Dinosaurs and more

I spent a wonderful day at the natural history museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The view from the terrace is of the Wasatch Mountains.

The previous day, I toured Antelope Island which is on the Great Salt Lake. Here are a couple of photos from that tour.

Perpetual Student

painting

canvas on the easel

brushes and paints set out

is this who I am now?

an artist wannabe?

 

back in school again

university this time

not just art class

waking up my brain

relearning verb tenses

vocabulary and more

reviewing Spanish

starting to remember

 

I say I’ve retired

when people ask

but that is the wrong word

I need a new word

for this time of my life

as artist, poet, wife, mother

and perpetual student

 

©Linda H. Feinberg

I haven't done much writing since we came back from Israel in the winter. I was concentrating more on my art and now on my Spanish classes. I took out my notebook again last night and it felt like the right time to start writing again.

 

As an art update my drawing of Inside the City, Jerusalem, (6/7/2012 post) was accepted into a juried show in Boston. It will be at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery for the Alumni & Faculty Show from November 15, 2012 to January 15, 2013.

Winter Trails

I'm looking forward to winter and cross country skiing this year. Last year we were away and there wasn't enough snow when we returned in March. I painted from a photo of a snowmobiler taken the year before, when we were skiing in Auburn, NH.  There are lots of trails nearby and we have our own equipment so we don't need to pay fees. We do have to watch out for the snowmobiles and the dog sleds (they have the right of way), but there are still many quiet places to go where it is not crowded with machines. We also hike on these trails during the other seasons.

This painting is almost done. It is 16" X 20" acrylic paint on stretched canvas.  I am leaving it up on my easel for now to see if I want to do anything else to it.  Once I've made my final decision I will varnish it. Meanwhile, it's still fall here and we have a big cleanup of the fall leaves from the storm. We were lucky and did not lose our electricity with the hurricane, but it is a mess here. Last year we did not have power for 3 days (and it was cold then) due to the surprise October snowstorm. I don't mind cleaning up the leaves and I can wait a little longer for the snow.

Oak and Maple Leaves

 

Blessed is the One who transforms one season into another.

View from Mount Willard

I finally finished and varnished this painting. You can see it on my easel in one of the photos of my studio below. This is the view from the top of Mount Willard in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, looking down at the roads below. Mount Willard is in the Crawford Notch area and is a moderate hike. You are inside the treeline all the way up to the top ledge.  The views are of the presidential range of mountains in New Hampshire.

This painting is 16" X 20" on stretched canvas, acrylic paint.  I put it up for sale on my website and will show it at the next craft fairs that we are doing in November and December. I am getting more comfortable working on these larger canvases and have started a winter scene with a snowmobile now. I did a small watercolor study first to help me with the composition.

I did darken the background on the amaryllis painting (post before this one) and I think it looks more dramatic.

It's very beautiful in New Hampshire now. I love the cooler temperatures and the fall colors. We had a small earthquake (4.0) last night, but no damage.  These are trees in my yard:

Amaryllis

This painting was a bit more experimental for me.  I had a panel that I had painted with a burnt sienna undercolor. I wasn't happy with the canvas texture on the panel and did not feel that it was suitable for a landscape. I had some nice photos of my amaryllis flowers (grown in a pot) from last year.  I like red and had recently sold another painting of red bougainvilleas. I thought it was time to paint more red flowers.

I poured various colors on the surface and spread them around with a palette knife. I scraped in a rough idea of the flower petals in some places where I had some yellow ochre (and some places show up the burnt sienna undercolor).  I was trying to get a sense of movement since these were live flowers, not dead ones (even though they were inside out of the wind).  I let that dry.

Then I painted and played with the flowers.  When they dried, I felt that the background was too pale.  I glazed the background with viridian mixed with the glaze (to darken it) and let everything dry again.  I added more details and highlights. I'm happy with the results and I'll look at it for the next week or so before I varnish it to see if I want to change anything else.

Acrylic on artist panel, 11" X 14". This painting can be framed (or not). There is a hanger on the reverse.  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing.  I will be making some cards from the image as well to sell at the next craft fair (November 3, 2012, Brookside Congregational Church, Manchester, NH).

Artist of the Month - October 2012

Photo by Tom Wright

 

 

I am a member of the Manchester Artists Association and won one of the Artist of the Month certificates this month. My painting of Tower Hill Pond is on exhibit for the month of October at Bentley Commons in Bedford, New Hampshire. I received lots of nice comments when I went there to put it on the easel in the library.

 



Tzfat (Safed), Israel

Just a little pencil drawing this past week. I was too busy to paint. I was involved with Jewish holidays and family.  I hope to have time this week to finish the mountain painting I am working on. I also started a drawing for a painting of amarylis flowers. That will be on a smaller panel.

This drawing was from a photo I took while out walking with my friend during the winter months on our trip to Israel. Tzfat is on the top of the hill which makes for interesting walking up and down many steps.  It was and still is the town with many mystics. Tzfat is in northern Israel, not too far from the border with Lebanon (and Syria). It is spelled many different ways in English.

Open House/Open Studio

On Sunday we hosted an open house/open studio for friends, business associates, neighbors etc. This was the first time I thought of doing this and it was very successful. I cleaned up my studio a bit, found old art to display along with new pieces, set up my card racks and enjoyed my visitors. I sold lots of cards, one print and one original painting (bougainvillea). You can see it in the 3rd photo below (the red flowers - next to the window).

We are starting the craft fair season soon and this was a good start for both of us. Joe is celebrating the publication of his fifth book "What Keeps You Going" and has already received positive feedback from readers. I'm very proud of him. Some people don't know what to do when they retire, but that has not been a problem for either of us! Joe set up his books in our dining room upstairs and was happy with his sales too. (My studio is on the ground level of our house, a raised ranch. This is my old bookkeeping office.)

 

 

 

 

Rosh Hashanah