End Of Summer I just had a delightful lunch with Steve Freitch. He and his family spend part of the summer in my old friend Edie's farm house. Edie had to sell it after many years of living there and writing copious books about life in the country and living in the old farmhouse called Mary's Farm. She also wrote for years for Yankee Magazine. Steve and I met several years ago at a Waldorf Music event at an old estate in Dublin. Steve and I connect through the love of the arts. He has been a practicing artist. He and Nancy live in Baltimore where he worked for years for an artist of some repute. Hence he gave up pursuing his own art though he is in the process of building a studio at the farm house. Now retired, he deals in other peoples' art making gobs of money. It was a great time over lunch. We talked art the entire time. That's so refreshing for me as I truly have so little of that around here. He seemed excited to see where my work had recently gone with the VL Series. While looking at the one with the Frozen Charlottes, he suggested turning the porcelain dolls around so they are facing away from the viewer. Bingo. It took the piece to a whole other level. Secretive and mysterious. I felt the same excitement as I did when I implanted the empty black box into the panel instead of another antique box. Much more evocative. I think Steve was so right that turning the dolls around made the piece so much less obvious. It makes one wonder what the piece is saying about people. Are they just representing the spirits of the people who lived in the landscapes long ago? Are they unable to communicate because they are long gone. Just reminders of who they were?

Summertime

Spring just flew by. I can barely remember it it seems so long ago. We had a tremendous amount of rain so there was little chance to garden. This week, the first week of August, I did my first gardening but it was mostly comprised of weeding. No vegetables as the deer eat them just as they are ready to harvest. Plus my Hostas just as they are about to bloom.
It has been a wonderful summer filled with long hours and days in the studio. I have nearly finished 6 pieces in the Vanishing Landscape Series. The 2 last ones are more white than the previous ones which are more of the Renaissance palette.  The subject matter is more about the stones and stone pillars of New England and other parts of the world that I love. LD and I spent hours creating a video about my process of painting and constructing paintings. My first video posted on YouTube.

I have almost finished the book, Chalk. A biography about Cy Twombly. His bravery to paint whatever he chose has been inspiring for me.The same with the Agnes Martin book I finished previously. Both artists absolutely followed their own path often with disdain from others. Their stories have encouraged me to return to the Vanishing Landscape paintings, drilling holes, inserting boxes along with spontaneous landscapes. Having finally separated myself from the chains of gold....the desire to sell...I am freed up to paint from the heart.  I always do my best work then.  Case in point....I sold the piece that got juried into the FAM Annual show in Fitchburg, MA. Very curious who purchased it.

Vanishing Landscape X, 60x48 inches

Oils, CWM, antique box inserted into panel.