Back to Basics

Hand In Pencil by Pencil in Hand
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Lately, it seems that we may be catching up with the list of summer projects. The house is rearranged to the point of being usable. Vacations are almost done for the season. Gardens are as finished as they will be for the year. Kids are set on their career/college paths. We’re finding some time to spend with friends and family again.

One of the things I just haven’t been able to motivate to work at, though, is getting back to the studio. It sits up those stairs, all clean and organized. Materials overflow: canvases, paints, brushes, pencils, frames and framing supplies.

I want to do artwork, I need to do artwork. It makes me feel good, it pleases my senses & my soul.

Part of the issue is that I haven’t found an inspired block of time to dive into the process. Ideas are overflowing, design execution ready to be applied. But that 3-4 hour span of uninterrupted creation never seems to happen simply because, darn it! something else pulls me away.

I’ve been trying to start the practice of a doing a “little” something regularly. Okay, I’ve done it once. But, that counts as “starting”, right?

The first (yes, there will be more) is this sketch of my own hand. It was just a quick exercise in the basics.

And, that seems like a great place to start, doesn’t it?

Summertime

Charleston Garden
6x6 Water Soluble Oils on Stretched Canvas
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Summertime is here and, yes, almost gone. Where, oh, where have the long days of sunshine gone?

It's been awfully hot all around the country, including these netherlands of upstate New York, land of snow and snow. So, yes, summer is still going strong, even if we are on the shorter end of the long days.

But with the "dog days" of summer, it seems to be too easy to waste the days. In avoiding the heat, we languish.

Is that really a bad thing, though? No, it's not. The quote about "mad dogs & Englishmen" always rings true to me at this time of the year.

The painting here, Charleston Garden, was inspired by a photo taken many years ago while wandering by and admiring the lovely, gated gardens in that city. It took a lot longer to finish the painting than it should have, and, while I do like the final result, it's missing a key part, the part that held up the final brushstroke. I couldn't paint a decent looking, white cat.

The original photo depicted a pretty garden with a white cat in the foreground lazily cleaning him/herself.  The image of comfortable indifference was entrancing. It was the picture of the perfect way to spend the summertime: relaxed, casual, easy. S/he was doing only what was necessary and doing it slowly, at that!

So, taking a cue from my white, Cheshire cat (that only I can see), it's time to kick back in the hammock and enjoy what is left of these wonderful, sunny, hot days! Hope you do, too!