KATSURA IN AUTUMN

Autumn would not be complete for me without an attempt to paint my Katsura trees.  This one, our big Daddy, is huge, with long pendulous limbs that seem impossible to sustain and yet they grow longer every year. It is about 150 years old.  Katsura trees are native to China and Japan.  There are males and females and we have a beautiful pair that creates babies that have populated our neighborhood and our friend's back yards.  In the fall as the leaves turn yellow they create a wonderful burnt sugar aroma making them a glorious sensual delight in every way.

CONDENSATION

A few days ago it was very warm and wet and the windows were covered with this condensation.  The condensation condensed the fall colors so beautifully I had to try and capture it.

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CARRIAGE HOUSE

There seem to be many more carriage houses than there are stables.  If these places actually held horse drawn carriages, where did they put the horses when they weren't pulling the carriage?  Was there a central stables, where horses were kept for any given neighborhood?  Anybody know?

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NARBERTH AVENUE GLORY

You don't have to go far from home to experience beauty these last days of autumn.  It is like being in a warm mist of color, as if the trees are saying a sweet 'Farewell til we meet again.'

SEASONS' END

One last memory of the ocean.  These two huddle together pondering eternity, the winter to come?...or maybe what's for dinner.

BRAHMS RHAPSODY (eight measures)

Today is INTERNATIONAL ARTIST DAY.  You won't be hearing much about this except from other artists perhaps, but some of us are celebrating by honoring another artist who was an inspiration.

In 1973  I had the great good fortune of taking Josef Albers' course on the INTERACTION OF COLOR which was taught at the University of Pennsylvania at that time.   

In that course and another Bauhaus course that was given at the same time, having to do with finding the natural order in any given set of materials, I learned more about how to think about making art than in all my other studies combined.  From that time until the present I have been working on translating music to color.  It was seeing the way one color changes another when they are juxtaposed that ignited my enthusiasm to work on this idea as that interaction seemed to contain the same kind of energy that I experience when listening to music.  This is an example of my 'translations' of music to color in two dimensions and you can check out all my animations of music with this link.  Here is also a link to my book about the process IF C IS RED.

EIGHT MEASURES OF BRAHM'S RHAPSODY IN G MINOR

72" X 36"

signed limited edition digital print on archival paper with archival inks

RAINY NIGHT IN BRYN MAWR

Rain creates a whole new image of life.  Here there are 3 versions of reality.  The usual solid version, the one created by the rain puddles on the street and pavement and the one created by the windshield.  How much of our perception is distorted in just this way as we look at the world through the prism of our prejudices, past experience and just plain ignorance?

KIDS' NIGHT OUT

October is cider, spiced wafers and Halloween.  It is a wonderful holiday as it gives kids a chance to experience life in a new light.  Two things I remember as a child at Halloween.  First when I was 7 or 8 ringing doorbells and running away to hide in the bushes on Mischief night.  The police arrived with search lights and we got away just in the nick of time but I still remember the panic and have been a law abiding citizen ever since.    The second is when I lived in the country and was around 13 going out on Halloween dressed up as a hobo. Two friends and I walked down a long dark lane to a house way off the road to trick or treat.  The people who answered the door obviously did not anticipate anyone but were game enough to offer us hot chocolate.  They had a very run down establishment and were not given to casual chatter.  We of course had to accept their 'treat'.  So there I sat, dressed as a hobo with people who were close to that state themselves, drinking their hot chocolate.  It was food for thought to say the least.

SQUIRREL CROSSING

At this time of year I have noticed more squirrels seem to be caught by traffic than usual.  I assume it is because they are in a frenzy to store up for the winter.  I got to wondering while painting how squirrels communicate the danger of crossing the street to their buddies since those who don't make it have little to tell.  This and other questions, about these creatures who manage to share our lives better than most, remain unanswered after a quick look on line.  I did find that some squirrels actually cross with people at a crosswalk and at least one was spotted crossing alone on a crosswalk. Here is an interesting article about squirrel facts if you too are curious about the little guys.  SQUIRRELS THE ANIMAL ANSWER GUIDE And for those who would just like a good laugh there is this on youtube: SQUIRRELS AND CRACKHEADS CROSS THE STREET

PUDDLE IN THE RAIN

No, I have not turned into an abstract expressionist over night.  This is actually a pretty realistic painting of a puddle in the rain.  They are definitely worth looking at, as they hold two levels of reality.  One level is upside down. Like the water, the artist reflects an image back to the viewer and in doing so (hopefully) allows it to be seen anew.

DOGS

Dogs, lying in the sun, staring into space.  What are they thinking?  Or should I say what are they smelling.  Do all those complex odors that they are able to experience tell them more about the world than all our complicated abstract thinking?  They certainly know something about love that is so compelling that we take care of them for no other reason than to have them near and remind us.

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE

I have been busy traveling in Mexico via google maps the past few days.  This is 20 Principal Street in San Miguel de Allende.  There were lots of interesting spots to paint, but I finally settled on this one because of the lovely time of day and the biker looking at me from Mexico.  It is my latest contribution to the very interesting blog VIRTUAL PAINT OUT.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

I don't have a painting today as I have busy with other art work but one of my videos having to do with visual music is being featured as clip of the week on the Iota Center for Visual Music.  Since they managed to cut off the beginning and end of the piece - I guess that's what they mean by 'clip' - Here is a link to the whole thing from my web site. Just click on title above, then the image and you will be transported to Youtube and the proper selection.

