Dust Enough

Several weeks ago, sweet daughter Anna suggested that before the house art show (on April 8th, 6-8pm), it would be a good idea to dust. She knows that dusting (for me) is not a top priority in life. That said, I do believe that it's just good common courtesy to have a relatively clean home when entertaining. Not all the time, maybe, because then we (the proverbial we) would never "show hospitality." The point being that if we all waited for the house to be spotless before we had people over, then we'd NEVER have company...because the house would never look or be good enough. Remember our saying? Confession time: sometimes I use it (the saying) as an excuse to NOT dust. (but my mom already knew that.)

So, I was planning on dusting anyway, cheered on by Anna, but the reason for starting today is that someone requested a private pre-viewing of the art before next week's show. (They will be here in a few minutes.) It's a good thing, too, that cleaning type work started on the house today, because there's still so much dust left to dust. (They assured me that the house need not be dust free in order to see the art. In fact, the exact quote from them was, "Don't dust! Hell, we wont be able to breathe!")

AND, it seems like a mistake, now that the work has begun, that I started cleaning the inside of a few windows, too...because now I can tell how dirty the windows are on the outside. Oh, well, live and learn. (To tell the truth, I'm not sure what I'm learning, but there's a whole lot of living going on around here.)

The Fighting Iris

This Louisiana iris has been a part of the family for a long time.


We first noticed it as a volunteer in the back yard of our old house, 25-ish years ago. How it ever grew there is beyond me. The conditions at the little blue house were atrocious; gummy soil, under a pecan tree so no sun, and no nutrients. But every year a half dozen or so of these would bloom. So naturally, when we moved (12 years ago,) I dug up a few to bring with us to the this house. In spite of valiant efforts to plant the iris in a moisture rich compost friendly environment, right next to the water hose, it had not thrived like it should have. Well, that is until last year when some of it was re-planted right next to the fountain. It LOVES living there and often rewards me with blossoms.


This was my first time to paint a Louisiana iris, which is quite lovely, but a very complicated flower to paint. It also smelled like stale socks when I brought it up to the studio....not pleasant. Even though the weather was cool, I had to open the studio window just to air out the strong lingering stink of the oh-so-beautiful iris.

From now on, I'll just enjoy the blooms from a distance.

The top painting is 6" x 6" oil on canvas. The painting below is 6" x 8" oil on canvas.

On the Path

Reese and I hold this truth to be self evident, that all people at all times are more important than stuff, or doing stuff.

One of Reese and my guiding philosophies is that people are always more important than things or doing things, even when a deadline is involved. There are times when one needs to put ones nose to the grindstone, so to speak, but by and large, most chores can wait. And honestly, the work gets done eventually....

Which is why I was delighted when, while working on the front footpath yesterday, a sweet friend dropped by for a visit. She apologized for interrupting the work, but I assured her that she was far more important than the work continuing RIGHT THEN. At which point she made a very astute observation (and this is a quote as best I can remember), "You're right. What good is it to have a perfect footpath if there are no people in your life to walk to your front door when the work is done?" Exactly.

Midday, the winner of the apple painting give-away came by to receive her painting, and my soul was refreshed by another delightful visit.

Now y'all remember, there will be another apple painting give-away at 8pm-ish on April 8th (during the House Art Show.) Everyone who has already entered for the first free painting give away will be automatically re-entered for the second give away. If, however, someone attends the House Art Show, they are allowed and encouraged to re-enter, in effect doubling their chances for the second painting give-away.

Work continued.

This is what the new path looks like from the front door toward the street. Ten bricks up on the far right of the photo used to be a chunk of garden. (The chunk of garden is visible in Monday's photo -- top left.) It took some creative figuring to decide how to tie in the new work with the old patio (not visible in the photo.) This was the best idea -- to remove a chunk O' garden.


And this is what it will look like (from the street to the front door) when YOU come to visit.

At the end of the day, neighbor friends walked up the new footpath for an impromptu celebration bringing wine, fellowship, laughter, and conversation. There's more work to be done, but isn't there always?

FREE DIRT

Sweet darling daughter Anna asked today how the preparations are progressing for the house art show on April 8th. My answer to her started with, "On Friday, I noticed that one of the neighbors had a big pile of sandy dirt in their front yard with a sign stuck in it that said 'FREE DIRT'...."

