I've got the blues...

 

According to feng shui experts, a blue door will bring prosperity into your home. This is the third house I've owned that I have painted the front door a pretty vivid blue. Part of the reason I painted this front door blue was that I wanted it to stand out. I think front doors should have major architectural pride of place, so I tend to pick knock out colors.  Part of the reason is that with the red brick and white trim, a blue door seemed like a no brainer. I don't know if the color will bring me prosperity, but it certainly brings me happiness every time I pull into the drive!

Letting Go

I drew this cat not long after we moved back to the States with Russian drawing styles and techniques still heavy on my brain from our tour of Vladivostok. It is the first cat I ever drew on a yellow background—a decision born of a desperate desire to do anything that would combat the bleakness of a Wisconsin winter. I have since drawn and sold several kitties on yellow backgrounds, but I hung on to this one and displayed it first in my house in Houma and then in my first house here in Texas simply because the cheerful color and folksy feel make me smile. I finally decided to part with it after moving to our new house simply because the house is small, and I have limited wall space. It’s a little like parting with an old friend, but I hope it will make someone else smile for years to come.

Drawing: Dexter

I always think about Kandinsky and his musing on the need for a spiritual connection to your subject when I do a puppy portrait. Dogs are hard for me. Cats, horses, and people seem to flow out of the charcoal or emerge out of the canvas like they were there just waiting all along. Dogs, I have to think about. I have to plan. I have to fuss and tweak. So that makes it all the more rewarding when one turns out well.

Drawing: New Orleans Lady

This canvas has a story. Believe it or not, I bought it in Korea. I had lived there about a year when I stumbled across a little art supply store on the first floor of a mall type building on a little back street that I might never have wandered down had I not been seeking out a new grocery rumored to sell some American food stuffs. The place carried an odd selection of canvases and a wonderful selection of brushes and Shin Han acrylic paints. Not only was I able to make some artwork for my own apartment, but also for friends. This led to fairly regular painting afternoons with friends. During a very difficult time in my life, I was able to lean on creating to keep me sane. That became a common theme during the frigid winters I spent in Wisconsin, then the blistering summers in Louisiana. Now for the first time in years, I am faced with a semester without a class to teach and find myself at loose ends. So once again, I turn to drawing to keep me sane. After years of building the background, I finally found the right kitty for this canvas, there is a lovely gallery nearby that is willing to show my work, and my models continue to work for Friskies (ok, they’ve moved up to Blue Buffalo and Fancy Feast). It’s funny how things turn out.