Thoughts

Hi! Good Morning! You might want to grab a cup of tea, or a cup of coffee. I have a feeling this is going to be long...
This quote “Every painting shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love".... by Alfred Sisley, which is on Karen Appleton 's blog, triggered a thought in my head. I had a kind of an “aha” moment.
There is this one painting of mine which was done about 9 or 10 years ago (painted in my dark and creepily unfinished basement, but the only place I felt would be free from little hands that might try to experiment with the oils and turp.) It is big- 36”x 48”. Well, this is big for me. It is the only time I ever used a canvas this size. You may remember the face. This was my header picture from back in the day, when I first started to write on this blog (when was that, January? )

I like the attitude in her face, but thought it wasn’t very friendly looking for a header that I would like to use to welcome people.
The inspiration for that painting came from this magazine photo. I think it had been in Vogue mag., and so I don’t know if I am doing anything wrong (infringements, you know) by putting this on my blog.
I realize this is a poor quality picture that I am showing here, it has creases in it, and paint on it. But I loved everything about this photo when I saw it- the hydrangeas (a favorite of mine), her hair color, her robe/dress, the look of her face. I wanted to paint this. I had no idea what I was doing.
This is my painting.

I didn’t realize till I said “I give up! I’m done! I can’t do anything more to her/the flowers/the dress!” that she is a bit stubby looking- to say nothing about how the face was painted, or the fur, etc. But I had to stop.
However, there was one spot that I enjoyed doing, and it is a favorite part of this painting. It is the bottom of her dress. Right where the curl is. I liked painting it, and when I look at the painting, I can disregard the faulty parts of the painting as a whole, and see the curl, and be happy with it.

Karen Appelton also spoke about ideas that run through one’s head, and paintings that get started, put aside, looked at later, etc. She writes “Is it possible that an idea wants to be expressed so much, that it will hang on and torture you for a YEAR until it is figured out?”
That happens to me. Kind of a scattered feeling when there are many ideas going through the head, and there is also that gnawing feeling when you come across an old sketch or a notation of an idea, that is still waiting to be realized. I have those ideas, photos I’ve clipped, photos I’ve taken, notes in a notebook of techniques I would like to try, I guess I procrastinate too. I should probably just dive in head first? Or is the expression feet first? I don’t know, but I would probably end up with more unfinished works.
Because sometimes things take time and thought to work out.

Yesterday my mother suggested that I take a look at an old issue of Veranda Magazine (Jan./ Feb. issue) that she had, and in there was an article about Pierre Bonnard, by Dita Amory, associate curator for the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Presently, there is a Bonnard exhibit at the museum (which I hope to get to before it closes April 19.)
Dita says that Bonnard’s paintings usually began as small drawings, and then worked in watercolors, often with pencil and gouache.
And this is where the article hit home- “The paintings developed slowly over time. Only when he felt a deep familiarity with his subject- be it a human model or a modest household jug- did he feel the urge to paint it.”

Some paintings were completed in a shorter period of time, and some over the course of a year or longer. He put away his one painting for 22 years though I believe it was because his favorite model had passed away while working on it, and he did not pull it out again to work on until after the death of his other favorite model (his wife) who also posed for this painting. (uh, I hope I have that info correct.) But I know it was 22 years!

Remember when I wrote about my husband coming home from work and finding me in the little room (our daughter’s old bedroom) surrounded by my supplies, and he thought it was messy? If I knew how to add a link to that post, I would. It was back in February. Well, anyway, in one of the photos you can just barely see a painting leaning against something on the floor. It is of my daughter and niece and based on a photo that my sister had taken of them on father’s day about 2 or 3 years ago, when they were fooling around with straw hats. I thought it would be a fun painting and started it almost immediately. Unfortunately it looks a bit more cartoonish and linear than I had hoped, so it sits, waiting for me to get back to it. I know I have to soften edges, my daughter's nose is too big, and – well, there is a lot to do, so it sits.

There is a favorite part (or two) of that painting though which is funny (oh- and I am back to the original quote of this post- do you remember?) My niece has braces on, and I couldn’t decide whether to keep them or not- this is her mouth-

And my daughter’s.

They both need work too, but I think they are the better parts of this painting.
Oh- my ramblings have gone on for far too long today. I hope I haven’t bored you- or lost you!And now before my day gets away from me, and my brain gets burned out from the swirling thoughts, I will get outside with the dog, and then get busy in that little room of mine. I am stalled on a painting I started about 2 weeks ago, and so I think I will do some sewing today.

Have a wonderful day-

jenny