A Perfect Summer Morning - Nanny & Rose

This morning the thunder is rolling overhead, temps are cool enough to turn the AC off and open the windows. It reminds me of this much loved painting, Nanny and Rose. The oil was done by American painter Scott Prior in the mid-80s. "Nanny" is the artist Nanny Vonnegut and Prior's wife. She is also the daughter of novelist Kurt Vonnegut. "Rose" is the golden of course, named for her gorgeous color perhaps? I always thought it was the other way around.

What makes this a perfect summer morning? Well, there's the screened in porch, hot beverage, weather cool enough to enjoy that plaid flannel robe. And, of course, a great companion at her feet. Many years ago I had a wonderful golden, Dan, who had the same beautiful red coat as Rose. No better companion could be wanted.

Back in the late 80s, my friend and officemate Kittyhawk had this painting up in our office. When I retired a few years ago she e-mailed me this picture as a reminder of what retirement would be like. How accurate she was!

Teaser Tuesday - The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland

In the early 1600s Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was the eager student of her father, Italian Baroque painter Orazio. They lived and worked together in Rome with Artemisia serving as one of the many apprentices for Orazio's great works commissioned by the Catholic Church, nobility and wealthy merchants of the city. By age eighteen Artemisia was becoming a talented artist in her own right, especially when it came to depicting the power and beauty of the female form on canvas. (Painting: Self Portriat as the Allegory of Painting, 1630)

Then her father betrays her publicly for his own selfish artistic interests. The Passion of Artemisia is Susan Vreeland's novel of a woman's struggles to become an artist within the confines of a male dominated society.

Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link for the very simple rules.


The Passion of Artemisia
by Susan Vreeleand
"The next morning, I started "Judith Slaying Holofernes". I could barely bend my fingers to grasp the egg-shaped muller to pulverize the pigments on my marble slab. Pain is not important. I had to ignore it, I told myself. Only painting is important. Paint out the pain, Graziela had said."

Book Description: Susan Vreeland's novel is based on the life and work of the first woman to ever be accepted to the famed Accademia dell' Arte of Florence, Italy. Artemisia Gentileschi is a fortunate young woman until 18 years of age, happily working with her father Orazio and learning to paint under his protection. At that age her father engages a tutor, Augustino Tassi, to teach her, among other things, how to show perspective in her works. Tassi ends up raping young Artemisia and her father hauls him before the papal court. Not for abusing his young daughter, but for harming his reputation as a painter. Artemisia is forced to stand before the court and defend her own innocence without her father's support.

Her reputation is ruined in Rome, she is forced into an arranged marriage with another painter from Florence where they go to live. For the remainder of her life Artemisia must struggle to balance her life as an artist, wife and mother. And, at the same time, find acceptance and patronage for her work. Her paintings of strong Biblical women figures such as Judith, Susanna, and Magdalen and historical figures like Cleopatra and Lucretia mirrors her real life struggles and triumphs.

I enjoy films based on books that I've read. Here is the movie trailer from "Artemisia", a 1997 production of the early life of Artemisia Gentileschi. It is somewhat romanticised, but still a fascinating account of painting in early 1600s in Italy.




(Note about Artemisia's damaged hands: when she was forced to testify before the papal court in Tasso's trial, she had to submit to an in court examination to see whether or not she was still a virgin. That was not enough, while on the witness stand she was also subjected to the sibille. Her hands were bound, palms facing each other with cords through her fingers. As she gave testimony a wooden screw was tightened with each question to force her to tell the truth. When they finished with her, Artemisia feared that her hands would be too damaged to paint again.)

Fun Monday - Pastimes

The Fun Monday topic for May 10 is "Pastimes". Our host for this week is Joangee and she wants to know what we enjoy doing for entertainment, diversion, or just plain fun. Joangee also is looking for photos of our pastimes.

Everyone needs a bit of fun and games these days, but I'll admit that being retired, which I am, makes it a lot easier to seriously pursue these pastimes. For those of you who read this blog you know that this painting represents two of my main passions--dogs and books. Last week I told you about Willie and every Tuesday I write about a current favorite read. And if there's a film based on the book, I'll share it too. Seeing a good drama, on television or the big screen, is a great pleasure also.

One pastime that I haven't written about is painting and sketching. It's not an ongoing thing like caring for dogs or reading, but I'm always interested. I read art magazines regularly, check out galleries and exhibitions on my travels, and have a drafting table and plenty of art supplies set up in my office, always ready when the mood strikes.

I've taken watercolor classes, workshops, and tours with three different teachers over the last ten years. Here's a little sampling of my work. Don't laugh now, remember it's just for fun. This painting is an example of wet on wet. The paper is really wet and then I just dropped the color onto the wet canvas, letting the paints run into each other and "bloom". Before the watercolors dried I took the end of a brush and made some cuts in the paper to represent a rather abstract landscape.

This was an early effort at watercolor landscapes--not that the later ones got any better!

Here's a still life of some apples and a wine bottle that I did as a class painting. Thought I did a pretty good job with the apples, but the wine bottle. . .

Here are two examples of pen and ink with watercolor washes. In the village scene I did the drawing first and then applied just the barest wash of color at different spots on the painting. In the sunflower painting I laid down the color first and then squiggled in the flower shape with pen and ink.

