Thursday, January 23, 2020

January 22. 2020 - A New Year, Two Views

All images are photographed late in the evening for posting the same night we paint them.  We strive to reproduce the color of the paintings here as close to our originals as we can, but some variation is probable.  The paintings are labeled with our initials preceding the date label and title.  The date label is Month/Day/Order Painted. 

All of these paintings can be purchased on our website.  This link will take you to the page where they're posted... Salt Marsh Studios.


Marc's Day

Hmmm...?  Well, I scraped my first painting that was painted at Bonaventure Cemetery, had some good Thai food for lunch, then painted three in the afternoon at the beach.  A few quotes that I've saved, the first two I wrote down from somewhere and am not sure who to attribute them to...  

"When the exterior of the work gets closer to the interior of the intention."  

"See the world as if it is already in paint."  

And another couple... "Paint the way you'd want to see paintings painted."

"Its better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." - Herman Melville 

Most of the words quoted about painting and art, have been said numerous times in different ways by many artists.  We're all doing the same thing, trying to find that personal voice no matter what the 'style' of expression is, or the means to doing it.  As this month has progressed, I have noticed some good things happening in my painting that needed attention.  My technique and handling of materials has become more fluid, more intuitive, and my stamina has improved tremendously, to mention a few.  It's tough to stand outside doing anything every day for 8 or so hours a day, painting not excluded.  

What I'm still looking for, and most likely will always be trying to understand better, to pin point more accurately, to say more clearly with my materials, is what the first quote above says, to get "...the exterior of the work gets closer to the interior of the intention."
That's my goal always and again for today, and for here on out!  Thanks for looking in.



MH - 1/22/1&2 - Off Season
Since I showed up in the afternoon with out a morning painting, I decided to do a long view of South Beach using the diptych format.  We've come to really like doing this.  For a number of years in my own work I've probably painted as many, if not more, field work using a 1:2 format.  This is even narrower/wide (not doing the math), it's a really appropriate for the big skies and wide marshes and beaches that we live near. This is an older life guard stand, kind of weather worn and falling apart.  I like how it sits in its place, guarding the shore even though not many in their right minds would be out in that sea right at that moment.  The tide was nearing its high point and the waves and currents coming across the sandbar that lies under the water at high tide is nothing to mess with.  Many have drowned in this narrows, thinking that they could walk across to Little Tybee at low tide only to find that they could, but they couldn't get back as the tide rises.  The smart ones don't do it, those who do and live to tell about it are usually rescued before they attempt the swim across. Hence, the LG station.


MH - 1/22/3 - Settling Warmth
I'm in love with looking to the west, across this narrows to Little Tybee Island, at almost anytime of the day or year.  As the sun sets the skies react and put on a show that is always paintable.  The 'little' island is larger than the one with it's name sake, that we live on.  What I'm learning is that there is something to be said about this, larger scale work would say it a lot better.

Dottie's Day

Today was "mom's day out" today....meaning my mom's day at the senior center.  It has been hard this month juggling painting everyday outside with taking care of my mom's needs.  I am feeling a lot of  guilt from not giving her enough time or getting her out of the house enough.  While I am talking guilt.....I'm also feeling guilty about my sad little pup having to stay home everyday.  She is definitely not used to that and has a month's worth of energy stored up.  I love to take her with me to paint, and I have truly missed her out there, but we never know where we will end up painting and some places dogs aren't welcomed. I can feel her disappointment everyday as we leave the house.  I'm also feeling guilty for not having much time to touch base with my kids either.  We text some and have talked a little but it's been hard to find the time to talk when I wasn't either in the middle of a painting or exhausted from the day.  If you can't tell, I was raised with a good dose of guilt. Lol!  I will always feel the pull of neglecting one thing to do another I guess.  I try to compartmentalize it all when I get out everyday to paint but it does wake me up at 4 am most mornings.  It's interesting, this is my job and my sole source of income.  I shouldn't feel guilty from working...it's the only way I can afford to take care of my mom and my dog, and help my kids when they need it.  Guilt is like an automated response in me.  I have to make a conscious decision to ignore it or try to rid myself of it.
What does all of this have to do with painting?  I have no idea! But I guess it fits in there somewhere.



DTL - 1/22/1 - Roots
I love this place.  To me it FEELS like Savannah.  The quiet, the trees covered in moss, the history and just the sense of spirit there.  I feel such peace there and it quiets my mind. (And you can tell from the last paragraph, my mind needs some quiet!) It is one of my favorite places.  I loved the old oak tree with its roots planted so firmly and the little shafts of light coming through the canopy of leaves and moss and lighting up the path.  The camellias are in full bloom now and they dot the landscape with red, pink and white.


DTL - 1/22/2 - Sand Hills
I sat in the sun in the lifeguard stand and worked on this one. The dark solid shapes of the cedars and pines contrasted with the waving dune grass made for a fun one to paint.  I liked the way the dunes had organized themselves in parallel drifts and how the clouds echoed that.  Sand, like snow is always so much fun to paint.   


DTL - 1/22/3,4 - Just Before Sunset
This was supposed to be a color saturated just before sunset painting.  But the color never materialized.  Instead, thin clouds came in and the color dissolved into a lot of yellow, peachy glare. It's always a guess as to whether the sunset will materialize into a painting.  I went ahead and painted the sky as it was and tried to capture all of the wispy color.  The ocean had turned almost a slate color  and the painting is a little lighter in real life than in this photo.  A very peaceful scene, but not much to work with.  As I gave up and packed up, the sun dropped below the horizon and THEN all the color arrived.  Too late to paint but not too late to enjoy it.


1 comment:

Paul Nutting said...

I'm intrigued by the notion of plain air diptychs. When you paint them are you, in addition to the 9x24 composition, also thinking of two 9x12 compositions that stand on their own? In looking at your work, it appears to me that the 9x12s do stand on their own in terms of composition.