Door Number Eight

An oil painting I did soon after I came to Vermont in the mid-1990's, called Winter Light.

I began this blog in the spring of 2011, some eight-and-a-half years ago, and have now published 337 postings beginning with one a week, then one every two weeks.  I named it Door Number Eight because I had entered my 8th decade (so I was in my early 70's) and expected I would carry on with it until I turned 80.  In fact, I've gone somewhat beyond that, still enjoying finding an outlet for my lists, photos, opinion pieces, etc.

That said, I now find myself not particularly wanting to continue but also not particularly wanting to stop.  So, I shall make a happy compromise of leaving this blog open for the time being but not necessarily posting anything.  If something strikes me, I'll add it.  But it nothing strikes me, I offer old postings instead of new.  You can always scroll down chronologically ... or access the Topics in the right hand margin.

It's been fun.  I'm rather amazed that I could haul out 337 pieces about this and that. 

Playing with Watercolor

I signed up for a watercolor class in July, four Tuesday mornings, with several of the people I had gone to paint with in France two years in a row.  Our teacher (who came to France both times) wanted to get us used to splashing around, using lots of water.  What's called "wet on wet."  Take a sheet of  paper, tape it onto a board, then brush clean water over the whole thing.  Dipping a brush into paint, you then splash the paint onto the paper in random fashion and then as the paper dries, gradually work through the painting to produce whatever your imagination dictates.  An abstract flower.  A loose tree beside a pond.  Whatever you want.

Our first Tuesday, we were shown flower photos to give us a variety of petal, leaf, and stem structures.  After putting down my initial colors in higgledy-piggledy fashion, I tried using negative painting to come up with some tulips.  Negative painting as opposed to positive painting is when you work with the negative space around your subject rather than working on the subject itself. (By working on the subject's background, you end up defining the subject.)  Not long into the painting, I decided to turn it into one of a peony instead.

We were also advised to drop in bright colors to start with.  Then, once those dried, to not go back and brighten them up even more because we could lose the initial luminosity but, instead, to use a greyish color in the negative space. Thus making the subject stand out.

Our first Tuesday, we worked with those flower photos   Our second, sliced watermelons with lemons.  Fresh flowers in vases our third.  And cupcakes our fourth.  I produced several casual, playful paintings each session, several that I didn't keep but at least one each session that I did.

Using the flower photos as inspiration  ...

Thinking I might turn the painting into one of tulips ...

... but then switching to a single peony

Watermelons and lemons ...

Preparing the three main colors I wanted to use

After just a little more definition, liking its looseness, I decided to leave the rest alone

Cut flowers in a vase ...

Part way along

A day lily (of sorts)

Cupcakes ...

We not only got to paint them, we got to eat them

This was the plate in front of me from which I picked only one, then left off the orange decorations ..

..to keep it simple

Gallery of Photos: More on the Santa Fe Art Scene

I'm always taken with the art I find in Santa Fe.  For one thing it seems accessible.  Nicely representational. And regional.  (And since I am enamored of the Southwest, that appeals to me.)

Here are some photos I took during my last trip--February 2018.  The first batch is from the Nedra Matteuci Gallery on Paseo de Peralta. It's in a lovely adobe house with gardens and a large collection of Western and Southwestern art including silver, coral, and beaded jewelry, plus paintings by Hurd, Cassidy, Fechin, Higgins, and O'Keeffe among others many of whom were members of the Taos art colony.  Along with the toad (below), the gallery's gardens feature a wide assortment of sculpture.

"Le Toad" by Dan Ostermiller

Decorated kiva fireplace inside the gallery

On cold days, the gallery's fireplaces can be found to be burning beautifully scented cedar logs.

"San Geronimo--1820 Taos" by Catherine Maziere (sterling silver)

One of two interior doors covered with "milagro" ("miracle") charms

The other, just opposite

Another kiva fireplace

And the following photos are from the New Mexico Museum of Art on West Palace Avenue.

