A Little Light on the Subject

Jack Frost has decorated the clover

I was cutting watercolor paper for an upcoming class. Too many lights were shining from different directions and I could not see the proper edge of the paper (it is just an indentation.) I turned off a light, so that a low angled beam was coming from one direction. Voila! The edge appeared.  It occurred to me that this is one of the gifts of the season we are in right now.  The sun shines more briefly and the low angle makes for nice long shadows in the afternoon. This is one of my favorite aspects of walking Carly in the winter.

     While I was cutting the paper my thoughts were on how to guide students in painting the sometimes complex images, such as a tangle of tree limbs. We are painting snowy scenes, and the snow has a unifying aspect color wise and shape wise.  That helps.  Still, you have to take the information at hand and simplify it to the level where you can convey the idea you want to present. This is somewhat like the season we are in right now. Although nature gives us the opportunity to see the world in a more simplified way, through an angled, brief light; our culture makes up for the subdued lighting with a bounty of lights and activities. Our environment is more complex than ever!  So, the same skill that we can use to simplify our images can be used to determine how to interact with the overwhelming holiday spectacle. Filter out the extraneous noise and light. Focus on the important message and enjoy.

Advent Evensong and Art Show 2011: Art and the Spiritual Journey

Abbo's Alley in the Fog

Every Advent, St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Paris, KY holds an Evensong and Art Show. This event showcases two great strengths of St. Peter's: terrific music and artistic expression. The focus of past years has been Angels, but this year we've expanded out to consider Art and the Spiritual Journey. How appropriate then, that our guest speaker at the Evensong will be Dr. Everett McCorvey, professor of voice at the University of Kentucky and founder of the American Spiritual Ensemble.  The Evensong begins at 5 pm. this Sunday, December 4th, in the sanctuary of St. Peter's, 311 High Street.
       
       Following the Evensong, will be a reception in the Parish Hall, for the exhibit Art and the Spiritual Journey. Works of poetry and all manner of media will be on display (and there will be food, too!) Everything from needlepoint to Mother Chris's drawings and a delightful ensemble of knitted creche figures will share space with beautiful paintings, including angels and landscapes. Who knows where your spiritual journey might take you--come have a look!

Truth

Chicory and Lace

Yesterday evening during my Experimenting with Watercolor and Pastel class at the Lexington Art Academy, I was talking to a participant about the image she was painting.  It was an autumnal scene, with incredibly bright leaves of red, orange and yellow. She was dotting in the yellow leaves and I said that it was like a "thousand points of light."  My friend Celeste, whom I met more than three decades ago, didn't know what I was referring to. She partakes of news blackouts and was not familiar with this famous idea promoted by George H.W. Bush.  We had some fun with her self-imposed lack of news knowledge, but it got me to thinking. How truthful is the news? What would life be like without it? Think how much room there would be in our brains it they were not stuffed with considering whether Miley Cyrus is fat  or even believing that politics and politicians were the answer to everything. For that matter, what if we did not count on the news to tell us to take calcium supplements or that multiple vitamins will kill us off.  Drinking causes cancer! Teetotalers have heart attacks!  On and on.

       Meanwhile during the class, I encouraged students to keep in mind what attracts them to the image they are portraying.  Rather than being literal, the goal is to bring out the truth they see.  Maybe this is a truth of the heart, then again, perhaps it is more objective than that.  We all need to know how to gather information first hand; to know what is true for us.  Take a walk and look at the color of tree bark. It can be pretty surprising. Be willing to decide for yourself what you are seeing.   Being a news junkie, I don't think I could give it up as completely as Celeste has.  Yet, it is good to spend some time in our own, first hand reality. Making art provides an excellent opportunity! 

Clarity in the Sewanee Fog

Abbo's Alley in the fog

Last week, David and I drove down to Sewanee, Tennessee for his 50th Reunion at the University of the South.  Leaving Lexington, we could see a bank of clouds; a forecasted front pushing southeast.  Midway along the Bluegrass Parkway, the rain began and accompanied us all the way to Sewanee.  One of our first stops upon arriving at Sewanee was the wonderful bookstore on campus.  David and I always find terrific books at this relatively small establishment.  This time, since Barbara Brown Taylor had recently been on campus (I knew this thanks to Mo. Chris) there was a nice selection of her books and I purchased Leaving Church.  David and I took our leave from the store and noticed that the famous Sewanee fog had rolled in while we were browsing the volumes.  Looking across the campus, it was at once soft and bright, as the leaves were close to their peak in color. The foggy backdrop had a luminescent quality that did not dampen the leaf colors, but turned them into rich accents.

The next morning, alumni were welcomed to attend classes. David and I went to a second semester French class, which turned out to be an excellent review of en and y, along with the subjunctive (which I can always stand to review.)  Next, David went to a topology class and I hit the trail, walking around campus and heading to Abbo's Alley, an enchanting place, especially in the fog.  Line and color became elegantly enigmatic. So many places called out to me: Paint Me! Paint Me!

