Hindsight is 2020 - Thoughts on the Year

2020 has certainly been a strange year.  I retired from teaching public school art at the end of the 2018/2019 school year with the goal of making art full time.  I started renting a lovely studio above a wine bar in York, PA.  

I thought I could get a few part-time teaching gigs to help me pay my rent.  I did, but they were not quite what I expected.  I loved the classes I was teaching, but after February, classes cancelled and we went virtual. 

I did have some successes in 2020.  I won an Award of Excellence for Healing Arts
from Manhattan Arts International in February.  I also won Best of Show in the Yorkfest Adult Juried Exhibition over the summer. The painting that won is Living Forest.  It is a painting of what was my neighbor's creek in the woods.  This is 30"x30" oil painting on canvas.  My painting style has changed over the years.  I earned my MFA in visual arts in 2017.  That experienced helped me to think of making art in a different way.  I am no longer trying to "copy" nature.  I am experiencing nature through the process.  

Most of the paintings I will be showing were created in the studio using photos that I took while walking through the woods.  We purchased our neighbor's 24 acre wooded property in December.  It is a magical place.  I also hike at the state park which is five minutes from my home with my dog and my husband.  He also retired this year.  Nature continues to inspire me. 

The Great Falls of the Potomac and "Purple is the New Black"

The Great Falls park in Virginia is an absolutely beautiful place that I visited in early October!  We went for a hike and I took a lot of photos with my phone.  This painting is a result.

What do I mean by "Purple is the New Black?"  We all know the TV series about the women's prison.  This has nothing to do with prison but it has everything to do with color.  So here is the second painting I did in this new series. (See post of December 19th for the first).   I changed my usual format to vertical (36x24).  I did not use any blacks or browns in the paintings.  This is an experiment for me and I am liking it!  One Artist who inspires me is the famed artist and teacher, Robert Henri.  His book The Art Spirit is on my side table.  I have read and re-read the book at least 20-30 times along with Wassily Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art.  Henri recommended using a palette that corresponds with the colors of the rainbow and I tried it.  I start with a red-violet to violet to blue to greens, yellows and ending with a cadmium red.   I mix colors directly on a large paper palette.  White is added for lightening and adding opacity on the second or third day.  I am thoroughly enjoying this new color palette.  I am currently working on the third in this vertical series.  I have a few more that are in square and horizontal formats that I might post soon!

Renewal of Negative Space

So I have not posted on this blog in a while and I'm wondering if there is still a viable audience.  I retired from teaching and I am now working as a full time artist.  I'm not sure if it is sustainable yet, but I love what I'm doing.  I've moved from pure abstract/non-objective painting back to landscapes with a new color palette.  No blacks or browns!  If anyone still follows, let me know.  I will either blog here and connect to my website or start a blog on the website. 

Above it All

I've been blog absent for too long. Primarily because I spent the last two years working on my MFA in visual art through Wilson College. For the first year and a half, I was teaching art full-time in a Pennsylvania public school.  I took a sabbatical leave of absence to finish my thesis exhibit from January 15th until the end of the school year in June.  I am now back to teaching full time and painting part time.

During my sabbatical leave I completed approximately 28 paintings.  I started nine or ten others that are still in process.   I exhibited 25 paintings at my thesis exhibit in York, Pennsylvania.  I worked with five mentors, local artists, who critiqued my work,  inspired me and shared occasionally shared their "trade" secrets.

I intend to post and write about the paintings I created during this amazing time of creative growth and transformation.   The paintings will not likely be posted in chronological order.  Instead I will choose a painting that I want to write about when it suits me.

I noticed a transformation in my work as I moved from purely representational painting to more non-objective painting.  I still do some representational work but it is more abstract.  I will discuss this and some of the other surprises I've found along the way.

The first piece I'm sharing is entitled, "Above it All".  It is large, 48x36.  I used both acrylic and oil.  The painting started as a forest from memory.  I began to add spirals.  I liked the painting in its early stages but felt it incomplete.  After leaving it alone for a while, I came in and added the winged looking shape.  I painted to music and began thinking more about harmony and balance and composition.  I was making marks.  It was a very joyful experience.    Here is the painting in the earlier phase,   I liked that phase, but it sat, unresolved for many weeks.  Perhaps I will revisit this on another occasion.

Orange and Blue

This is Orange and Blue.  I painted this large 28x28 close-up of marigolds that were growing in my garden.  I am intrigued by marigolds because they are overlooked and considered "common".  I don't think the average person pays much attention to them.  

