Winter Patterns and Texture

 

Hail and freezing fog at the coast made for some lovely

frozen patterns and textures yesterday.

Happy New Year to All !!

Purple Rings...

  

36" x 36"

acrylic on canvas



Happy Holidays!!

We're scaling back and simplifying at our house this year... Smaller tree with fewer ornaments; fewer gingerbread houses; simpler Christmas Eve dinner for the small, extended family; fewer presents, but more handmade and upcycled presents; scaled back expectations all the way around.   All with an eye toward conserving resources and creating more time to enjoy each other.  

May you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday (whatever it might be)!

Gloria

Capturing the Glow of Winter

 "Calm"

Acrylic on canvas

20" x 24"

Recently, I managed to catch the afternoon light streaming through the blinds onto "Calm".   It virtually bisected the painting, landing a couple of inches below an existing demarcation line of lighter paint above darker paint on the left portion of the painting.  I have experienced this "superimposed" light more than once on a couple of my paintings that are somewhat atmospheric.  The situation is both intriguing and mind baffling, because, of course, it leaves me wondering:  how could I ever replicate that with paint?

The winter sunrises have been magnificent here in Portland.  So often, I lament that I have neither my camera nor the time to capture them.  A couple of days ago, I had both -- sort of.  The rosy glow on entire fascades of structures was fading fast, and I found myself literally running up and down the hill to find openings between the houses through which I could get glimpses of the light and three of Portland's icons:

Mt. Hood

Mt. St. Helens sans its beautiful top that blew off in1980.

(Actually located in Washington, but visible from Portland)

"Big Pink" -- as it is affectionately called by the locals.

(The architectural glass on this building makes for very special effects.)

Similarly to the light on "Calm", the light on Big Pink intrigues me.   Of course I realize that I will never begin to know how to paint such atmospheric light unless I actively pursue the skill by painting from direct observation.  I wonder if I have the discipline to do that??

We got our Christmas tree from our favorite tree farm today.  Snow began to fall as we brought the tree inside-- the first time that has occurred in the twenty-three years we've been getting a tree. A batch of ginger cookies has just come from the oven, awaiting a slathering of real lemon icing (compliments of my youngest daughter and Cook's Illustrated magazine), and a mix of holiday favorite tunes is playing.   A warm, lovely fire is glowing in the fireplace.  These simple pleasures are what our family treasures.  This, is richness.

Have a wonderful day!



A New Look....

Oil pastel on paper

4" x 6"

If you've visited this blog before, you might be wondering if you landed in the right place today, what with the new look and all.  Thought I'd "switch it up" a  bit -- at least, for awhile.  Really, I was attempting to accomplish one primary goal:  I wanted to add thumbnail images from the many wonderful blogs I'm following, and to do so in a way that would create space for those images and mine, too.  So...some things were gained, (yay!  the thumbnail images) and some things are yet to be further tweaked.... Stay tuned!

And now, I'm off to work on those "paintings within a painting"  before transitioning to the week ahead.

Thanks for stopping by!

Prints....

5" x 5"

 

8 1/2" x 11"  (cropped)

8 1/2 " x 11"

Assorted printing methods, here.  The first two by hand and the last one by means of a printing press.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Doodles.....

Gel pens on sketch paper

Mindless vacation doodles sometimes get interesting.  These were done a while back; the one above, while visiting around a table; the one below, while on an airplane. The thought being, "It's better to do something artistic than to do nothing.... (Of course, knitting would be so much more productive.  I need to get back to knitting.) 

Ballpoint ink and Prismacolor

And speaking of dots and such, I am really enjoying

Marie Louise Sundqvist's blog and work.

Happy Wednesday!!

East Wind Blowin'

Mixed media

Recent makings, tossed upon older makings.

...as though mixed by an eggbeater....waiting to morph into something more.

And such a lovely eggbeater, at that, although this one is strictly for my viewing pleasure.

Acrylic painting 30" x 40" (detail)

 And these "eggs" .....also awaiting their final state.

And meanwhile, the cold, east wind bearing down hard on us; causing the stately six-foot Miscanthus "Early Morning Light" grass to hunker down and curl itself into a unified, scrambled mat...

...that blows en masse, like a tethered tumbleweed straining to break free.

:)

Happy December! 

Visit here to see the beautiful paintings and drawings of Art Goods,

and here to see Taylor & Grand's lovely vintage gifts and holiday decor.

 And if you're interested...I've added a few things to my shop......

Hope you're finding time to create!