        Our schedule each day was full with reunion activities, but at the end of the day, I would enjoy relaxing with my new book. In Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor paints a picture of how she came to faith and it is first and foremost grounded in the wonderful creation that we all dwell upon.  And she notes that in Celtic theology, "God's 'big book' of creation is revered alongside God's 'little book' of sacred scripture." (pg 81)  Taylor and her husband come upon a "thin place" when walking over the land that would become their home.  The idea of thin places is also Celtic. These are special places that are also part of another realm.

        On Saturday, the sun returned, just in time for the homecoming football game.  The colors were intense and brilliant; a bright blue sky beyond the vibrant orange leaves.  I walked past the same scenes and the same gracefully curved trees. A certain mystique had disappeared.  This set me to thinking: can you ever really see the same scene twice?  Are there really thin places or is every place thin and it just takes a readiness to see that makes the difference?

Part of the Homescape

Party returns to Clover Slope

I was a little surprised by how joyful it was to receive Partofthelandscape home to Clover Slope once more.  He left about four years ago to help open the Doll & Toy Museum in Carlisle, KY and has served as a party animal ever since.  Party has modeled horse costumes (created by Shirley Gentry) at the Corner Studio (home of the Courthouse Square Arts Guild) and he has kept rockers company at the Neal Welcome Center.  He has even greeted guests to Derby Day festivities at Forest Retreat. 

Paris Pike just before her launch



        Party is my first Horse Mania horse.  I painted him in 2000 and had the opportunity to buy him  a few years later.  We trailered him to Clover Slope, where he fit right in because the windows and door has a certain stable-like quality.  In 2010, I painted Paris Pike. She was sponsored by Toyota Motor Manufacturing ,Kentucky, and they also bought her at the auction.  This is totally appropriate, as Paris celebrates the drive, especially along the beautifully expanded Paris Pike--perhaps one of the most beautiful roads in the country. Paris Pike now overlooks the goings on at Toyota's Georgetown, KY plant. Hmmm, I wonder if she had any input into the newly designed 2012 Camry?

        Meanwhile, back at the Clover Slope ranch, Party will be groomed a bit. He could have used a nice clear coat job like Paris enjoyed. It is good to have him home; part of the homescape.

Following Something Along



In the Floracliff woods, a year later

 I have a favorite book called Creative Autheniticity, by landscape painter Ian Roberts.  It could just as well be called To Thine Own Self be True. Roberts tells it like it is; that sooner or later we will know that we just have to be ourselves.  We can't help it.

     In the book, Roberts lays out 16 principles to clarify and deepen your artistic vision. My favorite principle at the moment is: Follow Something Along. Roberts makes the point that many of the great artists actually had one theme that they elaborated on for much of their career.  It is not necessary to take on the whole world to express yourself as an artist.

        I was thinking about this over the weekend when I returned to Floracliff for a walk in the autumn woods. A year ago, I was present at Floracliff for the 400th birthday of Woody, the chinquapin oak (please see my original post Into the Woods and later post Into the Woods, Part II.)  If there is a place that I am always at home, it is in the woods. Not only do I feel at home, but I feel elated, even though I am at the base of the trees and not in the heady upper branches.  It is very clear that this is my artistic theme. While I enjoy painting people, animals and all sorts of places, I'll always want to come back to the woods.  This is the vein to be mined, the bone to be gnawed.  Let me add this quote that Roberts includes:

Like to do your work as much as a dog likes to

gnaw a bone and go at it with equal interest and exclusion

of everything else.   ---- Robert Henry

       I highly recommend this book! 

    

Creative Authenticity: 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision

                                                           by Ian Roberts, published by the Atelier Saint-Luc Press

                                                            

Dancing Landscape  Floracliff 2010

It is Never Too Late to Learn...Naturally

This past week has been a joining of my past and my future.  A photographer came to photograph me in my studio. She is the fiancee of the son of a friend from my childhood, so I had the opportunity to talk about events of four + decades ago.  And there was a sale of an art collection gathered by this friend's mother over many decades and that presented the chance to see work by Lexington and Kentucky artists active in the sixties and seventies--the early visuals of my life!  Keeping with this theme, I went to figure drawing class and Tom, the teacher, had a well worn copy of Nicolaides' The Natural Way to Draw. When we students were called upon to introduce ourselves, I mentioned that I had used that book in a drawing class in the seventies.  You might notice that my copy looks fairly pristine, at least in comparison with Tom's duct-taped version.  This puts me to shame! 

       Never-the-less, I had recollection of the sorts of exercises Nicolaide's offers, such as gesture drawing, contour drawing and blind contour drawing.  In the photograph above, you can see blind contour drawing on the left, contour drawing on the right and gesture drawing in the photo to the right.  Looking back, I figure I have been drawing the figure for at least four decades.  Even so, it was clear there is always something to learn. During class, Tom pointed out one student's drawing, noting the focus on the tension in the arm and how that was the most dynamic aspect of that pose. I looked at my scribbly limb and saw the truth in Tom's observation.  We can always learn--that is what makes life so exciting!