In typical fashion, because of the FREE DIRT, I've started a particularly big, yet completely unnecessary project, considering all of the other things that need to get done in preparation for the house art show. Because of the FREE DIRT, I thought it would be a great time to re-design the front footpath -- the path that leads guests to our front door, which, of course, has created extra work, which, in effect, had already been done, but now...I'm doing again.

The DIRT may have been FREE, but it's costing me.

All Akimbo

It seems as if painting's in limbo
my brain and paintbrush all akimbo
don't know what to do
besides crying boohoo
or try painting (again) just this once mo.

From whence shall come more inspiration
while spring is all springy elation?
You'd think it's be easy
new flowers all tease-y
(I think my brain needs a vacation)

So instead of painting, I'm baking
and cooking while thoughts are gestating
I sure hope this slump
is no more than a bump
in the road to a muse re-awake-ing.

All the Kids

The Amazing Reese helped chaperone for Yellowstone Academy's rodeo field trip this year. Of course, all the kids loved him. The first thing one of the kids said to Reese when she saw him was, "Hey! Down here. You're tall."

They loved Reese for protecting them from the scary kids (aka baby goats) in the petting zoo.

They loved Reese when he gave them piggy back rides.

They loved talking to Reese, and climbing on him, and they loved eating ice cream, too.

They had fun planting pretend seeds and watching them grow and "sort of" learning about farm life.

These two kids were NOT afraid of the kid goat. His fur was soft.

Getting to share a few hours with these kids was a delight. Of course, Reese being Reese made it fun for all of us. My favorite things....holding hands, laughing, eating and sharing a turkey leg (and funnel cake) with the kids, and having Reese there to share the whole experience. After we all devoured the turkey leg, we saw a live turkey, and one of the kids said, "That's what you like to eat."

And to top it all off, on the bus ride back to school, one of the girls looked at me and said, "Your hair is grey, but you're not old. You're young." Bless her heart.

The Absent Minded Almost Accident

As mentioned previously, while preparing for the house art show (April 8th, 6-8pm), I've been painting black edges around unframed paintings and putting them on the floor to dry. I'm also reworking several paintings for the show (such as the ole rooster.) When working on a painting, to gain perspective, I walk backwards away from the painting on the easel to get a feel for how the painting looks from a distance.

Yesterday, while backing up and looking at the work-in-progress-painting on the easel, my foot planted right in the middle of one of the drying-the-black-edges-paintings on the floor. Thankfully, it was a painting that wasn't completely stretched tight, and the canvas surface gave a little, instead of ripping.

The whole absent minded incident freaked me out a little bit (just kidding...but not really.) It's just a painting. Life, health, safety, eternity....none of those things were compromised in any way. It's really just a painting.

All Jacked Up

The old 1993 Buick Roadmaster has been on the blink for well over a month. And because things have been rather tight at our house financially, there just hasn't been money in the budget for the luxury of having two working cars. On most days, it's easy enough to live as a one car family. But this winter, it's been cold and rainy, and riding a bike to the grocery store and church just isn't as much fun in bad weather. Not that I'm whining....I enjoy a good challenge, and coordinating our schedules around the one working car has been a kind of game.

But NOW, thanks to our friend Mike, who actually enjoys working on cars and helps others out of the generosity of his heart, the car is completely and totally fixed. (It was the starter.) And even though I love riding my beautiful yellow 1973 Schwinn 3 speed, it will be awesome to run errands in the car today, especially since it's dreary, drizzly, and chilly here in Houston.
(My task was to stay close by.....so that 911 could be called in a hurry....in case the car fell on top of them. That's the Amazing Reese on the right, and our friend, Mike on the left.)

Blacking Out

On the advice of someone much more experienced than I, the Hazel Art Open House Show has been changed to April 8th, from 6 - 8pm. Refreshments will be served.

On that note, I'm very busy getting the paintings and the house ready for the show. Sweet daughter Anna suggested painting the outer edges of all the unframed paintings black. This gives them a finished look, in spite of being unframed. (It a fairly common way to go about preparing paintings for a show. If memory serves, there are even paintings in the Menil Collection with this type of finished look.) It's slow tedious work, and requires no creativity, though as precise as I am about details (in certain things,) it's good that it's me doing the work, and not someone else. In any regard, to finish a painting this way is contemporary.