I planted them because they are a natural type of pest control.  At the time I didn't think they were particularly beautiful until I tried to paint one.  This painting was a labor of love and observation. I started with direct observation in the garden.  I picked them before the first heavy frost.  I photographed them before they wilted.   It took months.  The yellow-orange color was elusive.  I couldn't quite get-it right.  I finished it with a Thio violet glaze. 

I am intrigued by the symbolism and spirituality associated with the humble marigold.  It was named for "Mary's gold", implying most likely the blessed mother.  The Mexican people use them for El dia de los Muertos.  They decorate shrines and graves with marigolds which are in peak season in late October and early November.   They are celebrated in India.  

The exploration of certain flowers and plants has lead to more exploration.  I find myself researching symbolism in flowers and trees.  I think I'm going to continue on this path awhile. 

Hungry Tulips

So my latest painting in progress.  It needs a few fixes.  I like to post these on here because I can see the glitches better.  Some of it is oil paint shine.  I also need to tweak that flower on the right.  I will also go over the darks in the back.  Some of the streaking is caused by glare, however.

So I'm in this Old Masters' Style Flower phase.  I am studying with a painter who studied at the Schuler School of Art in Baltimore.  She is very knowledgeable and a good friend.  She makes home made Maroger medium and her husband hand crafts weighted wooden palettes.  It is very old school but I am enjoying the process.  I find it very meditative.

I started this painting in March when I picked up a pot of Parrot Tulips at the garden center.  Their color and shape intrigued me.    Of course, they looked nothing like they did the following week so I used photos that I took.  I also borrowed some photos of leaves and buds.  The flower on the right is purely manufactured from my imagination so I will have to revisit it.  I have been using Monarch and Sable brushes, Maroger medium and Grumbacher Paint.  I'm thinking of just painting my mutant Rhubarb plant next. 

The Yellow Iris Painting

In my painting life, I've decided to slow down a bit.  Exhibiting became exhausting and I didn't feel that I was "growing" so much in my art.  I find that it is very easy to become focused on selling rather than investigating.  I did not like that and I do not like that about the art "scene".  At the Lancaster gallery I was required to produce several new paintings for each month I exhibted while trying to work full time and raise teenagers.  While I did sell a few paintings, I felt that the quality began to suffer as I tried to meet deadlines.  I enjoyed several invitational exhibits over the last few years and now I just want to focus on the painting process. 

I've considered pursuing my MFA through one of the many low-residency programs, but the cost and the committment seemed prohibitive.  So I enrolled in a low-cost oil painting class at our local York Art Association with an instructor who taught me watercolor painting almost twenty years ago.  Nancy Wiseman is a fine artist, trained in the classical old masters' style.  I was a bit hesitant as I have been known for my loose style, but thought, "I like Nancy, so what the heck?"

I came in to a room set up with the typical still life arrangements of fruits and pots. I confess that I felt underwhelmed, having painted many of these arrangements in college.  I took my spot among many middle aged women and began to paint.  I was almost immediately chastised by Nancy.  She is quite the regimented instructor and I have a lot of sloppy habits.  Eventually I caved and bought the paint and the brushes that she recommended.  I also bought a balanced hardwood palette, handcrafted by her husband and her hand-blended maroger medium.  I toyed with her fruits and pots but confess that I did not really like the process or products.   

Nancy however, would not let me quit that easily.  She called me at home to remind me to register for her classes.  On the third round of sessions I began painting Nancy's flowers.  She is a wonderful gardener and brought in irisis.  She also photographed the irises because they would not last through the completion of the painting.  I began with a purple iris.  I worked on a second purple iris over the summer in my own studio.   One class, I forgot my reference photo for the purple and started on the yellow.  This was my third, and only completed iris at this point. I absolutely loved painting this.  I learned so much about this delicate process.  It took almost the entire ten week session (3 hours a week) but I think I can say that I am finished with this one. 

Excruciating Realism

Just For Fun I took a class in painting using the techniques of the "Old Masters".  This is not my typical style at all.

So why did I do it?

There are several reasons.

Reason #1   To see if I could do it.
Reason #2   To correct some of my bad painting habits.
Reason #3   To get out of my cave and paint with other people
Reason #4   To get out of my comfort zone.
Reason #5   The teacher is an old friend of mine.
Reason #6    To spend lots of money on fine sable brushes.
Reason #7    I secretly have a need for people to yell at me
Reason #8    To learn some fun "trade secrets"
Reason #9    To learn how to properly use a mahl stick
Reason #10  To drive myself absolutely crazy

Yes.   Sometimes I do crazy things.  This is my first attempt at this excruciating realism down to the water drops.   (I kind of like the water drops).   I did enjoy rendering the metal bucket but I despised  painting those lady apples.

