Archive for June, 2010
Let Nature Be Your Muse
While I was driving home yesterday down a snaking road bisecting a densely packed forest, it dawned on me how little time I actually spend in nature. Most of my time is spent behind a keyboard or a steering wheel, and while I have the opportunity to enjoy the Pacific Northwest landscape on weekends, there is an undeniable disconnect from nature. And this trend is the norm in American society.
I often wish that I had the time and freedom to venture into nature and create some form of art, such as an open air painter. And while nature is obviously an ideal muse for painting, it has also sparked the creative sprit of many great writers and other types of artists, including Thoreau, Tolstoy and even bands like Led Zeppelin.
The Art Walk
The Art Walk was a nice invention. Some towns set aside one day a month, usually the first or second Friday or Saturday when all the galleries are open and folks can visit and see the latest art work from the local artists.
Sometimes a town, like Chincoteague, VA, for a certain month, will have a Paint Out, invite local artists to paint the area for a few days, and display their landscape paintings the night of the Art Walk. Of course, this is heavily publicized and locals and tourists alike know and are encouraged to buy. And sometimes the local art organization, as well as the artist, are well rewarded.
A Visit with My Daughter
My daughter was sent by her company to Arlington, VA, for a 3-day conference. The conference started on Monday, so in preparation, she flew there on Sunday.
I drove over on Sunday afternoon for dinner and a short visit, and to stay the night. I had to drive several miles on US 50 then I 395 and I 295 and with a fair amount of Sunday traffic.
The visit with my daughter was wonderful. But as far as the drive was concerned, it is so much more pleasant to be driving through wooded areas, past fields of wheat or corn or soy beans, headed to a park in time to do a landscape painting with my friends.
On Not Being Able to Write
On days in which I do an oil painting, it’s easy to write a blog. On other days, not so much.
Take, for instance, Wednesday. I was scheduled for an appointment with the chiropractor for the last of a series of back corrections from having driven from Florida to Maryland a month or so ago. In the meantime, last Saturday I began the day with a large bucket of soap and bleach water and scrubbed my deck furniture and some of the mildew from winter that had collected on the back of the house. As a result, I had developed a stiff neck – for 4 days! The chiro fixed me up, but last night I got something in my eye that just about did me in!
This morning, I finally got the eye problem abated, after lots more eye drops! All that from someone who has been sick hardly a day in her life!
Pemberton Park, again
Today, my group decided to paint at Pemberton Park. I liked that because I could continue work on the large oil painting I started last week.
Since the park is only a mile from my house, I arrived first. Betty wasn’t feeling well, and didn’t want to paint, but came anyway for the camaraderie. Val set up along one of the trails for a different perspective. Finally Suzanne arrived, having to go the long way around because the ferry was closed due to high tide.
Two groups of children came by as we were painting. One group visited a while, the other, now so much. Suzanne and Val each went home with a nice painting, Betty felt better when she left and I got another third of my big painting finished. And we all had a great day!
Expressionism
Expressionism was a cultural movement originating in Germany at the start of the 20th century. It is exhibited in many art forms, including: painting, literature, theater, dance, film, architecture and music. Its typical trait is to present the world from a subjective perspective, violently distorting it to transmit personal moods. In general, the term refers to art that expresses intense emotion rather than physical reality.
A few of the Expressionists were: Klee, Van Gogh, Munch, Kandinsky, Chagall, deKooning and Pollock. Influenced by the Fauves, Expressionists worked with arbitrary colors as well as jarring compositions to capture vivid emotions. Kandinski believed that with simple colors and shapes, the spectator could perceive the moods and feelings of the paintings. Therefore, he make the move to abstraction. ……from Wikipedia