I am a contemporary artist.

Young at Art

Other than feeling ancient, the Critically Caroline/Massive Collection Show opening was quirkily fun. Shannon Duncan did a great job curating the exhibit considering the wide variety of art produced for this show. Street signs and bike parts were placed next to photographs and spray painted found objects. There were several paintings, mine being the most "traditional" in the sense that it depicted a general representation of a "place" discovered in my bike wanderings around the city.


One really cool feature of the exhibit was a giant wall map of Houston's inner loop pinpointing the exact locations (and names of the artists) where inspiration occurred for the created works of art in the show.

It was glaringly obvious that I was the oldest artist showing in this exhibit....probably by, at the very least, 15 years....maybe more. Any other person in my age range who was at the opening was a parent or close loved one of the fellow showing artists. My heart and spirit still feel young, but by night's end, both Reese and I had aching feet, misaligned backs, and were generally exhausted. That said, had "art" happened at any other point in my life, I wouldn't have had the time or emotional energy to devote to it. Therefore, in spite of being more advanced in years (especially in this show,) the timing and pursuit of art as a "career" still seems right.

Critically Caroline / Massive Collective

Come join us at Caroline Collective on February 27 from 6pm to 9pm for the opening art installation, titled Critically Caroline / Massive Collective. The event is open to anybody who would like to come and, as always, refreshments will be served.

This show celebrates the artwork of Houston Critical Mass cyclists. All installed work has been inspired by the act of bike riding in Houston’s Inner Loop, and is pinpointed on a large-scale map. Artists Chuy Benitez, Kira Black, Oliver Bludworth, Matt Bower, Lindsay Burleson, Brittney Connelly, Claudia Cruz, Shannon Duncan, Osman Galindo, Christa Havican, Sarah Hazel, Corbin Hughes, Marian Ochoa, Smitty Regula, Kyle Silverstein, Nick Teel, Matt Tremble, and Ervin Valdez explore mediums including found object, photography, painting, video, drawing, and installation.

The show is curated by Shannon Duncan, organized by Ned Dodington, and sponsored by C2 Creative, LLC. The exhibition itself will be open from February 27 to March 18 and may be viewed during Caroline Collective’s regular business hours (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). You can also call the team at Caroline Collective at 832.429.6867 to see about scheduling a private showing if you can’t come during regular business hours.

(Entire content copied with permission)

Oomphf-less

It should come as no surprise that on some days, inspiration is nowhere to be found. So, while the basics of life are perfectly poised and the studio neat and tidy, there's still a general lack of oomphf with regard to creativity. What is to be done about it? Today, the house is clean, the studio is organized, there are no distractions, and there is nothing...nothing whatsoever being sparked in any way, shape, or form as creative revelation.

Usually, on days like today, I just DO something, just start something, try something, anything. And usually, that works well enough to get the creative juices flowing again. But not today. All my efforts and attempts to do something were wasted....thrown out with the trash.

I think I'll go for a walk.

Desperate Continuum

Earlier this week, there was a lovely article in the Houston Chronicle blog that jolted me a little bit. This depressed economy has been challenging for Reese and me financially...and quite honestly, we're struggling. The ends just aren't meeting. In all of our talk at home about ways to bring in some cash, I had casually mentioned to an art friend that one of the ideas Reese and I were considering was having an open house with the hope of selling a bunch of my paintings in the $50 - $400 range. We were just throwing around ideas. Word travels....because stunningly, in the third paragraph in the above mentioned article, there's a statement that says....

Following this event, Hazel's art will next be on view at a retrospective exhibition of her work in April.

Wow. Um, well, I guess it's time to make it happen. The whole city of Houston (and beyond) is invited to our house, 2315 Addison Rd, on April 9th from 5 - 9pm. Y'all come buy some art (and whatever else isn't nailed down.)

