First Day of Spring & Indulging in Art

Rose-O-Shannon Progression
Acrylic & Water Soluble Wax Pastel
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

With our part of the world being kept in an almost perpetual deep freeze this season, it's easy to let time get away from us. Dark days & cold, miserable temperatures can make one feel depressed, despite our not necessarily suffering from depression. 

It feels as if we've spent months just waiting. Waiting to be inspired, waiting to feel free. Free of layers of clothes & the subsequent piles of laundry. Free of the tedium of clearing & manuevering endless acres of snow. Free of the doldrums and hopeless feeling that spring may never arrive. 

And, while, in theory, this should be the perfect time to hibernate in the studio, it is difficult to do so. The thought of going beyond the radius of the fireplace was more taxing than joyful. 

But, today is astronomically the first day of spring. Over the last week, the snow pack has melted to show saturated greens & browns. Bunnies & deer have emerged, hungry. The birds have started to sing again. Flocks of geese have begun to return to the neighborhood, honking their way across the skyways. Yes, it is still snowing. Lightly & briefly, if the meteorologists are remotely correct. Soon it will stop.

Hibiscus, Rose-O-Shannon & Stella Doro Daylily Progression
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

The attempted arrival of spring has helped me to get some hustle going. I've been in the studio. I've taken account of the seemingly gazillion pieces & projects that have lain as dormant as the trees these last 4-5 months. It's overwhelming, in a good way. 

Base Acrylic Painting for Stella Doro Daylily
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

This particular project I'm sharing today is for a specific show. The details of the show preclude my sharing the purpose of the exhibit, but I still would like to share the experience with you.

There are 4 pieces started, each with acrylic paint to create a random pattern of greens & sunshine. From there, I sketched the flowers that I'm looking to paint as the subjects. I was excited to be working with acrylics again!

Tiger Lily Progression: Acrylics
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

BUT, as soon as I tried to paint the flowers with the acrylics, I remembered why I don't like using acrylics. I'm an alla prima painter which works wonderfully with oils & even watercolors. Not so much with acrylics! I know that you can mix some oil retardant with the acrylics, but, I need the pieces to be ready in a few weeks & that would defeat the purpose of using the actrylics!

Rose-O-Shannon Progression: Acrylic & Water Soluble Wax Pastels
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

So what to use? A-ha! Water soluble wax pastels! Great for blending & quick to dry, these beauties are just perfect for this project. I'll keep posting the progress as I go along.

What projects have you rediscovered lately?

And, mostly, Happy Spring, everyone!

Flowers & Five Senses

Bountiful Blooms
8x10" Watercolor & Water Soluble Pencil on 140# Strathmore 300 Paper
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

For so many years, I have gardened without gloves. My hands have been scratched, scraped, gouged, & bruised. Repeatedly.

With time, my skin also continues to get more and more sensitive to saps, sticky leaves and ant nibbles. So, this year, I've been trying to wear gloves to keep some of the "damage" under control.

I can't do it. It's too unnatural.

Just in the tedious task of weeding, it is much easier to "feel" where to grip the stem and how to twist and pull the noxious plant without gloves.

Then I started thinking about how tactile gardening can be: the silky sensation of a petal, the waxy smoothness of the pocket of a deep bloom. The strength that supports a multitude of colored crowns and the delicate curliques of a climbing vine can be sensed through naked fingertips.

Reaching deeper into the thought, it became obvious how the flowers in our gardens and in nature's fields envelop all of our five senses.

The visual beauty can be overwhelming in the flow of colors and textures. Either spread sparsely, elegantly amid grasses and trees or clustered like happy children, blending into a mosiac of life, the sight can be stunning.

Of course, inhaling the sweetness and freshness of blossoms is a treat beyond description. Memories and dreams are triggered with the slightest whiff on the breeze. Spring and summer become eternal, following a trail of scents that only flowers can create.

