The Red Bike

It's New Year's Eve Day and most of you will be getting the glad rags on or stocking up on Champagne.  But, if you have 9 minutes and 5 seconds to spare, take a look at the silent movie I have been working on this month instead of painting.
It is an entry in the Bryn Mawr Film Institute's contest, which asks film makers to create a short film of 15 minute or less based on one in a list of classic films.  I chose The Bicylcle Thieves, an old Italian film by Director Vitorio DeSica.
As you will see it uses a lot of local talent - my Brooklyn children and grandchildren.  The best part is the score which was composed and performed in one go, just like in the old days, by my good old friend Squeek Steele who you might know as Squeek Moore, former music teacher at Merion School.
Here is the link. (This is not the absolutely final version but it is so close that utube would not accept it as another video, they thought the new one was the same)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqpeozwsP2M

SNOW SHADOWS

SNOW SHADOWS

Nancy Herman

6' x 8"

oil on canvas

Most of you voted for "Snow Shadows" as your favorite photo and here is the painting that resulted.  The snow is gone outside but it still remains in the memory of the painting.

Happy Holidays to all !!!

ICE 2

The spectacular ice display was not only a sparkling miracle.  It framed individual pieces of nature in a way that made me stop and marvel.

This flowering bush reminded of glazed fruit.

The branches suddenly have a new dancing life.

ICE

On Saturday there was a spectacular display of ice.  In the morning, when the sun came out, every branch was blazing with light.  I went out with my camera, knowing full well I would not be able to capture the miracle of it. But taking pictures is an excuse for experiencing...or a lie you tell yourself.  "I will capture this and have it forever".  I loved trying to capture it mainly because the act of trying made me slow down and really look.  The thrill of the visual experience is stored in my mind and I will think of it in the grey days ahead and look for other miracles of nature to store.

Close up sparkle

Further back- droplets melting

Poor version of the real experience although

accurate in most measurable parameters

In reality the whole place was alive with color.  The sparkles all contained every color and I could see the radience of  light everywhere.

Snow: Shadows under trees

I have not been blogging lately as I am working on a short silent movie for a contest sponsored by the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.  I love the place so I thought it would be fun to try to make a movie.  It is almost finished so I am taking time to look outside in this beautiful white world for some things to paint.
Here are some ideas.  What do you think is paint worthy?

Shadows under the trees

Branches

White House

Sap

Weeping Cherry

Swiss Chard

SUNNY ON RUGBY ROAD

SUNNY RUGBY STREET

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas

Love the way the sun caught this yellow house on Rugby Road in Brooklyn's Ditmas Park.  I am especially partial to this street as an important part of my family lives here.

$150.00

special black Friday gift.

Need a present for a teacher, helper, great aunt or simply an art lover?

Today on amazon you can purchase my book for as low as $10.56.  

TRAVELING

Traveling

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Many people will be traveling today to join family and friends for Thanksgiving.  The long car rides can be exhausting, only ameliorated by some hearty singing, or in my case, by taking snap shots of interesting stuff flying by the car window.  (Not recommended for drivers.)

Here the Verrazano Bridge out of Brooklyn makes a nice combination of color and shape with the fall foliage peaking through the openings.

$150.00

Graffiti on Cortelyou

Graffiti on Cortelyou

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board 

I interupt my immersion in fall colors for a brief jaunt to Brooklyn to visit children and grandchildren in Park-slope and Ditmus Park.  Here is a shot on Cortelyou Road that looks like it could be from someplace in the middle east.  I love the way the neat graffiti matches the pipe and brings down a little sky.

$150.00

ORANGE TIME

ORANGE TIME

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Just a few days ago the world was tinted orange.  I woke one morning to find that the the mist in the air had captured the hues of the trees and the whole sky looked orange.  Here this house on Merion Road is surrounded by the warmth of the those lovely leaves reflected on the white of the trim and the windows.

$150.00

article in the Main Line Times

There was a very nice article and pictures in the Main Line Times on Saturday about the show at Town Hall Coffee and my book, Postcards from Merion.  You can check it out here.
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/11/14/main_line_times/life/doc52852290ed398781195181.txt

MERION AND SYCAMORE

MERION AND SYCAMORE

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Every year this corner  has a brilliant display of light.  The suburbs, as opposed to the country, has a wide variety of color in the fall as there are so many different kinds of trees all changing color at different speeds.  We are bathed in this delightful warm display as if to keep us warm in the cold months ahead.

$150.00

EMPTY STREET IN AUTUMN

EMPTY STREET IN AUTUMN

Nancy Herman

6' x 8"

oil on canvas board

This fall has been almost too beautiful.  Every day I drive through my neighborhood having dificulty keeping my eyes on the road because of all the colors enveloping me.  Every day it is a new display.  Finally a great deal of the leaves are down, but in my front yard as I write this, my red maples are blazing away and there is a gentle little snow storm whirling about them.

Since these paintings take a few days to dry, I will be able to revisit the colors into the coming weeks when the trees are bare and we cruise into the greys and browns of winter.

$150.00

THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER 2013

THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER 2013

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

The Last Rose of Summer, forever memorialized by Thomas Moore in his poem of the same name.  At one time considered the Bard of Ireland, Moore wrote many poems that became popular songs in the 19th century.  I have listened to most of the versions of The Last Rose on utube and found Lily Pons version the most pure and lovely.  