This process is much more like drawing and less like painting to me.  I am used to large canvasses, large brushes, wild colors and thick layers of paint.   This method is quiet and meditative.  I suppose it is therapeutic to a degree.

I subscribe to the belief that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger so I am continuing this class for another session.  I'm actually learning a bit.  You can leave your love/hate comments.  I've already heard them from my children.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

The last painting I "completed" was given as a  Christmas gift.  My daughter's private flute instructor of the past nine years is also the head of the York County Wild Bird Refuge   She has made it her  mission to protect the Yellow Crowned Night Herons who have made an artificial lake in the middle of York City their home.

It is quite an experience to attend the annual Spring Garden Recital surrounded by fledgling herons and other birds who are being nursed to health by Mrs. Deckard.   Her wonderful backyard garden in transformed into a hospital for injured and rescued birds.  While the young ladies are playing their flutes in the gazebo, wrens and robins and finches fly about, oblivious to the commotion taking place in the garden.

I had to research the heron that she loves, borrowing reference photos from birdwatchers along the mid-Atlantic seaboard.  The swamp flora  was partially my own garden and partially borrowed from another photo, but largely invented as Vincent Van Vogh seemed to visit me while painting this.  I was inspired by my visit to the Van Gogh: Up Close exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I painted this over a discarded painting of my own garden which I attempted to paint en plein air.  The painting was abandoned after I was attacked by hordes of Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs who kept flying into me and my canvas.  I could not find any sandpaper so the ridges and textures remain from the abandoned painting.  (I like doing this, but I've often received criticism for it).  Please click on the picture for a better view!

This is quite a contrast to the style I have been studying.  I am taking a class using Old Masters techniques.  It is a lot of blending and smoothing and sanding, small brushes and discipline which I am not used to.   Not my typical style, but I am learning a lot.  I think it is always good to challenge oneself as an artist by exploring as many genres as we can.

Killer Show at Idiosyncrazies!

Did I tell you my sister Shazza's gallery Idiosyncrazies was named the best Gallery of Ocean County, New Jersey? Did I tell you that I had the honor of showing my paintings with her in a "sister show"? Did I tell you that she sold two, maybe three of my paintings? I am honored and amazed. In the first photo you will see our display, Shazza's photos and my paintings. A few of my paintings were inspired by her photos. I tried to paint some beachy themes because her gallery is at the beach! Well Shazza sold two of my woodsy themes. One being my signature "Sacred Grove" painting. I credit Shazza's incredible salesmanship along with the good people of New Jersey. I never felt quite as at home in the Lancaster Art "Scene". Perhaps the New Jersey people appreciate my mystical vortexes and trippiness a bit more.

Here we are at Shazza's store. Some of the relatives showed up! Pictured are cousin Cynthia, my father (aka semiconductor), Shazza, Self, Aunt Bette (aka Mrs. Doubtfire), and Jeannie. Aunt Bette is my mother's sister, Cynthia and Jeannie are her fraternal twin daughters. They are holding a print of my Dublin "Chimbleys". My framer and one of her employees requested to purchase prints of Chimbleys. That was inspired the view from my hotel room on our family trip to Ireland four years ago.

Preserved Farmland Trust Painting

Here is the painting I've been working on for the Preserved Farmland Trust of York County, Pennsylvania. Thirty local artists were invited to participate. Each artist was assigned a preserved farm.

I was assigned to the 400 acre Snyder family farm in nearby Mount Wolf. I was given one day in July to sketch and photograph and gather a general impression of the land. The owner agreed to meet me at 6:00 p.m. one evening. I drove around with my sketchbook and camera, wishing that I had time to paint on location.

The cause is worthy. The owners of beautiful farmland agree to preserve their land in order to maintain some of the rural character of our county for future generations. The land directly across the road from this farm was turned into a typical sprawling suburban subdivision. I'm sure it was somewhat profitable for the owners, but much more so for the developers. Just beyond the ridge of hills there lies shopping centers, car dealerships, and traffic. The tower of he trash incinerator is visible, but not prominent on the horizon.

I am honored by the invitation to participate in this exhibit. There are some well known artists participating that I consider way above my league!

Jersey Salt

Here's a painting I'm working on for Shazza's Sister Show. I am using her wonderful photography for inspiration. The sky is a little trippy but I like it.

This is definitely the landscape of my childhood as we were surrounded by the salt marsh. We used to call it the meadows. I used to play in it, sinking into the oozy mud while I hunted for terrapins and salamanders. When I was a pre-teen, I used to ride a painted Chincoteague pony down the sandy road to the Seaview docks. During the summer I set my crab traps over the Patcong Creek bridge and waited for my prey. As I got a bit older the sandy marsh roads led to "smoking" spots. When the marsh froze you could walk on the footpaths away from civilization. Small fires were built. Beer cans dropped by underage drinkers littered the ground.