What do you hear in the garden? Whispers of the air sharing a laugh with you. The joyful hum of the bumblebees and the honey bees getting high on nectar. The swooping of swallow's wings, the hovering of the hummingbird.

How do you taste a garden? The berries, the grapes, yes. But just plucking a spike of chive and savoring the spontaneous zing can be delightful. Harvesting sunflower seeds, brewing chickweed tea. There are so many little surprises waiting to be sampled.

The next time you're feeling dull and uninspired, find a garden. Then let your senses run free!

Bird Squares: Spring Birds

Update:

Much happier with some final touches, texture to the Finch painting. Also thinking the name should actually be Goldfinch. 

 What do you think?

Goldfinch
3.5" squared Water Soluble Oil on Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

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Bluebird3.5"x 3.5" Water Soluble Oils on Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014 

Three of 4 squares completed; one more to go. Maybe...

I'm not entirely happy with Finch: it just doesn't look complete. It needs more work. 

So, for now, we'll consider it 3 1/2 done, one and a half left to go!

Finch
3.5 x 3.5" Water Soluble Oils on Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014

Poppies: Just In Time for Spring!

Poppies
8x8 Water Soluble Oils on Stretched Canvas
©2014 BEDeuel

Okay, so this presentation is a little bit reversed... but we are very ready for spring to come and stay!!

Normally, vanity would stop me from posting all the steps that it took to get to the final painting, but I wanted to share some of the problems that were encountered while creating the painting.

A nice start...

   

Composition is working, so far...

Something is starting to take over... 

Uh-oh! Need an outline to find the flowers...

Finally! The painting emerges!

White paint to the rescue!

Sometimes, I feel like I just want to chuck a canvas, but, with determination, the painting will evolve. That's the beauty of creating!

Completely Fallin' Over Falls

The almost final of the Untitled Falls I posted a while back:

And, a little, teeny change and, the final painting:

And, the title is simple & to the point! "Stony Waterfall".

IF Return

Returning to Flutter By
Water Soluble Pencil 5x7 140# Strathmore Paper
©2012 BEDeuel/Bronson Hill Arts

It's been an odd winter and spring this year: We had tempertures around 80 degrees a couple of weeks ago and, just last night, we had about one and a half inches of snow. It is a very confusing day when you can see cherry blossoms on the trees which are surrounded by snow.

But yet, knowing that spring really is coming to stay (at least a few weeks), to return for it's annual engagement, thoughts turn to taming the garden and flowers reaching for sunny skies. And butterflies.

A most delicate and resourceful creature, beautiful from afar and, truthfully, quite homely upon close inspection. Seemingly a free-floating element in the wilds of the wind but programmed to migrate on a set course. A being of contradictions, a wonder to admire.

While we expect to guess about the day-to-day nature of weather, maybe we should be a little more amazed by the complexity of the seemingly simple things in life like, well, butterflies!

IF Yield

Never Yield
6x6 Watercolor on Smooth Bristol
©2012 BEDeuel/Bronson Hill Arts

With the winds of March upon us, particularly here on the Hill, the vision of mightily fighting the gusts came to mind.

A damaged, broken umbrella has lost its purpose, while a swept-back coat offers little, if any, protection against the force she faces.

Yet, she still moves into the wind, determined to get to her destination.

From this point, I could launch a parable describing how this scene represents so many days in our lives. But, there really isn't any need, is there?

We can all see ourselves pushing to overcome the many hindrances that life throws at us.

And, thus the title: Never Yield.

Have a great and, however you might measure it, success-filled week!

Gardens, Gardens Everywhere!

                 

Back in March, I posted an inspiration piece called “String of Spring”. It was a first attempt at painting flowers and the result was mixed.



Original
String of Spring
6x18 Water Soluble
Pencil on 140#
Cold Pressed Paper
©2011 BEDeuel



But I call it an inspiration piece because, it inspired Stephanie of Crystal Allure Jewelry to special order a “String of Spring” to use in her own home. She wanted purple coneflowers with an eggshell background. Another idea to offer as a customized, art-for-fun item!

