Montecatini Alto Welcome

This little colored pencil piece is a birthday gift for my mother. I had the pleasure of traveling with her to Italy a couple of years ago, and we stayed in the little town of Montecatini. Our hotel was in Montecatini Terme, which is the "new" town, built around its thermal spas. Montecatini Alto is the "old" town, situated at the top of a hill, and we rode up there in the "funiculare" to explore one day. It was a magical day, all around... gorgeous weather, beautiful sights, lots of little surprises as we rounded corner after corner. We both really enjoy the distinctive doors and entryways that are so typically Italian, and I took quite a few photos of them that day. I hope looking at this brings her back to that lovely day!

This being an art journal, I should add that on that same day, we literally stumbled upon an other wonderful experience. We walked back from the funiculare station a different way, and saw a sign for an art academy. It appeared they were having some sort of exhibit having to do with Leonardo DaVinci, and we were trying to figure out, with our limited understanding of Italian, what exactly it was all about. The gate was closed and locked, and we were about to leave when a man came out and spoke to us. To make a long story short, we were able to come back a few hours later, to a side door where he let us in, even though the place was closed. We had this whole exhibit to ourselves, and it was like a dream! They had a large collection of Leonardo DaVinci's tiny little sketchbooks and journals! Fantastic!

(5"x7", colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board)

"Eleanor"

Another recent pencil portrait... another pretty niece. I really loved how her beautiful curls fell like a curtain, allowing only a limited view of her face... but enough to know it is Eleanor.

Forever and Humbly Unfinished

I don't know what possesses me sometimes. To set up a still life, with perishable fruit and delicate plant material, when I know I will not have enough uninterrupted time to finish, and I'm out of practice with acrylics... well, it's crazy, isn't it? Not to mention my failure to acknowledge the importance of preparation... of work space, materials (do I even OWN a decent brush right now?), or location of the set-up (within inches of an often-used door! Brilliant!).

So, the nectarines are brown and mushy, the leaves of the sweet woodruff are pointing DOWN, three brushes are on their way to the trash, and this little painting is not finished. But, here it is anyway! (6"x6", acrylic on masonite) The tiny yellow pitcher is a favorite object of mine. I'm thinking that my collection of pitchers would be a good theme for this summer's artwork, so expect to see them, in all their diversity!

Having had a little preview this past week of living and working with extra people in the house, I think it might be wise for me to stick with my colored pencils while we have a son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons (ages one and a half and three) staying with us for the month of July. Yes, definitely.

"Sarah"

Here is one of my commissioned portraits, done not too long ago. I always thought she was particularly sweet!

Topiary Garden Sun

I'm still having fun with the prismacolor ACEOs. The ideas for these just keep streaming from my brain... or are they streaming TO my brain? I've received some very interesting messages from buyers about how they searched for a particular subject at a specific time, because of something that had happened to them personally, and one of my newly listed cards popped up. Some of the messages are cute or funny, and there are a couple that are downright mystifying!

Anyway, maybe this one will wind up with an interesting story. I worked the shapes of the topiaries and the face of the sun before really deciding on what route I would take with the rays. In the back of my mind, I was thinking simple geometric, and this grosgrain ribbon-like design is what happened. It wasn't until it was finished that I noticed the overall Engish feel... those rays suddenly reminding me of the Union Jack.

Spanish Bowl

My intent here, with this journal, is to post new work on a regular basis. However, until I have something brand-spanking-new (other than the aforementioned ACEOs) I will share some older pieces. Perhaps looking at them myself, and realizing just how old some of them are, will embarrass me into action! I have cut, sanded, and gessoed some 6"x6" pieces of masonite. I'm sure it won't be long before I make a new start. (Just having those white squares looking at me expectantly each time I enter my studio will go a long way in the nudging department! I know, I'm pitiful!)

So, this still life painting, in acrylic on stretched canvas, was done... let's just say... quite some time ago! It holds a special place in my heart because whenever I look at it, I remember buying that bowl at a street market in Spain. It was meant to be a gift for someone, but it broke inside my suitcase, maybe somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I glued it, kept it, and it's really the only memento I have now of that trip.

Nasturtium Nosegay

In preparation for some freelance work for a stationery company a while back, I needed a warm-up to reacquaint myself with my acrylic paints. It had been months since I had even opened my paint box, as I had been working on pencil and colored pencil portraits, which were keping me busy. I did a pencil sketch of these nasturtiums, and then painted right over it with the acrylics, just to get over my initial "paralysis". I expected the result to be a throw-away, really, but surprisingly, I quite liked it! The texture of the pencil lines on the rough paper peeking through the glazes, and remaining as an occasional outline, somehow pleases my eye.

...and now for something completely different

A few months ago, I decided to try offering some of my work through ebay. I looked around at what others were doing, and thought the little ACEOs might be a fun way to stick my toe in the water. I had done some small colored pencil pieces years ago that I always liked, depicting fanciful suns and moons, and I decided to do a few new designs in this even smaller 2.5"x3.5" format. Their whimsy and resemblance to old book illustrations seemed a natural match to the miniature size. I figured I'd do a few and move on to something else.

OK, here's the thing. I just listed the 30th one in this series. I can't stop! The ideas just keep popping into my head, and I find the whole process very therapeutic. Maybe it's the novelty of working from my imagination, rather than from "life", which up to now has been a rare occurrence. It's fun! For now I'm looking at it like exercise... admittedly, kind of silly exercise... but exercise just the same.

I think I've done hundreds

Over the last 35 years or so, I can safely say that I have done hundreds of portraits in pencil. It's just something I have always done, from the time I was a teen. I sketched my brothers and sisters, my parents and grandparents, my friends and neighbors. A few of these old drawings still hang in my mother's house... my sisters at age 6 and 14, one of my brothers at 16. They all have some gray hair now, but on the portrait wall they are forever young!

Pencil portraits were my main thing from the mid eighties to the mid nineties. I sketched so many local children that I couldn't keep them straight in my head. I would meet them in the store and feel bad that I didn't remember their names. I remembered the faces, though! I sometimes recognize adult people whose portraits I drew when they were 10 years old. I guess faces are forever, at least in my brain.

I still do portraits, because I just love faces! This beautiful face belongs to my niece, Grace.

It's A Start

It's hard to know where to start! This is a colored pencil still life, called "Autumn Gold". It was sold at an auction to benefit a historic farm restoration project in the town where I grew up in Massachusetts. Prismacolor pencils are my most often used medium right now, and the still life is one of my favorite subjects, so this seems an appropriate first post.