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Pray for Peace
Day 264 of Week 38 September 2024

Oh That Tree!
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East Main Street Along Rt 22A 11x14 inch acrylic ~The After version |
Over, (I estimate), 15 years ago I started a series of paintings for places I see on my walks around town. The above is the first and only artwork I've done. Projects get put aside for other projects.
The small painting has been hung in various places over the years until today. The large tree on the left has always bothered me. I intended to add more branches. I mixed the colors. And then got lost on other areas. The house behind the tree, I didn't even notice I was covering it up.
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Main Street Before |
I see now from the Before version, what my mistakes are. At one point, I signed it as I was determined to leave it as is. The tree will go back to being smaller, the house more visible, and the shrubs on the left less shrubby.
As that's all going on, I look up to see another painting that I planned to finish hanging on the wall. Mostly because I liked the way it was except for the sky.
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An October Morning at the Field Puddle 16x20 inch acrylic on canvas |
As I was painting, to my surprise I remembered the original idea for the image. It is taken from several watercolor sketches I did in 1999 of snow geese landing with the sunrise to their backs. The sketches are missing. I have no idea where they are. Thankfully, I have the pencil sketches in a sketchbook. More painting to do, this time I hope I don't lose sight of what I'm trying to achieve.
Update: The sky is getting there. The tree had to go. It would be in the way of the snow geese landing.
In Progress, Leftover & Finished
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The Cosmos |
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Leftover Paint |
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Summer Mixed Media Abstract Acrylic 18" x 24" |
Thinking Again
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Autumn in the Vermont Woods |
This time of year, anxiety about missing the best foliage colors kicks in. I feel the urge to plan, makes lists, update passwords, clean out closets, and shop for a nifty tweed blazer and colorful scarf. Always there is an image building in my mind about what to wear when I go out and about to take pictures in the fall.
Am I shallow to focus on clothes? Nah. How we dress helps us embrace the atmosphere of the season. Dressing well is important.
This year, however, the tweed blazer has to go by the wayside because I will not pay hundreds of dollars for that perfect one new; and thrift stores rarely have what I am looking for. Buy fabric to make one is silly because the tweed I like just is not out there.
What to do? Think. How can I achieve the same look without a tweed blazer? Easy, change my mind to another look. Corduroy is a perfect fabric for a stylish warmth vibe. Even a denim barn coat with a neat tweedy scarf can channel a tweed feeling.
Thus, a size up corduroy jacket over a warm bulky sweater over a plaid flannel shirt with jeans and hiking boots is my look for Autumn 2024.
Do you style your look for the season?
Have a favorite jacket?
Day 257 of Week 37 September 2024
Friday the 13th
Blueberry Ice Milk
- Add sugar to taste or not
- Half a glass of frozen blueberries
- Cover with milk
- Let stand 5 minutes or so
- Stir
- Milk will freeze around the blueberries
- Enjoy!
Reflection Monday September 2024
Day 243 of Week 35 August 2024
Autumn is in the Air
Autumn is in the Air
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Dew On a Maple Leaf |
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Frosty Morning |
The foliage season is only a few weeks where it is near and at peak. Planning where and when to take photographs is the key to capturing the best of the leaf peeping season.
This year I have a 7 x 5-inch spiral notebook to write down the subjects I want to photograph as well as where, and when (aka the time of day). My theme of Embrace Nature helps me focus on those parts of the natural world I don't want to miss.
Traveling is an issue because I do not want to go far. Thankfully, living in a rural area gives me access to a large view of the fall personality.
A Monday Pondering Something
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Wild Grapes 2016 |
As development takes hold of a community, habitat loss may go unnoticed. A huge area of wild grape vines was chopped down years ago when the area nearby, (where horses use to graze), became apartment buildings. Housing is badly needed. (Update, recent look, not all the vines are gone.)
We are in the time of Find Another Grapevine, as far as birds go. I think about the bears that are showing up, (since the separate compostable trash rule began), and I see the grapes as a big attraction for the bears. Ugh. Balance isn't always as easy as it might seem.
Have a wonderful Week!
Surveying the Summer of 2024
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Otter Creek Falls |
Day 237 of Week 34 August 2024
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Spring Sunrise Along Route 125 Ripton, Vermont 16"x20" Acrylic In progress M. Flannery |
Frames.
It is very expensive to have artwork custom framed. This artist, and I believe many others, have to push our creativity to find inexpensive framing methods. An alternative is to sell artwork without a frame.
Unframed and without a mat, watercolors can be rolled and shipped in a hard cardboard mailing tube.
You can glue cotton canvas to hardboard. Hardboard is thin, easier to ship, and, will fit the thinner depth pre-made frames from big box stores or from rummage sales, and yard sales. Remove the print for your paintings. You can cut the hardboard to fit an old frame that isn't a standard artwork size.
Painting on solid primed wood is another alternative.
Yesterday on the way back from a thrift store donation drop off, I bought a nice wood decorative frame at yard sale. It fits my painting except for one wonky corner where the canvas is folded in thick. I can adjust that to fit.
Frames make a difference. As I return to painting regularly (or try to), I will begin with the painting in the photo above that has been waiting all these months. It needs the sunrise light added. I like it as it is, but a deal is a deal with my brain to continue with my original image.
The frame is thick wood with no dents or nicks in the frame. It is easy to find yard sale frames that are thin. The canvas depth on the frame in the photo is deep. I feel very lucky.
Ah, not lucky. I still remember arriving late to a big yard sale circa 1996 when I saw a man walking away with a very large gilded gorgeous ornate frame. My heart sank that I didn't get there before he did.
Old wood frames that are ornate are precious finds. If they have pieces missing or the wood is marred, restoring them to an acceptable appearance is, I believe, worth the time. The missing decoration sections can be replaced by making a mold from elsewhere on the frame and using that mold to make the missing piece.
Frame Your Weekend With Fun!