I also enjoy working with colored pencils, especially the soft Prismacolors or graphite tints, as for these fall pumpkins and bittersweet vines:
Sometimes I like creating small thumbnail sketches in pen and ink, drawing for 10 minutes every day for several weeks. When you display them together you can see what consistent practice can do:

Often a book that I enjoy will contain sketches or simple botanical illustrations. I try to copy them. In The Places in Between, this is a copy of the drawing Rory Stewart made of the great warrior dog Babur who accompanied him on his walk across Afghanistan.

So, there you have some examples of a pastime that I don't spend time on consistently, but when I do get out the watercolors, pens, pencils and brushes I enjoy that little spurt of creativity. Be sure and go over to Joangees's place to see what kind of fun all the other Fun Monday participants are getting into.

(Image credit: Rory Stewart and Babur from The Places in Between)

Painting France

(Our host for this week's Fun Monday, Alison , would like us to share some vacation memories and photos since we're getting into vacation season with this Memorial Day weekend. All of us have enjoyed many different kinds of vacations. For me, they range from holing up in my own home over a holiday break from work with a stack of books, new music, and the telephone ringer on mute in order to adjust my mental and spiritual course. Or, vacation might be a weekend shopping trip with gal pals to a big city. Or, it might be a roadtrip south with my sister in the spring. Or, vacation might be a more ambitious experience abroad where I try to learn or do something new in a different country like gardening or country walking.

Today I'll tell you about one of my more adventurous vacations--a watercolor workshop while barging through the Alsace Lorraine region of France. And, please excuse me for getting on the road a little late on this Fun Monday. Happens all the time, doesn't it!)

Two of my best friends and I flew to Paris in May 2002 to join up with a group of would be painters for a week of landscape painting in the Alsace Lorraine region of France. My friends wanted to travel through this loveliest part of France at a leisurely pace. I wanted to learn to paint better by practicing in the daily watercolor workshops led by Joseph Fitzpatrick, emeritus professor of art at the University of Kentucky. We spent just a couple of days in Paris, trying to see and do as much as possible
in the time we had. One place this wannabe artist should have checked out before leaving Paris was Magasin Sennelier on Quai Voltaire. This French family business, established in 1887, still offers the same Impressionist paints that were originally created for the likes of Cezanne, Monet, and Pissarro. Hum-mm, perhaps my paintings would have been a lot better if I had used their superior paints?

After just two days in Paris, our group of about 20 people from the U.S., England, France, and Canada boarded the train for Strasbourg. The group was a mix of "painters" and their traveling companions who were along for the barge travel, sight seeing and luxury relaxation. By the time we'd had three hours on the train together we began to bond. I almost missed the train in Paris because I hung back to buy a good supply of French chocolates to share with the group. What better way to make a good first impression and guarantee that I'd always have a dinner partner when my friends got sick of me!

When we arrived in Strasbourg we were whisked off to the barge Lorraine which would be our home base for the trip from Strasbourg to Nancy on the Marne and Rhine canals. The Lorraine was a perfect accommodation for the trip--young lively crew and tour guide, great commons areas inside and out for enjoying--or painting--the passing landscape, gourmet meals, and cabins that were small but adequate for the time we spent in them.

Joe, our workshop leader, was on the barge to welcome us. Of the group, about ten were interested in painting. He soon calmed our fears about whether we were "good" enough to sign on to such a tour. You know the spiel--everyone can paint (ha!), no right or wrong ways, just get down what you see, offer positive criticism of each others' work, be flexible. These paintings that Joe did in Saverne is an example of his being flexible. He ran out of color for these pen and ink drawings so he just used espresso! We all wanted these drawings. . .

The Painting Day--after a leisurely breakfast buffet, the barge let us off in different locations. The painters went with Joe and set up shop in areas that were particularly picturesque. The remainder of the group toured or just relaxed on the barge. Our first painting location was in the Petit France riverside district of Strasbourg. We purchased coffee and pastries at this outdoor cafe and settled in for a few hours of painting. Joe circulated among us, offering suggestions or just listening to our concerns. I tried to capture the row of timbered houses along the river. Save your critique for the evening. . .

At the end of the day we all met back in the barge lounge for drinks and Joe's critique--with comments from others as well. Luckily the wine was always excellent and his suggestions were very helpful. Notice all the painters clutching their day's work and waiting for their time at the easel! My work presented quite a challenge for Joe at first and then he started comparing my "style"(lol) to that of Raoul Dufy. I was quite puffed up with that comparison and inspired to do a pen and ink copy of his Interiors with an Open Window! Can you not see what Joe was saying??

As the sun set and the critiques and wine flowed, the barge kept tooling down the canal to our moorings for the night. This particularly lovely evening we were moored in the village of Hochfelden. The windows of the dining room were open and a giant grey schnauzer waited on the dock for a taste of the chef's excellent veal marsala. Mr. Schnauzer, however, didn't care for the chef's garnish, leaving it on the dock for a less handsome panhandler. . .

Enough painting and barging for today. I'll continue this vacation tale later in the week, if you want more. For now, be sure to check out other Fun Monday vacation spots at Alison's Place .