One of the tasks I'm doing in preparation for the Hazel Open House is -- surprise! -- painting. For quite a while, this ole rooster has been fussing at me to re-paint the background. (He was originally painted in 2006.) It took forever to decide how to re-do the background, but here it is.
People ask me all the time how long it takes to finish a painting. For this rooster, the total amount of time spent creating the painting is now is, give or take, almost 4 years, though, according to Einstein, (this is from WikiAnswers)

experiments to define time on its own were a waste of time because time is actually a dimension of duration in covariance with space. Thus we have the timespace continuum, not the "time and space" continuum.

And this 16" x 20" custom framed oil on linen Sarah Hazel painting could be yours for the low low price of $325, (unless, of course, there's a bidding war.)

Feel free to make an offer on the house as well. It's a great house in a great neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. We've loved living here. It's the kind of house that will perpetually need TLC, but totally worth it. (I'll upload some photos on Zillow soon.)

Also, recently I had a give-away for one of my apple paintings. For this open house, I'll add all the names already entered in the last drawing, and everyone who attends the open house can enter their name (or re-enter as the case may be) and another painting will be given away by 9pm on April 9th. But wait, there's more: 5% of the open house night's proceeds (excluding the sale of the house) will be donated to Yellowstone Academy.

Freedom of Expression?

Remember when we were kids, and coloring in coloring books was fun? That's basically what painting is.....coloring. Only instead of using crayons in a coloring book, paints and paintbrushes are used.

At the moment, I'm laboring over a portrait commission. What I'm trying to remember is the freedom in youth of coloring in a coloring book. Back then, it didn't matter if a tree had purple leaves and a yellow trunk. It didn't matter if the sky was magenta. And it didn't matter if the puppy was green. The fun was in the expression and experimentation and the endless choice of colors, especially if one had access to a 64 count box of Crayola crayons.

It seems to me that it might matter to a client, however, who perhaps expects to have "normal" looking skin tones, dress, and hair. Or maybe it doesn't. Didn't they hire me to be the artist? Do I have complete freedom to create a unique work of art? Or am I morally obligated to stay true to more realistic parameters?

When they commissioned me, I mentioned that the representation was not going to be an exact match to real life...that given the wallet sized old black and white photograph to use as reference, that I was likely to take great liberties with color in the finished painting....and they said with raised eyebrows and a shrug of the shoulders, "Well, you're the artist..." But does that REALLY mean that I have complete freedom to paint this portrait any way I like?

Supper Time

It's dreary and cold outside. Instead of painting today, it felt more like a day tailor made for cooking comfort food. Tonight's supper: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pound cake with chocolate sauce for dessert.

In all my years of cooking, I've never roasted a chicken. I don't even own a roasting pan. Following a Julia Child recipe found online, I can't begin to describe how delicious and savory the house smells right now. It's not the prettiest bird ever cooked, but who cares when the aroma is so intoxicating?


Tonight's mashed potatoes will be loosely based on a Julia Child recipe, too. For those who don't know, I'm a rather adventurous cook, and often substitute ingredients based on what's in the cupboard, rather than what the recipe requires. It's my personal belief that recipes are just guidelines anyway.

The green beans will be made like thusly, an idea originally suggested by my foodie friend, Sol: after washing the green beans, sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees-ish for 15-20 minutes. These are always a hit. The same super easy recipe can be used for any vegetable. (Last night I cooked the sweet potatoes this way. Mmmm....)

Pound cake? SO SIMPLE! A pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour. Add some grated nutmeg, and cook in a tube pan (makes two cakes) at 350 for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature and cook another 30 minutes at 325. (This recipe was found in a Little House cookbook years ago when I read all the books to our daughters. It has remained a family favorite.)

Excuse me, please, while I go put the finishing touches on supper. Would y'all like to join us? We eat at 6:30.

From Quince it Came

How delightful it is to select flowers from our garden to paint this time of year. One of our neighbors, who incidentally is named Quincy, was getting ready to get rid of this quince bush in his yard quite a few years ago. With his permission, I dug it up, and transferred it to our garden. After several seasons of mediocrity, this year the quince bush is prolific with blooms. It's still a smallish bush, but it's spindly branches are literally covered with spring blossoms. It's as if it suddenly realized that it is a quince bush and decided to start acting like one.

This painting is an 8" x 10" oil on linen.