An old favorite fabric is included in the painting to embody the spirit of the dead roses.  Where else do flower memories go but into designs for fabric and paintings?

Here is s link to Lily Pons video.

$125.00

Monday morning

The opening of the show at Town Hall Coffee House has come and gone. All the paintings are safely hung and it's time to get back to work.
This fall has been so very beautiful, I want to try to capture it in my next group of paintings.  It is such a popular subject that it is hard to think of a painting without being aware of all the others that have gone before.  Is it ever possible to see with a fresh eye?
Here are some links to fall paintings that are probably going to influence my choice of subject and even the way I paint it.

Monet could create light and sparkle like no other.

Van Gogh used paint as if it were some kind of electrified energy.

                            

Grant Wood kept everything in order and rounded the corners.

                            

Paul Klee with magic at his command was nontheless poetic and funny.

                                

Richard Diebenkorn has dynamic compostions that blow me away.

                            

Edward Hopper  managed to have interesting compostions, startling light and a sense of longing even when there are no people in his work.

                           

Josf Albers  boiled the whole season down to 4 colors and somehow made me care about them.

Charles Demuth's water colors are so fresh and delightful.  He says so much by saying so little.

Opening

Tonight is the night to enjoy a get together at Town Hall Coffee House and see Poetry of the 'Local'.  Bill Ternay and I will be on hand to meet and greet with wine and goodies from 7 to 9 pm.  My new book, Postcards from Merion will be on sale with paintings from the book on the walls.  Bill has some big beautiful work to delight your senses filling the rest of the place.

If you missed it here is your video invitation.

The Poetry of 'Local"

THE POETRY OF "LOCAL"

For all of you out there who are anxious to get your hands on a painting from my new book, Postcards from Merion.  Here is the chance you have been waiting for.  

In November some of the work from the book will be at the Town Hall Coffee House in Merion. 

Last year Bill Ternay and I had a very successful show there, so we decided to do it again.

Here is your invitation.  Please pass it on to anyone you think might be interested.

INVITATION

THE DREAM (video)

Let's see how the whole thing works as a video.  Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions as to how it should be exhibited I would love to here from you in 'comments'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_51WW5ehlKI&feature=c4-overview&list=UU0kTuj7G2coHnSXm8-pg-4g

THE DREAM - the end- Towards the Light

THE DREAM

(Towards the Light)

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

As the mists clear an older self is climbing the stairs into a pinkish dawn and the end of my dream.  

THE DREAM - continued- The Bridge

THE DREAM

Bridge

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

The moon gives way to a quiet dawn as I continue my way home in the morning mist.

THE DREAM (moon)

THE DREAM (moon)

Nancy Herman

6' x 8"

oil on canvas board

Having missed the last bus heading home, I begin to walk down a deserted road in the night.  What lies ahead? Where is home?

THE DREAM (missed the bus)

THE DREAM

(missed the bus)

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

My dreaming self is in the station waiting for a train or on the street corner waiting for a bus to take me home.  I'm not sure which one to take, but I sense there is just one for me, when I see that very one has just left.  I see it roll past, knowing there is not another.

(Interesting that I never try to get home by boat or plane)

Here is some new research that would suggest that sleep is simply a way of emptying the trash in our brains.

THE DREAM (in the station)

THE DREAM (in the station)

Nancy Herman

6' x 8'

oil on canvas board

Filled with a strong longing for home I go into a train or bus station.  Not sure which bus or train to take but know there is just one for me.  Home is a combination of all the places I have ever lived, so finding the right way back is bound to be tricky.

THE DREAM ( the classroom)

THE DREAM

(classroom)

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

The classroom is spotted but never entered.  Others are hard at work,  but in my dream my focus shifts to getting home....and so, after wanting to get there so badly, I pass by.

THE DREAM (searching)

THE DREAM

(searching)

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

I am several minutes, hours, days, years?... late for class.  I can't find the door, stairs, elevator or building.  I am searching frantically for the right place, but haven't gotten there yet.

THE DREAM (tunnel)

THE DREAM

(tunnel)

Nancy Herman

6" x 9

oil on canvas board

Another painting in my "waking dream sequence", wherein I try to get in touch with the author of my dreams.

THE DREAM (Shoes)

THE DREAM

(Shoes)

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Some day, before I go, I'd like to know, the author or my dreams, and so....

for the next few days I will be painting a dream.  I am trying to "find the way back" as in this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Land of Nod.

"Try as I like to find the way,
I never can get back by day,
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear."

RED MAPLES

RED MAPLE

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

Fall is slowly moving in.  The sun is lower every day and the trees are beginning to turn.  It is a time when nature seems to breath a sigh and meld together as if to cuddle close for the coming winter.

$150.00

Summer Market

Summer Market

6" x 8"

Nancy Herman

oil on canvas board

Although the painting itself is sold, you can purchase a reproduction of it in my book Postcards from Merion from Amazon for only $11.99 today.

http://www.amazon.com/Postcards-From-Merion-Pennsylvania-Clearwater/dp/1491213353

INTO THE BATHROOM - a study in blue and yellow

INTO THE BATHROOM

(A study in blue and yellow) 

Nancy Herman

9" x 12"

oil on canvas board

 Thomas Aquinas said, "Sorrow can be alleviated by a good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine".  I rarely take a bath anymore, preferring the speed of the shower, but a leisurely bath can be just the thing to sooth jangled nerves at the end of the day.

$350.00