My Favorite Places

Triplets?

Neighbors

Mineral Springs Falls, Highland Mills, N.Y.

This was one of my favorite places to hang out when I was a kid. My own kids were wowed by it. I was happy to have them experience this place. You have to walk a trail for about ten minutes to get to it. All I told my boys was that they would hear and feel it before they saw it. Because the falls are spring fed it is soooo cold, the air temperature drops as you get closer to it. Our feet were numb after standing in the water for about 30 seconds. What I love about the Hudson Valley region is that these kinds of places are everywhere. There was a whole art movement based on the landscape of this area. Maybe some day I will be able to paint here, I hope so.What kind of makes me sad is all the development taking place obscuring panoramic views.

The wildlife are at odds with the encroachment into their territory. We went to visit my sister in Pennsylvania, she had mentioned the Deer and how they were like pets, not fearful of people. Well seeing is believing. A doe appeared from the woods to visit one of the neighbors and a little while later she was back with these three fawns, too cute. We didn't know if she was the mother of all three or maybe a surrogate mom to one of them, so many deer are killed daily by cars. We didn't know if Deer could have triplets. Does anyone know?

Legendary Pearl Paint, NYC

My family lives about 50 miles outside of New York City, great for a day trip into the city. Pearl Paint is a legendary art supply store more than 70 years old. As an art student I spent countless hours wondering the 6 floors, It is so big that a store map is offered when you enter. Pearl opened in 1933 the same year Albert Einstein came to America, the Golden Gate bridge began construction and the Great Plains were devastated by the Dust Bowl.

Pearl Paint is located on Canal Street, probably one of the busiest streets in NYC. If you need a handbag or a scarf this is the place. We had to be careful not to lose each other as we pushed through the crowds. We walked through Chinatown amazed by the sidewalk fare. Fruits and vegetables never seen before, Ducks hanging in shop windows and if you are a still life painter there were fabulous stores full of Asian teapots, bowls, beautiful hand made papers, oh I could go on. My problem however was carrying all this stuff since we did not drive, but took the bus. There is something to be said for having a car.

Front End Alignment

"Last of the Roses" 8"x6" Oil

I was trying to keep things very simple in this study, just how little detail is needed for us to complete the picture? I think this is something artist's struggle with everyday, the term, to paint "loose" is used quite often in the art world. As young painters we see every detail and want to put it all down on the canvas. I think there is a poetry about the impression of a painting, leave the viewer to complete the picture, if it's all about the detail and the facts, it's sort of like reading the newspaper, all the info is there and nothing is left to the imagination, by the way, the paper is only around for a day. Now poetry on the other hand is read over and over again allowing the reader to feel emotion and bring their own interpretation to the piece. There is a reason the Impressionist movement is the most popular of all. So I will try to continue to keep my strokes to a minimum, sounds easy doesn't it?
I am posting something I painted a couple of weeks ago because I had eye surgery last week, my husband calls it a front end alignment, actually the Doctor corrected a lazy eye that was causing headaches for some time now. It involved cutting the muscles on each side of the eye and aligning the eye properly. I was so sick from the anesthesia and pain medication, ugh, I was in bed for 3 days. I am a big wimp I guess. It's been 10 days since the surgery and it is healing quite slowly so I have just been piddling around in the studio. It hasn't been this neat in ages. We are leaving for New York in a couple of days to visit my family, the boys are excited as am I.