Theme of the Week: Painting Subjects

Welcome to Summer! 🌞

Changing your mind about a theme for the week is a good part of the idea as flexibility and creativity are cousins. Music was the planned theme first this week. Why change?

A documentary on YouTube, “Wyeth,” 2018 inspires me to select this week’s theme:  Painting Subjects. 

In art and writing, the high priority is to create what you know. The film set me to exploring how I chose subjects to paint. What do I know?

Flowing with the moment. Clutter comfort turns into a shop of painting subjects, so much to choose from. I would define myself as mainly landscape and abstract artist. Attention to still life will be an interesting path to follow this summer. 

First Subject: A banana peel

A Banana Peel
Digital photo 2026

Day 170 of Week 25 June 2026

This week has had a Saturday morning vibe. I thought today that will change. It has, to an atmosphere of summer is ending instead of Juneteenth and Midsummer Night’s Eve. 

Overcast skies with rain in the forecast help set that stage.

What plays on the mind with impish moods braided through the stream of my life? Is there a key to open the mystery? Probably. The hints I’ve been noticing are through links bloggers post to amazingly creative websites. 

It is possible to be in a rut without knowing that’s where you are? Who wakes up everyday right off analyzing who they are? Not me. 

In a recovering from a health issue flare up, my menu has changed. I no longer have a hot coffee, tea or other beverage in the morning. I no longer have milk. My dairy source is Greek yogurt. Gone are citrus, spicy and rich desserts. Cheese is no longer my go to snack. 

Hmm? Could the fun Saturday morning cartoons vibe be due to my eating differently? Methinks yes. It could also be an emotional isostatic rebound thing after suffering through episodes of 8-10 pain levels. My spirit is embracing the absence of pain by giving me a Saturday morning vibe all week. I shall not complain about that. 😎

Have a painless weekend!

Plan a camping trip

Attend a local event

Draw a statue wearing a traffic cone

Dance to bagpipe music

Read about the neurology of joy

Bake sweet potatoes

Design a floral fabric

Have a nice thick coffee shake

Almost
(a capturing raindrops attempt)

A Sunny Day in June 2026

New Haven River up stream 

Rock roses by the riverside
Eagle Park, Lincoln Vermont

Down stream
The New Haven River in June

What are you going to do with good weather?

Get outdoors!

After errands this morning, realizing I am up early enough for the McD breakfast menu, I go that way. 

The thrift store is open. I stop there.

On my keep a look out for list is a dress, a casual style for summer to dress up or down. The dress I considered before (a few times), finally made it with me to the checkout desk. There were days my closet had many dresses.  

After the thrift store, I visited the New Haven River in Lincoln, Vermont. Heavy rains cause the water to be running fairly fast. The sunny weather is ideal for a picnic lunch next to a sparkling river.

At home now, I can hardly keep my eyes open.

Hilarious, typing, at home now, through spell check editing, stated something that read like, I’m high now. No, I am not high nor do I take anything to get high. Spell check combined with keyboards not fat finger friendly is becoming a constant source of laughs as well as moments of sheer horror. 

Eagle Park, Lincoln, Vermont
along the New Haven River
fishing platform

Magazine Week

What fun a theme is! 

Having a purpose, an enjoyable thing to do as part of my day is proving to be wonderful. As I gather up a few summer editions of “Yankee Magazine,” (dating from 2021-2023), up pops a 2004 edition of the “American Art Review.” (The local library use to have loads of great magazines at their book sales.) 

My feast of reading about art starts with the article, “The Western Massachusetts Art Trail.”  The border to Massachusetts from here in Vermont is about a 2 hour drive (200 miles +/-). I feel giddy with dreams of going on an art excursion someday.

As it goes, it is a learning experience to select a painting from which you paint your own similar scene from life, in the style of that artist. I did that once using as inspiration a tree painting by Van Gogh. Below is my painting of a local tree.

Be inspired, read about art.

The Tree 
9x12 inch acrylic