    So now comes the invitation to you to join us for an Experimenting with Watercolor & Pastel class on Tuesday's in November, beginning November 8th from 7 - 9 pm.  In this class, we bring what we have to the art that we make: how we see the world and how our hands express that vision.  Students are encouraged to bring their own photographs for working on preferred subject matter. The use of watercolor and pastel gives us maximum flexibility for expression without painting ourselves in a corner.  Come check it out for yourself and learn something new!  Please visit the Lexington Art Academy website: lexingtonartacademy.com.

Ah...Autumn

The Autumn leaves...we have experienced a couple in just this last week.  Mary left last Sunday to be a teaching assistant in Brittany, France for the academic year. She arrived safely, with all her luggage in tow and has established herself in Queven. It is with a mixture of rapt excitement and mourning that I vicariously experience her new adventure.


Brothers, on the road together, post-trail



      This weekend, we say goodbye to our nephew, Private First Class Rees as he heads off to basic training.  The weather turned cold for the first morning of October and a brisk walk in the woods seemed like a good idea.  We went over to Blue Licks State Resort Park to indulge. The day was mostly overcast with sun shining sporadically through the just-barely changing leaves. I was filled with that bittersweet melancholy; where you experience something so lovely and simultaneously see it slip away. I knew in advance that there were a lot of paintings here. My photos never adequately express what I am seeing in this time on the cusp between summer and autumn.  Carly (the dog) set the pace on the Indian Run trail and so the ascent up the hill by the run warmed us up quite effectively. 



Fred with his good luck clover

  After our invigorating trek, we set out for a final, pre-basic training geo-cache hunt. This was also at Blue Licks. A black cat  (perhaps the same one we saw as we first set out on our hike?) was patrolling the area. Never-the-less, the cache was soundly found! Not only that, but as we were walking across the field to the car, I spotted a six-leaf clover, just in time to send Fred off with a good luck charm. My last chance--and my first October extra-leaf clover.


Here's to safe passage for our young people as they set out in the world. And here's to all us autumnal types, able to savor the sweetness of it all, even as we ourselves are drying on the vine (okay, I'm only speaking for myself!) What a glorious world!

Mary heads out, with her Susan Hoff bag!

Come, Creator Spirit

   

Yesterday, I received a telephone call from Conservative Majority (or Con Major, as it appeared on the caller ID). I was invited to listen to a "news item" and then take a survey. What followed was a histrionic rant, that was pretty much stuck with ideas that were thrown about before the 2008 presidential election. You have heard of these, Obama pals around with terrorists and believes in "God Damn America!" Obama is set on destroying America! And where did he get all that contributed money? Con Major is going to work tirelessly to get to the bottom of this! There was no mention of what the organization was actually for. After the "news", I suppose this was the "survey" part of the call, I thanked the Con Major person for reminding me to make that Obama 2012 contribution and pointed out helpfully that this would be one less contribution they would have to get to the bottom of, because I had told them about it upfront. 

Yesterday was also the day that I wrote up the text for our holiday cards this year. I am using the images pictured here.  They are my paintings from Mary's and Jacob's Alma Maters:  Rice University and the University of the South. At Mary's graduation from Rice in May, the Latin hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus" was sung, as it has been sung at every Rice Commencement. Veni Creator Spiritus will be on the front of the card, along with the images. The translation of two verses of the hymn, which was in the program for the graduation is an antidote to today's destructive shouting.  The idea is that we can use our hearts and minds to work toward a better world.  The hymn says it best, so I'll include the translation  here for you:

Come, Creator Spirit
Visit the minds of your people,
Fill with supernal grace
The hearts which you have created.

Gives us the rewards of joy,

Give us the benefits of your favor,

Break the chains of strife,

Draw fast the bonds of peace.

May your mind be visited and your heart filled with grace!

The End of Peach Season



Vernon at Dawn

 I love peach season!  It starts out slowly, and we are impatient, enduring under ripe peaches. But then, before we know it, we are enjoying lovely, ripe peaches. Is there anything more appealing than a ripe peach -- the luscious smell, the cheeky color, the juicy flesh with a velvet skin? The season has grown longer and I can start the day with a fresh peach well into September.  Then comes the batch too far, when the peaches are bruised and have a sort of fermented nature. We can be hopeful and buy some more, but it is always a disappointment.  We have to let the peach season go.

      It looks like I have reached the end of peach season in my life.  My last blog post helped me understand this.  The dreams that I dreamed of thirty-four years ago have come true and now those dreamy beings are old enough to have their own peachy plans! I have to let them go. But not to worry. Autumn is my favorite time of the year and I have an autumnal pursuit to pour myself into.

Also this week is the Paris Art Walk. Stoner Creek Arts will be hosting Creative Harvest  at the Hopewell Museum, 800 Pleasant Street, Paris, KY.  I will have two paintings there, Red Fencerow and Goldenrod Gone By. (From 2011)

Leaving Home, Finding Home

In just a week, Mary leaves to be a teacher's assistant in Brittany, France for the academic year.  In the autumn of the year I graduated from college, I also made a significant trip to Europe. Recently, I found a notebook from that trip and I was struck by how much that I wrote then, still rings true today.  In fact, many of the dreams for my life that were developed and articulated during that time away from home, have come true and sound rather like this blog!
  
