Last Day of March

I want to paint.  Parenting is so tiring, I haven't been able to stay up after the children have gone to bed so I can paint.  I am hoping tonight I might.  We are suppose to have a big storm tonight and tomorrow, maybe I can paint then too.

Early Spring Chickens

I was looking for a landscape to paint.  I looked outside and there before me was the chicken coop.

So I watercolor for a few more days, then onto a new artist. 

Who should it be?

Grace Hartigan or Cezanne

New Portrait

Hello
I am in a much better place today.  I was able to sleep in, Lucien decided to take a long nap and I think I finished the self-portrait that I have been working on for a few days now (in little 20 minute blocks of time).  It is my first acrylic self-portrait.  I really like having a painting project.  I am also looking forward to beginning a life drawing class.  That I hope will help me learn more about how to see the shadows.

So first I drew a pencil sketch of my face, then I transfered it over to the canvas. 

The next step was finding time to paint, I did that and my chin dimple looked like a life saver. 

I went to repair that lifesaver but my color was a little orange,

so then today I fixed the orange and lost some of the lighter colors, but gained some clothing. 

 I guess I could redo over and over but I am calling it done for now.

Day in the life of me

Wake up
nurse baby
bathroom if I am lucky
change baby
make breakfast for kids
eat if lucky
feed the dogs
keep baby out of the dog food
feed baby banana
keep dogs from eating the banana
nurse baby
drive older children to school or acting class or track practice or dance class or music or friends house
baby sleeps in car
if I am lucky I can sketch something from the car while the baby sleeps
home again
baby wakes when I try to move him
nurse baby
change baby
pick up the toys
do the dishes so I can make lunch
make lunch
feed baby
uh oh last diaper quick do a load of diapers
pick up the toys again
keep baby out of dog water
block the stairs baby is halfway up
pick up the floor
nurse baby
dry the diapers
pick up older kids
oops baby sleeps 5 minutes  no nap at home today
change baby
nurse baby
snack for kids
clean up after kids
nag kids to clean up
make dinner
clean up
nurse baby
ah sleeping baby
feed dogs
older children to bed
now I finally get to paint unless I take a bath or have already fallen asleep
This may not seem like alot but boy is it tiring.

I want a whole day to just paint and read and draw and nap if I am tired.

Marin Style painting

So after spending a bunch of time outside today I finally made the move and painted the landscape.  Marin had a respect for the natural world.  I was feeling very happy for spring, the amazing sun and new life.   The snow is melting away.

Work

I like to play with paint.  This is why I have decided to become an artist and explore different artist’s lives and techniques.  I want to find my own special style.  I want to learn the skills to make my playing with the paint more effective.  So I need to learn to draw.  I have been working on noticing shadows today.  It was a cloudy day today so it was not easy to notice the shadows, but I have opened my eyes to see the light and shadow of the objects around me.   I painted a still life, a quick watercolor still life.

  I am realizing that have a lot to learn.  The other day I really needed to play with the paint, so I did and it was fun.  I need to remember to go back to what I think is fun every so often so that I keep my motivation to learn more going.  I like acrylic paint.  It has an ease about it. 

 Watercolor is not easy, but I am slowly learning the techniques needed to make it more fun.

Watercolor

Watercolor painting is harder than you might think.  I still need to practice patience.  I tend to move to fast then the colors blurr together.  Practice practice practice.

Pollock

I just watched the movie "Pollock" about Jackson Pollock.  What a disturbed individual.  He may have been brilliant but had a couple problems.  I am interested in his wife's work, Lee Krasner.  Amazing what women put up with.

Lucien still sick, but I painted today. 

Time to Paint

So the reality of my life is that I have 3 children.  It is March.  Everyone is taking turns being sick, so when do I have time to do my painting and researching?  Well, today while holding Lucien in the carrier I practiced greying colors using the opposite color.  I explored red and green today.  Lucien slept with his fever of 102 and I painted.  While he slept later in the bed, I fell asleep to a lecture about Spanish art in the Louvre.  I wonder how much I will retain of this information.  I am sleep deprived and so tired of sickness.  I need spring so I can go outside and paint it.

Field Trip

If you are looking for a great field trip.  My grandmother has a show up at the Chocolate Church Art Center in Bath, Maine.  She was born in 1919 and has paintings in the show from when she was twelve to the present day.  It is really a great show.  These are some of my favorites.

John Marin

John Marin seemed to appreciate the beauty in life.  He painted that beauty as he saw it.  He felt that paint was alive and needed to express itself.     He lost his mother shortly after he was born and when to live with his aunts.  He lived with them for over thirty years.  When he was finally allowed to study art he travelled to Europe and when he returned he never went back.  He married and had a son and summered in Maine and painted.  He was friends with Alfred Stieglitz who had a series of art galleries in New York.  The art in these galleries ended up defining Modern Art, artists who first showed their work in these galleries where artists like Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

In John Marin’s career as an artist he did some amazing etchings, watercolors and oils, but is probably know for is watercolor more than anything else.  When he wrote he used dashes and capital letters instead of traditional punctuation.  He drew the lines and shapes that the earth showed him.  He said “An artist has to construct shapes seen-to his own shapes the triangles and squares & circles which he creates he would never have created if he hadn’t seen triangles circles or squares in nature all his life…so that’s the source of his gettings-he being a natural object himself he can never get away from this (his seeings and hearings) and they register within himself and he uses them”.

He had an artist’s eye for movement and a respect for the earth .  “Go look at the bird’s flight-the man’s walk-the sea’s movement.  They have a way-to keep their motion-nature’s laws of motion have to be obeyed-and you have to follow along. The good picture embraces these laws-the best of the old did-that’s what gives them their life…”   

He loved to be in nature, “ Watch those animals put their feet down-they have respect for the Earth.” 

He loved classical music and often looked at his paintbrush as his instrument. “… and as to whether that Musical Instrument be brush, camera, spade, saw, or fiddle-matters not-provided that it give”

John Marin is a fascination person to study.  He didn’t care for intellectuals and didn’t like abstraction but often his paintings at first glance appeared abstract.  “John Marin by John Marin” is a collection of his writings and it gives a small look into what made John Marin tick. 

Now I will begin my work on seeing the movement and shapes in the world, so I can produce a John Marin inspired piece of art. 

Self Portrait

To see John Marin's self portrait follow this link.
http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/eye/html/l_marin.htm

John Marin

So I am studying John Marin.  Today was my first day.  So here is what to expect.  I am going to study for about a week then report on what I learn.  In the mean time I am going to practice my art and develop my style. 

My grandfather was inspired by work of John Marin.  To read about my grandfather go to http://lucienday.net/
and click on reviews

"Lord how wonderful it is to be-alone-for then in imagination you can have any Companion you want and can get rid of when you want-My temperament cannot stand having a bunch around me wherever I go."

 -John Marin