Watch Me Paint: World-Class Art, World-Class Instruction
The first glorious plein air painting day was our last class of the spring session. It was grand. Camden and Mt. Battie, by Carol L. Douglas Nobody understands spring like a Northerner. We long for that giddy day when the temperature first climbs above 50° F., the rain stops, and the sky clears. Our joints …
Math, engineering and art are never very far apart. They’re all creative processes. Stone balls in the Terraba Plain, the Boruca region, Costa Rica. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology, 1948. (Courtesy Doris Stone) * A petrosphereis a round stone artifact shaped by human hands. Since no practical purpose has ever been assigned to them, they should properly be considered art. …
There are many paths to the final destination, grasshopper. This is just one fast, easy route to mixing summer greens. Mixed greens, in oils. Here in mid-coast Maine, the fog and rain are finally releasing the leaves from their winter sheathes. Hints of green show in my lawn, and the hardiest perennials poke their noses …
As soon as animals stop eating boats, I’ll stop eating animals Sketch of scaffolding, by Carol L. Douglas On Monday I wrote about painting despite lack of inspiration. Yesterday I was inspired. It was the first truly lovely day of spring. Bobbi Heath was visiting and we were heading to the North End Shipyard to …
Yesterday I went all digital on a schooner. Allowing for the learning curve, this has potential. Underpainting of American Eagle passing Owl’s Head, by Carol L Douglas I’ve toyed for a while with the idea of doing a large, Fitz Henry Lane-influenced scene of the American Eagle under sail. A large canvas of a boat …
If the church organist goes the way of the buggy whip, who’s going to remember JS Bach? Carrying the Cross, pastel, Carol L. Douglas I go to a modern church with a praise band, but I love traditional church hymns. There is nothing like Easter to remind you of great music like “Christ the Lord …
Cheap, plentiful, environmentally-friendly, and you can create a masterpiece with it. We should all use more charcoal. Portrait of my friend Jane in charcoal, by Carol L. Douglas. Art supplies tend to be expensive, especially at the rarified corners of the business. Mother Nature, however, has given us a drawing material that is plentiful, dirt …
My last studio was neater than my current one. I wonder why. I’ve had studios in my home and in a commercial space. Neither is inherently better. It’s just a question of what works best for you. Sometimes the decision requires no thought. If there’s no room in your house, a rented studio space is …
(Photo courtesy Karen Talbot Art Gallery) Ah, Candlemas!My husband likes to observe it by reminding me that the annual Columbia Falls Smelt Fry is just around the corner. We know smelts from growing up along the (freshwater) Great Lakes, but they were also once an important food fish here on (saltwater) Penobscot Bay. The Pleasant …
Continue reading “A scientific artist supports our old friend, the smelt”
“Barge Haulers on the Volga (Burlaki), 1870–73, Ilya Repin Last night I heard from an old friend. I met him through his kids, who are of an age with mine. He’s 57 years old and leaving next week for Puerto Rico to start graduate school. “It depends on my mother and my kids,” he said, …