By mid-summer, I should be able to paint again, and I can't wait!
Dr. Raab repaired my right hand on April 21. The surgery was totally successful and recovery is coming along beautifully. I confess that the left hand has suffered a bit of trauma, having to take full duty for both before it was quite strong enough, but it too is regaining momentum. The most difficult part of this five-month ordeal is holding onto patience. Experiences like this can teach us a lot about ourselves.
Fortunately, I have been able to continue with my Compose blog, missing only one weekend post. But I look forward to once again putting brush to canvas and continuing this artistic journey. Meanwhile, Spring abounds.
Stay tuned.
Dianne
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
My Paws (pun intended)
I'm a bit inhibited about broadcasting physical slow-downs, but considering this is after all a blog, and taking into consideration that this blog is growing cobwebs, you should probably know that my paws aren't working well these days, so my painting is slow at best and on hold at worst. For a bit more than a year, I've been fighting carpal tunnel syndrome, a common but limiting and irritating condition, and it's in both hands.
During the past several months, my doctor and I have done every therapy and non-intrusive method we could find, but the injury to both hands is substantial, so once considerable nerve damage was confirmed by a neurologist, my hand surgeon concluded that surgical repair to both hands is absolutely necessary. (A side note here: I have the best hand surgeon anywhere, hands down--Dr. Michael Raab.)
As many of you know, the left hand was repaired mid-February. It is healing nicely, responding well to physical therapy and should be in good shape in a few weeks. Meanwhile, with the right hand having to take double duty, its condition has degenerated. So, providing the lefty is able to take over, the right hand will be repaired mid-April, mid-May at the latest.
I'm looking forward to getting both these paws going again and re-energizing my painting life and this blog. Do stay tuned.
Meanwhile, enjoy your Spring!
Dianne
During the past several months, my doctor and I have done every therapy and non-intrusive method we could find, but the injury to both hands is substantial, so once considerable nerve damage was confirmed by a neurologist, my hand surgeon concluded that surgical repair to both hands is absolutely necessary. (A side note here: I have the best hand surgeon anywhere, hands down--Dr. Michael Raab.)
As many of you know, the left hand was repaired mid-February. It is healing nicely, responding well to physical therapy and should be in good shape in a few weeks. Meanwhile, with the right hand having to take double duty, its condition has degenerated. So, providing the lefty is able to take over, the right hand will be repaired mid-April, mid-May at the latest.
I'm looking forward to getting both these paws going again and re-energizing my painting life and this blog. Do stay tuned.
Meanwhile, enjoy your Spring!
Dianne
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Paying Attention
Do you ever wonder why it is that you pay attention to some things and ignore others?
I notice I'm drawn to windows, that I'm proned to unconsciously walking to a window and staring at the world outside it. And during our recent snows, I spent hours watching the squirrels and birds as they scurried to find a morsel. And almost obscessively I took pictures. Every formation, every gesture was intriguing.
I remember from my childhood, my grandmother who we called Mama Cole, used the phrase "make haste" whenever she wanted one of us to get something done in a hurry. Never "hurry", always "make haste." It seemed to me as I noticed the speed with which the squirrels were searching for and relishing each sunflower seed, an inner voice was telling them: make haste. Was that why I couldn't stop watching?
And so what does an artist do but paint whatever she is paying attention to. Here's my interpretation of watching those squirrels.
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Dianne
I notice I'm drawn to windows, that I'm proned to unconsciously walking to a window and staring at the world outside it. And during our recent snows, I spent hours watching the squirrels and birds as they scurried to find a morsel. And almost obscessively I took pictures. Every formation, every gesture was intriguing.
I remember from my childhood, my grandmother who we called Mama Cole, used the phrase "make haste" whenever she wanted one of us to get something done in a hurry. Never "hurry", always "make haste." It seemed to me as I noticed the speed with which the squirrels were searching for and relishing each sunflower seed, an inner voice was telling them: make haste. Was that why I couldn't stop watching?
