Rain, rain, go away....

Remember the little rhyme we used to say as kids? "Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day".  

We have had 19 million days of continuous rain, sometimes accompanied by falling trees, wind damage, and lightning zaps. While everything is green, I think even the plants want to see the sun.

All this rain makes for achy joints, depressed moods, and cabin fever. And lots of jokes - about arks, webbed feet, and people mildewing. Even our boat was full of water - the poor bilge pumps just couldn't handle it anymore, and blew a fuse.

Since we have been indoors for so long, I am working from photos of a year ago, when we actually saw the sun. I find that people in my studio just love to look at the sunny skies, and sunsets, and blue skies. I am starting to run out of photos!

I have a 24X36 painting that is near completion. It is called "After the Rain". I cannot finish it, because I need to see the world after the rain. 

Okay, perhaps I have employed a bit of exaggeration. It really hasn't been 19 million days. But I know it has been at least enough to alter the sanity of really stable and intelligent people. Come August, we will probably have our usual late summer drought. And as our grass dies (which, by the way, has to be cut constantly), I don't think I will be complaining. Perhaps that is the lesson.

Stay dry,

cathy

Declined

I am going through a run of rejections at art shows - or, to put it more politically correct - "declineds".

One never knows what a juror may value. Even after reading their bio, and looking at their work, it is difficult to choose pieces that might actually get in. it is more than difficult - it is impossible!

But, for every show I have been rejected from, there are other shows where I am showing work, and, at a few of them, I have sold work. What is also interesting, is that I often sell work quickly that has been rejected from shows! Sweet!

One thing I recognize is that my adventures with acrylics are still in their infancy. I recognize that I have a lot of growing to do, and much to learn. So, I have decided it is time to take a workshop - to immerse myself in the creative process for several days, and just paint, paint, paint. While remote workshops are pricey, perhaps I need some time to learn a few new tricks, and to watch other artists in their creative processes. If new ideas could come in the form of an injection, I would be the first in line!

As an artist, I also need to learn to honor the process of hit or miss. Without struggling, there can be no progress. I have this one painting that I have painted over so many times, that it has an inherent texture.  

So, today I go to pick up my declined paintings. I already have ideas for the next show!

Artfully yours,

Cathy Harville 

A Beautiful Monday

After yet another weekend of rain, the sun is shining on this beautiful Monday. This spring has got to be the wettest I can remember for a decade!

The rain has brought us gifts in the form of green life, and profusely blooming flowers. Everything this spring has been so intense - the color, the saturation, and....the gloom on the seemingly endless sunless days.

Humans need sunlight. We are hard-wired to take in sunlight through our eyes and skin, and produce vitamin D and various amino acids and hormones. It is a well-known fact that people in higher latitudes often suffer from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Canadians flock to Florida over the winter, to escape the not only the cold, but to soak up the sun's necessary rays.

The depletion of the ozone layer in the last 20 years has caused more UV rays to make their way to the earth. Compound that with the melting of glaciers, and the UV burden increases even more. More UV rays means more cases of cataracts, and skin cancer. Modern sunblocks made to combat the UV rays are now known to contain compounds that react with the sunlight to create carcinogens! So what are we to do?

It all goes back to our stewardship of the planet. While we probably cannot reverse the damage we have done, I am still optimistic that we can prevent further damage to our environment. If everyone would turn off lights in unoccupied rooms, and turn off power strips to computers, TVs and printers, it would go a long way to saving energy and less green house gases would be emitted into the atmosphere. If we gave up beef, the methane produced by cattle would go away. If we used less gasoline, the environment would improve. If we consumed less, the environment would improve.

As an artist, I am very attuned to the landscape around us. Our open spaces and wild places provide me with my inspiration for paintings. I am trying to do my part. Rather than consume, I reuse, recycle, and renew. I paint over canvases. I take damaged frames to a framer, so they can be made into smaller frames and reused. My trips to the art store are limited to purchasing the essential things I need, rather than buying $30 of stuff I don't need. I don't print out anything unless I really need it. I wear my clothes until they wear out. i also support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, to protect this national treasure, and to insure that future generations may enjoy the bay as we do now.