It wasn't until I moved away that I realized the beauty of the salt marsh. I am glad that it is now protected. The osprey have returned. The place holds all sorts of memories for me. Some pleasant, some terrifying. I remember the smell of low tide.

As I look at it on my monitor it looks different than the painting. I added some new purple to the sky and now I realize that I should not have. I was trying to go for complementary color drama. I have to clean up a few stray marks here and there.

Little Hip Hop

Here is a fun little painting that I created in response to the Degas Project back in April.

I actually created two paintings. The first I posted was of three little ballet dancers. This second painting was intended as a quickie fun painting. I was trying to capture the dancer's long blond hair that appeared as alive as she was! It was quite refreshing as most of the paintings exhibited were "oh so serious" and photo-realistically representational.

I photographed it with an intentional blur and then wondered if I could paint it!

Well I had some fun with the hip hop theme and tried to throw in a little sgraffito and grafitti action! The painting was photographed as in progress. I did touch up a few things, but I can't show you as the painting is SOLD!

I was inspired by Dive's wonderful boy band photos and think she'd be quite the match for his blond boy rocker! I couldn't find the photo with my other dancer images and just found that I loaded it on hubby's computer!

Shazza's Jersey Dune

Oh and by the way, I have been painting. I just haven't been sharing. For several reasons, the first being laziness. The second reason is photo software issues. The third being, paintings are always works in progress and not quite ready to share.

Anyway, I am currently working on four or five paintings. I am sharing this one because it didn't photograph too bad.

This painting was inspired by a photo my sister, "Shazza" shot on the Jersey shore near her home. We both grew up on the "Jersey shore". Please note it is not the Jersey Shore of Snooki. Our stomping grounds were about and hour and a half south of Seaside Heights. We locals were not so much into big hair, gold chains and spray tans. I was of the long straight hair, parted in the middle, T-shirt and landlubber jeans. Shoes were flip flops or nothing. I remember that the bellbottoms of the landlubbers were long enough that I could curl my toes into the excess material. Otherwise the Rent-a-cops would boot me off the boardwalk.

Anyway, Shazz has this incredible store and invited me to do a "sistah show" with her. She will be showing her incredible photography and I will show some paintings. I borrowed some of her outstanding photos for inspiration. I am not trying to copy her incredible photos verbatim, but I am trying to add some of my recollections of growing up at "the shore". It was a huge part of becoming me and even though I am currently landlocked, the ocean, the dunes, the marshes and the boardwalk will always be part of me. As this show will be at the shore, I felt it appropriate to paint along with that theme.

Degas Project - New Painting

Hello old friends,

Here is a painting at about 95% completion that I painted for the Degas Project held in York, PA.

The York Art Association invited thirty local artists to sketch and photograph dancers from the Greater York Dance Studio as long as we could come up with a somewhat finished and framed piece within three weeks. I brought my sketchbook and took about 200 photos on April 10th. The painting is due to Art Association tomorrow!

I photographed this painting on Monday afternoon using natural light. I must admit I took it back into the studio to touch it up and correct a few things.

I enjoyed painting the little dancers but I must admit I stretched them out a bit. In trying to capture their lovely movements I elongated their little legs, arms and particularly the neck on the girl to the left. I guess this was more of a Modigliani Project for me (haha).

Dogs at the Beach Painting (WIP)

"Little Darling, It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here. "

Here comes the Sun.

I think I am beginning to emerge from hibernation. The sun was out most of today. Long enough at least to dash out to my lair and snap a few pictures.

I have been painting, although sporadically over this nasty winter. Painting sun-drenched beach scenes refresh the soul in February.

I posted this on Facebook a few weeks back. I got a good response even though it was a terrible photo. I could not find a card reader and had to crop it through whatever default photo editing software that happens to have come with my laptop. I cleaned up the painting a bit, re-shot and cropped it on hubby's computer. I think you can get the gist of it. I have another "woodland" landscape that I may post soon. The sun was glaring too much today.

Why do I love back lit scenes so? They intrigue me for some reason but are a bear to paint. I kept going over the dogs, trying to get some detail even though I couldn't see much from my original photo.

Anyway, I have been painting a bit. I need to paint more.