"Cui Bono?" by Gerald Cassidy, ca. 1921

One in a series of interior courtyard paintings by Will Shuster

"View of Santa Fe Plaza in the 1850's" by Gerald Cassidy, ca. 1930

Varqueño and chair by Verne Lucero, ca. 2007

And the following painting depicts the burning of 50-foot-high Old Man Gloom, also called Zozobra, the Spanish word for "anxiety."  This event kicks off the Santa Fe Fiesta each year.  It dates from 1924 when Santa Fe artist and marionette maker, Gustave Baumann, constructed the first Zozobra and, along with his friend, Will Shuster, burned it during that year's fiesta.

"Viva la Fiesta (Zozobra)" by Luis Tapia, 1996

An added note about Gustave Baumann.

Baumann was a world-class multi-color-wood-cut printmaker.  Pomegranate puts out a beautiful annual calendar of his work called "A Small Untroubled World" with woodcut reproductions including scenes of New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, California, and Maine.  I get one of these calendars each year--with a different scene for each month--and never tire of looking at the serene landscapes.

Look him up; he did amazing work.

A Gallery of Photos: To France to Paint (Again): Some of Vaison's Neighboring Towns

View toward Séguret in Provence

This is the last posting from my recent painting trip to France, accompanied by a group of local artists under the organization of Travel Fever Tours out of Putney, Vermont.  Below is their website if anyone is interested in their upcoming tours which include Spain, France, and Sedona (Arizona)--watercolor and oil painting, Camino walking, and birding.  They are a couple--Bob Lawson and Cicely Carroll--who do all the planning, scout out excellent restaurants, and find cozy accommodations along with gorgeous scenery.  They're also fun to be with.  Highly recommended!

This past trip, after a few days in nearby Avignon to see the sights and get over jet lag before we started to paint, we then went on to "our" town of Vaison-la-Romaine where we were based for the week.  Some days we stayed in town taking in the Roman ruins and the medieval city.   Other days Bob and Cicely drove us to nearby spots where we sat and painted, looking out on wide Provençal landscapes filled with vineyards, olive trees, cypresses, and totally picturesque villages.

This fourth and final posting, then, centers around some of those spots neighboring Vaison.

See www.travelfevertours.com

Same view as above, though expanded somewhat

Village of Séguret

Roast duck luncheon at Côté Terrasse in Séguret

View from Séguret toward the Dentelles de Mortmirail

Old olive tree and vineyards from Piégon

View from Piégon

Lunch at the Centre Artistique de Piégon where we spent the day painting

Church in Villedieu

Residential street in Villedieu

The perfect season for beautiful grapes

A Gallery of Photos: To France to Paint (Again): Vaison-la-Romaine

This is the third in a series of four, inspired by my recent trip back to France. Our local watercolor tour group had such a fine time there last year that half of us (five of us) put our names on this year's list of participants and returned to our base town, Vaison-la-Romaine, in Provence.  As lovely as ever.

Each day we were driven out to different neighboring villages where we set out folding chairs (or sat on stone walls), balancing paints and drawing boards on our laps, always opting for the shady spots since the temperatures reached the low 90's.

When traveling, watercolor materials are quite easy to transport--much better than oils.  You don't need an easel.  You don't need to figure how to carry home not-yet-dry paintings.  You don't need to take paints in tubes.  All watercolor requires is a brush or two, a small travel kit with small pans (as they are called) of paint, a small container for water, and watercolor paper--whether in loose sheets, tablet, or a spiral book.  As well, a light-weight drawing board of a size to fit into one's luggage comes in very handy.  (Mine is not quite 14" x 17.5"  See below.)  Plus some acid-free artist's tape (to tape down the paper) if you so desire along with some loose paper towels to sop up drips.  Of course, a pencil and eraser for quick, light sketches.  To my mind, that's all you need.  The less, the lighter.  And then it's all carry-on-able; none of it needs to go into checked luggage.

All that's really necessary to take

Light-weight drawing clip board

My rendering of the following photo

The Vaison-la-Romaine cathedral's cloisters

My travel journal's quick sketch--a view of Vaison's Roman ruins

Scenes taken during Vaison's weekly market.

Plus other Vaison scenes:

A wider view of the cloisters

I took the above photo during dinner at a local restaurant where, because of our numbers, the tables were set up directly outside the restaurant on the sidewalk.  As I looked up from my dinner, I was struck by the color of the sky, the last vestiges of light before absolute night fell.  I decided this beautiful deep blue was best described as lapis.  It was magical.