 Though the timing of this trip in Mary's life is similar to the timing of my trip to Murnau, Germany to learn German at the Goethe Institut; there is a huge difference between our preparation for such a trip.  Mary is a seasoned traveler and a very enthusiastic one.  She has already been to Europe earlier this summer! Mary was eight years old when we made a trip to Europe as a family. We visited Manchester, England where David and I spent five months in 1985. Mary and Jacob met children from around the world who were also staying in the university flats that summer.  Mary has also studied French since she was ten years old because we had the good fortune to have a lovely French woman move into our neighborhood and begin teaching French. Mary has made trips to Spain, and France with school/college groups and we took wonderful trips with the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra to Italy and Central Europe. When Mary chose a college, it was four states and one-thousand miles away. She  drove herself.

   My situation back in 1977 was a little different.  I did not know any German. As a student of art history, it was a good idea to learn German, as the German's invented art history! So that was my purpose for the trip.  At that point in my life, I had not even traveled outside the state on my own, much less across the ocean.  I was terrified!  My brother Doug and sister-in-law Becky took the shuttle from Boston to New York to see me off.  I was so scared I could not fully appreciate this act of kindness. My flight was from New York to Frankfurt, but the only time I slept was when there was turbulence (I like flying!) This was right after the l976 Munich Olympics and the attacks on the Israeli team. Germany was on high alert.  For some reason, we were not able to go straight to Frankfurt and had to land in Cologne.  The flight then when on to Frankfurt.  The same plane was supposed to go on to Munich, but we had to switch planes for some reason and we had 20 minutes to get to this new flight with our luggage and go through customs. Some how I made it.  In Munich, I managed to make my way to the rail station and obtain a ticket to travel to Murnau, although the communication was not via spoken language! On the way to Murnau, a little town nestled up to the mighty Alps, we made a number of stops and the landscape was as foreign as the language to me. Trees were completely different. This was wonderful!  At Murnau, it was as if I were deposited in a cow pasture (which doesn't seem like such a bad thing now.)  I found a place to spend the night and I'll never forget the sound of the cars on the narrow roads bounded by buildings right along the main thoroughfare.  Now our cars in the US sound very much the same and the sound I hear on my street in Lexington is not unlike the sound on the Mainstrasse in Murnau. The next day, I registered at school and landed at my new home for the next two months.  In my little room with my Italian roommate who spoke no English (and I no Italian) accompanied only by the possessions that could fit in one modest suitcase, I learned what I wanted in life. I wrote that in my little book and when I re-read it just recently, thirty-four years later, it was still true! Perhaps, ironically, it was/is all about home.  Sometimes you have to travel far away to see home clearly.

     Mary has already had these experiences of traveling far, on her own and with just a few possessions.  Still, I hope that she makes some new discoveries about what she wants in life.  And I hope they come true, too!

What's Up?





Good Woods at the Little Library



 Well, for starters, Good Woods (aka Into the Woods) is now on display at the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center at the University of Kentucky. So you can do your research and take a walk on the wild side while you at it.  Featured are the woods of Kentucky, at Floracliff, Blue Licks and Carnico. 



Red Fencerow



   Stoner Creek Arts is offering a Creative Harvest again this year.  The setting is the beautiful Hopewell Museum located at 800 Pleasant Street in Paris, KY.  One of my (two) paintings on display will be Red Fencerow, which was recently part of the Art of Carnico show in Carlisle, KY.  This painting is one of my favorites since it was inspired by Max Slevogt's Red Arbor with Dog, from the German Impressionists exhibit that I viewed last autumn in Houston. 



     My recent contribution to the Fleming County Hospital revolving wall has come back home to Clover Slope, my studio by Lake Carnico in Nicholas County, KY. I took advantage of that to create my own revolving wall display.  If you would like to see my work, feel free to e-mail me:  kathy@kathyreesjohnson.com.













Horses!



...and Now for Something Completely Different!



Kid on a Methionine Transporter

       Back in the spring, my brother Doug told me that 2011 is the Year of Chemistry (did you know this?) and that there was going to be a celebratory gathering at the Paul Klee Museum in Berne, Switzerland. The topic is to be "Dimensionality" and the organizer of the meeting thought that Doug's research on cells being transported through membranes would be of interest. (My brother is Professor of Chemistry at Caltech and Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute--and I am not--so I won't pretend to know too much of what I'm talking about here!) Fortunately for me, I do know a bit about art, so Doug was looking for guidance on how he might be able to tie in Klee's work with his presentation. Thus began my unusual summer project: to create a representation of molecular structure in the style of Paul Klee.

    I began to look into the work of Paul Klee, and as luck has it, my  friend Meg is an Art Librarian and Klee Fan. She supplied me with three large volumes to search out his work, along with a fascinating book on his life (please see my blog post, Considering Klee, August 22, 2011.) The first thing I learned about Klee is that he was very open to trying different materials.  He did not particularly concern himself with using the medium that would be most acceptable to the academy. Klee was rather like a mad scientist, holed away in his lab, considering the fundamentals of nature and art.

