Day?

French Courtyard

20 x 16

oil on museum quality board

OK!  I know I said I was painting 30 paintings in 30 days as part of http://www Lesliesaeta.blogspot.com challenge for the month of January.  Admittedly, I am not up to 20 paintings that would be the total for today.  I have been painting nearly every day.  But due to sickness and then injury the first weeks of the month and (can I blame the rainy dark weather for some of this?)  I am just a little behind.  Hopefully now I am getting back into the swing of it.  I was able to photograph this painting today.  I have a few others who are in various stages of development that can be shot later this week including you guessed it, another poppy field!

This painting is from a tiny French village in Provence called Oppede that we visited and painted on our workshop in May.  Oppede had an interesting background with a fortified stone wall and a church that was up behind it on a hill.  Seems one of the major past times in olden days was to attack your neighboring village.  Then you had rulers who liked to tax everything and everybody.  Oppede started to fall into disrepair until artists and writers and others discovered its charm and began to restore the stone buildings and open businesses again.  I just know that I loved the architecture, blue shutters, and flowers that were there.  Thanks to Jackie with http://www.frenchescapade.com who hosted our group and took us to so many beautiful places.  And, I will give you a heads-up:  I am returning in May 2014 for another workshop and this time, an artist's retreat!  Watch for updates on my website http://www.Durinda.com  where you can sign up for my newsletter or check out my Fan Page on Facebook.  

So don't give up on me yet- I will see if I can put several photos in one post so you won't be getting something from me every day.  Then I will see if I can pin them to my Pinterest board that I made.  Wish me luck!

Hope the sun is shining where you are today!

Durinda

30 Paintings in 30 Days

Early Morning Market

20 x 16

Oil on museum quality board

 

I decided to challenge myself and sign up for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days on Leslie Saeta's blog: http://www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com .  What was I thinking?  Today was Day One and I painted a 20 x 16!!  I'm not sure, but just looking at the others on the posts, I think most were 6 x 6 or something.  I just thought, here is an image from Provence I wanted to paint and I have ALL DAY.  Right?  Well, you know what happens when you think that!  Everyone including the cat needs you to do something for them.  Not to mention the house still needs a good cleaning from Christmas, but I won't go there.

Actually too, I changed the scene somewhat.  The cart in the front was folded material and not flowers.  Luckily I had photos of flowers in the markets that I could get ideas from. SO, it may need a little more twinkin' in a few days but that's it for Day One.

Stay tuned for the rest of the month!  I plan to travel through France and Italy with my images.  After all, I haven't painted Monet's Garden since I returned.

 

Happy New Year to you and yours.  I wish you a prosperous and healthy coming year.

 

Durinda

 



Tools of the Trade

This blog topic is courtesy of Cooper, age 3, who was snooping, uh, visiting my studio. Anytime you have visual art materials it is a magnet for young children and old men (well, that's another story)!
Coop is at the age of asking questions. "Why?" "What is it?" "What do you do with it?" His curiosity about my supplies made me wonder if others would like to know some of the tools of my trade that you might not expect.
Sure there is the usual stock of paint tubes, brushes, and canvas or paper. But a good many of my tools come from the hardware and grocery store too.

Starting with my oil stash: a bungee cord. Pictured here as I use it in the studio on my easel. Also have one that travels with me to hold towels.
My studio palette is a sheet of glass from the hardware store. To clean it I use a paint scrapper. Then there's the level. It helps with checking the level of the easel while painting and also on the camera when shooting my paintings. Hand wipes or baby wipes are a must. Of course there's pliers to open stubborn tubes. Hey, who isn't cleaning off the tube tops?? Oh yeah, that would be me.

Watercolors have a few necessities. I carry a compass and a ruler. Then for BIG mistakes I have Magic Eraser. A small spray bottle comes in handy. A bottle of alcohol (rubbing kind that is) and droppers. I won't go into what all that is for! You need to take one of my watercolor classes for that! Then there's the paint blotter made from a handywipe and towels. Looks weird, but works!

And last but not least, a mirror. My studio has windows on 3 sides and faces north, yeah, I know, lucky me! But that doesn't leave me a wall for hanging a mirror so I use a handheld one. OK, give up? It's for checking my paintings as I work, silly! You can stand back and look but seeing them in reverse will REALLY show up any boo-boos like crooked lines or wrong values. And believe me, I put it to good use!

