More than Meets the Eye

What I thought was THE flower is going further. Becoming fuller. There is

a second set of orange petals and a blue center.

There could be more to come. Being new to

this plant it's a continuing transformation. . . beautiful,

just will have to wait out possible new developments.



It is now Sunday, Nov.24. and this Bird of Paradise is now the most beautiful flower I've ever seen.
There are now five (5) sets of petals!!!!! Probably the end . 

A Flower is Born . . . FINALLY!!!!

moment of adoration!!!!

Finally  our long awaited Strelizia has come out in full and beautiful grandure. Does it look like I'm  holding on to her for dear life?  Probably. Subconsciously I probably was afraid she would disappear.
To think that there are places in the world where these plants grow like weeds (California) and are actually pulled up and thrown away!!!!

this is the ribbon put on our door announcing the"arrival"

True Colors

Here I am, still monitoring my Streliizia ( more that a month has gone by since the first sign of a flower appeared). Now we are really close!!!!!!!

To quote a song I love, " I see her true colors shining through, true colors,  . . . just like a rainbow."

Oct. 25.

Oct. 25

Isn't she something??????????

And we still have a long way to go!!!!

Reasons Why. . . Why Print . . .Mono. . .?

 Reasons why I like to print . . . mono . . . .?
 

monotype-2000

   Many I suppose . . . mostly because it is spontaneous, unpredictable, quick to execute, . . . not a tragedy to destroy if unsuccesful but easily retouched to correct errors or add details if need be. And. . . because there are so many-many solutions. So many-many experimental approaches possible. So many surprises depending on the paper used, the viscosity of the ink, etc.etc.  and, did you know that Degas as well as Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Klee, etc. . .  and, of course, Picasso were masters of the monotype? Just to name a few and not even mentioning contemporary artists. Interesting to see their work and to follow their example.

 And. . .
 printing
is good for the moments of transition in my painting.  I'm enjoying these printing days.  I'm enjoying the feedom it gives me. And, I'll probably continue for awhile.

What's up in the courtyard greenhouse?

 As of Friday, October 4th,
my strelizia flower looked like
this. . .. . . . .. .  . . .slow but steady . . . .. .

The Birth of a Flower….

view Full Album

Here is a sequence of fotos documenting the progress of my precious flower.  As of today we are starting to see the orange color of the flower around the edges of the green spike. I spray it with water, (it likes humidity), twice  a day and look at it at least a million times.  Crazy?  Yup!!! And I've contaminated at least 5 other people in the condominium. Here in Italy, when a baby is born, the family attaches a huge bow on the door of their home, blue for a boy and pink for a girl.(obviously) What color should we put on our door for my flower?  Orange - color of the flower???  Or ???? . . . to continue. . . . .

Print #3 and the Strelizia Saga

inked plate ready for printing

 Print #3 - (plate)
 the plate was inked with etching inks
      cleaned with gauze in various areas
                 and on all four edges.

print #3

strelizia flower forming

Print # 3 -

 Note how much of the ink printed is a
 pastel.  This is because I "cut" the
 color with a transparent ink not white.







  
The Strelizia Saga . . . . .

This is today's picture of my flower to be. You can see now how it's forming at the top. Thank goodness the weather is holding out. It is still warm and sunny in Florence but the evenings are cool.

Art and Botany - Time Out from Printing

what the  flower should look like ...if. . .!!

Time out to  talk about what's happening in the studio behind the scenes.

 For weeks, . . . months now. . . something very exciting  is happening at the studio.  It has nothing to do with painting, printing or the like . . . even though it is a work of art that I'm talking about . . . it's art by  good old Mother Nature.

About 5 years ago, maybe 6, I bought a  little plant at the supermarket. The plastic pot, only 3 inches in diameter, housed a tiny "Strelizia" or  "Bird of Paradise", very exotic and one of my favorites.  There wasn't any real hope on my part that I would ever see it grow let alone flower but I bought it anyway. Everybody knows what that's like.

I'm afraid I wasn't very careful about the way I treated it at the beginning.  I slapped into an "any-old" kind of  vase not even considering that it would need good soil. It stayed in my garden for a couple of years where the temperatures during the winter are much more rigid than in Florence. When finally it started to show signs of growth, I decided to move it into the "tropical" temps of the city (the studio) where I put it in a larger pot and this time gave it fertle soil.

Low and behold,  after all these years, ( they say it takes at least 5), I think it's ready to BLOOM! Can hardly believe it!