     Doug sent me images of protein structures that have been reinterpreted for mere mortals to read.  To me, they look like ribbon curls.  These curls represent helices and resembled the diamond patterns that Klee used in his paintings.  So I made a painting using the diamond patterns on a backdrop of variegated horizontal stripes, after Klee's Uncomposed Objects in Space. I had stumbled onto two very appropriate visual elements. Doug told me that the tetrahedron (what I thought of as a diamond shape) is a key chemical concept in dimensionality since carbon atoms typically have 4 bonds in a tetrahedral arrangement that was first recognized by the famous Dutch chemist, van't Hoff in 1874. Now you know! And the backdrop turned out to be a sort of short hand for membranes.

     I kept prowling through the Klee books, looking for tetrahedrons. Child on an Open Stairway appeared. The diamond patterns were the main attraction, however, it turns out that the painting provides great scaffolding for the representation of the methionine transporter, which is the main focus of Doug's presentation to the Swiss Academy of Science's annual Congress.  The stairs are the membrane through which the child (a cell) is being transported.  Doug thought that an arrow pointing the direction through the membrane might be helpful, if not too contrived. It turns out that Klee found a lot of meaning in the arrow and used the symbol frequently in his work.  So this is how Kid on a Methionine Transporter came to be. After this exercise, the idea of having a gathering of scientists at the Klee Museum seems totally appropriate!

    It is Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer. The Summer of 2011 has brought me a bundle of new insights, thanks to my brother Doug, my friend Meg, and my new inspiration, Paul Klee! And just as a little extra added bonus, Klee means clover in German.

A Little Celestial Guidance

Right before Mary began college, we were out at Clover Slope for a final hurrah. It was prime time for the Perseid Meteor Shower, so in the middle of the night, Mary and I took beach towels down to the dock to see what we could see.  The view straight up was great, being at the edge of the lake. Before long we began to see shooting stars. It was very gratifying and I was satisfied, but Mary wanted to stay longer.  I am glad we did. A most spectacular meteor streaked the sky.  It was huge and scarily bright.  Looking back, I realize that this meteor foretold that the next four years would be brilliant and fleeting.

     I doubt that meteoric vision will be topped. My experience with Perseids has been spotty since then.  This year, I was actually up early (the best time for viewing is right before dawn) as Mary was flying to Chicago to apply for a visa to work in France this coming academic year.  The moon was waxing and fairly bright, and I was in the backyard in Lexington.  I could just barely see any stars, and I did not see and shooting ones.

     Last year during Perseid season, Mary had already headed back to Houston because she was the president of her residential college and would be helping to greet incoming Freshmen for orientation.  I was out at Clover Slope alone and was not as motivated to get up and get out to experience the greater universe. Finally, I did get roust myself out of bed, put on clogs and a robe and went outside. Just outside the doors, on the deck (I was being a scaredy cat) I could see stars fairly clearly, so I craned my neck for about 10 minutes and saw nothing but twinkling stars.  I was thinking about heading back inside. However, as I had made the effort to get up I decided it was worth it to walk a few steps off of the deck. I am not sure what made the huge difference: was it simply the view or the change in light from security lamps, or just chance? When I looked up from this slightly different vantage point, I saw three meteors in just a few minutes.  Here is what I learned from this.  No. 1: Take the next little step and be rewarded.  No. 2: It doesn't take much and it is not that hard. No. 3: Don't be afraid.

     Fortunately, I wrote this down, or else I would not have remembered it. Last night, I could not sleep and I was worrying about all the things one worries about in the middle of the night.  I happened to read what I had written a year ago. It was just what I needed to see. What I learned a year ago is not terribly profound or new. It is simply true. I learned it after the fact, not before. So often, we think we need to make dramatic changes or we are paralyzed with fear. It turns out, that the solution is much smaller than we think and not very scary; not even difficult.  And the results are beautiful!

It's a Wrap...the Art of Carnico Show



Sue's centerpiece and Ottis's heron

 There were fishing lures on steroids, a casino, driftwood whale and a canoe out front; so early on you were tipped off that this was not your typical art show.  We knew this would be true even before the paintings and gourds and license plate birdhouses showed up.  This was Brad's brainchild after all!

     Brad was there when Sue gathered bushels and buckets of wildflowers from around Carnico for a spectacular centerpiece that greeted the lucky visitors. It was Brad's idea to have a collection of rustic items that would transport you right to a lakeside paradise. It worked!



Paintings by (left to right)  myself, Diane, Louise and Derek



The paintings were glorious, too; Carnico in all seasons.  There were half a dozen sunset paintings, to be expected, since that is one of the most wonderful times to be on Lake Carnico.When I first laid eyes on Ottis's heron, I was smitten.  Ottis is an artistic wonder all by himself! We had to pinch ourselves that not only did we have a beautiful show, but it was about a real place.  We fell in love once again with this treasure nestled in the gentle hills of Nicholas County, Kentucky. There were images of Carnico early in its development and even the beginnings of the excavation. A photo of Clover Court before the existence of the A-frame which became our wonderful lake home was of special interest to me. So this was a true celebration of a place.