And so what does an artist do but paint whatever she is paying attention to. Here's my interpretation of watching those squirrels.
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| "Making Haste" Oil on Canvas 16" x 20" |
Dianne
Saturday, February 5, 2011
One More Winter Day
I wish I had kept a step-by-step record of this painting. It began as three birds searching for seeds in the snow. At the end of the first session, the other two birds had to go: their presence made the painting seem trite, but taking them away left the remaining bird sitting almost in the middle of the painting. In fact, the right edge of the bird splits the composition in half--sorta.
Yet I liked how I'd done the bird, so I set out to find a way to make the composition work by guiding the viewer's eye by using accents of warm light within areas of cool.
We use isolation to bring attention to a subject or to lead the eye to a place we want it to go. The bird image in this painting is about as isolated as you can get: its size, its contrast, its gesture all give emphasis to the isolation and by doing so, make the eye cling to the image itself. I needed to make the eye roam around so that the viewer could register the cold of the snow and the subtle colors in it even though we call it white.
For two days the bird's surroundings morphed. What began as a snow-covered field became woods in the background that went through many adjustments and deletes until finally there was nothing left to do and that's how you know when a painting is finished.
In this picture, I photoshopped a frame around it to help isolate the painting itself. This painting needs the frame to be complete. So what does that tell me? I'll answer that: it tells me there's still so much to learn...
Enjoy your Saturday.
Dianne
Yet I liked how I'd done the bird, so I set out to find a way to make the composition work by guiding the viewer's eye by using accents of warm light within areas of cool.
For two days the bird's surroundings morphed. What began as a snow-covered field became woods in the background that went through many adjustments and deletes until finally there was nothing left to do and that's how you know when a painting is finished.
In this picture, I photoshopped a frame around it to help isolate the painting itself. This painting needs the frame to be complete. So what does that tell me? I'll answer that: it tells me there's still so much to learn...
Enjoy your Saturday.
Dianne
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Why Not Celebrate
Yesterday, for the first time since just before Thanksgiving, I woke up ready to paint. And just as I had done every day before Howard became ill, I got my coffee, went straight to the studio and touched brush to canvas. It didn't make any difference what the subject would be, I just wanted to paint. And so I opened my file of photos I shot from my kitchen window during our last snowstorm and found this male cardinal at the foot of the bird feeder.
This morning listening to Krista Tippett's "On Being," I heard a quote but didn't catch its author: "Wherever you go, there you are." Today, with the title of this painting, I add this: Why not celebrate.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Dianne
(Later: The "Wherever you go..." quote is from the title of a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn available from Amazon HERE)
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| "Why Not Celebrate" Oil on Canvas 11" x 14" |
Enjoy your Sunday.
Dianne
(Later: The "Wherever you go..." quote is from the title of a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn available from Amazon HERE)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Reflections
Today is January 28, the date that my Howard took flight from this earth one year ago. Folks around here have been watching me like a hawk, so let's put all fears and reluctancies to rest:
Today I am thinking how blessed I am to have been given nearly thirty years with such a brilliant, vibrant and loving human being, so my focus today is not on the parting; rather, the wholeness of being. How many people on this earth can say that their chosen mate made them more of who they are!
Together, we defied the odds right and left. We ignored the "common wisdom" of a culture that wagged its finger in our faces and we replaced the "common" with the uniqueness of living our own reality, being convinced that our reality is all we have, that if we humans fake our way through life by trying to be what is acceptable, by sculpting our attitudes and choices to fit into somebody else's idea of how it should be, we become less than who we are, we become small and unhappy.
Our applause was spontaneous. We each became so certain of our inner selves that we could respond without checking to see if that response was acceptable, whether within our bond or with the outer world. This inner certainty was our gift to each other, resulting from a mutual, abiding and unqualified love and acceptance one to the other.
And so on this day, the first anniversary of Howard's physical departure which we call death, I am grateful for the creation of this especial human, a most extraordinary being, whose was given the name Howard Gordon Hanson and I am filled with thankful appreciation to have shared that life.
