Finishing Touches

26" x 19"

a detail of the above photo

                                                                                                                               

I went to the studio in Florence today and worked on this larger painting, a make-over, pushing it a  little further using cold wax and a many layered-base.  I believe I've finished it for the time being, the real truth is that I'm just tired of it  so ... will let it rest and see what happens next, if anything. I will continue to experiment but will try using the wax on paper next. Am curious to see the effects of wax on various qualities of paper.

HOMEWORK

My homework:

9" x 9"

  I've been doing homework for the last few days. Spring has sprung (and don't believe a word about the groundhog and his shadow or the 3rd of April being able to forecast the weather.  It's all a lot of hogwash, Spring  arrived just  NOW after long days of rainy rain.) Therefore, I've dug into the gardening that has to be done, the spring cleaning that claims me everyday. BUT I've also taken my small canvas swatches home from my studio, my cold wax and colors and make sure that every day is spent, even if only a few minutes, on another type of home work, continuing my  wax project.

9" x 9"

Figures Emerging

 This square was inverted before proceeding.

and became this.

This square is also in the working stage.

 

As you can see, my figures are emerging.  I can't help it, I just see them everywhere and I don't know if I want that to continue or not. Anyway, we're still in the first stages. Who knows what will happen next!

Cold Wax Continues

#4 of cold wax canvas swatches  9x9"

Here is the last of 4 trial pieces that I am experimenting with using cold wax.  I would like to keep it in light, soft tones as you see it now but with over layers, transparent, that leave their marks on the rough spots that exist here and there. I will add more texture to achieve that, some red sand and gravel that I brought home with me from the Grand Canyon years ago.  This seems a good place for these cherished relics. But again, seeing that I am still at the experimental phase, I will just have to allow myself to be led on by the materials themselves.

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.

Wiinter Doldrums

It's just Another Rainy Day!  I'm trying  very hard to pull myself up out of a fierce attack of winter doldrums - no energy. . . no inspiration . . . .no painting.  And,  NO sunshine,  NO warm, balmy, Spring days that would fill me with energy and new projects in a minute. I am so envious of all of my blogger friends who are able to produce a painting a day with success. (Without a doubt they  live in sunny parts of the world.) Or. . .is this just an excuse! ! !

What I have been doing though is thinking a lot. And. . .  preparing a little for the better days.  The first attempt at using cold wax as a medium is continuing (posted March 2 "Cold Wax") but I've realized that, as everyone has said, a hard backing is necessary in order to allow for scraping through the many layers of wax/color.  So I have prepared four small ( 9"x 9") canvas swatches, I've mounted them on cardboard and am, finally, starting to prepare them. The small size  helps. . .  there's less canvas to cover!

As you see in the photo I'm using oil paint sticks and dry pigments as well as tube paint and . . .of course, my homemade cold wax medium which is hidden in an old can of oatmeal. To spread mix and scrape there are spatulas of various sizes as well as other tools.

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