HEAVENLY BLUE

From Harvest Moon to cool nights the weather is changing everyday.  I think these morning glories are very aptly named.  They are a heavenly shade of blue, but they really don't come into their own until this time of year.
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HARVEST MOON

Yes the Harvest Moon really is orange and, according to the web, all full moons are orange as they rise near the horizon. The reason this particular moon is called harvest moon, when it occurs near the autumnal eqinox is that farmers, before artificial illumination, could continue to harvest their crops by the light of the moon.  Here is a link to Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans singing Harvest Moon.  Imagine this scene in a Clint Eastwood movie, with Clint serenadin Angella Joile if you want to experience how our culture has changed over the last 60 years.  The moon is still the same however..so far.

AUTUMN JOY

All summer long these beauties wait for just this moment when they do their best to keep the gardener from giving up entirely.

HARVEST MOON

I have no painting today as the painting I did is awful.  Not sure why, it just is.  Do to technical difficulties, as they say, I don't have any canvas panels prepared - I made a batch, left them out in the sun to dry and it rained, warping all.  They are presently under some heavy cement blocks but I have little hope they can be saved.  Meanwhile it is too wet outside to make more. So...no paintings for a bit.  We did have a wonderful harvest moon last week which got me singing 'Shine on Harvest Moon' and looking for some interesting versions of it on Youtube.  Here is one that I think you will enjoy.  It is a part of an old Laurel and Hardy movie.  Laurel and Hardy always made me uncomfortable because of the deep sado- mascochism driving their partnership but there is none of that here, and there is a really delightful dance that shows Laurel to be unaffectedly light hearted even after all his bashings by Hardy.   Keep watching past all the marching in the beginning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qZZapTHFo&feature=related

ARBOR

Every year in September this arbor blooms.  One of the joys of living in the same place for a long time is that you look forward to the recurring gifts of nature and enjoy the echoes from the past that each succesive blooming evoke.
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HOME GROWN TOMATOES

Finally I am getting some wonderful tomatoes. I checked out UTUBE for my favorite version of this tune.  This one reminds me of an old movie... and you can believe these singers raise tomatoes.


"Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes."

 'Home Grown Tomatoes' Jay Ungar, Molly Mason

UNION AVENUE

Home again.  Now, instead of the wide open spaces of the seashore there is all the rich foliage of late summer.  Around the corner a gardening neighbor has planted orange cosmos next to the street, so as I take a walk I am greeted by their cheery faces.

SAILING BY

There is something about a simple sailboat that says 'freedom'.  Watching one glide by while you are swimming in the ocean is like icing on the cake.

WALKERS PASSING

Beach etiquette is an intersting, unspelled out phenomena.  We find ourselves semi clothed toe to head lying about on the beach and rarely do we interact at all with strangers.  I have found beach goers to be extremely polite to each other.  Here two walkers pass very close with no acknowledgement of the other's presense.  Each takes it for granted that a walk on the beach is for solitary contemplation.  Is it the great natural wonder of nature that brings out our respect for each other?  Or are we simply happier here and not interested in disturbing that tranqility?

DIGGING

It isn't only the ocean itself that is the draw at the seashore.  There is that vast expanse of sand to dig in, curl your toes around and build drip castles with.  I love to watch kids endlessly engaged in their own fantasies on the beach.  No computers or TVs necessary.  They throw themselves into their imagination with such enthusiastism it is a joy to behold.
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YELLOW RAFT

Where else can you take off most of your clothing, lie down in public and feel safe enough to go to sleep, except on the beach?

MORNING SWIM

While Pop-Pop is gazing out to sea, the kids are gazing at the next wave and wondering if they have the guts and the skill to ride it in.   In the morning the sun lights up each wave with sparkling intensity and seems to be the embodiment of joy.

NFS

GAZING OUT TO SEA

One of the most satifying occupations of any shore vacation is staring at that big horizon and contemplating our place in the world.  The tides are a palpable connection to the whole universe and whether we make that conscious or not, we can not help but being swept into the magnitude and majesty of existence at the beach.
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DOUBLE RAINBOW

On the second day of our vacation it poured all day.  I was content with the pounding surf as a back drop to my reading, as I was in the middle of the GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO TRILOGY.  Just as the day was about to end, the sun came out, and through a soft drizzle the most beautiful double rainbow I have ever seen appeared over the ocean.  It was an entire rainbow, very clear with its echo just a tad dimmer.  It lasted for quite a while and as the clouds moved through it, created a beautiful light show.  A small crowd gathered near our front row seat overlooking the ocean and even a police car drove up and joined the spectators.  What a thrill!  This is just a small piece of the action.  I wish I had had a panoramic movie camera.

CLEARING SKY

There are two things I love about the seashore.  The first is the wonderful light that exists because of the huge horizontal skyline that changes all day.  The second is the human joy exhibited by people of all ages as they bathe in the ocean.  I will be exploring these phenamena in the next few paintings.
The first day we arrived at the beach it was cloudy, but as we were driving home from our fish dinner the sun came out and this beautiful sky appeared over the bay.