HEDGES

Back to Merion and my garden in its first flowering of this year, with Korean lilacs, Forget-me-nots, from New Zealand, and Spanish Bells.   It is an international dance to welcome spring.  The old privat hedges, probably originating in England or Ireland march along keeping order, with the Japanes Katsura as chaparone.  And then there are the gout weed (England) or pinellia (Asia) rudely cutting in.

Just like humans the plants are all jostling for a place in the sun.

This was my first painting of the year completed outside, as I have been working from sketches and photos in my studio.  It is an exhilerating struggle.  The light changes, the wind blows or the sun is too hot...and there is so much more to choose from visually.

ARGYLE AND ALBEMARLE ROADS

One of the prettiest streets in Brooklyn is Albemarle Road with a median planted with trees and seasonal flowers.  I am a fan of porches and this one beats all.  I believe this house is one of the ones described in this entry in Wikipedia.
Tomorrow back to Merion.
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EARLY MORNING LIGHT IN DITMAS PARK

Looking out my bedroom window on my Brooklyn holiday I caught this shaft of light that I could not resist.

Pardon me if I kvell.  My dear grandson Konrad wrote this wonderful poem, inspired by these two paintings.  A double whammy of happiness for me.

Shadows

Dance

Over the walls

Always moving

Not noticeably

But never stopping

Hugging all that pass

Receiving hugs back

Or rejected

They’re dogs

Not getting too far away

From their master

Pulling

And pulling

Taunting and teasing

Night falls

They fade away

Asleep.

Konrad Herman

OUT THE WINDOW IN DITMAS PARK

Everything in spring has a burst of energy.  Trees are blooming in the neighbor's backyard and even the little plant on the window sill is full of new growth.  Another painting from my trip to Brooklyn out the kitchen window.

ACROSS THE STREET IN DITMAS PARK

I spent last week in Brooklyn with my two grandsons.  They live in Ditmas Park, a part of Flatbush where there are old Victorian houses like this one, which I painted from their porch.  It was a lovely time to visit as their spring is a little behind ours, so the tulips and flowering trees were in full bloom.  This neighborhood has wonderful old houses with big welcoming porches like this one.
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EARLY SPRING

I will be in Brooklyn this week so won't be posting any paintings.  I will leave you with this print of early spring colors.  It is a signed, limited edition digital print on archival paper with archival inks, 30" x 30".

SPRING 2011

It isn't officially spring for me until the weeping cheery is in full bloom and the wild veronica are carpeting the yard.  I think this is as close to paradise as it gets.

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LOOKING UP

The weeping cherry was not completely out on the day I painted this but it is in all its glory now.  It bloomed right on schedule for my mother's birthday April 15th.  This year I decided to look up into the tree and was richly rewarded as I never noticed how beautiful the buds are before.  Here is last year's painting.
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WEEPING CHERRY AND KATSURA

I wanted to capture the soft colors of early spring in this painting of my weeping cherry.  It isn't fully blooming yet and the Katsura leaves in the forground still have that combination of new green and red that is so elusive in the spring.  It is the most beautiful time of year and the most dificult to capture in paint.  Everything blends together in a fine mist of color as the whole world slowly comes to life again.

MARSH MARIGOLD

The Marsh Marigold has now taken over many lawns, including mine, with lovely large clusters of flowers.  They are especially fond of the banks of streams and can be found now in abundance on the stream running through Merion Park.

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Nursery School, Saito, Japan

This month the Virtual Paint-out went to Japan.  This is what looks like a nursery or elementary School in the city of Saito.  This city was completely destroyed by the Tsunami. Proceeds of this painting will go to help the recovery efforts in Japan.  It will be auctioned off through the Japan Challenge on the Daily Painters web site.  Or, if you don't want this very sad painting, just go here and give some money to help the children of Japan who survived to somehow make it through this devastating experience.

ART OF THE GARDEN

Tonight from 5:30 to 8:30 is the opening of a show to benefit the Haverford Township Free Library.  I am one of the 99 artists including painters, photographers, printmakers, sculptors, potters and jewelers exhibiting and everything is for sale with 20% of the proceeds benefiting the library.  the show will be up until June 21st.
 
1601 Darby Road
Havertown, PA 19083

FORSYTHIA 2011

Trying to catch the wild beauty of the forsythia is one of my favorite spring pleasures.  My neighbor's large collection is a favorite place to start, and in this case end, looking for the best subject.  Several of my favorite places were hacked to pieces this year unfortunately.  Check out last year's selection here.  Check out some pure color prints using forsythia colors as their theme here.

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SHADOW PLAY

I was drawn to the way the shadow of this tree, in this moment, knits everything together.  Shadows are to me a visual reminder of the way we are connected to everything, although those connections are always changing.

SCILLA

Scilla or Siberian Squill does actually grow in Siberia.  This tiny but very hardy flower is probably coming up somewhere in your yard if you have some property in the North East.  It not only comes up every year but spreads in mysterious ways all over the place.  I look forward to discovering what new place it will pop up every year.  Last evening I passed a front yard completely covered in blue.  What a treat.

TULIP LEAVES

It isn't just the flowers that greet the new season with a sense of triumph.  All the new leaves are bursting with life.  These tulip leaves seem to be dancing in time to some universal rhythm.


