Tag Archives: summer

Me in the Winter, Me in the Summer

Here’s a couple of clay tiles I made a month or so ago. I’m the subject in both of them. Selfie-tiles, kind of. The setting for both of them is coincidentally the same place – the home of good friends, right down the street.

All right. This first tile was made from a photo taken in January, 2017. I’m waving at you, wearing my green coat.

This next one owes a bit more to my imagination. I started with a photo of my neighbors’ pool – I was not in the picture. No one was. Just the pool. I added myself to a lounge chair. I do like a summer day in and around a swimming pool.

Both tiles are 6″ x 6″, fired at cone 06, Velvet underglazes on white commercially-made tiles, no glaze.

Pedestrians Two: Real and My Real

A photo I took on Market Street in Philadelphia, PA, in August, 2017. Notice that the lady is the same one as in a previous post.

Now here she is in my painted version. A bit of an appearance change. Can a person do this kind of magic just walking down the street? No, but I can, with my paintbrush and acrylic paints. And India ink. And NeoColor I crayons. On an 8″ x 8″ wood board.

“Lady Wearing a Hat on a City Street”

Pedestrians One: Real and My Real

Here is a photo I took in August, 2017, in Philadelphia, PA.

Here is my painted version. A little different but a little the same. That is what painting is all about for me.

Acrylics, NeoColor I crayons, India ink. 8″ x 8″, September, 2017.

“Lady and Man Walking on a City Sidewalk”

Arboretum: Real and My Real

Here is a photo I took at Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia, in July.

Here is a painting of that same scene. Yes, it is, filtered through my imagination, though.

It’s 8″ x 8″, acrylics, India ink, and NeoColor I crayons, done in September, 2017.

“Arboretum Pond and Trees”

 

Photos Finished

Recently I picked out a few photos to use as painting references. Here is what happened.

Railroad tracks at Norristown Farm Park. Photo and painting from September 2017.

One of the roads in the Norristown Farm Park. Photo and painting from September, 2017.

And the market garden at Bryn Athyn College. Photo and painting from September, 2017.

Remember That Eclipse

Yes, remember that eclipse we had a couple of weeks back. I read in a couple of places that the time of an eclipse is a good moment to make a new start on something.

I’ve been distracted from doing art for some time; a variety of things have gotten in the way and I can’t seem to clear a way in my time allocation and inside my head. That has to change. I decided to do art while the eclipse was going on to mark my intention.

Here in the the Philadelphia PA area we got about 80% coverage, I think. With my retina problems, I was leery of even thinking of looking at the spectacle. Overly worried, I am sure, but I need my eyes, don’t I?

So I tried the pinhole idea and I have to say, I found it thrilling. It seemed just magical that a shadow of the event would create a crescent shape that marked what was going on in the sky. Take a look:

It never got very dark.

I was even more excited about leaf shadows. I took these pictures at the height of the eclipse.

And for fun I let the eclipse show itself through this bug-eaten leaf:

Magic, right?

All right, on to the art. I didn’t have any real idea what might be right for eclipse art. I decided to take a variety approach – several different boards stepped up to take a try.

I thought I’d use dark paints to make backgrounds, marking the unusual shadowy world the eclipse created. I used a brayer to roll on paint. The third set of boards had paintings already on them that I did not like, so I was happy to do some obliterating.

More paint.

For the 8×10 and 9×12 groups, I just painted what seemed to fit. I incorporated the eclipse in some of them and in others, I portrayed people watching the eclipse.

The 4×4 group became a selection of small portraits. I took random people pictures from a magazine and painted them with a dark eclipse background.

Another session, more paint.

Over the next few days, I added more paint, NeoColor 1 crayons, India ink, and acrylic inks. Here are the results. First, the 8×10 group.

Next, the 4×4 group. Now, I have to explain something: I took a dislike to the lady sitting on the sofa. I gave her a pink sweater:

I did other things, I painted and painted, and I just could not get happy. No reason, but when you only have 4″x4″ to work with, well, there is no hiding. So, I painted her out and did a new lady, also sitting, but different. That’s who you see in this group. Please do not tell me you like the pink-sweater lady better. Please.

Last, the 9×12 group.

I am happy with the results of eclipse painting. I hope its inspiration will carry forward. And even if I did not see the eclipse myself, I participated in it, didn’t I?

Outdoors Under the Sky

These paintings are 8″ x 8″, done in acrylics, June, 2017.