Another post will have to be about the strange stuff I carry with me when I paint outdoors, yes, there is more!

And here's the Coopster racing by on his hot wheels.  You know his visit was short in the studio because it was time to play outside! 
Now go play!

Durinda

If you haven't already LIKED my FB fan page, please do so!!  I will be able to do giveaways and other things once I reach 400 likes:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/Durindas-Fine-Art-Fan-Page
Also, just posted about the 2013 workshop to Venice!!

Games

I don't know if you are like me, but watching the Olympics this past week has been an emotional roller coaster. You want so much for team USA to win every event and yet you know that isn't going to happen. You watch as one tiny mistake, one fraction of a second, one too many breaths or whatever causes the athlete or team to be defeated. You know that the athletes have have put in years of training, spent thousands of dollars, and missed family and childhood events to be where they are and their possibly one chance of glory.

You know this relates to art, right? I think about students in a workshop who say, "I want to paint like you." And while flattering, that isn't going to happen in three days or whatever. I have always drawn and painted. I read art books and now art articles and blogs constantly. I have spent thousands of dollars to attend workshops and classes, not including my college stints. I have tried different media and styles and substrates. I was fortunate enough to have a mentor at first in watercolor. I have been fortunate since to study with some other highly regarded painters. But it all boils down to...

Practice! Just like the athletes, you aren't going to improve or find your voice or style if you don't put time into it. If you can only paint one day per week but you DO paint every week, that's much better than little spurts here and there, a different artist's workshop every month, a different dvd, etc. Yes, you can learn something from every artist, sometimes more from the other people in the class, sometimes what NOT to do, but ultimately, you are the art producer. So once you get your feet wet so to speak and have the fundamentals, choose an artist to study whose style you really admire. Choose classes or workshops on your level, not those that allow everyone from the real beginner to the most advanced. Choose sessions with small numbers in the class, even if it costs a little more. You are kidding yourself if you think you will get attention in a class of 30 or more and some artists demand that many in their workshops.

So, set some goals for the rest of this year to paint more or to improve whatever you do. And if you get discouraged, just be thankful there isn't an Olympics for art. You have plenty of chances to create your masterpieces and you can only get better!

Go for the Gold!

Durinda

Monet, Monet!

Jeanne and Pat on the Japanese Bridge in Monet's Garden

Yes, it was raining the day we went to Giverny to see Monet's House and Garden.  And, it wasn't an easy trip.  First, we left Paris on the Metro (their subway) to the train station.  Then we took the train to Vernon, a town next to Giverny because the train doesn't go to Giverny.  I think Monet chose this town on purpose for that reason!  So then you catch a bus from Vernon to get there.  You could take a cab, but then you would have to make arrangements for a pick-up since they don't hang around in Giverny.  Finally we are there in every painter's paradise!  I have been there and painted there in the past, but never saw the iris and the wisteria in bloom.  Amazing!  Even in the rain, the colors were spectacular!  

I just happened to catch ONE of the school groups having a group photo.  They looked to be 4 or 5 yrs old.  There were hordes of school children there!  I felt sad that it was raining on their field day but very pleased that their teachers wanted to bring the children to see the home and gardens of an artist! 
Monet loved children.  After his first wife Camille died, he and Alice who became his second wife, raised his two sons and her children in Giverny.  He painted them in the gardens.  I like to imagine the family living there.  The kitchen is my favorite room.  It is tiled in blue and white and is large and cheery.  I can see the children coming and going while Alice cooks, Monet outside painting with Blanche, one of his stepdaughters, rolling a wheelbarrow filled with canvases for him.  She loved to paint too! 
I just want to say, "Thank you, Mr. Monet, for devoting your life to painting and to gardening so that generations to come can enjoy your art and your home."  And thanks to the Claude Monet Foundation for restoring the properties and maintaining them.  If you like Monet's paintings, I hope that you have a chance to visit Giverny and see the places in the paintings!

That reminds me, I need to water my flowers!
Au Revoir!