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SNOWDROPS

These delicate little beauties are popping up all over.  There is an interesting entry in Wikipedia about them.  Here is part of it under ACTIVE SUBSTANCES.

It was suggested by Duvoisin in 1983 that the mysterious magical herb moly that appears in Homer's Odyssey is actually snowdrop. An active substance in snowdrop is called galantamine, which, as anticholinesterase, could have acted as an antidote to Circe's poisons.^[8] Galantamine (or galanthamine) can be helpful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, though it is not a cure; the substance also occurs naturally in daffodils and other narcissi.

SECRETS

My needle felted piece SECRETS is hanging in a show called UNCOMMON THREADS at the ARTWORKS GALLERY in Trenton.  To read about needle felting click HERE. To read about SECRETS click HERE.  The show is there from March 26th to April 15th.

JAPAN CHALLENGE

The Blog Daily Paintworks is sponsoring a challenge to artists and collectors.  Artists are donating their work to be auctioned off to benefit the people of Japan.  The theme is appropriately "home" and what it means to you.  I have donated my painting TULIPS IN FEBRUARY to the challenge because flowers in the house always give me the feeling that everything is okay.  I wish I could give that feeling to the people in Japan who have lost everything but since that is impossible this token will have to do.  You can bid on it, or any other of the many paintings donated so far.  I will donate the profits of the sale of my painting to SAVE THE CHILDREN as it seems children, our most vulnerable, are often the most hard hit by these tragedies.
Please go to Daily Paintworks for more information and to bid or donate art work.
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REVERANCE

This week I have only posted one painting as I ran out of canvas panels, but I have been busy planning for next week.
Meanwhile in my spare time I have been translating a piece of music to color using my "tuned set" of colors.  This is a project I have been working on for years in both two dimensions and with animations made in Bliss Paint or with Flash.  You can read all about it if you are interested on my web site.  Here is the latest piece REVERANCE.  The music is a piece by Offenbach played by Tatyana Featherman from the CD STEP UP. (The piece repeats automatically - haven't figured out how to control that yet).
In this piece I leave the colors on the screen to complete a 'phrase'.  Each time I animate a piece I try something slightly different to see which things seem to hold together in the mind best.  You can check some of the other pieces out to see what you think if you have time. "Having time" - what an interesting expression that is.  How much time do you have - the ultimate question.
Tatyana Featherman often accompanies the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet classes in Narberth.  This is a real gem in our community...and they have adult beginner classes! 

OPEN TULIP

Right before all the leaves fall to the ground, the tulip really is quite magnificent.  I'm not sure if this show attracts pollinators, as the info on line is not clear.  It seems tulips may self pollinate or the wind blows the pollen around.  Anybody know?  It seems this lovely show must have a purpose. One thing is sure, the pollinator, if there is one must, is diurnal as the tulips close up at night.

LIGHT PATTERN

Since I have been painting the light as it appears in dazzling displays around my house, I have become aware of light patterns I never saw before.  Just shows what a  large role our attention plays in what we actually see.

CAPE TOWN

This month I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa looking for a spot to paint for the VIRTUAL PAINT OUT.  These palm trees caught my eye as, along with the pastel architecture, they correspond to what I imagine it is like live in this balmy port. According to Wikipedia, the city has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and is home to a total of 19 different vegatation types, of which several are completely endemic to the city and occur nowhere else in the world.

TIME IN A BOTTLE

Okay here's something for everyone that may seem off track and may make you cry.  The latin form of Croci reminded me of Jim Croce.  I saw him once in a little coffee house in Philly.  There used to be places where you could actully go and have a cup of coffee or two and listen to live performances for hours.  

He was wonderful.  I loved his songs and his sincere and really moving performances.  Unfortunlately he died in 1973 at the tender age of 30 in a plane crash.  While looking up his music on youtube I was struck by the number of young people who bemoaned the loss of performances like his in the comments.  No electronic back up, no lip synching, just a guy with a guitar and a couple of back up players making their own music. 

So here is a link to one of his best known and most poignant pieces.  There is more to mourn than a talent lost young in this saga. LINK  If you really want to cry check out some of this other songs with him playing.

SPRING STREAM

The crucusses (or croci if you want to be true to the latin form) are gloriously covering the banks of the stream that runs through Merion park and spreading their joyful faces in blankets of pale purple under the trees.  From now until July for me is the best time of the year.  Everyday something new arrives to brighten the heart.

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Today is International Women's Day and this year marks its 100th anniversary.  I am participating in a show in Canada of art work by and about women from around the world at Ayrspace.  I contributed a 24" x 24" version of my work SHE WHO WATCHES. (Click on the title to see the work after you read about it) I thought it would be appropriate for an American contribution to be at least tangentially from American indians.  There is also a group of 100 artists exhibiting on the International Women's Day sight. 

LAST SNOW

My neighbor's garage is such a simple old structure that it calls out to be painted and I have painted it many times.  This time I have opted for a very clean controlled vision.  Here are some of the other paintings done on the spot. I was surprised to note that these very same shadows were the subject of a painting done many years ago.
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SECRET GARDEN #2

SECRET GARDEN #1

EARLY SPRING

ROOF SHADOWS