cracked Crab was a local eating joint, next a derelict building and now a western antique shop.  I did this art when it was falling down.  The building has been resurrected with a multitude of signage.  Good for another painting?  Absolutely.

 

Practical Painting in the Garden

A dark yard.  No moon.  A million stars overhead, but the ground is a dark abyss.   Solution: cute little solar lights!  The less expensive (translate cheap) solar lights have a cold bluish cast.  Being the romantic that I am, I want a warm candlelight glow among the flowers.  Taking the new set of lights apart and exposing the teensy bulb, I bathed it in Sharpie marker color.  Over time I have tried yellow marker which produced a sickly greenish phosphorus color.  Then I tried red; too far on the rainbow scale.  Next was a nice rich orange and that produced the golden glow that I sought. 

Painting one-eighth inch light bulbs may not be for everybody.  For me, it provides the ambiance for those special late evening moments, “This is your last chance to go, Fido.”

Procrastinating Gemini

Recently, the local 'black and white and red all over' posted this horscope for the Gemini, "It's a dream day for artists. You'll be productive and get an audience for your work". It is not just producing art, but marketing oneself as well. Jason from Xandu says that a successful artist produces a minimum of 30-35 pieces of work, a better production rate would be a painting a week. I am a procrastiner of the worst kind. I cheat myself. I leave my work to the last, after the favors for friends, after the dishes, after I finish reading this book... Why? Fear of failure? Lazy, art is hard work? Poor time organization? I am going to take a two month study of these three barriers to productivity. Watch for results ...as soon as I finish some other stuff!