Tuesday, February 22, 2011

So Many Stories Left Untold

Time is galloping again.  I can hardly keep up.  Oh, I can be honest here!  I can't keep up.
After the rally today at the State House in support of the Wisconsin Workers, I bought son Jonah back to Barre where he lives.  We had thought we would go up to Lowell but it was so very cold, in the single digits, and my new snowshoes hadn't even done their first run.  While in Barre I had to stop off at the studio and take a very better photos as I had my secondary camera with me...much better than my iphone!

My studenat wanted to paint a flower last week, so she bought in a rose...not an easy flower to paint or draw, but we went for it.  I gessoed a large piece of paper, then drew the rose in my sketchbook, then on a 12x12 canvas.  Seems to take gesso a long time to dry, but finally I could take the oil pastels to it and turpentine and some oil paint....funny drawing as it stands now.  I was hoping to be more abstract but I don't seem to be able to go abstract from something real...only from my head and heart.

Worked on this canvas a couple of days, mostly Monday after my adventure which might be another post, but not a story for now.  Sometimes what I paint and how I paint surprises me.  12x12

This is a big one I am working on...several sessions into it...30x40.  For some reason these abstract pieces enchant me so much more than landscapes or roses.  I am also surprised by how black and white this one is.  Though truly there is more color to it than appears in this image.  I will be happy to check back in with it tomorrow.

I've finally cleared my silk painting space and started my new 2011 scarves today.  After a break of 8 weeks, it felt really good to let the dye flow.  I have less than 2 weeks before I fly out to AZ, taking Jonah with me this time for Mama visit and time with Martha and Terryl.  Need to get some things finished so a vacation lets me vacate.  Be well, my blogland friends.

3 comments:

Jayne Shoup said...

Maggie,
How funny that you want to paint "real life" objects more abstractly and I want to paint abstracts from my head. Aren't we silly?! I like your rose painting, BTW...

Maggie Neale said...

Hi Jayne, is it silly or just striving to be more? Second rose painting or first? Thanks for commenting.

Jayne Shoup said...

The first rose. I'm always a sucker for the first rose to bloom. We are far away from such reality. Come on, Spring!