Barnes in Winter

If you are wondering where I have been for the past month (and I hope you are).  I have been down with a bout of pneumonia.  That expression is perfect for the experience.  I definitely was way down in spirits and it was a bout.  First I would win a round and then the old pneumonia would come back and knock me down again.  After more than a month of this I finally felt like myself yesterday and today so I guess I am the winner.  Won't know for sure until a chest X-ray on October 4th.

Meanwhile I have had a lot of time to think about what I would do when I felt like doing anything again and I have planed a whole new body of work.  Of course planning and actually doing are  two very different matters.  But as soon as I can make some space in my studio I will begin.  In the meantime I am clearing out older work to make room for the new.  I found this painting of the old Barnes foundation and a perfect frame for it while sorting through everything to build new shelves.  It can sit on a table as it has a flap on the back or of course hang on the wall.

SNOWY OLD BARNES

Nancy Herman

5" x 7"

oil on canvas board

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Song #8

Yesterday I made two versions of the original Barnes Foundation which I glimpsed through the gate on my walk.  As you can see I have gotten away from trying to create colors in time...but not for long.  In the second piece I tried to make each stroke interesting as I might in the abstract colors in time.  This is harder to do when you have a preconceived image in mind.  Today I will go back to looking for a pattern in time in color alone.
Song #8

Barnes Arboretum #6

As you come to the end of the formal gardens there is an open space where some beautiful unusual trees are planted, but on this trip I decided to examine them on the way out of the woods which were calling to me.
These woods are simply a relatively small dense patch of trees which, none the less, have all the mystery of a larger forest.  There is a big difference however as they are cared for, so they don't have vines strangling the trees or bushes and trees crowding each other.  This is a garden forest with paths and planned wild flowers.

If you look up or down you are rewarded by nature that has been lovingly cared for for a long time.  Tomorrow the Koi pond and Laura Barnes' retreat.

WELL AT THE BARNES FOUNDATION

WELL AT THE BARNES FOUNDATION

Nancy Herman

6" x 8"

oil on canvas board

From the window in front of my desk, where I sit as I type this, I see this structure in front of the Barnes Foundation, the real, original Barnes Foundation.  I have always wondered what it was, and today, because I wanted to say something about the painting in this blog, I found out from one of the members of the "Friends of the Barnes".  Here is what she had to say.

"This well was purchased by Albert Barnes in Port-Manech, a fishing village in Brittany, France.  He vacationed and wrote there.  His beloved dog and infamous communicator was from the town.  If I remember correctly, Barnes really wanted to bring this back to Merion and he purchased a new well for the town in exchange".

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