Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Late spring tidings




A new feature has been added in the garden.

My artist brother has brought the sculpture that he carved out of limestone
and together we placed it in the spot that
the winged ones love.




As the days grow longer, I enjoy watching the night come.
The birds find their places for sleep and are quiet.
Light fades on the horizon and there comes a chill in the air .
As the sky turns darker, the stars show themselves
one by one.


I look to the heavens and ask, are you really there
o blessed one ?  I see a single star,
one that shines brighter than the others.








Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Small ink drawing




A small drawing dedicated to blogger friend Hussam
who recently lost his beloved pet dog who he lovingly referred to
as his "Amber pup".

Rest in peace dear one. 


 Out in the Desert,
 past the Lake
glows an Amber light

Three white butterflies,
land softly







Sunday, May 06, 2012

Revisiting oils with 'The Offering'.

         It's been a while since I've painted in oils. It was the medium that
 I first started painting with in my late teens. For years that was my medium of choice until I wanted to learn how to use 
water based paints....I'm still learning.

Lately, I've been craving the smell of linseed oil and turpentine.
Knowing that I would choose my subject from my sketchbook of drawings,
I needed to decide which one I would attempt to recreate in oils. 

This ink drawing that I call 'The Offering' is what I've decided on. At the end of the day, when sick of oil spills and corrupt politicians, if I am to have a painting around me to look at, let it be the simple gesture of a kindly 
old woman offering food to a stray cat.




I make another sketch of the original drawing showing how much 
of the drawing will be in the painting and then draw a series of faces.


Letting myself be free with the pencil, I allow her face to show itself to me
and am amazed and humored at what I see.
Somehow the end result will be a combination of these faces 
as they are now a part of me.


I apply gesso to the board and gather materials.



An old painting becomes a palette for mixing paint.
When I am finished using it this way, I can still use it 
to paint a new painting on.


The smell is wonderful.


My approach to painting in oils has always been to
first apply the paint quickly and freely and then slowly
develop the painting once I have the under painting in place.


And so it begins.