The Artist as Native

Peters Kill Falls, 8×10 oil pastel

A few years ago my son bought me a book for Christmas called “The Artist as Native: Reinventing Regionalism”. The book is a collection of thoughts by various artists who celebrate the places they live and work.  I guess it is  universal that  there are places that get into your soul, and become a part of you. My latest painting is of one of those places here in upstate New York. The terrain is filled with  steep ledges  that jut out over forests, and waterfalls that drop very dramatically.  I didn’t get to spend a lot of time at this particular spot, but this view has been hijacking my thoughts since I got back. And when that happens, there is only one thing to do: Paint it.   ~Rita,

Misty Memory

Here’s a little memory of a misty summer morning in Newport for those of you who are in seasonal denial!  This is available as part of our holiday sale.  Give the gift of art this year.  It’s good for the soul . . . and easier than driving to the mall.                        – Eden & Rita

A Little Night Music

It’s finally plein air season again.  Better yet, it’s plein air nocturne season again!   I love nocturnes:  the mystery, the hidden, the suggested.   This is the perfect time to pack up my paints and my little booklights and head out into the sunset.  The sun very politely stays up until after dinner and the evenings are mild enough to work outside for a couple of hours.   Looking forward to the summer twilights.  Hope you are as well!   — Eden

Fun.

I had fun today. I did this painting with little planning. Just pretty much dove right in.  And while I was doing it I had the clear memory and feeling of how I used to paint when I was a child. How all kids paint. The world stops, and it’s just you and  your colors.  I took this painting right off the easel, sat down on the floor Indian style and painted, without care of anything else. It may not be my best painting, but I had fun.  Real fun. Maybe you can’t approach everything in life with the gusto and abandon of a child at play, but  it seems to me that having that experience at least sometimes in life is a really great thing.  ~Rita

The Saratoga Sand Plains, 8×10 oil pastel

Advice for the Day: Don’t Look Under Your Couch Cushions…

I was recently expecting some overnight guests and decided to do a little extra house cleaning. Bad idea. One thing led to another and before I knew it I began cleaning things that had not been cleaned in …. uh, (clearing throat)… well, lets just say quite a while. Before I knew it, a day that had been slated for painting was eaten up with housework. (Sigh) In looking back, I did manage to finish this painting “Adirondack Waterfall” over the next couple of days, and  I did manage to learn a very important life  lesson. That lesson? I should  always remember to never  look under my couch cushions if I want to paint! ~Rita

Adirondack Waterfall, 8×10 oil pastel

 

Frost’s Woods

One way to make paintings more poetic is to go directly to the source:  the poem. Using poetry as inspiration for a specific painting is not a new idea. The Romantic poets inspired hundreds of paintings in their time. I am currently doing a series of studies based on Robert Frost poems.  At some point I will take the best and create larger paintings.  The painting below is from my imagination and inspired by Frost’s poem  “Stopping by The Woods on a Snowing Evening.”   Visit The Poetry Foundation website for more inspiration!  -Eden

Frost’s Woods

 

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

 

Visual Poetry

“As music is the poetry of sound so is painting the poetry of sight”  –  James MacNeill Whistler Whistler was among the most poetic of painters of the 19th century.  He inspired legions of artists both here and abroad with his lyrical nocturnes and landscapes.   What makes his paintings “poetic”?   One reason may be his atmospheric approach.  There is no attempt to depict the “hard facts” of everyday realism.  Things are suggested and evocative rather than presented in the full glare of sunshine.  The lack of detail encourages active  participate in the painting itself by letting the viewer fill in the details and imbue the image with his or her own emotional and personal meaning.  I am working on making my paintings more like the poem and less like the documentary.  It’s about mood and emotion. Visual Poetry.  It’s a subject I will be coming back to in future posts!  –   eden

I confess….

I confess… I am a hoarder. Not a hoarder in general, but a hoarder of art stuff. I can’t help myself.  I can’t throw away paper that I tried and didn’t like; that easel that never really worked for me; that acrylic ground that just wasn’t quite the right texture.  I guess I save it all because it speaks of possibilities to me. Part of the fun in my process of creating is not knowing where I am going to end up.  So having all this stuff around give me a place to explore…. with materials that I use every day, and materials that I initially didn’t like. It’s a nice surprise when that old thing that was thought to be useless winds up being the very thing that brings a painting to life.  And its a reminder to me to always look for the unexpected in art as well as in life—sometimes we receive the biggest blessings from the least expected.  ~Rita

Woodland Song, 11×14 oil pastel

 

All in God’s Plan….

My sister has a theory that people who are avid exercise enthusiasts  are actually wearing out their bodies rather than strengthening them. If you run your washing machine more often are you extending its life or shortening it? Yes, don’t worry, she says it tongue in cheek, but she did cross my mind when I recently went to the doctor with shoulder/arm pain and it was suspected that my pain is due to years of using that arm to excess when I paint. (Sigh)

So, my dilemma is how to  continue to paint while I give my shoulder/arm a rest. While I haven’t quite figured that out entirely just yet, I was thinking about how it must have been part of a bigger plan that I am  lucky enough to be fairly ambidextrous. Here is my latest painting, Sunlit Splendor, which was painted almost entirely with my non-dominant left hand.  ~Rita

Sunlit Splendor, 8×10 oil pastel

 

 

Is Bigger Better???

So many times people have asked me, “Why don’t you paint bigger??”  Yes, its the age old question: is bigger better?

Quite frankly, I am  tired of this question. While I have painted large works in the past, I really enjoy the intimacy of a small piece. I remember recently going to the Clark Museum in Williamstown Massachusetts and seeing room after room of amazing works in all sizes… most of which were quite large. But the piece that I found myself most mesmerized by was a small work, not bigger than a five by seven. A dark, moody, interior by a 19th century dutch artist with such remarkable lighting it took my breath away. Its impact was bigger than any piece I had seen that day.

For me, its what you see in a painting, how it moves you, which is what gives it meaning and value. Size? In my book, it just doesn’t matter.  ~Rita

Here is my latest:

Finding Hannah 8×10 oil pastel