Still Life: Cherries

DSC05315, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

My college art professor lauded the benefits of doing still life studies as often as possible. He saddled us with the responsibility to create our own compositions. Truly, some of my favorite works were a result of these assignments. Here, I worked for about an hour on a bowl of cherries in a windowsill on a very windy day. The clouds would block the sun and delete the shadows from my view, and then the sun would reemerge, almost blinding me. Still, I need to do more of these.

Below is some pictorial documentation of the process.

The initial outline/composition sketch in charcoal:

Starting to fill in some tones:

Tones pretty much complete; adding detail:

Finished product:

Biking the Bluegrass

DSC05243, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

My husband and I decided to participate in this year's Bike the Bluegrass to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. Though we are not professional cyclists, nor are we exceptionally skilled at fundraising, we really enjoyed the trip and were able to complete the 125+ miles over two days without injury. I got into the habit of wearing my camera around me as I rode. I like how the composition is slanted - it represents my attempts to take pictures while riding. Dangerous, yes...but in my defense, the roads were all but deserted as we sped along from Louisville to Frankfort, and then from Frankfort to Lexington.

Peace

DSC05045, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

This is the baby sister of the toddler shown earlier, children of a favorite college roommate. This image presents a stark contrast with the prior shot, and has a bit of a divine light cast. I am starting to be aware of the way a shot can be divided, and this one has a very geometric, 90-degree feel to it.

I am trying to figure out how to keep Flickr/Blogger from cropping my pictures down to fit the layout, so please click on the above image to see it completely.

Movement

DSC05044, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

I am continually entranced by movement. It came about as an accident, as I was getting tired of the nasty colors a built-in flash casts over subjects in low-light settings. So I started turning my flash off. It resulted in hundreds (thousands?) of blurry pictures. Some are not salvageable. Some, like this, capture for me the essence of a fleeting moment in the life of a youngster. Indeed, were I to paint this even in the minutes after having taken the picture, the child would be already different - they grow so rapidly.

But this, to me, is the essence of bottling the energy that comes free with every two-year-old.

Studio, Space

DSC04978, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

Eric and I decided to take advantage of a great opportunity and rent the first floor of our condo as studio space for the three summer months I'm off school. That way, I would have a dedicated space to work, and I would feel compelled (since we are paying for it) to be down there as often as possible. It is amazing, the feeling of reconnecting with part of you that's been neglected. The smells of the oil paint, familiar faces on dusty canvases, the feel of the masonite in your hands...it is powerful.

My main goals are to practice, practice, practice. I intend on working specifically from pictures, just to get back into the habit (plus I have some images that I've been desperately wanting to preserve in oil paint), but I hope to also do some still life and experiment with other media. I hope I can share this space with loved ones as well. It's so open and airy. I will have a hard time giving it up in September, but deadlines are good for me. Stay tuned...

Man in Nature

DSC04483, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

If I could remember my art history, I could cite for you a number of painters that employed this drastic juxtaposition of a small human within the context of a very large landscape. Caspar David Friedrich comes to mind with some of his landscapes, though certainly there are others to whom this style would more readily be attributed.

It reminds me a lot of a shot I took earlier in the year:

DSC05387, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

Idol

DSC04252, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

This is a neat composition between cousins. The more I look at it, the more I like it. I like how minimal it is, with the most detail relegated to the corners. I like Kate's blurry hand, and how their lips pop out against the stark colors. I just think the expressions are priceless, as is the unspoken (but highly visible) admiration Kate has for her cousin James.

Dapper

DSC03888, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

The lighting is exquisite, huh? It's that warm grey color that settles after a good rain as dusk approaches. Christopher was swinging the umbrella around and stopped for me, for a split second before careening down a dewy hill. The white pants miraculously came out unscathed and unsoiled.

I love how his face is framed in the focus of the umbrella, and the background deep greens. The angle of the shadows is subtle on the pavement, but absolutely encourages your eye back to his face.

Sisters

DSC03889, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

This is probably one of my favorite shots from the year so far. I love the composition, the color, the expressions, and that fabulous flower girl dress - of course! It has a story all its own, but for now, I just want you to bask in the loveliness of two sisters.

VSA Side by Side

DSC02518, originally uploaded by aunt.meeb.

This is the second year in a row that I've participated in the VSA Side by Side program. I worked with two girls, one was a teenager and the other was about 8. With the teenager, we went out, took a bunch of pictures (shown in this set), and then picked out the ones we both liked. I then arranged them in a 3x3 grouping that was displayed with the student's other work. With the younger artist, we worked together on a couple watercolor paintings of trees. We experimented with my Chinese calligraphy set, and also studied a tree from life. I only had a total of about two hours with each girl, so we really had to be efficient with our time.

I was pleased with what we were able to accomplish, and I was thrilled that my nieces got a chance to see my art in a studio. Hopefully it will be the first of many shows? *fingers crossed*

I look forward to participating in the Side by Side exhibit in the future. It is a really great way to practice teaching techniques and get to know some pretty cool kids.