10-minute Portraits

Mailboxes

It’s not how I intended to spend my summer. Many of my best paintings have been inspired by our summer home on the island in Abrams Pond. But we wanted a destination to walk to. Wouldn’t it be grand to walk up to our mailbox and see who had written to us? And so, with some persistence, my husband Tony got us a mailing address. Now we just needed a mailbox. We bought a big black one, one that could hold packages if need be. Tony suggested that I paint a Loon. They are ubiquitous on our pond … and besides, they are mostly black. It was a wonderful suggestion, and we were both pleased with the outcome.

The following week we found ourselves at Town Hall for the Abrams Pond Association meeting. During one of our breaks Tony sought out Kelly, the woman who had given us the address, to thank her and show her the mailbox. Kelly was enchanted. So much so that she fairly insisted that we sign up for a booth at Eastbrook Days. On the application form we wrote “artwork and photographs”. Kelly deliberately added: “Mailboxes”.

And so I was obliged to paint more mailboxes. We picked up three at Home Depot – black, white, and grey – for me to paint. The young man at the checkout counter was curious about our purchase, and when he learned what we were doing, he said he would be interested in a mailbox. Encouraged, we brought the mailboxes back to the island … in an aluminum canoe during a thunder and lightening storm, but that’s another story … and I had one week to paint three mailboxes

Tony encouraged me to extend the lesson from the first mailbox: use the color of the box in the composition. On the black box I painted black-eyed susans: wildflowers that cheerily spring up in the blueberry fields all around us. On the white box I painted a moose family in the snow. And on the grey box I painted fish that are native to Abrams pond: a pickerel on the back, and on the front a small-mouth bass chasing a lure (which is only exposed when the flag is raised). Here are the results, front and back.

Eastbrook Days was fairly successful. We sold the mailbox with black-eyed susans right away. My future daughter-in-law wants the fish box for her Dad, an avid fisherman. And another summer resident of Abrams Pond commissioned me to paint blueberries on a green box that she brought out to the island on a kayak.

I did not intend to spend my summer painting mailboxes. But in the end, what is the purpose of art other than to bring joy to the people who purchase it and then live with it? It looks like I’ll be painting mailboxes for awhile. Let me know if you want me to paint one for you. 😉

Skinny Pop

Over this past Memorial Day weekend, we spent an afternoon with friends at the reservoir. There was a group of children playing with their dog … in the sandbox, in the water, on the grass. The only time they seemed to sit still was when they were snacking on the Skinny Pop popcorn.

I quickly sketched some of them in action (bottom left). I even got the two older kids to sit still for pen-and-ink portrait; a third child agreed to sit for me and then immediately changed her mind (top left). I also took a lot of reference photos. At home, based on those photos, I did a rough value sketch to work out the composition (right). The final step was to lightly sketch the outline on my watercolor paper, and then start painting.

For me, the finished watercolor captures the beauty and spirit of the day … and of those kids and their dog

Sunflowers for Ukraine

Like many others, I find myself preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and the human tragedy that is continuously unfolding. I decided to paint these sunflowers as a sign of support.

I started with a photo that I had taken two summers ago. I had been meaning to paint them — big bold and beautiful — but hadn’t gotten around to it. This was the excuse I needed. I chose watercolor as my medium because of its expressive tendencies.

When I had finished, I posted the picture on Facebook. Imagine my surprise when an old friend from high school offered to buy it! And so I decided that it was meant to be. Maybe it was connected to Easter week somehow. But I sent the proceeds directly to the Ukraine relief fund managed by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. My sincere hope is that this all brings joy to the recipient of the painting, and some comfort to some refugees from Ukraine. If anyone else is interested in donating to this worthy cause, the link is here: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/presbyterian-church-u-s-a-seeking-support-for-humanitarian-response-to-ukraine/

Happy Easter.

3-Hour Oil Portrait

I recently purchased a video from the amazing portrait artist Rose Frantzen. Of course, I wanted to put it into practice right away. So I signed up for one session of the long pose at the Art League of Long Island, run by Donna Harlow Moraff.

Virginia, herself and artist, was modeling in front of a backdrop that Donna had selected as a setting for the painting. I had a 12×16 canvas, my palette set up, and 3 hours to sketch her. This is the result:

Sparrows in the Spruce Trees

Our summer camp has a front deck that is surrounded by trees. Every morning I start my day with coffee on that deck: watching the sun come up while listening to the birds sing. It makes me feel at peace with the world.

The song sparrows have an especially thrilling song, full of beauty and urgency at once. Unlike the house sparrows I know back in suburbia, these sparrows are shy. They flit quickly from tree to tree, and tree to bush. To be able to see them and identify them feels like a triumph

And so, watching day to day, I was inspired to paint them. In the modern world we often get wrapped up in our own social connections and crises. Yet the birds have a seemingly separate life with their own social connections and concerns. With this painting I hope to bridge that connection. Perhaps we can look at ourselves as we look at the birds and find reasons to be thrilled, inspired, and at peace.

So how does this make you feel? I’d love to hear your reflections.

Wedding Portrait

I’ve known Grace since she was a baby. This summer I attended her wedding. She’s always been such a beautiful girl, I wanted to capture that beauty in her wedding portrait.

This is the result. She was very happy with it, as you can see!

Otis Farmer’s Market

This last weekend Tony and I went to Otis, MA to visit our friends Jay and Donna. Jay had a gig playing at the local farmer’s market, and he asked Tony to come along and play with him. Walking around the market and meeting the vendors, I talked to a lot of interesting people: some of them farmers, but many of them entrepreneurs with novel products. One was a young woman who made candles and 3D-printed novelty items. Her new business is called Slow Down: an Aesthetics Company.

After my walk around the market, I set up a chair and began sketching the musicians in the midst of the vendors. A young man approached me and asked if I would sketch his girlfriend, who happened to be the owner of Slow Down. He wanted to buy the sketch, but didn’t want her to know about it. I agreed.

It’s difficult to draw someone who is moving around, with and without the mask. But because it was a commission, I wanted the drawing to be both bold and flattering. I think I captured the essence of the young entrepreneur and her eclectic product display. As the market was closing, I presented the drawing to her, and she was thrilled. I was thrilled, too: what a great way to spend the day at the farmer’s market!

Diversia: People

It’s funny how different judges like different pieces …

When I entered the Diversia: People competition, I thought my latest watercolors were strongest. But then I discovered that I could enter 6 pieces. So of course I included Women’s March, which was selected for 2 other juried shows. And then I threw in these two paintings of my son, Alex. It turns out that this judge liked the paintings of Alex best! And so, here they are. You can click on either painting to see them in the show.

Atop Mermaid Rock

Night Music

Skin Tones

In my quest to master portraiture, I have taken a lot of classes with some wonderful teachers: Anu Annam, Jan Guarino, and Nanette Fluhr. I have also been reading a lot of books. In one, Chris Saper made a claim that floored me: that all skin tones, no matter what the race, are shades of orange. Of course!

So I decided to try this out. I painted a quick series of faces in watercolor, each using a red and a yellow (for the orange) and a blue (to de-saturate the orange and fill in the shadows). I wrote the colors used under each face so I wouldn’t forget. This is the result:

Skin tone study

I then moved on to paint a watercolor portrait using just 3 colors. The drawing for the portrait had been done in Anu’s class some time ago, and so I welcomed the excuse to finish it. The colors I chose were Cadmium Red Light, Lemon Yellow, and Phthalo Blue. And so here it is:

It’s so exciting to see what I can do with just 3 colors! I can’t wait to do the next one 😉