Updated Resume

Fair warning: this is a potentially boring entry for my dear blog readers. It's been over two years since the ole resume was updated -- long overdue. Without "Finding My Glasses" as a record of art life events, I would be completely, utterly, and absolutely clueless as to what to put on this.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this resume better, more effective, or more readable, please feel free to pass along the advice. I would greatly appreaciate hearing from others with more resume writing experience.

Resume

Exhibits
2010 February -- Caroline Collective “Critically Caroline/Massive Collection” exhibit
2009 October -- Lawndale Art Center Dia de los Muertos retablo exhibit
2009 October -- Rice University art exhibit in conjunction with Shell Center for Sustainability Houston Water Conference
2009 September -- Block 7 Wine Co Western Appliance Meets Wine Warehouse art exhibit
2009 June -- City of Houston City Hall Annex Art on Loan Exhibit
2008 November -- Art Car Museum Texas Green Exhibit
2008 October -- Lawndale Art Center Dia de los Muertos retablo exhibit
2008 September -- Xnihilo Gallery Showcase Showdown
2008 May -- Simply Art Gallery Galveston, TX
2007 October -- Lawndale Art Center Dia de los Muertos retablo exhibit
2007 September -- Elder Street Gallery Spice exhibit
2007 July -- Elder Street Gallery One Show
2007 May -- The Glassell School of Art 2007 Studio School Student Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts Houston
2007 February -- Earth Gallery Finding Beauty in the Everyday exhibit
2006 November -- Baquero Gallery "Finding My Glasses" Solo Exhibit
2005 March -- Pioneer Memorial Museum Solo Exhibit

Community Involvement

2009 November -- artist for Via Colori benefiting the Center for Hearing and Speech
2009 October -- Betz Gallery Angel Store exhibit benefiting the Justice for Children Foundation
2009 April -- created an art bike to help raise awareness for multiple sclerosis in conjunction with the Multiple Sclerosis Society and MS150
2008 November -- artist for Via Colori benefiting the Center for Hearing and Speech
2008 October -- Fresh Art's MADE FROM IKE exhibit benefiting Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief fund and William Graham Emergency Artist Fund
2007 December -- Bering and James Gallery Holiday Art Sale benefiting DePelchin Children's Center
2007 November -- Winter Street Studio's Art on the Avenue benefiting Avenue CDC
2007 November -- Select artist for Via Colori benefiting The Center for Hearing and Speech
2007 May -- Community artist judge for Yes Prep Student Art Show
2006 November -- Participating artist for Via Colori benefiting The Center for Hearing and Speech
2006 February -- Starlight Gala Art Auction at Gremillion and Co Fine Art benefiting American Cancer Society

Awards

2009 October -- Houston Civic Art Association 2009 Greater Houston Open Show; first place - "Symphony in Flesh Tones and Pink" honorable mention - "First Time at the Rodeo" honorable mention - "Hilary Holding the Baby"
2008 September -- Xnihilo Gallery Showcase Showdown Peoples' Choice for Best in Show
May 2005 -- Bethlehem Haven It's About Time exhibit and auction; second place "Recalled to Life" Pittsburgh, PA

Education

No formal training

Commissioned Works

2008 "Waimanalo" Private collector
2008 "Star" private collector
2008 "Times" private collector
2007 “Lemons and Christmas Cactus” private collector
2005 "Browning Ranch near Medina, Texas" private collector
2005 “Lake in Centerville-2” private collector
2005 “After the Rain” private collector
2005 “Natalie and the Kids” private collector
2005 “Blondie” private collector
2005 “Buena Vista, Colorado” private collector
2005 “Ranch in Centerville” private collector
2005 “Lake in Centerville” private collector
2005 “Lost Maples” private collector

Apple and Grapefruit

Grapefruit is the plural of grapefruit, right? One doesn't say grapefruits...? However it's said, this is a painting of a grapefruit and a half of a grapefruit and the proverbial apple.

Now that the studio is re-arranged, it's easier to paint a still life.

It is an 8" x 10" oil on linen.

The Proposal, The Ride, & The Show

WORKING HOUSTON ARTIST + CRITICAL MASS CYCLIST ART PROPOSAL

Based on the guidelines that the work must be inspired by or found while riding within Houston's Inner Loop, I propose to paint an urban cityscape in oils on linen.