I am not perfect, in fact, I have to learn some new habits to do my part in saving the environment. Old habits are hard to break, but with conscious thought, it can be done.

So....as I go out on this beautiful day, and walk my canine friend Lucy, I am thankful for the sun, and thankful for clear blue sky and green vegetation. And yes, I will wear sunblock, lest my skin becomes burned.

Artfully yours,

Cathy Harville

Obsessions

Let's face it, we all obsess at some time or another about something. It is easy to obsess, but not so easy to avoid the trap of replaying tapes in our head over and over again. Eventually, enough is enough, and we move on.

I frequently have obsessions in subject matter for my art. Seems I fall in love with something, and paint it over and over again, changing the size, the palette, or the composition. I don't fight this obsession; I just go with the flow, until something else catches my attention.

For a while, it was beaches - beaches in the day, at dusk, with people, with dogs, natural beaches, grassy beaches, Hawaiian beaches, beaches with palm trees, and beaches from different perspectives. Then it was river grass - in pastel, in acrylic, big format, small format, long paintings, small paintings, multiple panel paintings.

I have "moved on" to forsythia, and I can feel it developing to other colors besides yellow - small panels, big panels....you get the idea.

I don't dwell on why this happens, and why I succumb to these "obsessions". Perhaps they are not obsessions as much as explorations. The more I paint, the more I want to explore the subject matter in different ways, until I tire of it and move on. It is not that I think I have mastered anything, or caught the essence - usually, something else just catches my psyche, and I find myself going down a different road.

Life is about taking winding roads, and roads that sometimes seem to go nowhere. But usually a road goes somewhere. And just maybe that pot of gold is down that road. Usually though, I just find cool stuff, stay for a while, pack my bags, and drive on.

Life is a journey, and the more roads we explore, the richer our lives can be. Perhaps that explains why I have so may art supplies for ideas on roads not yet traveled. Thank goodness in life journeys, there are no rising gas prices, no expensive cars, no traffic lights, and no accidents. But there is also no insurance that we make the "right" choices, because there are no right or wrong choices. There are only the choices we make.

Happy traveling,
Cathy

Photographing Artwork

Although I am on sabbatical for a few weeks, I could not stay away from my computer! So, I thought I would share some not-so-novel revelations about photographing artwork.

While working in watercolor and pastels, I was able to take reasonable photos of my work, for note cards, small prints, and show submissions. Then came the acrylics - what a different ball of wax!

One of the things I like about acrylics is the juicy, glossy texture that is easily created. That very property makes photographing acrylic paintings a challenge. Since the work is often too large for me to scan, (which doesn't seem to work well either), I have tried to photograph my work in a variety of conditions and settings. The result is that the glossy areas are glaring, almost daring me to capture their likeness.

Now I understand why photographers and giglee printers make the big bucks! Since my acrylics are still in the experimental stage, I am reluctant to spend a lot of money on professional photography of my pieces. So, while explaining the shortcomings of my own expertise behind the camera, I humbly post new work with the warning - "you just have to see it in person". Lame, yes. But it will have to do for a while.

Any advice will be embraced. I have considered a mat finish, which will make the task enormously easier, but I just can't bring myself to tone down my work. Eventually, I will have to find another way.

Enjoy another beautiful day in paradise! Cathy

Solitude and Rainy Days

It is pouring here today. The trees are dancing, and the vegetation is an intense and lusty green, like the kind of green that art buffs tend to dismiss as "not realistic". The birds are at our feeders, so it will probably rain most of the day. (During brief showers, the birds hunker down under bushes and lawn chairs.)

I love days like these. I feel a universal permission to enjoy the sound of the rain, and paint my heart out. The rain becomes my music, a constant in the uncertainty outside in the world. No matter how much technology changes, the rain always sounds, well, like rain. The trees take on saturated colors, and the earth is cleansed of dust and grass clippings. Rain is like a bath for the earth.

We humans can take a cue from this natural experience, to slow down, and bathe ourselves in silence, and refresh our souls. Part of my renewal is painting. I hope you may find a renewal that feeds your body, mind and soul, and partake of it often. It is there for the taking! peace, Cathy