Irises!

Busy bee these days.
Now I know why some artists are near hermits. You get an incredible amount of work done if you stay in and focus, even if that means that you may start to talk to inanimate things in your apartment...
I spent much of the weekend on my couch watching various Lifetime movies and football games while finishing up these paintings. My couch has the indent to prove it.

Each square is 6" x 6" with a thicker 1.5" inch edge--also painted! They will be varnished as soon as it stops raining and I can take them outside. I already listed them for sale on Etsy actually! I haven't had a sale in awhile (perhaps because I haven't listed anything new in months) so I'm feeling very pessimistically optimistic!

We shall see!

Can I just stay home and work on this today?!

New work!

I took the original photograph while hiking in the area...and a man walked right through with perfect timing. The lighting and the combination of feelings of loneliness and contentment made this irresistible. Not to mention how the fall weather gearing up outside is quite inspiring for such a scene.

The photograph itself shows a complete black silhouette but I just had to go back in and add detail. It started as just a very large drawing...primarily charcoal with a strong coating of dollar store hairspray..unscented of course! And then I got carried away with different materials...
The colors are washes of watered down acrylic paint and detail was added with sharpie markers. My sharpies kept dying and getting dried out with charcoal dust. So last night I started going back into the lines with black paint while enjoying the cheesiest of Lifetime movies.

So far so good I think. Updated pictures in normal lighting coming soon! And since it is on paper, a lovely standard frame may be in its future.
Side note...I have discovered another joy of living alone. I can leave my art stuff everywhere all over the floor in front of the TV and no one will care. YES!

Happy Friday!

My students often misinterpret each other's artwork. I had to stifle the laughter when two students called me over to tell on one another. They had been working on family portraits, which made for some interesting pictures and comments, such as "Oh that's my Mom, she is holding a drink, pink lemonade actually." (The drink, drawn very detailed, closely resembles a margarita complete with umbrella stirrer). I would like some of that lemonade.

Anyhow, back to the two tattle tales.
Student #1: Miss Fontaine, he said my Mom is fat."
Student #2: (rolling eyes) "I didn't say she is fat, I said that in your picture she looks fat."

Have a good weekend!!!

A Walk in the Woods...In progress

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

119. Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

I have been working on this painting for a year or two now. I can't even remember exactly when I began. I am using a rather poorly developed photograph I took while on vacation in Cook's Forest, PA where my extended family "retreats" every June. Every year we hike the same trails, stop for "scramble breaks" in the same spots, sing the same songs around the campfire, and head to the ice cream store every night.

I suddenly realized the other night, however, that this painting has an entire new level of personal meaning. The two figures walking along "Toms Run Road" are my Dad and my grandfather. Grandpa passed away a little over a month ago. Finishing this painting will be so bittersweet.

I know Grandpa will be there every year from now on, in spirit, as he always has been in person. He may be reciting the poem above and will definitely be carrying his trusty walking stick, just as he is in this painting!