QUESTIONS TO THE ANSWERS

One of my very favorite blogs is written by “Val the Victorian.”  Almost daily she produces from her “lair” another post of humorous, imaginative and unique news of her doings providing brain food for students at the local high school, or the goings on in her neighborhood in “Backroads.” What’s more, every evening she replies to the comments she receives with more clever remarks.  (Selfishly I hope she doesn’t get the flood of readers she deserves because then she’d be so successful she’d be too busy with book tours to return comments.)

Anyhoo, she recently answered a list of questions passed on to her by another writing friend who had also answered the questions and named some friends−you get the idea. Then she included my name to add to the ever widening circle of links—having nothing to do with chains or sausage.

The list has to do with the creative process, and although most of the bloggers in the group are writers the questions apply to art as well.

1-What am I working on?

I work in watercolors, producing enough paintings to keep my Etsy Shop stocked.  At present I have a deer painting in the works.  Because, as a successful artist told me, “the deer and the antelope pay.”  All you have to do is check out galleries in places like Jackson Hole, WY, Scottsdale, AZ or Santa Fe, NM to see he’s right.  Not that I expect a great cash return for my work but I always need revenue for art supplies.

2-How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I’m fortunate I don’t need to produce to survive so I don’t often paint for the market.  I do pictures of all kinds of things; except people, unless I’m not expected to generate a recognizable likeness.  My shop paintings are on archival paper with high-end pigments (thus the need for at least a few sales).  The customer gets them without mat or frame, letting me skip the part of painting I hate and the customer can take the work to their local frame shop and have it preserved for display any way they please.

3- Why do I write/paint what I do?

Most of my paintings are souvenirs of good times.  When I have to study a place or thing well enough to make a finished painting or even a sketch, I learn to appreciate details I miss in casual observation.   I take lots of reference photos and often pick and choose from them to create a composition.

4-What is my writing/painting process like?

I don’t do as much painting/sketching on location as I should.  One reason is watercolor and wind and even bright sun are not very compatible.  I’ve put up a few posts showing a work in progress and the final results.  You can check three of them out here, here and here.

Val also made kind references to my poetry and wondered if I might be working on a book.  The only book I’m working right now is an album of photos and letters I found among my parents' things after their death.  It’s a slow process but I’ve at least got it sort of sorted.

I would welcome anyone who reads this to take up the challenge to put up a post answering the questions above.  Four very creative bloggers I follow, not already listed by Val, are: Susan, Talon, Anairam and Linda Sue.  I’d be very interested to know how they would reply.

WILD BLACKBERRIES

Blackberries ripening in the sun is one of my favorite scents of summer.  When DH and I were newly married and with a brand new baby, we lived in Tacoma, Washington.  There wild blackberries flourished to epidemic proportions in every untended open space.  And since the only income we had was U.S. government soldier pay; free fruit, even if it grew on wicked brambles, was welcome.  Just a few steps from our apartment near Fort Lewis were all the blackberries I could stand to pick.  The fresh ones went on cereal and ice cream and then there was homemade blackberry pie—wow!

Most of my paintings are inspired by vacations or pleasant memories.  So when I came across photos I took of blackberry bushes in the lush green forests of northern Washington I decided to use them as a subject of a painting.

I worked out a composition sketch and transferred it to heavy watercolor paper.  I masked out the berries and then washed the whole area with shades of green.

Then I began to add layers of darker greens and browns to bring out the details of the thick undergrowth.

After bringing the moss, branches and leaves into focus I removed the masking from the berries and went to work on them.

The final painting size 11x14 inches

It’s always fun to see how complementary colors such as red and green seem to pop when placed next to each other and how analogous colors such as blue and green are harmonious and soothing.

 

I only wish there were a way to add the smell of ripeness and the sounds of humming bees and bird song.

You can find this and many more of my watercolors for sale on my Etsy site.

And now a poem by one who shares my appreciation of ----

Wild Blackberries

Ripening delicacies…

with a spectrum that varies 

in a thorn laden thicket

of luscious wild blackberries

Growing among tall 

free growing weeds 

strewn with the remains 

of rain soaked rotting trees

The splendid seedy delectables

are gathered with a restrained squeeze

cautious not to inflict trauma...

placed into a cupped palm with ease

Playful patches of sunlight

filter through swaying shade

dancing… sporadically, intensifying

then tending to dim and fade

Focusing on a twined

vine… suddenly becoming aware 

of aliveness… exhibiting an

intent-fully territorial stare 

With a backward step 

it has become quite clear

Now is time to conclude 

berry picking and get out of here

7/1/2010 

Theresa Ann Moore

SURPRISE!!!

Spring is always full of surprises, especially if one has a short memory.

I remember planting some extra tulip bulbs in this empty spot.

I just don’t remember what color or what kind.   

In a few weeks—Surprise!

I know these green things popping out of the ground will blossom into lilies of the valley, 

but every year there are more and more—Surprise!

I can’t even begin to remember all my computer passwords so I write them on a card and hide it in my purse.  While looking for the card,

I found a fifty I hid just in case I needed it on a trip I took months ago.  

SURPRISE!

Some things I remember.  This year I remembered to plant tomatoes before April so I won’t have to buy them from the nursery.  I also remember how tiny tomato plants become huge and can overtake the garden and your life if you let them.  So I’ll thin them down to ten plants in a week or so.

I remembered to plant my lobelia –

--and my pansies and cucumbers,

 but I forgot how big they’ll get before it’s warm enough to put them in the garden so the whole kitchen will probably be filled with pots of dirt and plants in the very near future.

Being forgetful has its drawbacks, but I usually remember to carry my cell phone with me now.  So if I remember to write myself notes and lists and put them on my phone memo they go with me better than all those little yellow sticky notes.

A lot of other things I wonder about can be searched out in an instant.

The other stuff, like the plots of favorite books and movies—

--and where I hid my Easter Eggs--

--makes living every day a SURPRISE!