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Monday, October 18, 2010

Boots, Pastries and Windmills


My snow boots are still sitting there waiting for me to finish the drawing. I seem to be reluctant--I haven't touched it since I touched it the first time. Is this a clue that the boots are symbolic of stuff I hate and why I cringed when I heard this morning there was a light dusting of the stuff in the upper corners of the state? Absolutely.

So when someone at the B party asked me yesterday what I painted and I said pastries and they said why? I thought it was a pretty damn good question. I said I have no idea. Then I started to think about why. I've never been a pastry fan; I skip over them at the sweet table--and usually skip the sweet table entirely. When my dad made me order dessert, because it came with the dinner when I was a kid, I'd order jello--or prunes, not ice cream or molton lava chocolate no flour cake. So why now in my life do I find pastries so appealing?

When I photographed those pastries in the case at the pastry shop this last summer I was drawn to their colors. They were rich, bright, pure and very happy. Painting is about color. They were also lined up in the trays in an orderly fashion on shelves, one above the other. The lighting was warm and inviting. But they still didn't make my mouth water with desire. Taking the photograph was satisfaction enough. It wasn't till I downloaded my photographs that I thought the sweets would make a good triptych and started drawing them. My attraction wasn't the sweets, it was the line up of those glorious colors and the stacking of the colorful trays that intrigued me, the artist/designer. --Just as it intrigued me in The Closet. I like the architectural relief aspects of painting things that stack on thick canvases where wall and cast shadows become one with the painted panels. Next B party I'll be ready.

Speaking of ordering food. A couple of weeks ago I took photos of the squash cart at an open air market. The colors and the grouping of the items were the prompt. Squash Windmill resulted from playing around with it in Publisher. I featured this photograph today because it's much more interesting than my tuna fish bowl, which is the drawing of the day. the bowl is an icon to remind me of one of the chores I have on my agenda. The top try was more successful than the bottom. Neither is terrific, but a better draw than snow boots.

Windmill will probably never become a painting. The photograph is good enough.

4 comments:

  1. I like that photo collage... Bet if u painted that, u would go bonkers w/all the lines, details, and angles... I bet u also sketched the pastries because its something u haven't done... Nothin' wrong w/ getting out of that box!. I love your drawings/paintings...and I still remember your sneaker drawing... I like the unexpected drawn subject... not the expected.

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  2. There are no ugly mothers in this world.
    Children make us beautiful when we smile at them, play with them, spend time with them, see the world through their eyes.... :-))) So, I'm sure you are still cute and beautiful.
    :-))))

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  3. Dear Linda,
    The windmill is very interesting. You have such good and creative eyes for subjects in photos and paintings! The bowls are astonishingly beautiful and your handling value is brilliant!
    Well, when I was invited for meals, I used to say, "Life is short. Take dessert first!" But nowadays, a bit worried about the gravity of the earth... Like Hamlet, this girl wonders about sweets, "To take it or not,that's the "temptation.""
    Cheers, Sadami

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  4. I love love love your bowls. They do make me want to try drawing some shiny objects.

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