(142) Tools of the Trade
6 x 6, oil
"The studio, a room to which the artist consigns himself for life, is naturally important, not only as a workplace, but as a source of inspiration. And it usually manages, one way or another, to turn up in his product"...Grace Glueck

(141) Daffodils
6 x 8, oil
"We can do no great things; only small things with great love"...Mother Teresa

(140) White Roses
8 x 10, oil
In today's painting, my focus was in pre-mixing the shadow and light colors, as suggested by my friend Frank Gardner. To see how he organizes his palette, click here. One of the reasons artists choose to pre-mix colors is because once the decisions have been made, the artist can switch from thinking to doing, from planning to spontaneously placing the paint on the canvas. Ken Auster calls this the dance between "intellect and passion."
"All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness"...Eckhart Tolle

(139) Pruning
6 x 8, oil
“A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world"... Leo F. Buscaglia

(138) La Vie en Rose
6 x 6, oil
“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall"...Eleanor Roosevelt

(137) For Carson
6 x 6, oil
private collection
"There was a star danced, and under that was I born"... William Shakespeare

(136) Rose Garden
6 x 6, oil
"If the rose puzzled its mind over the question of how it grew, it would not have been the miracle that it is"... Yeats

(135) Guitar
6 x 6, oil
"I look at the world and I notice it's turning
while my guitar gently weeps,
with every mistake we must surely be learning"...George Harrison

(134) Primavera
6 x 6, oil
My long weekend turned into a little more as I got "caught up in catching up" with the business side of art: filing, framing, etc. So, it is good to be back painting today.
Happy Spring everyone, and Happy Birthday to Mimi, a wonderful artist and friend.
"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so, he has to forget all the roses that were ever painted"...Henry Matisse

(133) Welcome!
9 x 12, oil
private collection
As soon as I heard about the "door" challenge for today, I knew this was the door I wanted to paint-- a work of art in and of itself. It belongs to lovely friends who live on a street lined with Victorian homes built in the 1800s. As I painted this, I pondered what life may have been like during an era that was wrought with the absolute best and brightest, including artists Sargeant, Monet, Cassatt, Beaux, Manet, Pissarro, Degas, Sisley, Hawthorne, Henri, and Chase--just to name a few! Some of them were friends who encouraged each other and sometimes painted together. I have to wonder what ideas they could have shared with internet "door projects" as we are doing today!
For instance, would Sargeant have asked his friends' opinion of his painting Madame X before he entered it in the 1884 Paris Salon where it was deemed an outrageous scandal? (and more importantly (giggle), would his artist friends have suggested he paint her strap up or down?)
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open” Alexander Graham Bell (another notable during this era, he invented the phone in 1876, at the age of 29)
Don't forget to visit all the other links posted on yesterday's blog entry to see the rest of our worldwide exhibit! Ta-ta for now, I'm stepping away from the easel for a long weekend with loved ones. Blessings to all!
fcp

(132) The Hill
6 x 6, oil
In order to get the "snowflakes" I thinned the paint with medium (Gamsol, linseed oil and stand oil) and then dipped an old toothbrush in it. Next, I thumbed through the bristles to flick the paint onto the canvas (you thought painting was "work"?)
"The flute of the infinite is played without ceasing and its sound is love"...Kabir

Elizabeth from Marrakesh and Frank from Mexico have invited me to participate in a celebration of DOORS. As Frank explained "There is something intriguing about doors. Doors are all over the world. Doors lead somewhere. They keep things in, they keep things out. Doors have histories, stories, mystery. Let's share some."
So, on Wednesday, March 12th, I will join participants from the U.K., Canada, Australia, Scotland, the U.S.A. and Finland in celebrating doors in paint, words, drawings, photographs, poems, etc. In order to make it easy for you to view this "worldwide exhibit" I am including links to the other participants' websites in today's email (because tomorrow I will be busy painting my door!).
When I first began this blog, my intention was to share what I am doing with friends and family, but I could never have anticipated the many "doors" that would be opened to me as I am welcomed by new friends around the world.
"May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.” (Irish blessing)

Jack Riddle, Maine, USA
Mary Sheehan Winn, Florida, USA
Terry Rafferty, New Mexico, USA
Constance Muller
Jennifer Thermes Connecticut USA
Joanne Giesbrecht, Alberta, Canada
Eric Orchard, Nova Scotia Canada
Christine Mercer Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA
Britt Arnhild Norway
Kate and Roger Skophammers Virginia, USA
Barbara London, UK
Pam Aries South Carolina, USA
some Pink flowers, Florida, USA
Rima, Scotland
Merisa, Austria
Paz, New York, USA
Dale, Australia
Aesthete, USA
Mari/Kameravena, Finland
Lea Harris, USA
Maryam, Morroco
Willow, California, USA
Ari, Finland
Stephanie
Madelyn, Canada
Leslie, Pennsylvania, USA
Karen Cole, Pennsylvania, USA
Barrie, California, USA
Sherry/Cherie, Toronto, Canada
Claudia Schmid, London, United Kingdom
Sue, Bristol, United Kingdom
Gemma Wiseman, Australia
Neulekirppu, Finland
Laura Fortune,California, USA
Sara Lorayne, California, USA

(131) The Nonconformist
6 x 6, oil
Ever observe a child and see yourself ? This little girl grabbed my eye with her complimentary colors of periwinkle and orange, but it was her comfort in choosing to slide down the entire hill sideways that kept my attention. Love that!
Congrats to another nonconformist, John Mellencamp, who is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow:
"Be careful with your heart and what you love
Make sure that it was sent from above
It's what you do and not what you say
If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way"...( from "Peaceful World" by JM)

(130) Snow!
8 x 16, oil
To all my friends to the north who are sick of snow, please accept my apology, but we were thrilled to see it arrive here yesterday! It was our first and only snow of the winter, the only "significant" snowfall in ten years, so children (young and old) were out enjoying the day. I didn't attempt to paint from life since the children (and the sun) were in and out, up and down at rapid speeds. Instead, I photographed at a favorite sledding spot that became more heavily populated as the day went on. I made a conscious effort to close my eyes and memorize the sounds of joy, laughter, and shrieks of delight all around me. Some of the children there had never seen snow--priceless.
“Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery”...Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes (I miss seeing C&H in the daily newspaper; Calvin's "snow art" was a favorite series)

(129) Balancing Act
6 x 8, oil
"Pretend you are dancing or singing a picture. A worker or painter should enjoy his work, else the observer will not enjoy it"...Robert Henri

(128) Celebration of Red
6 x 6, oil
"Every answer asks a more beautiful question"...e.e.cummings

(127) Red Plums
6 x 8, oil
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes"...Proust

(126) Life is...
6 x 8, oil
"Life is a bowl of cherries, don't take it serious, it's mysterious-so live and laugh, and laugh and love"...Bob Fosse

(125) Jubilant Cherries
private collection
5 x 7, oil
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer"...Albert Camus