A Long Spring

I apologize to my blogging friends for such a long hiatus.  No problems here, but have just been using my left brain (organizational skills) for the work that earns enough to keep me in art supplies, and my right brain (creativity) has taken a back seat.  Yes, my experience has led me to ascribe to the theory that part of the brain or way of thinking can dominate and crowd out the other side.  I find it hard to keep the creativity going when I am working at my job, which requires using organizational skills to plan events and keep track of all the logistical stuff. 

Here's a painting that I started in April -- another version of the Spring meadow scene in Barbour County, WV, that I painted with a palette knife at Artiscape. This time, I painted a much larger canvas and used my regular techniques with acrylics on a textured surface. 

Early Autumn at Canaan Valley

I couldn't wait to finish a watercolor sketch of the early fall colors at Canaan Valley.  This view on Cortland Road is one of my favorites that I go back to every year.  Goldenrod and purple asters line the fences in September.  The hawthorn trees, which line the border of a little stream or marshy place, have already lost their leaves, and a few maple trees glow among the green of the spruces and other green trees.

Fall Color Report

This past weekend was my annual trip to the mountains of West Virginia to enjoy the Fall color.  I knew before I left that it was too early in the season for the full development of the brilliant reds and oranges, but this was the only weekend that I could travel.  On top of that, there was a good chance of rain on Sunday and Monday, which would spoil my chances to take long walks in the woods and marshes of Canaan Valley.  Sure enough, it rained as predicted and the Fall color had only begun to progress.  Meanwhile, I had a nice visit with friends and family in that area and quite enjoyed a leisurely drive around the Canaan Valley area before returning home.  And I did snap a few photos for reference in doing my watercolor journal entry.

For those of you who can take a long drive to the mountains of West Virginia, I predict that the peak color will begin this coming weekend.    

Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge - Freeland Road



Festivall Charleston

Our city is celebrating the Arts in a big way this week.  Downtown Charleston is decorated with works of art, both permanent and temporary.  While parked in front of the Clay Center for the Arts last week, I snapped this photo and enhanced it with my iPhone apps (Lo-Mob and Camera+).  This huge modern sculpture is a recent gift to the city by a patron of the Arts, and has been the subject of debate since it was first erected.  On the cloudy, dismal days of winter, it might appear to be a pile of rusty remnants of a major construction project.  In the sun, however, it playfully points skyward and draws the eye toward its many curves and angles. 

Festivall Charleston is a series of art, music, theater and entertainment events taking place over a two-week period.  The theme is "When a city becomes a work of art."  For those of us who love the arts in all its forms, this is truly a time of celebration and renewal.  For more information and a schedule of events, check out the web site here.  If you want to visit Charleston, the week of Festivall is the time to come!

Sad Times in West Virginia

My thoughts and prayers are with the families in the coal mining communities of Raleigh and Boone Counties.  This week's coal mine disaster occurred in the area where I grew up - the mountain region that I love and the hardy Appalachian souls who live here.  Although I don't know anyone personally impacted in this crisis, many of my childhood friends and their relatives have been employed in the mines or have members of their families there. I know more than I want to know about the hardships and heartaches that they face to keep the fires burning that provide power to let us do and have all the things that we take for granted.  I'm sad for these families, and I'm angry that human lives and our environment are the least important part of this huge industry in West Virginia.  I'm angry that the leaders in this state have sold out to the coal companies and are turning on each other when things seem to be going the other way.  It makes me sick. It's hard to think about anything else after watching the local news that has been focused so much on this tragedy.  I can only hope that our political leaders are sincere when they say that these people have not died in vain, and immediate steps will be taken to make coal mines a safe place to work.

Sunshine Farm and Gardens

A gorgeous day -- blue sky, clean air, temperature moving up to 80 degrees -- I'm happy to be alive and off on a big adventure today!  With a friend, we started from Charleston in the morning going about 100 miles east to Lewisburg and then up the valley to Renick, WV, where we then started across the mountains in the vicinity of the Monongahela National Forest.  After a hairy, almost hour-long drive on unpaved, one-lane, mountain roads, with a steep drop-off below us, we made it to the home of the biggest hellebore garden in the south.  Since I've been so enthralled with my hellebores this spring, I just had to go visit their birthplace and add some more plants (and hopefully more colors) to my collection.  The website photos at Sunshine Farm
just didn't do the place justice, and I know my photos won't do any better.  There were hillsides as far as we could see that were just covered with blooming lenten roses, and there were so many colors and tints that I was exclaming over every plant.  And then there were the greenhouses where all the hybridizing takes place and the racks of baby plants to choose from.  What fun!  Since we bought the babies, we won't know for a year or two what colors we got, but I think that will make it all something to look forward to. 

Here are some pictures to prove that my Subaru and I were actually there.... I promise I won't bore you with any more with this stuff.....    until next year!  :)

"Coalwood Memories"

Last May, a friend and I visited Coalwood, WV, the former home of Homer Hickham, the "Rocket Boy". We discovered this empty shell of an old schoolhouse, half-hidden by bushes and overgrowth of vines. It called out to me to explore the memories that still live there. This collage recalls the former students and their watchful teacher who once walked those halls.

My friends know that I have played with digital art for a long while, (and I mean played) but I have a lot to learn before I can claim to be proficient in Photoshop.  In early January, I started an on-line workshop with DJ Pettitt, a digital artist whose work I admire.  After three weeks of intensive work, I am putting some new tools to work and having a ball with Photoshop.  It can be frustrating at times, but it's usually a correctable error, such as being in the wrong layer.  Patience is definitely a requirement for doing work like this.  This collage has combined five different photographs with blended layers and masks, brushes, and artistic effects. The people photos are scanned from old photographs that I have been collecting from antique shops and estate sales.


"Wish You Were Here"

The wistful expression of the woman in this illustration I found made me want to use her in a collage.  I blended layers consisting of a photo of one of my own acrylic paintings as a background, the illustration I got from Dover Publications, a scanned antique postcard ("Hello Joyce"), and my own flower photos.

 

"My Dearest Sister"

This exercise in the DJ Pettit workshop had us blending layers and using the masking technique for the raindrops and butterfly.  The layers were a flower photograph, a photo of raindrops on leaves, a scanned postcard, and a photo of a butterfly on flowers.