Inspiration and the Orchid

oil, 24x36

Recently I read one of Picasso's great quotes, "The artist is a receptacle of emotion that comes from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider web."
Inspiration comes from everywhere. The idea for this painting began during a  Thanksgiving trip to Cape May, but it was viewing a new orchid bloom that inspired the color.
Color in nature is perfect. It's better than anything I could imagine. I am not sure if this painting is done yet. It and I need to be still.

opalescence of morning fog

24x36 oil on wood

Fog can have opalescence that is spellbinding. I worked with the wax medium to help me get that feel.

summer storm, finished

36x36 oil on linen

Finally finished. This is cloudburst's sister painting. Both paintings were inspired by my days in Chincoteague VA. I love that place...especially when the weather is stormy. The atmosphere and tremendous space ignited by the power of a storm... the way it emerges from the canvas is fascinating.

cloudburst finished

The best part about finishing a painting that was started a year ago is that I am totally free of the initial idea's grip on me. Now it becomes easier to just have a conversation with the painting. Waiting is always best.

playing with vibration and the dog walk

This is a new oil of mine. I have been working the landscape with only the vibration in mind.
Yesterday, after trolling online, I found this quote by Wolf Kahn."Rothko has given us permission to simplify our paintings by using color bands." Hmmm.
If you like that quote, check out this link to a Wolf Kahn publication titled Wolf Kahn,  Towards a Larger View:A Painter's Process. You can see the whole thing online. The publication is one I never saw before and speaks straight to my heart. In it WK shows how he takes his smaller plein air or memory pastels and allows them to morph into a large oil. Enjoy the read.

PS Keep those comments and likes coming! Right now there are over a hundred entries. Plus I need to add the extras for the people who keep commenting and liking! Baby is gearing up for choosing the winner in the BIG Chew #2.

size makes a difference.

oil 36x36

Taking a small painting and making it work as a large piece is not as simple as just sizing up. A different size requires a different look. This painting had this smaller 13x12 pastel as its inspiration. Some painters will grid a small painting and copy it.  I find that a larger painting needs a larger life.... it's not longer an intimate jewel.... it's more of an experience that you enter.

small pastel 12x13 (about)

In this one it no longer felt right to stream the trees across, one tree wanted to be the star. Enter sky.  This painting had so many metamorphoses.....I can't count. Yes, I had a thumbnail, but this was a bossy painting. Maybe that's what red is.
Now it will sit till I decide..done, or not.
BTW Due to the ice storm on Sunday the Waverly Street Gallery will continue the special holiday party on the night of the opening reception So please come join us on Friday, December 13, 6-9pm