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Sick of seeing the same painting over and over again? It’s called the Groundhog Day Effect. I am so done with this painting but for some reason it’s not done with me. I keep fuzting with it. Futzing: Yiddish meaning STOP ALREADY! Leave it alone.
You can see the earlier versions in the previous post. I gave the flowers more depth and I worked on the sky a bit.
A number of friends & co-workers have been complaining about being tired, not wanting to do anything, not having any energy. Dr. King (one of my other personalities) has a diagnosis: FEBRUARY. The worst month. Short but cruel. One is tired of winter, darkness, colds, flu and all the other things that go along with February. If you’ve ever watched Seinfeld on TV you pronounce FEBRUARY the way Jerry pronounced “NEWMAN”.
There were only two really good things so far in February.
- The puppy bowl. Anyone in the US who doesn’t get all caught up in the nonsense of the Super Bowl can now at least watch the puppy bowl. Who doesn’t love watching puppies romp and play? As an aside, if anyone is curious about why the lights went out after the half-time show it was cause Beyonce used up all the electricity.
- Groundhog Day. Why we think that some icky rodent called a groundhog, also known as a woodchuck or whistle-pig, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots can predict the future is beyond me. My biggest laugh came as I was channel surfing on groundhog day (Feb. 2nd) and came across the Weather Channel’s huge banner that said: DECISION 2013 Groundhog Day. Were they kidding? This is on par with the presidential election? And don’t eve get me started about the 24 hour News Cycle when talking heads go on and on about the same stuff over and over and over and over and over again. It’s like the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray.
To all my blog friends. I’ve been having a lot of trouble lately commenting on your blogs. I’m trying to work it out. Please don’t think I haven’t been visiting all of you. I hope this will be fixed soon.
View from the 11th floor probably still a WIP 1-29-13
I did a little more work on this painting. The question is now, is it over worked. I don’t know. What I do know is it’s time to move on to something else and maybe revisit this at a later time.
View from the 11th Floor -WIP 1-22-13 Watercolor on 140# Arches coldpress.
This is not the view from my apartment. I wish. It’s from my friend’s apartment and is very special to me. After 9/11 I made my way uptown and stayed with Judy. Still reeling and in shock I slept at her place that night knowing that the Husband would be working for many, many days to come. The next morning when I woke up, I checked the window and yes, the Empire State Building was still there. I knew the twin towers were gone, so I was happy to see this part of the skyline remained. I still always check when I visit Judy. Just in case.
Judy has some beautiful plants on her windowsill and they grow tall with all the sun she gets. (I, on the other hand, live in a cave by comparison.) I thought the juxtaposition of the foliage against a backdrop of the city buildings made for an interesting picture. I plan on making the leaves and stems brighter and stronger in comparison to the skyline. I’m pretty much finished with the skyline with the exception of adding some suggestions of windows in the buildings. We’ll see. Below this window is Madison Square Park and then across the park are the buildings looking north.
It’s frosty cold in NYC today. More like freezing cold. I’m pretty sure if you’re in the US you’re cold too. Are you sick? Everyone here is. So is the husband. I woke up this morning with a tickle in my throat and a song in my heart. OK, the song part isn’t true. More like a runny nose. Stay warm friends.
Red rocks of Utah – work in progress on 1/4 sheet of Arches 140 lb cold press
As much as I talk about it, retirement is no where in my near future. But it may be in the Husband’s sooner rather than later. He’s got 19 years with the NYPD and although not wanting to, he may retire at 20 years as a result of injuries incurred on the job. We’ll see. And boy did he like Utah when we visited 4 national parks in that state in September. I recently told a friend that the Husband keeps telling me he wants to retire to Utah. This friend looked at me with a straight face and said “you’ll be arrested”. I’m not sure about that. But I’m pretty sure they won’t get my jokes. Or the fact that I prefer black as a color choice in most of my clothes.
