Back in the Studio with Highbush Blueberry

Highbush Blueberry Winter, 34" x 24" Oil on Board (2011)

Highbush Blueberry Winter, 34" x 24", Oil on Board

I returned to my studio this week after 2 months away.  I found myself completely dry of ideas and decided to rework High Bush Blueberry, Winter.  This was the 3rd in the series of the high bush that I see on my walk through the woods.  I've been dissatisfied with this painting since calling it finished.  I could never get the bush to glow against the blue like I thought it should.  Recently, I was at the Boston MFA and looked again at Childe Hassam's Boston Common.  His use of oranges and yellows on a snowy day inspired me to rethink my palette.  I'm so surprised how much more the burnt sienna and umber of the bush actually pop against the oranges and reds than against their compliments.  I will continue along with this change, and post the results when done.

Meanwhile, I checked in at Roger's Gallery to discover that my Hydrangeas had just sold.  I brain-stormed with Ruthie and Carol about future paintings and came away with a refreshed enthusiasm.  As my teacher, Reginna Granne always advised, "just go into the studio 20 minutes a day and work will come."

Coleus

Coleus, Watercolor on Arches, 10"x10"

This piece was begun in a watercolor class I'm taking at the Anna Maria Island Art League.  The first class was so disappointing I almost didn't return to the second.  The teacher is, well, no teacher.  For a 2 hour class he was 15 minutes late, took another 30 to arrange the most ridiculous items for painting, then moved them well into the drawing period, and spent the final 40 MINUTES circling the class showing pictures of his own work from his cell phone.  He did not demonstrate one thing, did not assign any exercised, talked over anyone who began to express a goal.  
When I returned this week I encountered 2 women from the class hastily arranging tables and setting up some control over the class.  They, too, had complained and had similar problems with the class.  The teacher moved the plant to a totally different view point and then told each person their view of the leaves was off.  OY!  We all kept saying, "but you moved the plant."  
I just searched for color and value.  But what I wanted was to learn techniques that would leave the painting translucent, sparkling, wet looking.  He was no help at all.  So, I'm ending up with a very opaque rather boring painting.  I actually have found more help on youtube.  

Anna Maria Hibiscus

Anna Maria Hibiscus, Gouache on Arches, 7"x6"

Other than quick washes in a sketchbook, I have not worked in watercolor for years.  I'm interested in developing wc skills because I want to work in color when we travel.  This piece is done with gouache, though, because I thought it might suit my oil painting habits.  Tomorrow I am taking a class in watercolor to understand better how to maintain a palette, how to develop color with washes without turning the paper to rubbish and how to maintain that wet, glistening quality.  Recently I saw Sargent's watercolors at the MFA.  They were so similar in both technique and surface that I thought gouache might just be the medium for me.  

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12"x12"

I've been bothered for some time with the two blossoms that sit directly above the center and a little to the right.  They just feel too big, too close to the center blossom.  They seem to throw off the balance and unity of the piece.  To address that a bit I added leaves around them.  I'm still not sure they should belong. Below is a version edited in PhotoShop to see other options.  

Hydrangeas

These images represent the last 3 working sessions.  They are also a good look at how the light in the room can effect the photograph.  The top 2 images are closer to the true colors.  The days are quite gray and dim which causes me to use artificial lights in the studio.  This doesn't impact my color as much as it does coverage.

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12"x12"

This is a quote from the an article John Yau wrote for the online magazine Hyperallergic.  It references Richard Van Buren's sculptures. 
Van Buren’s understanding of time is what sets him apart from his peers. His works are not about the timeless present (Judd and Dan Flavin) or the body (Eva Hesse), nor do they reference art history — Jackson Pollock’s poured paintings, for example. Rather, they acknowledge that time shapes us into forms that we may be unable to recognize, which, if you think about it, is a rather disquieting perception of infinity. 
Deeply, I think this refers to more than our bodies.  Our characters form into qualities that would have shocked us as children or young adults.  Sometimes this revelation is a pleasing one, sometimes not so.  
John Yau was a writing teacher when I was at Bard. And, as a poet not a painter, he was a wonderful critic and would astound me at his insight into both the aesthetic and plastic elements of art. John would probably find Hydrangeas uninspiring, boring and commonplace.  

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12" x 12"

I spent about 3 hours today on the left side of the center blossom.   The petals on each are much smaller than the previous painting's petals.  I'm having trouble blending such small areas.  I'm afraid it might look more illustrative than I want.