This old toy milk truck sits in the sun on a shelf in our den. It doesn't enjoy the rough and tumble of the old days when children loaded and unloaded its cargo of bottles in home after imaginary home. It is in retirement after years of good work in the service of make believe.
What is more fun than buying a toy for a special child? You know that there is a chance you will open up a world for them that in some sense they will never forget. This window is in Narberth at Character Development. It is a rather awkward name for a toy store but the name certainly reflects the power of the right toy at the right time.
If you live in the Main line you will recognize many of the places pictured in my new book POSTCARDS FROM MERION. Here is one of the images you will find there. I think you will have fun finding your favorite spots and sharing with friends. You can purchase the book from Amazon by clicking the link.
For the last several years I have been painting small works almost everyday. Sometimes they take two days and sometimes the life of the family takes precedence over paint, but that is my plan. Because of this somewhat rapid fire approach to painting, I have not given too much thought to my subject matter, except that I paint what I want to see more of and it has to fit in a small space. But it seems, themes have developed. I love the area where I live and many of my paintings are of the simple beauty that exists on the Mainline. It occurred to me that others might like a collection of scenes from this particular area and so I have collected a group of some of my favorite paintings and it is now in print.Published by Createspace, POSTCARDS FROM MERION is now available from Amazon.: http://www.amazon.com/Postcards-From-Merion-Pennsylvania-Clearwater/dp/1491213353
This month the Virtual Paintout visited the Isle of Wight, off the coast of England. I found this cozy looking group of houses on Arthur Moody Drive. Looks like Arthur is customarily in a good mood.
This Johnson's Blue Geranium is one of my favorite perennials.
I love this shade of blue. It is hard to understand a preference for one color over another but when I see this color it makes me feel calm and happy. This particular shade of green is also a favorite, so all in all the Johnson's Blue Geranium has everything.
This is a close up of Merion Station Post Office. It was built in 1914 and is a designated historic building. I was drawn to this painting because of the two shades of red orange, one brick and the other rust, sandwiching a lovely dusty blue.
While looking for the date of construction, I came upon this very interesting article written by Theodore Roosevelt called MODEL MERION. It praises the Merion Civic Association, which seems to have been very active and extremely helpful to the citizens at that time. It also shows Roosevelt's views on the responsibilities necessary for a citizen in a Democracy. It is definitely worth reading. Thanks to the Merion Civic Association for keeping this letter on their web site and for continuing to fight the good fight to keep Merion a lovely place to live.
Summer is winding down and if you haven't been to the beach you probably are longing for a sniff of the sea and a moment or two to gaze out at a great expanse of ocean. How nice it would be to have a house like this one to visit anytime you longed for that experience.
It is a precarious place to live these days but perhaps that even adds to the romance.
These 'Mahagany' Bee Balm filled my garden with their exotic beauty for most of July. The bees and the butterflies love them and their piquant scented leaves are a wonderful addition to the banquet of fragrances floating through the garden in the summer.
Hollyhocks are the flowers I associate with my childhood. I think they were the first flowers I actually became aware of. In the fog of early consciousness I was attracted to their centers and then frightened by some unexpected movement inside - probably bees. I still retain this simultaneous attraction - repulsion feeling whenever I come upon them.
That is probably why I only have one plant in my garden this beautiful soft pink.
Recently I visited some friends who had the most spectacular Hollyhocks I have ever seen surrounding their very extensive, beautiful gardens. They were at least 8 feet tall and blooming like teenagers.
Sang Kee, my favorite neighborhood restaurant has everything, great food, pleasant friendly servers and lots of happy bustle as it is a favorite of lots of people.
There is a lot to be said for being surrounded by other people who are having a good time.
Yesterday's painting "Iris in the Morning" has been chosen as a pick of the day on the Daily Paintworks facebook page.
Check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/dailypaintworks
I painted this in the spring but have not posted it because I was uncomfortable with it. It has a religious feel. I am not religious. When I am outside in my garden or in any grand natural space I do feel connected to the universe. I worship the "earth and the fullness thereof" but not necessarily "those that dwell therein" and though I wish I could believe that there is a "father" up there looking after me, I simply can't. The beauty of the words of the Lord's prayer are a comfort. They were composed by someone with a great heart and fine sensibility. I believe in the possibility that humans might be fair and just, but organized religion has not worked that magic. It is time for humans to recognize they are responsible for the evil and the goodness in the world not God or the Devil.
Why am I finally posting this painting? Because looking at it over a few months has made me think. Those rays of sun are generative and can be destructive. They can nurture our garden or wither it. There is all you need to know about life in the garden. For me this is the place of worship.
