If You Can’t Take The Heat….. A New Painting

…Then get a Parasol

” Woman With Parasol ” 8 X 10 oil on panel

A step by step of the determined effort to keep it fast and unfettered.

I had taken the photo of this woman many years ago in NY. Only recently looked at it with new eyes for its Notan-esque qualities. Wanted to see if I could start and finish a piece in a day.

Something clicked for me with this one and Fun became the muse du jour.

Yeah, fun and the following quote, which played an endless loop in my head:

” It takes two to paint. One to paint, the other to stand by with an axe to
kill him before he spoils it.” ~W. Merritt Chase.

Thanks to Randy Higbee – King of Frames, who chiefed this quote from someone else and posted in on FB.

I was fearful of the axe. And stopped.

My husband said it looked like someone else’s painting. Yes, someone who knew when to stop.

These two don’t know when to stop, and have no fears in their limited vocabulary….

Something I just noticed ( don’t flinch Jala and Pat,  the insects are metal ), but two fellow artists and bloggers are represented in this photo in my kitchen. The very large, floral fruit bowl made by my friend Carol King, the watercolorist,  and the Hot Chili Pepper photograph made by fellow islander and photographer Don Diddams.

The gravitational pull of artistry.

Mothers and Others

“At The Ag Fair” 8X10 oil on panel

For mothers and others, Happy Mothers’ Day.

I did this one twice. One version was direct- no drawing first, except with paint. The other one, was painted over the drawing from last post. Do you have a preference?

” At The Ag Fair ” 11X14 oil on panel

My nemesis, interpreting white without using white. Tricky.

No, what’s really tricky is how the responsibilities of raising families, which is often  multi -generational, meal preparations, cleaning, shuttling kids to school and back, baking and cooking at night to make extra money, seems an impossible juggling performance but the stalwart women of this island and perhaps the West Indies in general, get it all done. And still find a moment to share an observation with a good friend. And sit for a minute.

A tribute to all Mothers who put love in our pockets, hearts, lunchboxes, and DNA.

Nurturing comes from unexpected places….

Seemed like Motherhood was evident here too…. maybe too soon to cut the cord.