A bank of early photos of Carnico

It was not just the art, craft and artifacts that made this such a wondrous exhibit, but the fact that so many folks of area are terrific, curious and adventuresome artists and crafters. Perhaps that is the best thing about this event: knowing that there is a wealth of creative people nestled in those gentle hills of the outer Bluegrass.



Carnico Charlie stands guard between Carol and Juanita's paintings



Considering Klee

Self Portrait by Paul Klee, 1911 (Source Image) 

  I'm preparing to teach a second session of my class Experimenting with Watercolor and Pastel  and my study of Paul Klee (1879-1940) this summer has been surprisingly instructive. Unlike many of my peers, I was not smitten with Klee in my younger life. My husband, however, treasured his poster of Sinbad the Sailor by Klee. Mary-Louise just happened to have a charming out-of-print book with lovely reproductions of Klee's work throughout his life. My friend, Meg, an art librarian and expert, is a big fan of Klee.  She made a special trip to see the major exhibit of his work in Cleveland back in the 90s.  Meg supplied me with the catalog of that exhibit and two more books filled with Klee imagery (I am working on a project, which I will write about later). A new book came into the University of Kentucky Little Fine Arts Library, and Meg brought it to me to investigate.  Paul Klee: Life and Work by Boris Friedewald reads like 1001 Arabian Nights (which Klee is actually influenced by). It was hard to stop reading and go to sleep.  From the beginning Klee is a determined person. As a teenager, he paints the bricks outside his house with colorful and varied images.  When Klee goes off to the Academy in Munich, his father takes out a second mortgage to pay for the schooling. This would put a lot of pressure on someone like myself to succeed and get on with my studies, but Klee is not particularly taken with his instructors and heeds his own direction. He considers himself a "self-apprentice."

      In 1906, after a long engagement, Klee marries Lily Stumpf, a noted Munich pianist. The next year, their only child, Felix is born. This is where it gets interesting for me.  Klee becomes a Stay-at-Home Dad and tends to the rearing of Felix and all the cooking (this, in the first decade of the twentieth century!) while Lily teaches piano students for ten hours a day.  Klee does not stop his artistic education, he continues it through the daily activities of parenting and domesticity. Klee would take Felix on walks through the city in search of motifs; and the views outside his windows were a rich influence. This "hermitage" allows Klee to establish his own path, and yet, living in Munich, he has access to the work of all the great artists of the time (and this was a revolutionary time in art).  For example, as Klee struggles with color, he finds the work of Robert Delaunay provides a way to step into color in his art. All through his life, Klee finds inspiration in other artists' work, while keeping true to his own vision. 

      From his self-apprenticeship through his hermitage, Klee develops to such a degree that he is invited to be a Bauhaus Master.  The Bauhaus was pioneered by Walter Gropius and there was much discussion on the approach that the institution should take. Gropius wanted to link artistic pursuit with the artisinal more so than the academic. Klee had long wanted to teach and now had his opportunity to develop his own ideas of pedagogy.

      It is this confidence in his own vision and that draws me to Klee. He held fast to his ideas in obscurity and in fame and even in infamy. After he had achieved much acclaim internationally, he was faced with a society under the influence of the National Socialists. His work was considered degenerate. Still, Klee stood firmly, speaking his truth and continuing to create work following his vision.  In fact, in his last, very stressful years, Klee was more prolific than ever. 

      This is just a pinky-nail sketch of Klee, but he gives me a great illustration for expressing my goals in teaching students at the Lexington Art Academy.  To me, it is a given that my students will bring decades of seeing the world with them to class.  They know what they want to see, what their preferences are. It is good to think for one's self!  My goal is to help students train their eyes and their hands to create what they want to create.  Klee was able to do this in his tiny Munich apartment and we can, too.

     A new session of Experimenting with Watercolor and Pastel will start on Thursday, September 1, 2011, 7-9 pm at the Lexington Art Academy (despite what the website might currently list for the dates).  I hope you can join us.  We will work together on training our eyes and hands!

Introducing Four Leaf Studio

This has been a summer of facing realities.  There seems to be a collective understanding of limits. This is mostly positive. In my case, it involves the handing over of the expansion torch to the next generation. I'm ready for consolidation and letting go of the superfluous. The confluence of realizing that I would not ever be spending more than a couple of days a week at Clover Slope and Jacob becoming engaged created the opportunity for me to re purpose Jacob's room into a studio.  So after an editing job on Jacob's remaining possessions and painting the walls a neutral gray, David and I moved studio furniture and materials.  Amazingly, we were able to do this without a truck and with just the two of us!
     I will still have a small studio space at Clover Slope and more importantly, I will keep a place that is my major source of inspiration.   And, I'll be able to work every day of the week and at all hours! 

An New View along the Artist Trace



Professor Dongfeng Li paints Ken Macht

 Several days this week, I've headed over to Banana Tree Studios in Flemingsburg, KY to learn something new. En route, I had the benefit of the marvelous scenery, driving through the beautiful Licking River valley and into Flemingsburg with the Appalachian foothills in the distance.  I was accompanied by the excellent Morehead State Public Radio, and the timing was such that I heard The Front Page program coming and going. So, if I don't know how to Turbo Charge my metabolism, it is my fault alone!

