Friday, February 5, 2010

as the snowpocalypse bears down

24x24 oil on linen

As the snowpocalypse bears down on Washington DC and surrounding areas I am in the studio. This painting was absolutely howling through the studio walls, needing me there like a child in the crib. Now I have done all I can and I need to hold back and let it dry. That is the very hard part. When it dries I will continue. I am not sure what it will need, but am sure if I wait, it will tell me.

A little about the Washington DC area- snow dries people nuts. The grocery stores are empty and what little is left people are waiting in long lines to procure. I love the hype! It is apocalypse in a very fun way. People actually talk in the lines at the store, help each other on the street, have eating fests celebrating the storm and just enjoy the present of an unexpected break from the routine and their jobs. As soon as the snow is deep enough I will x-country ski through the parks and streets with not a care. It has been a very long time since this are has had such a wonderful real winter. I am a New Englander who grew up with real snow every winter. This feels so good. The one thing I won't do is drive...that is until the masses make it home and the crazy driving is done. Snow driving is not the DC strength.

10 comments:

SamArtDog said...

Glad to see you're being true to the grisaille; it was good and this is better. Has a great feel of the primitive New World to it.

Snowpocalypse--har har har. I heard there's like 2 dozen eggs and a bag o' bread at Safeway and that the food supply has been nuked by the storm/Soopa-bow combo. I love America.

loriann signori said...

Hey Sam...primitive New World???? What's that?
Yah, you're right the combo of soopa-bow and snow is something else! In Boulder, you don't have this snow craziness, do you? Snow is more, ......normal?

SamArtDog said...

Primitive New World, as in before white guys showed up with measles and guns. Kinda like George Inness's bucolic dream-come-true.

Boulder used to be better at snow before the PFAs (People From Away) moved here in 1860-something. To be fair, that would include me, but at least I came from Maine, where boy do we know snow!

Anonymous said...

I was thinking of you today, as the weather prognosticates were predicting 30 inches of snow in the DC area. Hope you are snug and warm and "weather" the storm creatively in the studio. Regards from not so sunny California.

Donna T said...

Gorgeous painting, Loriann! I can't believe how much snow we have - and it's still snowing! No driving here either ... can't find the driveway!

Janelle Goodwin said...

Love the transitions of color in the sky here, Loriann. I'm wondering if you use mixtures with white in them, or just transparent washes - straight.

Enjoy the snow while it lasts. Even though it's hard to get around it's mesmerizing beauty! Hope you get to cross-country ski through it all!

loriann signori said...

Sam..bucolic dream-come-true, George Inness..oh that primitive new world! Sounds great, thanks!
What's a "usual snow" in Boulder?

Marianne,
The studio, the home all was way too cold. it's amazing what happens when one is more concerned with keeping warm and dry and getting warm food. I guess that's what Maslow triangle, the hierarchy of need really means. No self-actualization before food water, warmth.
So sunny California isn't so sunny, eh? Still deludged with water?

Hi Donna..I know what you mean, driveway what driveway? what road? And more to come!!! Thanks about the painting!

Hi Janelle, Yep, I am guilty of white. I will do anything to get the vision I want.
You're right about the snow's beauty. Skiing, sledding walking,and of course painting in it are all favorite things! We even have more to come on Tuesday night!
WOW eeeee!

Adam Cope said...

I'll have to say beautiful...even though I absolutely hate snow, of any kind & of any thickness.

BTW, I love oil paint on board too? masonite with oil-based thixotropic primer, if u can get it.

paint on loriann! i'll get going whne the snow's gone;-)

loriann signori said...

Hi Adam and Thanks!!! The snow is quite beautiful to paint. This is a piece of birch. Sometimes I use masonite, but prefer wood. It feels different, don't you think?

Adam Cope said...

not sure about the grain of birch wood. i've got some old paintings on 'contraplaqué'(laminated sandwhich board), over 15 years old, from my student days, which don't look too good in terms of conservation. the grain has opened up. You won't have this problem with masonite. De Staêl painted mostly on masonite ('isorelle' en francais) & they look great 50 years on in the Pompidou.

i would think that a rigid support would be sympathetic for rubbing & stroking.