Monday, September 6, 2010

Monoprints, Nature and Van Gogh


monoprint
 7"x 7" 

 Dried, inverted Water Hemlock

 
Monoprint
7" x 9"


 More inverted Water Hemlock
(For some reason, I love the sculptural shapes.)



 And what about these....the other rose hips??

(Seriously, have you ever seen these on rugosa rose bushes along with the regular rose hips we all know and love?  I can't decide whether or not they're truly grotesque.  If not, they're certainly bordering on it! Still...they've got me intrigued.)

 Monoprint
7" x 9"


Spent a few days away from the city.  Smelled the salt air and smoke from wood stoves.  Witnessed a swarm of termites "descend" on an unsuspecting alder at dusk, then drop their wings and begin burrowing in.  My husband said, matter-of-factly, "That alder's on its way out."  And this, a tree that has shaded and sheltered us for nearly twenty years as we have gathered outside for meals beside a fire with family and friends.   Later, marvelled at the stars, so brilliant away from the city.

And on Saturday, while gathering water hemlock by the bay, I looked up to see what the ruckus was and counted twelve or more great blue herons circling overhead.  Had never seen that many at once, but my daughter said, "Oh yes, I've seen that many and more before."

Spent a good number of hours making monoprints.  Chided myself for my lack of patience. (It makes for many false starts.)  Later, I jotted down notes in my sketchbook about what I had learned so as not to have to start from "scratch" next time I get a chance to print.  

Spent time looking at a beautiful book about van Gogh. Was mesmerized by paintings I had never seen that he did while in Arles, France.   Painting, after painting, after painting.  Somewhere around 900 total  in ten or less years.  Practice, practice, and more practice.  Van Gogh... mostly self-taught.  Driven.  Brilliant. Inspiring.  Humbling.

Now...looking forward to catching up with what you've been doing.  Your work inspires me greatly, too.

Thanks for stopping by.  Thanks for sharing your creativity. 

Have a great week!


8 comments:

Unknown said...

Your monoprint sare beautiful and make me want to get out my ink and rollers! bravo you...

novembergrass said...

Beautiful prints. Sounds like a lovely weekend.

ArtPropelled said...

Something very peaceful about this post. A feeling of being close to nature. Your monoprints express this too. I love the 2nd photo of the inverted Water Hemlock.

Anonymous said...

I have been thinking a lot about mono prints lately. Any good technique sources that you like?

We got back to nature this weekend too! I saw several blue herons while we canoed down the Shell Rock River/ Iowa. Not sure if they were one that we chased downstream or several.

I love the color that rosehips get this time of year. I like the crazy ones you found. Thank you Gloria. Good stuff as always.

Patience in the studio is hard to find.

Julie Whitmore Pottery said...

The colors and composition of your monoprints are beautiful. I've never seen rose hips like that...they look like galls, the little nest/houses that gall flies make.

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Linda, thanks so much for stopping by! And thanks for your comments. I enjoyed my recent visit to your blog. It is so interesting....I'm intrigued by the way you see things and put things together. Best..

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Julie, Thanks very much for shedding light on the strange "hips". I didn't really think they were hips, but I assumed they were a part of the plant. Now that I've googled galls, I think they could be galls. (I'd never heard of galls before.) By the way, have you seen photos of "mossy" galls? They are lovely and remind me of something you would include in your images. Very "English" if you will! Cheers! Gloria

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Mary, Thanks for visiting. That's funny about the heron(s) you saw :) Yes, I've been using a technique for monoprints that I came up with on my own. (But probably others are using it, too --or something similar.) I keep thinking I'll post a tutorial on it since it's so low-tech.