With life as reference, in addition to photographs, I will paint the urban cityscape of the factories along Center Street between Waugh Drive and Sawyer Street. The factories are ordinary, yet display a quiet elegance in their unsophisticated simplicity. I've personally ridden this route on a bicycle from my home near Rice University to a friend's house in the Heights.

While I would prefer to paint en plein air, the vehicular traffic in the area might be prohibitive to such action. There are a number of 18 wheelers and other large service vehicles that travel Center Street, and a painter by the side of the road might not be visible to these drivers. There is a spot on the sidewalk across the street from one factory that might provide a safe vantage point from which to paint, however, in the interest of safety, it might be best to paint from reference photographs in my studio.

The plan would be to work in the Center Street area in a part of town known as the Washington Corridor, or in my studio, over the next month or two in order to complete the painting or paintings.

The attached photos (not included in this blog entry) indicate the type of Houston cityscape that I would like to represent in oils on linen, but are not conclusively the location or image selected. The photos provided are only an indicator of my idea, which will be further developed as more information is gathered. The exact address used as inspiration for the representational artwork will be provided in due time.

Houston is a vibrant community, with many variations of architectural beauty. I propose to capture the beauty of an industrial cityscape by painting one or more of it's warehouses in Houston's Inner Loop. The beauty of the angles and lines of the warehouses as they interplay with the Texas sky intrigues me as an artist. I hope that my representation of said cityscape in oils on linen will capture the hearts of fellow Houstonians as much as it does me, and remind fellow cyclists of the joy of the open road by representing a beautiful, albeit ordinary view of one of Houston's back streets.

THE SHOW

This show celebrates the artwork of Houston Critical Mass cyclists. All work submitted must be inspired by or found while bike riding within Houston’s Inner Loop. Artists should submit work proposals along with the location at which it was inspired. These addresses will be pinpointed on a large-scale map of Houston’s Inner Loop, to reference the origin of each artist’s work. Proposals will be judged on originality, local flavor and critical content.

THE RIDE

Friday, February 26th, the Critical Mass group will meet at Tranquility Park in Downtown Houston. Riders will meet at 6:30 with the ride taking off at 7 pm. The route will take us around to some of the locations at which the work originated. The ride will end at Caroline Collective around 9:30pm in the Museum District, where the cyclists will get a sneak-peak of the show before it opens on February 27th at 6 pm.

Exhibition: “Critically Caroline/Massive Collection”
Sponsor: Caroline Collective
Location: 4820 Caroline St., Houston, Texas
Exhibition Dates: February 26 – March 18

(I'm in! It's my next show.)

Blossoming

The names are still coming in for the apple painting give-away, though when I reached 50 names I went ahead and selected a name from the hat, as was indicated and stated in the last paragraph of this blog entry. So if ANOTHER 50 people sign up, I'll give another small painting away. Everyone who has already signed up will still be on the list. There will be 100 names from which to choose. Sound fair?

Since several people have asked, the winner of the apple painting this go around was a friend here in Houston named Joanne Priest. Congratulations, Joanne! In her own words,

"Oh man!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! This is amazing. I don't have any art work besides my own in my house, and to have a Sarah Hazel painting is beyond awesome for me! I am completely in love with your work. Thank you SO much! I can't believe it!"

Also, last Friday, there was a chance (for me) that there would be time to paint. I did paint...on Friday and Saturday, which is unusual because most times it's VERY easy to get distracted with everyone at home. The best part about painting last Saturday was that I could hear Reese downstairs practicing his guitar in preparation for playing at church the next day, and I could hear Hilary practicing the piano for fun. It was magical, peaceful, and caused a deep fullness of contentment in my soul.
These camellias are what I painted on Friday, and a bit more on Sunday, though by Sunday most of the blossoms had fallen off the stems. Fruit, vegetables, and flowers fade so quickly after they've been picked. I often think of Cezanne when painting still lifes. He would leave his still lifes staged for so long while working on his paintings that the fruit would often rot before he was finished with the work. Though the exact quote in my Cezanne books regarding this is yet to be found this Wednesday, it is true -- I've read it somewhere (in a book.)

