Joyce Carol Oates said....

"We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves, unable to see that here, now, this very moment is sacred; but once it's gone----its value is incontestable."
----Joyce Carol Oates

Finished

I lightened up some areas to increase contrast, darkened some of the yellow in front of the vines in the foreground, and played with the sky some more. I believe I've done all I can for this image, so on to the next!

David Bales & Ted Orland said...

"...if making art gives substance to your sense of self, the corresponding fear is that you're not up to the task---that you can't do it, or can't do it well, or can't do it again; or that you're not a real artist, or not a good artist, or have no talent, or have nothing to say. The line between an artist and his/her work is a fine one at best...making art can feel dangerous & revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be."
---from Art & Fear

Golden light

Started this painting yesterday & worked on it a bit more today. I don't think it's finished, but I'm not sure what else to do or to modify so I will take a break from it for awhile and look at it with fresh eyes later this week. I painted it from a photograph I took in the late afternoon at Williams Selyem Winery's new tasting room on Westside Road. The sky was kind of foreboding, but the late afternoon sun was shining on the top of one hill of golden vines. 

Sophocles said....

"Look and you will find---what is unsought will go undetected." --Sophocles

Finally, a day to paint

Yesterday, I set aside time to paint. I completed this canvas, a study of a work by Santa Rosa artist Brooks Anderson entitled "Terra Lumina no.3." His work can be seen on the cover of the latest Art Trails catalogue. I've been to his studio in Santa Rosa; it's a lovely space and I love his landscapes. My version of his composition has brighter colors than his. I was excited to do this study because I have taken photos around the Russian River Valley in the fall that have these same colors and I have been wanting to paint them. Yesterday, rather than spend time digging through my photos to find one, I decided to just use his composition as a practice. It was blissful to be painting again!

Georgia O'Keefe said.....

"To see takes time." ---Georgia O'Keefe


...yes, and to paint takes time too. I haven't had any time lately. I'm hoping to paint again soon.