Durinda

 

An Artist's Life

Van Gogh's portrait sculpture outside the Maison de Sante Saint-Paul  Mental Hospital in St. Remy-de Provence-France

I am still haunted by the memories of visiting the St. Remy mental hospital where Van Gogh stayed for a year (1889-1890).  He has always been an artist that I was interested in.  I wondered about his heavy worm-like brushstrokes.  What did he see?  What did he think?  The more I read and researched his life, the more questions would appear.

Fortunately for us, his sister-in-law kept all the letters that Vincent wrote to his brother Theo.  She also kept the paintings, hundreds of them that Vincent shipped to Paris, thinking that his brother the art dealer was actually selling some of them.  We all know he only sold one in his lifetime.  Thanks to Jo we have some insight into what and why Vincent painted what he did. 

At St. Remy, Vincent painted 142 paintings, some books say 150, and over 100 drawings.  Probably the most important period in his work. He had admitted himself to the hospital for rest, after a disastrous stay in Arles (I won't go into that).  When he was "improved" he was allowed out to paint around in the area.  This is where he painted the famous "Starry Night" and quite a few others that you would know. Think of all the money that Theo sent to cover canvas and paint! 

A bedroom typical of what Vincent would have had with a reproduction of one of his paintings he did while there.

Vincent for the most part, lived a very unhappy life, unable to have meaningful relationships with friends or family.  He had bouts of manic depression, maybe epilepsy, and maybe glaucoma.   But his inspiration to us is his passion and devotion to his art.  

So some of the questions:  Are we in love with his art or with his story?  If he were alive today, would his art be valued?  Would he be your friend or someone you would help?  Do you have to be crazy to be an artist? 

What do you think?

Off to the studio...
Durinda





ICE

Spending the day shopping at the street market in Isle sur de la Sorgue

May 17,2012

I don't know if you have ever traveled to Europe, but I am addicted to it.  There is just something about being in a new place that is very different from home.  I love everything about it.  There are however, a few things that we as Americans take for granted that the Europeans seem to live happily without.

Ice- never comes with a drink, not coke or tea.  Forget having it in a glass of water.  I know from being in New England it is not as common there either, but usually you can ask for it.  I figure the New Englanders are just too cheap to take up space in a drink with frozen water (sorry all my NE friends- this is a generalization of course!)  But in Europe, ice is used to keep things cold in a freezer and not to be consumed in a liquid drink.

Soft sheets and towels-never take for granted your indoor dryer and fabric softeners.  Most laundry is hung outdoors to dry in Europe just like your great-granny did it.  So no thick fluffy towels or 700 thread count cotton sheets unless you are staying in a 5 star hotel and paying the big bucks to sleep a few hours.  You're in Europe, for pete's sake, don't spend it in a hotel!

Washcloths-who knew that not having a washcloth would make any difference?  It's all in what you are used to, right?  A couple of our gals even bought some while we were there since they are not provided.  It is pretty universal in Europe not to have them. 

Shower curtains-some places do have glass doors for showers, but if there is a tub, there isn't a shower curtain.  You have to do the best you can to shower and not flood the entire bathroom.  OK, so it was me who flooded the bathroom in Paris the first day.  And given that you only get one towel for a week, you learn to direct the water so it doesn't spray all over the room. 

Toilet seats- now here's the "touchy" subject!  Few places have a separate men's and women's.  That means there usually isn't a seat on the toilet.  Guess it saves cleaning time?  No problem with keeping the lid up or down?  And that is if you are lucky enough to find an indoor toilet in a public place.  Yes, they still have the "holes".  I found it funny that they would have fancy metal hangers for purses or coats in the same room.  And usually have electric hand dryers.  I remember my dad telling me about the "water closets" that he saw when he was there during WWII.  Still there.  Maybe even some of the same ones? 

Despite the minor differences in things we deem as "normal" in the US, we 6 Tennessee gals plus 2 Minnesotans did a fairly good job of contributing to the ailing economy of France on this trip consuming delicious meals, pastries and desserts. And maybe a bottle of wine or two.  Not to mention the clothes, scarves, linens, and other items we all bought and brought back.  It was a hard job, but hey, somebody had to do it without ice on this trip!

For Memorial Day, let's not take for granted the lives and sacrifices of our military.  Enjoy your weekend.


Durinda