New Work

This is an oil painting that I did from a pencil sketch. I've been trying out oils (basically teaching myself) and now feeling somewhat comfortable.

By the Path
Oil on canvas, unframed, 11 x 14

There is an old, very interesting cemetery near my studio where I sometimes take a walk. The drawing I made for this painting is along a path and the old tree with its roots coming out of the ground intrigued me.

A quote of Ingres' has been tacked on my wall for a few years. "Drawing is the probity of art. To draw does not merely consist of line but also of expression, the innermost form, the plane, modeling—see what remains after that. Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the contents painting." 

Revised Pastel

It has been a long time since I've blogged (a year? Yikes!). But now I'm back. I've been doing a lot of new things; working on some oil paintings as in learning-to-do as well as experimenting in wood block printing. I will be posting some of those finished products soon. 

In the meantime I am re-posting a pastel painting (March 18, 2014) which got a little revision. I just couldn't keep my sticks of pastels away from it (happens all the time).

Lake View on the Rail Trail
Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes Drawing Paper - 16 x 20 unframed $150/ 18.5 x 22.5 framed $250. If you are interested in buying this painting email me at my gmail address: lizdayedwards

By the way, I found a blog the other day while looking at art work on Pinterest. I had discovered it while re-pinning a little sketch by Beatrix Potter that they had posted. It is a really fun blog. (A Poem A Day From the George Hail Library - Selected by Maria Horvath)  It features art and poems and it reminded me how much I love poetry but don't read it often. 

Here is one of my favorite poems:

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989)

Pears and Turner

You’d think my studio would be in perfect order. Isn't that what happens when you procrastinate? You clean and organize everything in sight rather than do the work you should be doing. But... my floor is unswept, am totally disorganized, and my work area is a mess. So it hasn't worked for me.

And then there has been the pre-crastinatation (a word my grandson, Joseph, made up - he says this is what you do before you before you procrastinate).  Doing both because I've been trying out new techniques in painting. Jumping from one thing to another. I have at least four projects (maybe its five) in progress but they're going nowhere.

What has happened though is that I have neglected this blog. Ugh! I need to get back to the drawing board ... and ... clean up my studio. I'd do better work and feel better, I'm thinking.

In the meantime I thought I'd post an old pastel painting that I did, I think, 10 years ago. 

Still Life of Pears    Pastel on Canson Paper

^{I took time out to go to a Turner Exhibit at the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem. Awesome show. It was tremendously inspiring. He is one of my favorites. It was an exhibit of his seascapes: oils, watercolors, prints. There were a few other artists thrown in but the only one other than Turner I really liked was Constable. There were two of his seascapes shown which I loved. Turner had such a wonderful way of making his paintings come alive. The drama of rhythm and movement is unsurpassed.}

Irises

We have lots of white and purple irises in our yard. I never know if they are called wild iris, Japanese iris, beardless iris, or Siberian iris. Anyway they don't have the decorative fan-like leaves. They multiply like crazy. Maybe they are called wild irises. My daughter found one random white iris at the edge of the property and I transplanted it near the house. It has now taken over a whole section of the garden and I've transplanted it in several other areas. 

Irises   Pastel on Paper   18 x 16 Framed

Found this perfect vintage frame at the Cider Mill where I have my studio. It may look a little blue on some computers but it is nice soft blue/green. The painting almost fit - only had to trim less than a quarter of inch on two sides.

Using Wallis Paper

I had said that I would try Wallis Sanded Paper so here is my painting. The problem I had with the Wallis paper is that is didn't stay flat as I worked. Curled at the edges. Maybe I should have taped it down instead of just putting clips to hold it. 

Studio Window, Pastel on Wallis paper, 9x11

I had some geraniums overwintering in one of my south facing studio window. Six plants which I managed to save for spring. The two large windows are perfect for this and the geraniums are now in our garden.

Ignoring the propane tanks that are outside and way below my windows, which I saw while painting this picture, I just put in blue sky and a hint of green of the trees which are behind the tanks. I was standing close to the window working at my easel. My studio is on the first floor but it is pretty high up and my usual view is trees and sky. Very cheerful.

It would be ideal to have north light instead of light from the south. I guess. But I find that a room with only north light is depressing (I took a class years ago at the Art Students League in NY in a studio with only north light). There are a lot of good hints on the internet about fixing south windows to get a north light effect. Really it is only relevant for me when doing still life painting and I don't do portraits. Anyway, it is nice to have a cheerful place to work.

In this painting I wanted to get the effect of the sun shining in the window. Still learning. Do we ever stop? No, never.

Here again after a long break!

I'm finally posting after more than a month's break. I was determined not to let this happen but life gets very busy, time passes, and things (I won't mention anything in particular) interfere and other things don't work out the way one would expect. I'm one of those artists who is always agonizing and then accomplishing little. Sigh...

Anyway, here is a painting that I had done when we lived in Dedham (as in Massachusetts). Am not sure this building and surroundings still look like this since I haven't seen the site in years so I hope those who know it will forgive me.

Endicott Branch Library, Charcoal and pastel on paper, 12 x 14, NFS

It is the back of the Endicott Branch library. The building was an old stable on the original estate. All the buildings, which include a beautiful mansion, and grounds were willed to the Town of Dedham by Katherine Endicott. Endicott Estate is an awesome city park. Besides the public and private activities that go on there it is a wonderful place for children and adults to play. My grandchildren have many fond memories of it. Every year Leila and I would rent out a small space in the wonderful greenhouse to plant seeds for our garden. I do hope the greenhouse is still there.

Rosie, asked for this painting. It started out as a charcoal sketch but I quickly decided to add some color with a few pastels. It was done on a type of paper that I would not ordinarily use for pastel so that alone is iffy. Before sending it off to Oklahoma I had decided that it needed a little re-touching with another layer of pastel which I've done. Typical me.

Flowers, Peaches, and Wine

A pastel still life painting.

Flowers, Peaches, and Wine - 11 x 14 Pastel on Board

I did this on Ampersand Pastelbord with Rembrandt Pastels. It was a different experience. The board has some tooth but the pastel builds up pretty quickly and then it is necessary to make it all smooth. I do like working this way. Very different from pastel paper or Wallis sanded paper. I've tried working on Wallis paper but don't have the knack. I'm doing a still life today on Wallis paper. Hope it works.

Picture from dickblick.com