In developing the piece for her, I did a sketch that didn’t really translate well to watercolors. I kept it on the computer and, the other day I thought to use the computer’s Paint program to “colorize” it. And, I like the effect. It’s different than my other pieces, but I think that’s what I like about it.


Computer
Colorized Sketch
©2011 BEDeuel



I’m going to use it for a note card design to raise some funds for Hearthside Cats, a local, no-kill fostering program that provides so much for the community. Let me know if it appeals or not!

Oh, yes, and here’s the final piece designed for Stephanie:


String of Spring Coneflowers
6x18 Water Soluble Pencils
on 140# Cold Pressed Paper
©2011 BEDeuel


A customized “garden” for her wall!
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Speaking of spring:

As I’ve mentioned before, it was an extremely snowy winter which became an equally extremely rainy spring. Then when June came, the sun came out and the spring season lost her shyness.

When spring burst forth, all of our efforts were turned toward tending the lawn and gardens. And it started to look so beautiful. These pictures show how much so.
Then July came, all too quickly, and sucked every bit of beauty out of the glorious gardens. We watered as much as possible, but most of the annuals died and a lot of the perennials went brown and curly. It started to rain a little bit this last week or so, but the goal at this point is to salvage as much of the perennial gardens as we can so that they can regroup for next year.

And they will. They’ll rebound and bring all their loveliness along for the show. There will be two more seasons, each with their own offerings and pleasures, and, when spring is ready to re-emerge, we’ll be ready to welcome her again.

Hardy Determination

It's the fourth of May and it was 46 degrees and raining. There is a certain sogginess of spirit seeping through our collective soul. We've seen, perhaps, a day and a half of sunshine in weeks. We're drenched, physically and emotionally.

Unlike plants, our growth and expression, though, is not dependent on factors such as sunshine and warmth. If that were so, our minds and talents would lay dormant a great deal of the time. Yet, we are drowning in desire for a true spring to save us, while the plants have pushed forward in spite of the adversity presented by the weather.



Hya Cynth!



The Neighbors Say "Hy!", too

Stretching Before Our Tulips Pucker to
Kiss the Sky...

Royal Carpet Laid Out for Spring's Arrival

Myrtle's creeping up to visit you



Peonies Poking Purple Past the Pope's Peons



Coral's Bells Are Ringing!

And the Only Basket of Gold We've Found So Far...
But We Always Keep Searching!

Dance of the Daffodils

Bowing with Grace Into the Wind

Triplets



Grounded Grapes





Spring Peeping Over the Horizon



A Sneak Peek Up Close

Enough said.

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To those who've watched their worlds and more blow away, please hold onto the hope for tomorrow.

Keep searching for the gold.

IF Stir: Hope

Spring Stirrings
Permanent Marker on Smooth Bristol

When the Illustration Friday word arrived, my mind flew to an e-mail I'd received from Joan about a month ago.

I'd been kvetching about the long, long, looonngg, winter we've been having. Between the media hype about 2012 and all the other horrible weather around the country, even the world ( as sadly evidenced in Japan yesterday), I'd gotten very dramatic and written to her that it was beginning to feel like the "end of days".

This was her response:

"Yes, hopefully the end of days will end, and spring will push through. Of course it will. In February I always imagine that the green things are there, under the frozen surface, and they are yawning and stretching and shaking hands with each other and getting out their to-do lists. Making earth tea and inviting each other over and discussing all their plans for the Great Emergence. So much to do, so much to do. Polish those rhizomes, trim those brown bits, sharpen the tips. In just a few weeks, it'll be time to reach up and push through. All those bleary-eyed, saggy-souled winter survivors are waiting."

I've held this wonderful image in my heart for the last few weeks. It's a comforting scene of renewal and survival of the flowers, the trees, the people.

I wish I could share this vision with all the people of Japan. Thank you for letting me share it with you.