Speaking of clothes…I remember the drive we took our last day in Utah from Moab to Salt Lake City so we could catch an evening flight to NYC. On the way there I was fussing with the radio buttons trying to find something decent to listen to. As we got closer to SLC, I finally found some music stations, but the commercials were the best. I remember one commercial in particular. It was for a clothing store. Two teen-age girls were discussing the fashions sold at this store and how cool the clothes were. And then came the hook…
1st girl: I love the clothes, they are so cute!
2nd girl: And modest too!
And that’s when I stared. At the radio. And then laughed. I don’t know about you, but I do think teen and tween girls often dress quite inappropriately for their age. 16 year-olds look like they are 30. (OMG, did I just say that?) But I’ve never once heard a teen-age girl exclaim “THESE CLOTHES ARE SO MODEST! I LOVE THEM!”
I’m still thinking about those beautiful hoodoos and rock formations though and sometimes when I come out of the subway I look up at the skyscrapers and imagine that they are the red-rocks of Utah. Maybe we will go back someday. In the meantime, I’ll continue to paint them like I did here and here. The above painting is still a work in progress. I am going to add more detail to the rocks, some cracks, crevices and striations. There is also an electrical cord in the picture. I don’t know how that got there. Clearly it speaks to my superb photographic abilities.
I also worked on my Central Park Duck a little more to add some depth. You can see the difference compared to my last post of the duck here.
Thank goodness we survived the Mayan Apocalypse. I, for one, was not that worried. I’m more worried about global warming. One time in Mexico The Husband and I visited the Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza. It was so hot I told my husband no wonder they performed human sacrifices. It was probably just to get out of the heat.
Madonna and child. With Dog (mine)
This of course has nothing to do with Christmas 2012. I’m just rambling. So back to the matter at hand. If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! If you don’t, happy winter solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Festivus and a very happy New Year to all.
Thank you for visiting this blog, commenting and/or “liking”.
Here’s to a Happy, Healthy 2013 to you all.
Central Park Duck (work in progress) on 1/4 sheet of 140 # Arches cold press
Another animal painting? What’s up with that? I’m getting soft! Next thing you know it will be kittens and puppies!
I was looking down on this duck in a pond in Central Park watching the water swirl around it with the autumn leaves that had dropped down from the trees. This was the duck I was watching right before those raccoons popped out of the drainage pipe (see previous post). Many of the leaves were under water and the water was much darker. I decided to brighten it up a bit. We all need some brightness right now.
We in NY and NJ are still getting over the impact from Superstorm Sandy and now this horrific event in Newtown CT. I can’t even talk about it. Hug your children, hug your nieces and nephews and hug your loved ones. I’m sending a virtual hug to all of you.
Central Park Bandits 1/2 sheet Arches 140 # cold press
Here are those little bandits you saw in the last post in the very beginning stages. I wanted to show the water and the leaves that had fallen into the water with the raccoons peeking out of the drainage pipe they popped out of! And they were a lot cuter than the rats we are used to seeing around town. (Ugh, don’t get me started about rats.)
Now, what’s up with today’s date of 12/12/12? People get so strange about dates and their meaning. This will be the last time in our lifetimes that we will see consecutive numbers! How many people got married today just so their anniversary would be consecutive 12s. Crazy! I remember my anniversary and there are no consecutive numbers involved. My husband remembers our anniversary because he got the date engraved in his wedding band so he could check if he ever forgot. And now we have 12/21/12 coming up. If the Mayans were so smart, how come they never saw the Spanish coming? More date craziness: March 14 is pi day. April 20 is, well, if you don’t know what April 20 is, I don’t want to be the one to tell you. There’s another one but I can’t remember it right now. Of course, that won’t matter if we don’t survive past 12/21/12. I hope we do. I don’t want to miss Christmas, my birthday (12/28/12, feel free to send a gift. Any gift valued over $50 should be insured 
) and New Year’s.
