Sunday, January 5, 2020

January 5, 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.

Dottie's Day

Such a gorgeous Sunday to paint. It was a little cold but not too bad.  We headed inland a bit to get out of the wind and ended up at one of my favorite spots, Bonaventure Cemetery. I know that may sound strange, a cemetery being a favorite place, but it is truly the most beautiful, peaceful, sacred space.  Giant moss laden oaks and palms, camellias and azaleas and so many beautiful pathways to wander down.  It is a very old cemetery, with many notable and famous residents, and is up on the bluff of the Wilmington River. I can't imagine a better spot to spend eternity or maybe just to appreciate the beauty of life itself.

DTL - 1/5/1 - Pluff Mud Love 

This is looking out over the Wilmington River at low tide.  Marc painted facing the cemetery but as always,  I was pulled toward the water.  I loved the muddy bank and the intrusions that the incoming tide was making. I love once again living by the tides.  The constant state of change that they cause and that they imply.  Nothing is forever...the highs or the lows.  Life just like the tide is in constant motion.  When I started this painting, the pluff mud was deep and plentiful.  By the time I was finished, the tide had risen and the mud was gone.  

DTL - 1/5/2 - Island Congregation

We went to get lunch and decided to head back towards Tybee and wander the trails of Ft Pulaski.  It was a perfect day to paint stuff other than the sky, which was a beautiful brilliant blue but that was about it.  It's funny, until I started painting, a perfectly blue sky with no clouds was absolute perfection.  But in a painting, it's only a backdrop.  The trails are dense with every kind of native tree, shrub, vine, grass...you name it.  I stopped in front of this overgrown area at the edge of a salt water creek and thought that all of the different vegetation looked like a congregation gathered together.  Skinny, fat, tall, short, dark, light...everyone was there.  The story was there and I just had to paint it.  It begged for a bigger canvas and more time but I'm happy with what I got down.

DTL - 1/5/3 - Tangerine Sky

The second painting took so long for both of us that we decided to head home to let the dogs out and paint the marsh behind our house. Our backyard faces SW so we don't get the full sunset but we get a really nice one every night.  This was painted while throwing the ball to my over energetic, cooped up too long dog. And with a nice glass of rosé on the chair next to me.  I can't think of a better way to end the day!


Marc's Day


The paintings are stacking up here!  34 completed in 5 days... 26 days to go.  We are loving this life style even if there are a lot of things that maybe we should also be doing?  Nahhhh... This is what's important for two painters, deep diving into our work, every single day, for as long as the light and our stomachs hold out.  There's something very special about becoming totally immersed in anything that you do, your family, your job, your hobbies or other interests.  This is our life, a major part of what defines us and it is what supports our lives.  Even though that's true, in the normal course of daily life there are always many things that interject and interrupt the flow of painting.  We've given ourselves a  gift in doing this project.  We spend every day out painting, every night writing up all of this and preparing for the next day.  We feel very fortunate.  Thank you for looking in and following along.

MH - 1/5/1 - Sunday Bonaventure

Today's forecast was for chilly temps, and pretty gusty winds, again.  As Dottie mentioned, we decided on a place to paint, the beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery, to be out of the wind in the shelter of the towering live oaks.  It didn't disappoint us at all.  Full on blue bird skies, lighter winds, and subject matter all around.  I chose this statue of Christ with the cross in one of the family grave sites.  I loved how it was spot lit, at least it was when I began the painting, surrounded by all of the dark green foliage with the occasional splash of warm yellow greens lit by the sun poking through.  Since it is Sunday, it seemed like a good choice.

MH - 1/5/2 - Pulaski Sun

We're discovering just how much there is to work with at Ft Pulaski.  It's a piece of this area that hasn't been too altered since settlers first arrived.  It's a National Historic Site, so it's been improved and maintained, but there is a large amount of wild environment in the compound, with lot's of trails to walk and explore.  I chose this view because of the drama of the back light. That kind of contrast is always interesting to paint.  

MH 1/5/3 - Last Minutes

Dottie mentioned that we headed home after Ft Pulaski to take care of our dogs, but we still needed to paint one more piece.  The sun was just about behind the treeline to our west, but we started anyway.  I barely had a wash of an idea on the panel when all of the light, that's in this painting, that I had planned to paint, disappeared.  We had poured that glass of Rosé, and I almost decided to find a reason not to have 3 pieces done today.  I didn't, I just kept painting, working with the image that I had initially visualized, and tried to get it down despite the loss of the light.  It worked out, we both completed our third one for the day, tired, hungry and ready to finish up to head out again tomorrow morning for some more.  It was another perfect day! 














2 comments:

Paul Nutting said...

I'm really enjoying seeing your work and reading your thoughts. Cold and snowy here in Denver, but I'm planning to get out on Tuesday.

Salt Marsh Studio said...

Did you make it out on this day, Paul? Always did love that dry air out there! Ha :)