But these were all side benefits.  The main purpose of the commute was to learn something new about watercolors and portrait painting from Dongfeng Li.  Kathy Macht, who along with husband Ken, created Banana Tree Studios, took a drawing class with professor Li at Morehead State University. When I saw Kathy in the spring, she was glowing with enthusiasm for what she is learning. I was anxious to take on a little glow for myself and I always enjoy seeing how others approach their art. We were not a large group of students, but a very lucky one. There were more than a few gasps as Li would hurl paint on the paper with abandon, and often a great deal of green! Ken's ear was formed with a single quick swipe of paint. It always seemed as though the paint was way too dark and that this time Li had gone too far. But amazingly, the paint would dry and the image would come together as if by magic.  There were several points that were particularly helpful for me.  One was the concept of Lost and Found areas, sharp edges and soft edges. Another was to remember the roundness of the head.  I have a tendency to paint under the influence of my fashion illustration training; which seems rather flat in comparison. And, it was clear from Li's approach, that he had the whole picture in mind all the time.  He knew that there would be many layers and how the paint would dry, and that a dark color would be joined by many intermediary colors ("Keep changing your color!") Another thing that struck me about Li's work was that he seemed to be brutally honest while painting.  You almost worried that his subject would be offended.  And yet, when the piece was completed, you were astounded by the beauty; grateful, that someone could see such beauty in other people.

     


My French model

So, once again, I have enjoyed the riches along the Artist Trace.  Thanks to Kathy Macht for coming up with the idea and sharing her inspiring space with us. Professor Li has a contagious enthusiasm, which makes you want to celebrate everyone.  I was painting from a photograph I had taken in France, of a tour guide and I praised the beautiful French women who have a certain, je ne sais quoi. Li, said that he prefers the American women, because they are full of variety, from many places; not so pure. What a breath of fresh air! And that is what we find along the Artist Trace.

Ode d'Eau



Spiral Sky, Lake Carnico at Sunset



Brad was elaborating on lake themed props for the Art of Carnico show--lures, nets, a kayak or two, and perhaps a merhorse--causing me to think back on waters I have known and why I love being close to water. When I was a child, my grandparents had a resort by Big Star Lake in Michigan. Every summer for a couple of weeks, we enjoyed a water-immersed vacation, skiing, pedaling on the aqua bike and swimming across the lake to the Odd Fellows camp (a mile swim!) The boys did a lot of fishing and naturally, we were brown as bears by the end of our stay. We stayed in rustic cottages. Showers were located in the resort's garage and I learned to love the smell of petrol (there was a gas-pump, supplying fuel for all the motor boats.)  When I was in high school, my grandmother could no longer take the winters in Michigan so my grandparents moved to Florida.  My parents divorce also brought family vacations to an end.



Mary in Maine



      As it happened, my mother married a man who grew up in Maine on a bay one over from Frenchman's Bay and Bar Harbor. After my step-father's retirement, they moved up to Maine. Thus began summer vacations (much abbreviated) by the ocean in Down East Maine. The water was icy-cold, so most of the enjoyment was found on or by the water. At the end of Roger's Point, there was a little high tide island with a house on it, which was a favorite low tide destination. The best  time of day in Maine was early in the morning, sitting on the porch sipping coffee and listening to and watching the lobster men pull their traps. It was not unlike slow-motion bees making the rounds. It was a comforting and delightful coincidence when I discovered early one morning on the deck at Carnico with a cup of java, that tractors and farm trucks have a similar sound and cadence. Lake Carnico provides all the joys of water that I care to carry into my senior years. The water is of mild temperature compared to coastal Maine and tamer for trips out in the Poke boat. The vista is more compact to be sure, but there is an unexpected diversity of birds and mammals. I particularly liked when the lost juvenile brown pelican visited for about a month. 

    Brad is right. Lake Carnico is a treasure, a surprising treasure found right along US 68. The Art of Carnico show will be held Saturday, August 20, 2011, from 10 am to 5 pm at The Corner Studio, 240 East Main Street, in beautiful downtown Carlisle.  Come for a visit and enjoy a little summer vacation while you're at it!



Seeing Four Leaf Clover

If last year was my juste milieu year, and it was; then this must be my clover year. I'll be writing more about this another time, but even I am a little surprised at the number of four leaf (and sometimes, five and a six leaf) clover I have spotted this year.  The truth is that everyone can be spotting such clover.  It is a banner year for clover--and the honeybees seem to be everywhere--a happy sign.  How curious though, that sometimes I will spot multiple extra-leafed clover and then go for days or weeks without seeing them.  Once, I seem to spot them, there they are, so obvious. 

