LETTER ON THE BENCH

LETTER ON THE BENCH

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

These benches seem to be talking to each other in the late afternoon sun.  Someone has left a letter on one of them.  Is that what they are discussing?

$125.00

LEAF SHADOW

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

The color changes that occur in leaves in this area of the world are caused by the leaves responding to colder temperatures and the decrease in light.  The veins of leaves are their vascular system.  Wikipedea has a very interesting entry on "leaf".  

• $125.00

While I'm waiting for my next painting to dry here is a link to a very nice review of my work from Taryn Day's blog THE ART ROOM.  Taryn is a fine painter who also has a painting blog called AWAKE AND PAINTING.  This is the statement from her web site:

 "Painting is about being fully awake, and fully aware of a larger world outside yourself. At best it is an act of spiritual renewal."

MANHOLE COVER AND LEAF

MANHOLE COVER AND LEAF

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Looking for shadows is usually a matter of looking down.  There is a lot going on under our feet that we don't usually pay much attention to.  I find the various official "stoppers" in the street have plenty of visual interest.  Manhole covers are quite sculptural.  I have to see if they vary from one part of the country to another or even one part of the city to another, depending on when they were manufactured.  Stay tuned.

$125.00

OAK LEAF ON ROUGH CEMENT

Nancy Herman

6' x 8"

oil on canvas board

This is the time of year when nostalgia fills the air.  Memories of the past swirl around and drift to earth with the leaves.  The scent of pine needles brings echoes of camp fires and the light is so sharp and clear, the shadows so deep it has to be autumn in Pennsylvania.  

School is beginning again in my heart.  I surely will be wearing my plaid skirt and my new sweater to school with knee socks.  I might be skipping along the sidewalks of Glenside to Glenside Welldon or walking hurridly to avoid the visious dog in Oak Lane to Pennypacker.  Or am I waiting for the bus in Worcester or walking to Penn down Walnut Street?  It's all in the sights and smells of this glorious season when life seems to renew in the heart and the mind as it dies out in one last magnificent show of color in the surrounding world.

$125.00

DANCING SHADOW

DANCING SHADOW

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

This shadow of a railing seems full of dancing energy as it leaps down the stairs.  Shadows vary in color depending on the light, as you can see here, where the tops of the stairs have a bluish tint.

Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it?
Henry David Thoreau 

$125.00

KEYHOLE

KEYHOLE

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

I often think about what I will say about each painting when I am lying in bed in the morning waiting for my dog, Jake, to come in and nuzzle me up and let he and his buddy Bay out for their morning search for wild things.

This painting about a lock took me back to our earliest ancestors living in caves.  They surely chose a cave with a very narrow opening so it would be possible to role a stone over the entrance or have one or two people guarding the "door" at night.  What a confined, frightening, existence it must have been.  Quite a contrast to this small secure looking lock. 

Too often, the opportunity knocks, but by the time you push back the chain, push back the bolt, unhook the two locks and shut off the burglar alarm, it's too late. 

Rita Coolidge 

$125.00

NO PARKING

NO PARKING

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

If you thought yesterday's painting was created in the fog, you are right in a way.  I seem to have been in a fog when I posted it, as the version that appeared on the screen was enveloped in a haze and I didn't notice it until I had posted it.  This is the way the painting really looks.
It is worth noting that, had there been a fog, the outlines of the shadow would have been very blurred and probably nonexistent.  Without a strong light there are no shadows.

$125.00

NO PARKING

NO PARKING

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

This oak leaf, defying the "no parking" sign shadow, is showing its' color as it peeks into the light.

$125.00

GIN SHADOW

GIN SHADOW

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Shadows are not usually colorful but this bottle of gin stands out as the sun reflects through the green glass.  It is as if even its' shadow offers entertainment.

$125.00

CROATIA

CROATIA

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Off to Croatia with Virtual Paintout this month.  This is the way I like to travel, sitting at home in front of my computer, watching the world go by.  I wandered around in Croatia for a while and settled on this image which is the way I imagine I would feel if I lived there.

$125.00

CURTAIN SHADOW

CURTAIN SHADOW

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

The simple chair spindle takes on an elegant air when its shadow falls on the curtain.  Shadows take on a life of their own on curved surfaces.  There is often something exciting happening behind the main event.

$125.00

WATERMELONS

WATERMELONS

Nancy Herman

oil on canvas board

6" x 8"

I like the way this watermelon seems to be jumping out of the bucket ready to quench a thirsty passerby with its red juicy sweetness.

SOLD