exhibit

I have new work based on travels to the Skagit Valley area of Washington State in an exhibit at the Hill Center Galleries in DC:

 

"Gather In"

Hill Center Galleries in Hill Center at Old Naval Hospital

May 5- June 17th

Opening Reception: May 17th 6-8 pm

921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20003

"Gather In" 30x30 oil

thoughts

Here is a somewhat somber poem for a beautiful spring day:

O let me not die in the cold gray of winter
And let me not die in the merciless heat of summer
And let me not die in the giddy, heedless spring
But let me die in fall with an honor guard of color

Farm Evening 12x12

 

a month later

My plan was to post again a month later on the day of my quote from 2015- missed it by a day.  Clearly the flowers are on a different schedule this year!  The flowers on my lilac bush have bloomed and are starting to wither.  Curiously we are seeing a lot of butterflies already. 

Here is some new work- some pastels in a larger size than I usually do. They are from a trip a couple years ago to St. George Bermuda. 

now

In March spring is still tentative and not entirely trustworthy, but every week now clearly demarcates the passage of time.  Right now is very specific and different from five days ago.   I just found an entry in my journal dated April 15, 2015,  “The crocus flowers have melted away, those flowers that were such a surprise a month ago, coming so hard on the heels of snow.  The daffodils are starting to wither as we come into the hour for tulips, cups of sheer color.  If there is an exact point of red on the color spectrum it lives in a tulip.  Flurries of whitish pink cherry blossoms fly off trees, giving ground to the green leaves.  Lilac flowers wait in the wings now, dusty dark purple nubs.  Yesterday it rained all day.  A slender wet slug felt its way across the window screen.  Bird song coming through the open window is inventive and plentiful now.”

a poem and two paintings

Here is a little poem for a today:

           The sudden heavy rain-

          “its like a waterfall now”

          she said looking out

          through the plate glass windows

          of the coffee shop.

 I've always been intrigued with the challenge of painting a mountain in a small two dimensional space that does more than just create a realistic illusion.  I don't know how many times I have taken photos of mountains only to be disappointed with the little 4x6 glossy print in my hand.  It always fails to convey their massive presence.  So here are two more attempts.  The first is from our trip to the Isle of Skye in Scotland a year ago, and the second is from Skagit Valley, Washington State where once a year fields of tulips blaze color below snow capped mountains.  

Mountains of the Mind 2 22x28

 

Mountains of the Mind 3 22x28

new pastels

Tulip vendor in Skagit Valley, WA

house with a view in St. George, Bermuda

St. George, Bermuda

new work

"Mountains of the Mind" 30x30 oil

poem

Wallpaper

I wake mid

night, and walking back

from the bathroom

I pass a window, a charging phone.

In places I can’t see

for the dark, and too sleepy

to wait on perception,

a lightly patterned image

films my eyes

laid in place

over the unknown

Like the stories we tell

rehearsed memories of birthdays

and Christmas

a screen, paper thin to cover

forgotten days and words.

digging out

 It was warm enough today after shoveling to sit and sketch while my husband finished the job! 

juncos in the snow

oceanview

I finished this painting a couple weeks ago.  The inspiration came from a trip two years ago to St. George, Bermuda. We walked along a little road through a neighborhood where residents lived on the edge of a sprawling abandoned golf course.  The road followed the ridge of the island with views here and there of the sea both to the North and the South.  The sun was getting low and these houses with views of the ocean were catching the last light. 

museum sketches

We went to Washington DC Jan 1st.  It's the best day of the year to go, the museums are open and there are no crowds or traffic on the way there.  Our first stop was the wildlife photography show at the Natural History Museum.  Then the Portrait Gallery.  Of course I had to do a little sketching!

Portrait Gallery