Orenda, New Painting

Well, it looks like the computer gods are cooperating today, at least as far as uploading goes. Perhaps I tried to load too many at a time? Perhaps it is the particular computer. I am using the desktop now because I cannot crop with my laptop.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get some feedback. As many of you know, I've been in an animal mode lately. This is a painting of my sister in law's beautiful Birman cat, Orenda. Orenda recently passed on to the great sunlit cushion in the sky. She lived to the ripe age of 21.

My daughter snapped this photo a couple of years ago. I found her picture and thought I'd try painting her.

Well, this proved to be quite difficult and I am not quite "finished". First of all, I had to tackle the lush interior of my sister-in-law's house. Gail's house is quite beautiful and she has impeccable taste when it comes to furnishings, pillows, color and decorating etc.

Second of all, Orenda is a fluffy, mostly white, long-haired cat. How do I capture the fur without fussing too much?

Third of all, Orenda is backlit. While this made for a beautiful photo, I found it quite challenging to capture her delicate face when I could not see it very well. I did not have another photo. I wanted to capture that wonderful back-lighting through her fur! Anyway I've been going back to this painting for several weeks and while I know I have to make a few adjustments, I thought I would ask my wonderful blogging friends for your advice. There are spots where I keep fussing (like the color of the shadow behind the red cushion on the chair). Also the pillow has a cushion sewn on top if it. It looks like a second pillow, but it is not. The patterns change. I usually avoid a lot of patterns as I don't like to get into that "tickling" mode. Sometimes I need to stop and critique. Your thoughts please?

Chiminea Cat Painting by Anita Williams

I've been into an animal kick lately. I am enjoying the responses I've gotten from the cows and the seals. I just believe that people are drawn to faces. So for those of you who like faces, I hope you enjoy Eddie in the Chiminea. Eddie is smart enough to realize that he does not like to be wet. During one of our winter snowstorms, he discovered a nice little "shelter" inside the chiminea. Unfortunately, the chimney enabled him to sneak out the top to grab the occasional unsuspecting songbird. My daughter eventually solved that problem, by placing a soccer ball on top of the opening. Eddie hasn't quite figured out why it is so dark inside.

Eddie presented a particular challenge in that he is a striped, brown tabby. Partially due to his impeccable breeding. Eddie was born to a feral father and a trailer park mother. One of my students begged me to give him a "good home". I have read that the brown tabby is very close to natural wild cat coloring. Eddie likes to accompany us on our walks through the woods where he is almost completely invisible. His coloring blends in perfectly.

Anyway, while painting, the challenge was to try to capture this beautiful coloring, and show some texture while not losing the "form" of the animal. Another challenge was capturing the snow. I blended some pthalo blue with titanium white and applied it with a wide trowel.

The surface of the chiminea was completed with a palette knife. The kitty was painted using a combination of brushes, knives, sticks and scumbling.

Painting - California Bathing Beauties

Here is a painting of a few of the sunbathers we found on the Monterey Peninsula in California last summer. These harbor seals were so relaxed and obviously comfortable with their torpedo shaped bodies.

This past winter's weather with multiple blizzards found me digging through photo albums for painting ideas. I found these "gals" to be cooperative models. (I am assuming they are gals).

I started this painting with a monochromatic value study of the rock formation. I wanted to capture the texture of the rocks and also the solidity of them. I built up several layers of paint using a palette knife, adding color and texture. I worked on the rocks exclusively for a number of sessions leaving the seals sketched in. When I finally got around to the seals, I switched to a paintbrush. Unfortunately, I think they look a little "thin" in comparison to the rocks. I wish I could have continued to build upon them, but had to let them dry off for my March show. I did post the actual photo upon my return from California last summer. You might find it if you dig around through my labels. I wasn't going for exactitude. I never do when I paint. So don't judge me! I believe the colors on the rocks are largely invented to separate the seal gray from the rock gray!

Moo for Shazza

I am skipping Sepia Saturday to post a painting. I have been meaning to post paintings for a while but have been experiencing either technical difficulties and/or lack of time. Since I am now in full acceptance of the realization that I can only post once a week, I am posting a bovine for Shazza.

Background: I first painted "Moo" when I was a resident artist at a Lancaster gallery. I had to crank out five to six paintings every other month for a year (while working full time and raising two children). Anyway, I painted this, hung it and "hated it". Although I measured, the head seemed disproportionately huge. That with the effect of the hidden hoofs made the animals appear awkward.

I revisited the painting before my March Elizabethtown show and decided to re-size the head a bit. Now I think it appears too small. (If you look carefully, you can see the ghost image of the old chin) Anyway, Shazza and quite a few other people liked it. This will be my contribution to my sister's new store! Visit her at her new blog. http://www.Idiosyncrazies.blogspot.com.