Autumn in Northwest Arkansas

 

Red Cottage in Fall II

Every year our PTA asks each class to decorate a pumpkin for our Fall Festival.  They're raffled off for a fund raiser.  

This year we got a choice between a pumpkin or a canvas to decorate. 

Yay!!  

I picked... a canvas! Yeah, I suppose the idea was that each kid might put a thumbprint and make it into a little pumpkin face, but I decided I'd go a different direction on the idea of canvases and pumpkins.


I hung the painting in the front of the classroom and asked my students to think about who might live there and what the pumpkins were for.  I told them we'd make a book to go with the painting for the auction. 

First they thought, imagined, and talked; then they wrote...  
  
Oh, I do have a wonderful job!  

Such creative hardworking little people I spend my days with!   

I hope our little project makes a few dollars for our school. 

I bet it will.

Original Oil Painting - 8"x 10"
[SOLD]

Frog Princess

Why do I avoid faces?

Is it because I love the story that can be told from the back or side as if you're looking in on the story?  That's an answer I've given.

I think, however, that's only a partial truth.  I think the more accurate reason is that faces are just plain hard!
The challenges that come with making a white canvas look like a specific person keep me humble, remind me that my skills are limited.

I "finished" this precious little girl a few days ago; however, I could tell from my husband's polite reaction, that it really wasn't finished. Because I was frustrated with her for not cooperating, I literally put her in the corner for a few days.

With fresh eyes and spirit, I put her back on the easel, turned her upside down, and went began the plastic surgery... cut off some hair, lengthened an eyebrow, lightened a cheek... fattened a lip, lowered a chin..... almost.  But she needed one more go... squared a chin, added some mascara, highlighted a nostril, deepened a crease...

There  comes a time to say, "I'm satisfied. I love her.  I love the story this image tells."  

This final stage is like editing - looking for what's wrong.
There are several strategies that I use to help me "see" better.

** Leave the room and come back.  When I imagine seeing it for the first time, I can be more objective.

** Ask a friend what they notice first.  Usually if something jumps out first, it's shouldn't be there.  

** Take a picture of it, and put it on the computer screen.  It's like a fresh view where things show up that I just wasn't seeing on the canvas.

**Look at it in the mirror.  Sure the reflection is backwards, but it's amazing what I notice that I didn't see before.

**Turn it upside down.  This takes the "person" out of it and just lets me concentrate on colors, lines, and shapes.

[SOLD]

Autumn Trees

What kind of artist will I become?


After I painted my first painting "Summer Trees" on February 22, 2007, I stood back, took a look, and couldn't believe it!  They looked like trees!  And just like that, I fancied myself a cross between Monet and Van Gogh!  Painting #2  was "Autumn Trees."   I used great globs of reds and oranges, and it took forever to dry.  As it turns out, that was the first one of my paintings that anyone ever wanted for themselves.  I was so excited, I gave it away.  I think it found a good home.


As it turns out, neither the Monet thing nor the Van Gogh thing worked out for me.  I'm still searching for my artist self, but I the search is still fun.  And, sometimes, I still stand back, take a look, and can't believe it.  Whatever I've just completed actually looks like what it's supposed to!

Autumn Trees

Where do we begin to find out who we are?


Well, this painting was that beginning for me.  This was the second painting I ever attempted; that was way back in February of 2007.  After my first painting, "Summer Trees," I decided to give the same image another go.  I remember thinking, "Now, I've already done this, so I'm ready to put my own spin on it.  Hmmm... what exactly is my spin?"  As I wondered what kind of painter I'd become, I thought maybe I'd be an impressionist.  I'd always loved Monet's work, so I'd kind of blur the lines.  Then I thought about Van Gogh; I'd imitate him and let my strokes tell the story.  Then... I put thick orange and red blobs on top of brown bases, surrounded them with gold and green flame-like vertical strokes and realized that I was just plain Helen doing my best to make colors and shapes appear to be something recognizable.

Stream in Autumn

What's just around the bend in the stream?


Maybe that's why I'm drawn to paintings of streams, rivers, roads, paths, and trails.   I think that the real story is just out of sight.


This painting draws me in both through its subject and through its texture.  I like to touch this one - run my fingertips across it.  I used more paint than I usually do, and I like the actual feel of the rocks, the water, and the trees.  I even like the swirls in the brush strokes of the sky.


Original Oil Painting on 11" x 14" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]