The first time I spotted a four leaf clover, I spotted two. I remember the day, it was April 9th, but I can't remember the year.  It was several years before I spotted another one.  That one was April 22, 2010.  David was in the hospital.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with worrying about him, keeping the kids updated and walking the dog.  I was briefly home from the hospital, walking the dog and talking to my sister on my cell phone when I looked down and saw a very obvious four leaf clover.  True, I took this as a sign, even though as Father Paul pointed out recently, this is a magical view of things. But I was in need of a good sign and there is was, plain as can be. This tided me along for a good while. I did not see another four leaf clover until this April 20th.  We had just learned that Mary would be going to Brittany to be a teacher's assistant.  It was wonderful news, and a year from the day that David went to the hospital.  I took Carly for a walk and voila! another four leaf clover.  Then I just kept finding them. 

       Father Paul is right, it is not magic.  It is probably just being willing to see (and spend a lot of time staring at the ground--also bending over. Meg noted recently, as we searched for the elusive four leaf, that we probably appeared to have lost a contact lens.)  Being willing to see  is also good for one's self.  The more clearly I see myself, the better my life seems to work.  Instead of constantly trying to fit into a mold, I am starting to just be who I am, no more, no less.  My little green totems appear to be affirmation, magic or no.

Vantage Points

The backdrop for my week was grid-locked Washington, D.C., so my experiences in the last few days have been liberating.  Wednesday evening was the last of four Experimenting with Watercolor & Pastel classes (a new session starts August 10th.) I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching these classes and seeing vicariously through other peoples' lenses on life.  One student approached me early on and said that she is visually impaired; she would need to be close to me, so she could see what I was demonstrating. As it turned out, she painted the most elegant renderings of birds.  Her watercolor work was exquisite!  Clearly, 20/20 vision is not nearly so important as an inner comprehension. Love trumps perfection.

The next evening found David and me at Mary-Louise and Woody's for a vestry meeting (David) and 10th wedding anniversary for Mother Chris and Father Paul.  Mary-Louise had her studio open and the non-vestry hangers-on were free to range, just like the chickens. Oil paintings filled the narrow platforms, custom-crafted by Woody.  Tucked among the oil paintings were lovely watercolor and Sharpie sketches. Their economy was striking. With just a few washes and lines, you could go along the path and have an overview of the whole village. These beautiful visions come naturally to Mary-Louise--I have to admit to a certain jealousy!



        On Friday, we enjoyed a fete-champetre in Estill's garden.  There was a thrilling discussion of art (Estill is an art historian, as is Mother Chris.) I learned about Magic Realism and George Tooker.  Mother Chris and Father Paul knew George Tooker. There was also a spirited discussion about life. Estill told us that he has resolved to speak out against binary thinking. Now there is some balm for the world! The lovely banter continued as the sun began its descent. I remarked on the setting sun and Estill proclaimed, "That is the nineteenth century!" How appropriate that he is able to witness this every evening he is home.

         On Saturday, David and I went to the Evensong at St. Michael's in Lexington. Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire was speaking after the evensong.  St. Michael's has an airy and open sanctuary.  The windows are clear, and I was able to see tree tops and clouds. The sun shined on our gathering; some people even had to put on sunglasses.  It was bright! This sense of light and openness reflected my feeling. I was part of a living faith, here and now. Perhaps everyone is different.  We can not help but have different vantage points. But we can come together and enjoy view.









The nineteenth century



Good Woods

If I had my wits about me, I would have called this show Good Woods, but it came to me too late.  Showing my paintings at Good Foods Market & Cafe does bring several of my loves together.  Of course, there is good food.  What's not to love about that?  I've been a member of the Co-op for over 30 years. Back in the day, I lived in downtown Lexington and the co-op was on Short Street, a short walk from my apartment.  Everything was in bulk bins. My typical purchase was beans, brown rice and nutritional yeast.  So, some things have changed. Twenty years ago, I posted recipes in the co-op newsletter.  My family did not have a computer then, so I would go to the co-op and type up the recipes on the co-op computer.  What a joy it is to have a computer of one's own! I have evolved and so has the co-op.

         Still, a love for walking in the woods is a constant.  This is something I have enjoyed since childhood, back even longer than thirty years.  As David helped me hang the show (on the wall in the Cafe side of Good Foods) people would come up to talk about the images in the paintings.  Most are set in Kentucky; at Floracliff, Blue Licks and Carnico.  I was surprised how many people have connections to these places.  Dr. Wayne Davis and his wife and daughter were at Good Foods. Dr. Davis worked with Dr. Mary Wharton who established Floracliff in southern Fayette County.  The Davis's have also placed bluebird houses at Blue Licks. They planned on heading out that way soon to check on them (and enjoy the beauty.) Karen spoke of hiking at Blue Licks when her sons' ages were single digits.  Blue Licks is one of my favorite places and it was good to know that it is loved by others.

         I am celebrating these loves in my paintings. Six of the paintings are tall and narrow, 48x16". The center painting (of  Floracliff) is 48x36".  The seven paintings fill the wall; the exhibiting space is approximately four by eighteen feet.  The tall, narrow paintings present a slice of a vision I have come upon in the woods.  Good Foods Market & Cafe is located at 455 Southland Drive in Lexington, KY.  The hours are 8 am to 10 pm everyday.  I hope you get a chance to step into the cool woods this summer. Into the Woods (as it is called) is up through August. Good Foods is simply the best place to shop for healthy, delicious and local food!