Never Far From the Phone

8 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

AH....The smell of  salt air, the seagulls making their seagull sounds...Summer, but wait!  Some guy is yelling on the phone.  That doesn't bring back my childhood memories of the beach!  Remember the days when you would go to the beach with just your blanket, towel, sunscreen, and perhaps a radio if there was a game on?  The point was to relax, get away from it all,  listen to the surf, and get some sun.  Now, everyone has to be connected to everyone else at all times.  No quiet time, no time to ponder life's mysteries (I never did that, but it sounds good :-)  Do we all have to hear other people's conversations?

Stuck Up!

12 x 12 Oil on Gessobord

Why I pick things to paint is a mystery even to me.  Personally, I think this guy misconstrued Dylan's "Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door."  My other thought is that he was just trying to show off his new Jimmy Choo shoes.  Stilts are in, you know :-)  Whatever it was, the man walking behind him thought he would make a good subject, too, and he didn't care that he was getting wet....

Not Hogwarts

12 x 12 Oil on Gessobord

So...This is not the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, although one might think so.  Looking around the reception room at my daughter's graduation made me feel very wizardly though.  It was her PhD reception, so there were a lot of black robes and colorful hoods.  I expected to see Maggie Smith at any moment :-)  Unfortunately, she wasn't there, but it was all very exciting anyway.  I have no idea who these two people were but they were having an intense conversation, possibly about how they missed Bill Clinton as the speaker the day before.

Nourishment

5 x 7 Oil on Gessobord

This was done for two really special people and is a total departure for me.  There isn't much to say about this one.  The name says it all.  I was going to call it "Imagine" because I kept thinking about John Lennon's song while I was painting it.  The part about."..sharing all the world."   We all need nourishment, though, don't we?!

Family Day

8 x 10 Oil on Gessobord

I'm really into water now :-)  Painting it is not as easy as one would think.  It's a struggle, but when it comes out the way I'd like, I'm thrilled.  These last few paintings I've done have been such a joy.  I haven't gone into the process thinking about what it "should" look like when it's finished.  I've just been letting it happen, and the outcome has always been a surprise...and a happy one at that.  For me, movement is always the key.  I must say, though, that I did get new contact lenses recently ... Perhaps that's what makes the difference :-)

Beach Divas

8 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

I spent my entire childhood and teen years doing exactly this.  The more burned I got, the better.  My goal was to get a tan.  Never happened!  Blue eyes, blond hair...No tan...When I moved to NYC, I even got one of those tin foiled folding things and would go to Bryant Park at lunch time to get a few rays.  I didn't look too odd because there were a lot of other young women like me, in suits, heels, stocking, etc,.doing the same thing.  Men were smarter.  You would never see a man in a suit and tie sunbathing.  Anyway, the two women here were in conversation, spending a beautiful day at the beach.  Fun to paint!

Riding In!

12 x 12 Oil on Gessobord

I am really excited about this painting!  First of all I had such fun painting it, and secondly it came out better than I ever thought it would.  I experimented with mixing techniques and strokes, and hit on one that worked and I'm happy with.  I'd love to say that one of these people is actually me, however, you'd recognize me as the one with the Mickey Mouse tube and water wings on :-)  I'm always amazed at the balance surfers have.  I'm on a beach kick now, so I'll be posting lots more.  My wonderful daughter-in-law caught this shot for me.  She's the best, and a great photographer!

Good Way to Start the Morning

8 x 10 Oil on Linen Board

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all!  This is exactly how we started out our morning.  It's hard to find good New York bagels here at the Lake, but there is a great bagel shop if we travel into Roanoke.  If there wasn't one around, we just might have to move back up North.  When we moved from New York to New Jersey, the local bakery advertised bagels, but we discovered really fast that they were just soft rolls with a hole in the middle.  After living there for a while, real bagel places started opening up.  Then came our move to Smith Mountain Lake...Again, no bagels until we discovered Roanoke.  So now that we have almost everything here, we'd better not move again.  Check out my great new coffee mug.  It's made by my favorite potter, Dan Perkins.  I absolutely love it and use it everyday.  I make sure I switch hands when I lift it, though, because it's heavy and I don't want bulging muscles in just one arm... :-)

Beginning of Summer

12 x 24 Oil on Gessobord

SOLD

OK..Technically it's not summer yet, but I just got back from a week in Florida where it most certainly is summer.   Hot and humid, and rain every day, which made me feel like painting the beach.  My favorite season is not summer, and I avoid going to the shore during June, July and August.  Love the Fall and Winter, though.  That's the best time because all the children are back in school, and you pretty much have the beach to yourself; and in the Fall the water is still warm enough to swim.  Yikes, I sound old.  I think I remember my parents saying the exact same thing.  Uh Oh.....

Outsider Artist

12 x 12 Oil on Gessobord

SOLD

This is how most of us who become artists start out. You can't get a better canvas than a Brownstone stoop.  I have painted Rocky before, and I must say he is turning into one of my favorite subjects.  I'm pretty sure his father helped him with the face, but you can see him starting one of his own.  It's so cool that they live in this part of  Brooklyn because that's where my parents and his great grandparents lived.  Probably not too many blocks from this building.  Life's all a big circle, isn't it?!