Description
No matter how much we want to, some experiences cannot be repeated. I’m thinking about a meal eaten in a bar with a girlfriend in Paris. It was fettuccine with cream and smoked salmon which was delivered to us from the brasserie across the street by the bartenders because they didn’t want us to leave and we were hungry! it may have been the drinks and the footloose mood but that pasta tasted amazing! Ordering the same dish on trip back was so not the same – not even close! I feel this way about some of the paintings I’ve done! (What a way to introduce a new painting, huh?!) I was playing around with roses and my camera in an attempt to paint another small painting like “Full Circle” which has been so well received and one that I love so much, I’m keeping the original myself. This lovely green glass cup was a gift from my sister(-in-law) Annie and is perched on the top of the fence in our side yard. When I was looking for something to demonstrate in my “fuzzy background” class, this one called out to me. The composition needed some work first, though. I took elements from two different shots and combined them in Photoshop until it sang to me – yes, paint me! But it was just not to be small (11″x15″) like Full Circle. I could actually see it all painted on a full sheet (22″x30″). Some things just can’t be repeated! They have to be their own thing! The past few summers have seemed to just zoom by. At the end of them it has felt to me that we hardly had a summer. I was determined to take time to enjoy this summer. Part of that was spending a few days with my dear Sister Mary at a special place in Bolinas and worked some time on this painting while enjoying the spectacular view of the ocean. Back home, finishing it up, my playlist included Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Listening to this song it seemed like the right name. The livin’ is easy. My reminder to take time to enjoy, to rest, to enjoy the summer sun.
July 2013