Make this a special day.
Dianne
Today I am thinking how blessed I am to have been given nearly thirty years with such a brilliant, vibrant and loving human being, so my focus today is not on the parting; rather, the wholeness of being. How many people on this earth can say that their chosen mate made them more of who they are!
Together, we defied the odds right and left. We ignored the "common wisdom" of a culture that wagged its finger in our faces and we replaced the "common" with the uniqueness of living our own reality, being convinced that our reality is all we have, that if we humans fake our way through life by trying to be what is acceptable, by sculpting our attitudes and choices to fit into somebody else's idea of how it should be, we become less than who we are, we become small and unhappy.
Our applause was spontaneous. We each became so certain of our inner selves that we could respond without checking to see if that response was acceptable, whether within our bond or with the outer world. This inner certainty was our gift to each other, resulting from a mutual, abiding and unqualified love and acceptance one to the other.
And so on this day, the first anniversary of Howard's physical departure which we call death, I am grateful for the creation of this especial human, a most extraordinary being, whose was given the name Howard Gordon Hanson and I am filled with thankful appreciation to have shared that life.
Make this a special day.
Dianne
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
One Autumn Maple
Now I remember why I love oil paint: you can walk away from it for a while and find it right where you left it when you return.
For a reason I don't understand, the moth mother series called for watercolor (one never knows which medium a subject's going to ask for), and so I didn't think in oil for weeks, literally weeks. Using different media is like playing different musical instruments: one mode of interpretation is possible with the oboe whereas another is possible with the mandolin and the miracle of this is that the same tune can be played on either, but its expression will differ.
Same is true for painting media: a fall scene in watercolor will express its content differently than when painted in oils. This particular little maple, one of the few having any color this year, is asking to be expressed in oils.
Here is its initial block-in. A thumbnail gouache study of it is HERE
Enjoy your Monday before Thanksgiving.
Dianne
For a reason I don't understand, the moth mother series called for watercolor (one never knows which medium a subject's going to ask for), and so I didn't think in oil for weeks, literally weeks. Using different media is like playing different musical instruments: one mode of interpretation is possible with the oboe whereas another is possible with the mandolin and the miracle of this is that the same tune can be played on either, but its expression will differ.
Same is true for painting media: a fall scene in watercolor will express its content differently than when painted in oils. This particular little maple, one of the few having any color this year, is asking to be expressed in oils.
Here is its initial block-in. A thumbnail gouache study of it is HERE
Enjoy your Monday before Thanksgiving.
Dianne
Friday, November 12, 2010
New Series Beginning
Finishing the moth series, I have found myself stymied until I awoke this morning with a hankering to do an oil painting for no other reason than just to push paint. Settling into the studio, I looked out my window and saw that after all the dullness of this season, fall colors are bathing my front yard. Ah ha!
To get warmed up, I did a five minute 3" x 4" gouache study in my sketchbook. So here comes another series, this time in oil.
Happy Friday.
Dianne
To get warmed up, I did a five minute 3" x 4" gouache study in my sketchbook. So here comes another series, this time in oil.
Dianne
Friday, November 5, 2010
What If?
I'm fascinated by figure skating, especially pairs. This genre is one of the few requiring the mastery of both athletic and artistic skills. Are there others? None come to mind at the moment.
Take a look at this video of Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov.
I wonder how the world of visual arts would look today if its painters and sculptors were required to obtain this level of mastery of skills and expressiveness before gaining world wide acclaim. I just wonder.
Happy Friday.
Dianne
Take a look at this video of Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov.
I wonder how the world of visual arts would look today if its painters and sculptors were required to obtain this level of mastery of skills and expressiveness before gaining world wide acclaim. I just wonder.
Happy Friday.
Dianne
Monday, November 1, 2010
Alpha Omega
The last in my series of moth paintings is finished and signed.
Enjoy your Monday.
Dianne
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| "Alpha Omega" 20" x 28" Watercolor on Cold Press Paper |
Dianne
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