THE LIBRARY BARN
This is the barn next to the Library where I work, in which we keep our used books and have book sales all Summer and into Fall.
Last year there was a Library workshop given by an artist who said that anyone who wanted to come and paint would get some pointers and learn some techniques. So I packed up all my supplies and went to the workshop. Turned out she only works in watercolour! The one pointer she gave me was to suggest that I use the natural effect of the mowing (which was slightly striped looking) to help the painting have a little pizzazz. So, against what I would normally have done, I did it, and I like the effect. I enjoyed painting this, even though I put it away that week and never finished it until this past week. It is a wonderful thing to pick up an oil painting after it is stone dry and see what layer you want to add next. It makes me very happy to paint!
Hello! And here's to Howard!
ReplyDeletepuddle--I think you may be right that blogs tend to have finite lifespans. I recall once reading about how people tend to have a certain sized circle of acquaintances (60?), but the members tend to change over time. Might be the same thing with blogs--except the ones with the best people, of course! And you are right that it is good to chat with folks we would never meet in the normal courses of our lives.
listener--I like the effect of the mowed lawn too. I once saw a television program about restoration of oil paintings. They showed how the restorers would take a chip from the edge of a bad spot, magnify it edgewise to discover what layers of what color paints were used, then build up the same series of colored layers using some other type of paint (tempra?), and it would match perfectly. Amazing. Evidently trying to match the color of the top layer alone wouldn't work.
Miyoko works with oils and studied under a painter with classical training, so starts out with a very rough sketch and changes it again and again as the painting progresses. The other students in the adult school class she currently attends work from photos, and start over in one corner, finishing each little bit perfectly. They are quite amazed by the way Miyoko works. By the way, French Impressionism made a far greater and more lasting impact in Japan than in the US; it is obvious in the work of Miyoko's teacher and other students of the same atelier. (Yes, they do use the French word in Japan; as well as "european" size canvases and picture frames.)
Well, it's time I went to bed, but I AM going to see one episode of that Flash Gordon series tonight! So there! (Dr. Zarkov was one of my childhood role models; he's the one I really want to see. Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless and the others are all very well, but Dr. Zarkov is the principal character for me.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Zarkov
ReplyDeleteDashing...don't mean to be AWOL...reading the blog when I can...will post tonight (she said hopefully)!
ReplyDeleteHi guys!
ReplyDeleteAlan, your description of how Miyoko works makes perfect sense to me, since it's much like the way I often work on a story.
ReplyDeleteI'm back! =Whew!= Some day! I had to run a bunch of errands before work, and work was itself.
ReplyDeleteHome now and I don't go back to work until next Thursday!
Evidently trying to match the color of the top layer alone wouldn't work.
Alan, I can believe it! What delicate work, to peek through the layers. I think I'd rather repaint a picture from scratch than have to match the former paint exactly.
My most difficult coworker paid me a real compliment today...! Last week, she said of my artwork, "I like your photography." I half wondered if that were her way of saying she doesn't like my paintings...especially as her mother is quite an accomplished painter. But today she surprised me by saying, "I like your work," and she meant the paintings! And, puddle, you'll be gratified to know that her favourite is The Wedding Tree. (It's such an unusual cropping of the setting that I marvel anyone likes it.) I asked what she likes in particular and she said she likes the simplicity. Ah, now that's a comment I can appreciate. Still a bit stunned.
Hahllo!
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Very nice, listener!
ReplyDeleteA deaniac (Charles Sullivan) sent this my way; I had already noticed it, and the political and judicial economy of it are quite attractive:
ReplyDeletefrom politicalwire.com:
Ruling Against the Mandate While Keeping It
As the Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of the health insurance mandate in President Obama's landmark law, Jonathan Cohn raises an interesting possible outcome first put forth by law professor Joey Fishkin.
The key is that the mandate to obtain insurance and the penalty for violating it are actually two separate sections in the health care law. "But if the Court determines that Congress has no power to impose the insurance requirement, Fishkin says, it can simply strike the requirement but leave the penalty in place. In other words, the law would no longer tell people to get insurance. Instead, it would merely tell people who don't have insurance to pay a small fee to the government. On its own, Fishkin says, requiring such payment is a legitimate exercise of congressional taxing power."
Today's court appearance could hardly have been easier; about ten minutes after I arrived at the courthouse a mistrial was called... So we could have a nice lunch with Naomi. We got to see most of her workplace--the increase in staffing since our previous visit was simply mind-boggling. Nice weather, if a bit cool, and we got some shopping done to boot. Good day.
Blogs may have lifespans, but Dean Blogs are not merely blogs. Rather, they are communities, so more apt to continue on. I suppose it's analogous to the reality that we'll have many friends in life, but few that are truly closest friends. Dean blogs are the closest-friends blogs.
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