Speaking of gifts, I’m watching the Robin Hood Foundation Concert for Sandy relief. As some of you know, members of my family were displaced by the storm, my niece lost everything in her apartment, my sister-in-law lost the whole first floor of her home. Many other friends and family were affected and there are still people in the NY Metropolitan area including NJ and CT that don’t have power or a place to live. If you want to you can click on the link below. You don’t have to. I won’t know. (You can still send me a birthday gift. )
I finished the bike and started a new painting of two raccoons I saw in Central Park when I went to see the Tatzu Nishi exhibit called Discovering Columbus. You climb up 6 flights of stairs and end up in a “living room” in which the statue of Columbus overwhelms the space. Interesting, odd and fun, one can walk around the statue, sit on a sofa and watch TV, read a magazine, look through the bookcase or out the windows at the views of Central Park, down Broadway or up Columbus Ave. All with this GIANT statue in the middle of the room. My niece Caroline and I were fixated on the flat screen TV in the room.
Me: There’s a 13 foot statue of Columbus in the middle of this room
Caroline: Look at that flat screen TV! That’s the flattest flat screen TV I’ve ever seen!
Me: Oh yeah, wow.
We have priorities.
After we discovered Columbus we took a stroll through Central Park. Walking over a bridge we stopped to look at the fall foliage and the ducks in the water. Suddenly we saw two raccoons pop out of a drainage pipe. That’s the painting below. Yes, I know it doesn’t look like anything now. But it will. My favorite part so far? The orange “frisket”! LOL!
Central Park Bandits – just started – 140# Arches cold press
I know I’m a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. My sister-in-law who is displaced from the storm was supposed to have Thanksgiving this year, but couldn’t, so my sister stepped in and both families had a wonderful day together.
Bike and graffiti on wall – Work in Progress on 1/2 sheet of 140# Arches coldpress
Now that Hurricane Sandy has come and gone the devastation still lingers. Thank you to everyone who emailed, called, texted or commented on this blog to check on us. We are both fine although I haven’t seen the husband in about two weeks with the exception of a quick hello or goodbye.
Everyone I know lost power, but some lost much more. My sister-in-law and her husband live on the Rockaway Peninsula and lost everything on their first floor of their home as well as their cars. My niece lived on the first floor of an apartment building and she lost everything. Here’s an interesting piece 60 minutes ran on a particular area called Belle Harbor where they live: 60 Minutes Belle Harbor. But it wasn’t just Rockaway, It was so many areas in the NY/NJ/CT/PA Metropolitan Area. Little by little we are on our way to getting back to normal.
I finally got a chance to paint and started with the work in progress above of a city scene. This is a building I see from the art studio window. Someone painted a blue bicycle on a yellow field on a brick wall. Add some graffiti, water towers and it’s right up my alley. I’m thinking that after I finish painting it I may deconstruct it a bit by splashing water and paint on it. Everything else in the City has been splashed with water!
11″ tall decoupage under glass vase
Here’s another vase I’ve recently completed. It’s got blue birds and apples. Silver metallic with a white background. When I start out with just a clear piece of glass it’s called a vase. Long “A”. When I’m done and it looks like the above it’s called a VAHSE. Just so you know.
Lion in front of the Main Branch of the NYPublic Library – 5th Ave and 42nd Street.
On Saturday, October 27th the NYC Urban Sketchers met in midtown Manhattan. First stop was at the NY Public Library which was called the Main Branch and is now called the Stephen A. Schwarzman building. Who is he? I had no idea so I had to look it up. He is a zillionaire and CEO of a big financial firm. He is married to a Hearst. He is not even dead yet. Now this annoys me. Why? Because the Main Branch of the NY Public Library says something. It says what it is and if you’re a New Yorker you know where it is. What does the Stephen A. Schwarzman building say? It says some really, really, really rich guy who is not even dead yet can get his name on a building. So far the only name I had on a building was a bodega on 5th Ave. and 3rd Street in Brooklyn when Charlie and I were still doing the night dog walk before he upped and moved to Maine. It was the Carol C. King Bodega. Ok, not really. But it COULD HAVE been considering the amount of times Charlie and I stopped in there for a snack whilst walking dogs. (BTW, if you’re not British, using the word “whilst” sounds really pretentious, but I don’t care. I like that word.)