I've been monitoring it for the past weeks, ever since it shot up a tall spike that could be a leaf  but is taking too long to open up. My hopes soar at the thought that it really is a flower. Every morning,  after I arrive at the studio,  my first stop is the courtyard to check the plant and/or flower.

Only then, after careful scrutiny and great discussion, (with husband, son and husband's secretary,  participants in this waiting) I go into the studio to work.

It's difficult to know how long the birth of this flower will take but. .  we should be close . . . (anyway, what do they say? Patience? it's a Virtue) After 5 years I can wait  a few more days?!?!?!

my plant. . . note "spike" at center

Nature At Work

CACTUS IN BLOOM

I couldn't let this go by without sharing it .  This cactus blooms generously every year but the flowers last only one day. Nature is . . .

MARVELOUS!

April 3rd - "Tre Aprilante"

                                                

               

my beautiful flame red amaryllis

 
Today is the 3rd of April, a very important day in Italy (and for me), "Il Tre (3) Aprilante (April) Quaranta (40 days) Durante (long)" which means: whatever the weather is like on the third of April that's what will prevail for the next 40 days!!! The Italian version of Groundhog's Day I guess.
Whew!!! It's OK. That is, if it doesn't rain this evening we've left Winter behind us and Spring is on the way because we have had a lovely...sunny... day. (I couldn't bear even one more day of rain.) Even my prized Amaryllis decided to open up into full bloom today.

And, I have been working.  The photo on the left is the next state of the large work on canvas that was my first step  using cold wax. But, mounted as a normal canvas on wooden stretchers, I don't have a hard surface behind the wax/color to allow me to scrape and dig down to previous layers. Have to find a solution.

(See Post "Cold Wax")

These are three of the small (9x9") canvas swatches at stage 2

I'm not sure yet what I'm doing, just "feeling" my way with this new medium.  I love the transparency that it gives to color.  I'm learning about the accidental mixtures that happen along the way. I'm having fun just mixing and applying color.  It's opening a whole new way of approaching my work.

Primavera and Botticelli

note the grass dotted with wild flowers, the floral motif on the dress of the maiden at the right

 

After so many weeks of dark days and torrential rains and no painterly inspiration, today is splendid! A strange and beautiful day. In the early morning we started out to attend a funeral, alas, but  the sun, ablaze in the most pure blue sky ever,  eased  the sadness of our journey. A brief service. .  . simple . . . a reminder that our existence is temporal, that the joy and beauty of life should be our guide . We had the usual Saturday grocery shopping to do, supplies for the week, etc.,etc. But suddenly I wanted to take a detour. Since we were near one of the most important Medici villas in Florence, we decided to make a stop there to basque a little in the warmth of this premature sun and to see the gardens which, as I remembered, at this time of year are a joy of spring flowers; blue hyacinths, tiny red anemones, yellow daffodils and miniature tulips, white, red, violet, all mixed haphazardly with the grass or in formal rows hidden in  niches created by the  boxwood hedges. Think of the garden depicted in the Primavera by Botticelli. This garden must have been in his mind as he painted.

I wanted to take pictures,  closeups of these flowers, to immortalize details of this enchanted garden but, as usual, no camera! (sigh. . . the story of my life) The next best thing was my husband's cell phone but even that is useless because I can't seem to download them. Until I have better photos, I have posted some that are pertinent to the garden I saw today.

full view of the formal garden

Time Out!

dots of  Fall color

Although my time for painting is limited for the moment, I manage to snatch at even 10 minutes during the day if only to scrutinize what I've done or to add a brush stroke here and there if necessary. We are doing work on the inside of our house so I am in the midst of moving things from place to place, getting rid of all that isn't strictly necessary. For me, a professed hoarder, this is a difficult lesson  but I'm beginning to like it.  I feel pounds lighter.


The other day, however, before the rainy season started, I took time out for a walk in the garden.

The last roses of summer

our persimmon tree ablaze with red leaves

 Beautiful! Recharged my energy completely.

Wonders in nature



wild pears...mini...dolcissimi...masterpiece of nature

 "For every artist worthy of this name everything in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, accepting without fear every external truth, read there, as in an open book, every interior truth"

++++

"Per ogni artista degno di questo nome tutto nella natura è bello, perchè i suoi occhi, accettando impavidamente ogni verità esteriore, vi leggono, come in un libro aperto, tutta la verità interiore."                                        

AUGUSTE RODIN (1840-1917)