Saturday, June 27, 2009

JUST WONDERING---

--Where do all the paperclips go? --Why do people who don’t eat their pizza crust pay extra for bread sticks? --Why are rainbows different sizes? --Who looked at ALL the snowflakes to know every one is different? --When the television starts to beep;


text crawls across the bottom of the screen with SEVERE STORM WARNINGS;


the weather radar looks like scrambled eggs and ketchup, and just before a wall of hard rain and hail hits—


why are the edges of the clouds green?
Added later--Google knows EVERYTHING. There are several answers to the green cloud question. The easiest reply for me to understand is here. A quote from the answer: "...green clouds are likely when thunderstorms with heavy rain are strongly illuminated from behind by reddish sunlight, such as at sunset. The high water content of the cloud absorbs red light, resulting in a green colouration. The studies model also predicts that the colour will be blue-green for larger rain drops, and yellow-green for smaller. This explanation does not require hail in the cloud. However it does require a very high water content which may only occur in thunderstorms which are likely to also produce hail."
(Didn't look for answers to the other questions yet).
Fortunately we were just on the periphery of this storm. Farther south there was flooding and quarter-size hail. Today is sunny and warm, a welcome relief from getting all the rain that should have gone to everywhere from San Diego to Seattle.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

LESSONS IN LOOKING

Yellowstone Falls from Artist's Point
Scenic views make us automatically want to capture the sight and take a piece of it with us. Guaranteed whatever we do: photograph, painting, cell phone shot, it will not come anywhere near the experience of standing there. Guaranteed also; some skilled artist or photographer such as Ansell Adams or Thomas Moran has been there ahead of us with his own interpretation. Most of the time their work makes you want to throw your sorry picture in the trash.

The Cathedral Group--Grand Teton National Park

Your artwork or photograph will only be similar to what you saw/felt. See my previous post of Christina’s World. My photo of her house was literal. Christina Olsen suffered from a condition that left her lower body paralyzed. She moved about her world by the use of her arms. You can see how Wyeth used artistic license to separate the barn from the house and set Christina in a position that doesn't correspond to the actual lay of the land. Using this information, you bring your own experience and ideas to interpret what you see.

Anyway, since I was already in Cushing, Maine I took the ferry, Laura B. to Monhegan Island where Andrew Wyeth’s son, Jamie, had produced several well known paintings. I arrived at low tide on a foggy morning. Above--how I saw the Monhegan Island boat dock.

Jamie Wyeth's "The Red House"

I wandered around the island (no cars allowed there) and came upon “The Red House” looking very much as it did in my Wyeth art book at home.

I couldn’t help myself. I had to paint my own version of the place. I am thinking now that I should not put my stuff next to Jamie Wyeth's. Please be kind.