Now, my next question is why did they rename the Triborough Bridge the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) bridge. The Triborough Bridge said something! You hear the name and YOU KNOW it goes to THREE boroughs. (Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx). What does the RFK bridge say? A really rich dead guy’s family got his name on something.
I could go on and on. In fact, I think I will.
The Interborough Parkway? YES! It goes between boroughs. The Jackie Robinson Parkway? I got nothing.
The Queensborough bridge? Goes to Queens! The Edward I. Koch bridge? No clue.
The Westside Highway? Gotcha! Runs up the West Side. The Joe DiMaggio highway? Stop it!
The biggest problem is that New Yorkers still call these places by their old names. If a tourist asked me where the Stephen A. Schwarzman building was all I would be able to do is stare.
SE corner of 42nd Street and 6th Ave looking towards the Bank of America skyscraper on the NW corner.
Which brings me back to Urban Sketching. (Yes, I was getting there.) The group met between the two lions in front of the library. They are called Patience and Fortitude. Names given to them by Mayor LaGuardia during the Great Depression. He believed New Yorkers needed both of these attributes to survive. We drew Patience. (Or was it Fortitude), then moved to Bryant Park which is right behind the Library. There were already ice skaters gliding on the rink that’s there in the fall and winter. Then to the Bank of America building on 42nd and 6th Ave. That’s right. 6th Ave. NOT Avenue of the Americas. Tourists, take heed. If you ask anyone where Avenue of the Americas is we will tell you we don’t know. But SIXTH Avenue is conveniently located between 5th Ave. and 7th Ave.
The GRACE Building from the Bank of New York public space on the corner of 43rd St. and 6th Ave.
Ok, I’m done with my rant. The Urban Sketching was fun, but I had to leave early since I was meeting some friends for a Lower East Side gallery crawl. Joan T. and her friend Susan can in from Long Island again, so that was fun. I was a little distracted by all the holiday stalls that spring up in Bryant Park for the holidays. (Yes, I’m also attracted to shiny objects.)
NYC is getting ready for Hurricane Sandy. They have shut down the subways and buses. The show must go on? Not on Broadway tonight and tomorrow night. The Husband is already working 12 hour shifts. Last year Irene had us running in circles and it turned out it wasn’t that bad for us in the City. I have a feeling this one may be different. Full moon, high tide, another storm coming from the West to meet Sandy. Yikes! Wish us luck.
Utah – Bryce, Scenic Byway in Moab, and Arches on 1/2 sheet of 140# Arches coldpress. Each image is approx 5 x 8 inches with approx. an inch and 1/2 space in between.
I’m back in Utah! Well, not physically, I’m still in NYC, but blog-post wise I’m back in Utah. I feel like I’ve been astral traveling: Utah, NYC Urban Sketching, Utah again and then a quick stop in Florida (see the decoupage under glass plate below.) If only I could get some frequent flyer miles for all these trips.
The left panel is Bryce Canyon. The middle is on a scenic byway in Moab. Which was a beautiful road. The Colorado river was a muddy rust color, with purple-ish mountains on the other side and trees that clearly had been burned in a recent fire and then these bizarre little clumps of neon green grass growing. The final panel is from Arches National Park (I think).
This is the first time I did a triptych. I felt it worked well with the imagery I chose to paint. I have so many images in my head (that often fight with the voices) and I’m torn between my cityscapes and this amazing Utah landscape.
I’m also working on some coasters and plates for the upcoming Putnam Arts Council Holiday Craft Sale. I have to work like a busy bee the next few weeks to get some inventory ready for the sale. I just finshed this 7″ plate of Florida Oranges.
Decoupage under glass – 7 inch glass plate with Florida Oranges image, with metallic and acrylic paint.
I have a number of these 7″ plates which I plan to sell along with some vases and other glass items. I will go into busy bee mode to make a bunch of coasters for the holiday sale. I can’t believe I’m already thinking about the holidays. So, if you don’t hear from me, check to make sure I haven’t collapsed under a mound of glass coasters, Elmer’s glue and metallic paint.
