"I THINK, THEREFORE I AM"

Today is the birthday of Rene Descartes, the French philosopher. I wonder how the fact that I keep forgetting things relates to his most famous quote?

TWO WORLDS

It seems that art is all about a person's comfort zone. I continue to make attempts at watercolor painting and continue to struggle. To compound the issue, I love the floral watercolors that a great friend of mine who lives in the Northwest paints. Combining a technique that I have no mastery of with a subject that I am not really in touch with and, well...

Yet give me a piece of scratchboard, a Jazz subject and twenty minutes and I'm as happy as can be.

ART VS THE REAL ME

Art is the human activity which consists in one human consciously conveying to others, by certain external signs, the feelings he has experienced, and in others being affected by those feelings and also experiencing them. ~Leo Tolstoy~

Art is a selective re-creation of realty according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man's nature ~Marcel Proust~

The above definitions of art are both profound and insightful, but...somehow I find it difficult to relate them to the picture of me, sitting in my sweat pants, splashing paint here and there.

FLORAL

I spent some great time with my grandson over the weekend (oh, and my son and his wife too!). I can't get enough of him. Also took some time to shoot some pictures of the many flowers that are opening up with the coming of spring. I've done a few floral paintings using acrylics but really want to jump into the deep end of the pool and try one with watercolors.

SMALL SUBJECT

Needed a few note cards to send out as thank-yous and couldn't think of a better subject than my grandson. Just a quick watercolor and viola!

Everyone has talent at 25. The difficulty is to have it at 50. ~Edgar Degas~

KEEPING ME ON MY TOES

As I was working on my newest print downstairs in my studio area, I thought about the fact that ten years ago I would be trying to find something else to occupy my time. Thanks to two people, I now find myself trying to absorb everything I can find about art and all the different techniques out there. In an earlier posting I mentioned reconnecting with someone from my school days. Anne, along with my daughter in law, both continue to inspire me with their creativity and talent. They both make my dabblings with paint and paper so much more fun. Here are a few of their works.

JUST FOR KICKS

I'm still finding it a great idea to have a piece of scratchboard close by. There are times when I don't want to jump head long into painting or working on a Lino or woodblock, but want to mark up something. So easy to grab some scratchboard and start doodling.

QUEBEC

Sorting through old paintings and prints a few weeks ago, I found things that have been buried for years. Well, not buried (I do dust occasionally) but out of sight. This is an acrylic painting I did from a photograph I took on a trip to Quebec. The famous Chateau Fontenac. A side note about Quebec, while viewing some of the cemeteries I noticed that there a lot of 'Brissons' buried in Quebec. Don't think I'll visit there again. No need to tempt fate!

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams~

MORE MOKU-HANGA

Over the last year I have found myself doing a lot more things with linoleum than with wood blocks. I'm thinking that is probably because as I get older, I find linoleum so much easier to cut. Having said that, I still love woodcuts. There is a great video at the link below of Graham Scholes working on a 17 color woodblock print. Watching this clip will show you many of the techniques of this ancient art.

http://craftvideos.blogspot.com/2009/03/17-color-moku-hanga-print.html

SOLD

I sold my second to last print of 'Howling at the Moon' to a person who contacted my via email. He lives in Texas and I'm not even sure how he found out about the print. Though I'm not very good or "into" the selling part of doing my art, it is exciting to have somebody want one of my pieces.

FANTASTIC WATERCOLOR PORTRAIT

I spent some wonderful time with my grandson this past weekend. I am sure I will enjoy him as he gets older, but he is so much fun right now, I can't imagine it getting better.

If, like me, you find people who can just sit down and paint something that turns out fantastic, then you will love the link below. Jim McVickers usually paints in oil, but in this video he sat down and did an impromptu watercolor portrait. I am so jealous of talent like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mK2bFaJWPA

****Language warning!!!