12 Comments
may the wind deal kindly with us may the fire remember our names may springs flow, rain fall again may the land grow green, may it swallow our mistakes we begin the work may it continue the great transmutation may it continue a new heaven and a new earth may it continue may it continue - DIANE DI PRIMA
And now it is time for the next exchange of questions with the incredibly talented Dotty Seiter! My next question for Dotty: Dessert - what is the sweetest, most decadent and delicious part of your creative life? dessert dessert for the poet as she walks rue saint-denis in montréal is a mamie clafoutis oh mon dieu croissant, a classic flaky buttery french pastry filled with a substantial core of rich chocolate ganache, drizzled with dark chocolate and dusted with confectioner's sugar. dessert for the poet as she listens to an audio novel while she walks her own massachusetts neighborhood is the italian word fermata, a word new to her that might never have caught her ear had she not had a nearly finished draft of a poem awaiting final tweaks for which fermata becomes its oh mon dieu croissant! --dotty seiter
I've been following the monks who are walking for peace, and find this so comforting at thiis time.
And so I leave you today with their words: When peace, compassion, and loving-kindness shine in our hearts, all the barriers that seemed to divide us simply dissolve-- and what remains is the beautiful truth we might have forgotten: we were never strangers, only family and friends who hadn’t yet recognized each other. May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.
About the art: beginning with an old acrylic painting, I slathered on some gesso and then carved through it with a rubber wedge to expose parts of the underpainting and to create texture. Then, inspired by a sunset photo and the idea of a city hidden in the distance on the horizon, I began laying in swathes of color with a brush and thinned oil paint. I built the layers on this piece over a number of weeks, seeking dark darks and vibrant color. Butcher paper blotting to create sky texture and the trailing path on the lower left. A tiny brush and RESISTING over-definition for hints of a city. Chopsticks through paint for more texture. There are just two more weeks to enter the October Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be entered. And please do leave your suggestions for future Reader Giveaways - I take each and every one of them to heart. Thank you!
It isn't always easy, of course. It is, however, always messy. Werewolves just aren't that neat, and we don't expect them to be.
The July Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered to win a piece of original art - free!
And thanks for reading, subscribing and sharing this blog. You, dear readers, make this little space sparkle! xo
Which sent a flood of awareness coursing over me - all the people whose benefits, jobs, housing, education, food, utilities, medical care and citizenship are at stake now. First a trickle, then the flood. But we see you, human monsters. We see you and we vote. We protest, we write letters and send emails and make phone calls. We see you.
But back to the quote at the beginning of this post - I absolutely live in the gap. What I imagine and what I paint are two different things. But I am relentlessly determined to have my skills catch up to my dreamscapes. Probably they never will. But there is always the next one. Which is a lot like hiking. What's over the next hill? Around the bend? Across the stream? Always curious about what's coming next. Always willing to go and look. About the art: beginning with a piece of art board (donated by my artist husband while he organized his studio space) I roughed in a mottled sky using a palette knife and thinned oil paint. Using the side of the palette knife and some dark paint, I roughed in a landscape in a V shape with a couple of hills. Working quickly and abandoning preciousness, I build layers of paint until there was some texture to it. Grabbing a piece of butcher paper, I pressed it into the paint to lift some of the layers, then pressed the paint-laden paper in other sections, creating a rocky ground look. Carving back into the paint with a rubber wedge and creating some "treeness", then adding color to those verticals with the palette knife. Inspired by hikes in the waterfall section of the Columbia River Gorge. The June Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment on any blog post this month to be automatically entered to win a piece of original art - FREE! And thanks for your comments and your support!
The April Reader Giveaway begins today! Leave a comment on any blog post in the month of April to be automatically entered to win an original piece of art - FREE!
I'd love to hear what you're relentlessly pursuing! Leave a comment below. About the art: beginning with a gesso-primed gallery-wrapped canvas, I pressed leftover wet paint palettes against the canvas over a period of weeks, never mind color, consistency or pattern. This creates a lovely uncontrived texture and pops of unexpected color coming through the final piece. Once thoroughly dry, I drew a rough sketch with a wet brush covered in thinned dark paint. At this point I am not wedded to the composition, just exploring. Working top to bottom with a palette knife, I applied paint in thick layers, allowing the colors to blend in some places and making sure to preserve a thin line of the dark under sketch at the border of each shape. Once the neutral base layers were in, some drying time and then the pops of pinks and reds were added. I carved back through the nearly dry paint with a chopstick, creating trails meandering down the canvas. Walking away before my neat and tidy side can overwork the textures. It's the final week to enter the March Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment on any (or many) blog post (s) this month to be automatically entered. Someone will win a piece of original art - FREE!
|
AuthorLola Jovan 
Categories
All
|