Small apologies for the untrue nature of the actual color of this painting. It's hard to get the lighting just right as an amateur photographer. To my recollection, this is the third year that I've painted camellias from the garden. They generally bloom in December or January. There might be one more opportunity to collect enough blooms to work on another camellia painting before the blossoms all disappear for another year. We'll see.

This painting is 9" x 12", oil on linen.

There's A Chance

While watching the weather report and nursing my bowl of coffee (cappuccino latte) this morning, it somehow registered, even though I was in an only partially awake stupor, that in Houston today there was a chance of rain. The camellias have just begun to bloom, and the quince bush in the back yard is blooming for only the third year ever. So, thinking that today would be a good day to paint a still life before the rain destroyed our yard's yearly blossoms, I groggily stumbled outside to select flowers for the bouquet.

For the regular reader of this blog, one might remember that the upstairs studio is great for light, but there is no effective place to set up a proper still life. So, even though there were already cut flowers for painting, I spent the majority of the day rearranging the studio. Now that there's a small drop leaf table to the left of the easel, it will be much easier to set up a still life in the studio and more effectively control the light source. And, I still have room to walk backwards away from the easel without tripping over things behind me. Looks like a win/ win!

Speaking of win/win, it's almost time for the painting give-away. There's still a chance YOU could win, so put your name in the hat.

Tomorrow, there's another chance of rain, and a 90% chance that I will paint a still life.

Yest-day

The weather yest-day was so pretty
the sun, blue sky, wind caused a giddy
reaction so great
that we couldn't wait,
and so rode our bikes through the city.

The biking began just around three
from our house to a middle sized tree
that happened to be
for all there to see
in the middle of labyrinth three.

The labyrinth, our favorite so far,
quite willing, we'll keep looking for more
and so to repeat
another quest neat,
an amazed hunt for labyrinth four.

(I realize that I haven't yet told
a story that has been put on hold,
the labyrinth first
our minds unrehearsed
a tall tale might could some day unfold.)

Labyrinth

How many people reading this knew that there is more than one labyrinth in Houston? This one was at Covenant Church on Caroline in Midtown, an easy bike ride from our house.

Please, dear readers, remember to contact me about entering the apple painting give-away. Don't be shy. It would be great if a few more folks would enter before the campaign starts in earnest on facebook.

Wonderful Happy Sidewalk

It's Tuesday and I'm Still Sore.

In the process of our neighbor getting a new driveway, an opportunity was created.

The workers totally demolished our footpath that runs between the houses from front to back as they ripped up their old driveway and poured concrete for the new one....which means that because the neighbors are kind and considerate, they didn't leave the mess for us alone to fix. The neighbor brought in some sand, and while he was shoveling sand from one end of the space to the other, I, very happily was placing bricks and flagstone to match the swirly pattern of the patio in the backyard. Before, it was a boring plain old wobbly sidewalk. Now, it's a fanciful wonderful happy sidewalk.

The work all happened last Saturday, and pitifully, my muscles still ache from all the lifting and standing and bending and squatting and sitting. Ouch.

Please remember to sign up for the apple painting give-away!

Apples Two Oranges

It is worth mentioning again that I paint without wearing glasses. Being nearsighted, it's just easier to make sense of what I'm doing (within an arm's length glance) without corrective lenses. When wearing glasses, for me, everything up close is fuzzy. Because I can't see far away things with precision without glasses, the subjects that I paint are, by and large, out of focus. (And no, I don't wear or want bifocals.)

But in spite of a lack of (actual, not metaphorical) vision, when painting while using round tipped brushes, I have much more control over the paint, and consequently, the painting appears more in focus than it really is...at least the way I see it.



Apples Two Oranges is a 9" x 12" oil on linen canvas. Not only were round brushes used, but I also added a linseed oil turpentine mixture to the paint to encourage the paint to flow more easily from the brush to the canvas surface. Using round tipped brushes gives this painting a slightly different look than the other apple paintings.

So, if one so chooses, the similarities of brush stroke and technique of the apple paintings created using flat brushes and no extra linseed oil are akin to comparing apples to apples. And this painting using round brushes with added linseed oil would, ever so subtly, be like comparing apples to oranges! (Get it, apples, TWO oranges?)