The weather is too hot for most of the day but in the very early morning, when the dew is still clinging to the vegetables it is glorious outside. Here the sun peaks through the leaves of the cabbage and for a moment all is right with the world.
Here is my latest video. It is the third in the series RESTLESS RECTANGLES. I love Satie and especially the three Gnossienne pieces. I wanted to get the slightly eerie feeling they give me as well as the persistence of the arpeggios. Let me know what you think. It is less than 3 minutes so relax and take a break with some beautiful music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPCfj2Sh_QU&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share
I like to walk all over the neighborhood because of the variety of architecture and plantings everywhere. There are also some wild spots that have a wonderful mysterious air about them. This broken fence with some panes of glass still clinging to the old wood catches my eye whenever I ramble in Bala Cynwyd. I peek through the windows to see what is going on, afraid someone with a shotgun will appear at any moment. There is a lot of healthy vegetation and some old cars but no indication of why this valuable real estate has been abandoned to nature.
Visiting a friend in downtown Philadelphia, I spotted these two buildings in the early evening sun, united by the sun but representing very different periods.
Looking for some words to describe the old and the new, I ran across this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Memoriam. It is living proof that humans don't really change and the old and the new are united by their desire for a better life, while struggling with the same problems. Tennyson writing in the middle of the 19th century had these words to welcome the new year. Here is one stanza.
Church bells can resonate in our emotional baggage. At one end of the spectrum we have John Donne's famous words to remember, "know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."
At the other end and more in keeping with the spirit of this painting is "Ding, Dong the bells are gonna chime" from "I'm Get-tin Married in the Morning".
Here is a link to it, sung by Stanley Holloway from MY FAIR LADY. There is a small vignette of Audrey Hepburn, looking absolutely beautiful in the beginning.
Church bells can resonate in our emotional baggage. At one end of the spectrum we have John Donne's famous words to remember, "know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."
At the other end and more in keeping with the spirit of this painting is "Ding, Dong the bells are gonna chime" from "I'm Get-tin Married in the Morning".
Here is a link to it, sung by Stanley Holloway from MY FAIR LADY. There is a small vignette of Audrey Hepburn, looking absolutely beautiful in the beginning.
There was a time, not so very long ago, when the only way you could reach a friend was to write a letter. No telephones, no computers, no email or FAX machines existed. So, the desk with its paper and writing instruments at the ready, was your communication station.
In order to write a letter to a friend you had to dig deep inside and think about what had happened recently, say within the month, and reflect on how you felt about that. Letter writing was a time of contemplation, and receiving a letter — those wonderful fat, hand addressed envelopes, was a real occasion. The whole procedure had an esthetic component, from the hand writing, the choice of words, the stationary, to the stamp chosen for the envelope.
The mailman was the trusted carrier of the most personal words from person to person over time. We were a diferent species, I think, when we were letter writers.
Here is a link to the latest in my video series, SQUARES LOOKING FOR A HOME.
This one is called IMPERATIVE as the squares are moving inevitably towards their final destination. http://youtu.be/aNzPdYW7RT0
Here is a link to the first video in the series EQUIPOISE. http://youtu.be/a9AQ8r0o3b0
Back to traveling the virtual roads on Google maps. I found this wonderfully painted motel on the Lido in Italy.
Many, many years ago my family camped on the Lido beach on our way to Venice. I think these joyful colors capture the feeling of that time very well for me.
I love tulips. They are so pure and simple. The sun shinning through their rich colored petals seems the essence of new life and the heart of spring.
This from Wikipedia
"In Persia, to give a red tulip was to declare your love. The black center of the red tulip was said to represent the lover's heart, burned to a coal by love's passion. To give a yellow tulip was to declare your love hopelessly and utterly."
Here is alink to a very fine poem by Sylvia Plath about tulips she received in the hospital.
Okay, here is where the trumpets blare and the fanfare announces the finished piece. If you are still with me on this design journey, we have reached our goal. This piece again created in Flash started with music as a guide to the length of the piece. I decided I wanted to have each square be one measure of the music so I knew how long it had to be. I found a piece of music that I thought would suit the idea and began placing the squares on the screen in the order that they would eventually reach, after a small journey. The journey ended up being quite interesting (at least to me). Some cool things happen along the way and it all turns out as planned and then some. In the middle of the piece I decided the music I had chosen did not say what it should, so I had to go searching again, but this time I found just the right tone with the Satie. The animation works on the idea of imbalance and resolution and the Satie has an oriental feel to it that is just what I wanted. It also has a very regular beat which fits the design. The whole thing turns out to be quite calming and meditative. It does take almost 4 minutes so put your feet up, have a martini at the end of the day and give it a try.
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