How like a tree

Have you ever noticed how the veins and lines on a leaf look so much like the tree they come from?

Smaller and smaller veins, like smaller and smaller branches.  It makes me wonder. . .  How different can we truly be from all the other leaves on our family tree?  If my family tree is a maple, can all my efforts really turn me into an oak leaf?

Just wondering.

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. . . 

That's where the fruit is."

~ Anonymous

(I don't know what kind of tree this leaf came from. :0)  It just caught my eye this morning while I was walking the dog.  It was so vibrantly green and big and beautiful among the smaller yellow and brown leaves.)

Loosey Goosey, part two

I meant to be back sooner, but life has a way of getting in the way, doesn't it?  Since my last post, I did have the chance to finish this second painting of Horicon Marsh, though.  And today I took the four landscapes described in these last few posts, along with a few paintings of flowers which I did a year or two ago, up to the Horicon Marsh area.  They are going to be on display, and for sale(!), at the Celtic Crossroads Cafe in Mayville, Wisconsin, just in time for Mayville's 25th annual Audubon Days celebration.
:0) (Yay!)
Three more canvases are waiting for me to start painting on them next week.  But I'll also be getting back to regular blogging and tumblr-ing, as well as visiting blogs and answering e-mails, in a day or so.

Thanks to everyone for all your support!
xo

Loosey goosey

During this time of year, one of the most beautiful places in Wisconsin is the Horicon Marsh area, where thousands of Canada geese and other birds stop during their migration.   Inspired by all those geese (honk!honk!), it was pretty easy to be a little bit looser while painting this marsh scene.

I scratched into the paint to get some texture in the grasses and cattails, and I loved how it felt to just do it and not over-think the process.  It also has me thinking I should look at the two paintings in the previous post, to see what I can do to loosen them up a bit more.

There are a few important things I'm learning from doing these landscapes.  First, I can't rush the process.  No matter how much I want to finish multiple paintings in a day or two, I've realized that I need to step away for a while.  It really helps me to come back to a painting later to look at it with fresh eyes before I can finish it.

Second, doing these landscapes is forcing me to focus on details in a different way than doing portraits has done.  Because of all the portraits I've done recently, I notice people's eyes more now, for example.  Have you ever noticed that most people have one eye that is smaller and slightly less round than the other eye?  I've also noticed that it is more often the left eye that is smaller.  Really.  Try it for yourself.  I find this fascinating, and I'd never have noticed if I hadn't started painting portraits.  I love that!

With these landscapes, I need to focus on distance and perspective.  It has made me think how these are important in life, too.  How sometimes distancing yourself from a situation can give you a different perspective.  Yes, I do a lot of thinking about such things while I'm happily painting away.

So, next I have another marsh painting that I've started.  I want to go back and see how I can improved the first two landscapes, and then I already have some ideas for a few more landscapes.  And then, and only then, will I do some more faces - or flowers - or maybe some abstracts - or something involving textile or sculpture.

Sometimes it feels like I'll never have enough time to do everything I want to do, see everything I want to see, and read everything I want to read.  Like thanking everyone for their sweet comments on my last post, for example.  Big, big thanks to all who commented and e-mailed me recently.  I'll be getting back to you as soon as I can.

"Time brings all things to pass."

~ Aeschylus

The only thing constant is change

. . . so I decided to paint a few landscapes instead of portraits.

I think I'll do a few more.  I'm going to work on loosening up my style a bit more, too.

Today our sky here in southwestern Wisconsin is hazy and smelly from the smoke of a huge fire in the gorgeous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Northern Minnesota.  It amazes me that we can smell the smoke over 500 miles away.  (You can read about it here and here, if you're interested.)

My heart goes out to all the people and creatures who are impacted by the many wildfires around the country and the world.

"It is your concern

when your neighbor's wall is on fire."

~ Horace